Yankee continues good 'Fourtune' in Commonwealth Turf

Harvey Clark and Andrew Albstein's YANKEE FOURTUNE (Yankee Gentleman)

raced wide throughout Saturday's $121,900

Commonwealth Turf (G3) at Churchill Downs while tracking in third,

challenged for the top spot rounding the turn and pulled away to a

length victory under jockey Victor Santiago. Sent off the 5-2 favorite,

the Kiaran McLaughlin trainee paid $7.60, $5.20 and $3.80 for capturing

his fifth straight race.

"He was just plain old the best horse and (Santiago) rode him great,"

McLaughlin said. "It was nice to see him sit off the pace today. We knew

he didn't always have to have the lead, yet he was just the fastest

horse in those races along with the best horse. Today it looked like

there was a couple of speed horses inside of us, so I was just happy

Victor made the decision to lay third, and he kicked on and finished

very well."

Lighthouse Sound (Langfuhr) set the opening quarter of :24 2/5 while

running on the inside, but Stormy Lord (Stormy Atlantic) had taken

command just to his outside through the half in :49 1/5 and six furlongs

in 1:13 3/5. All the while Santiago kept Yankee Fourtune settled on the

outside while racing just in behind those two. Lighthouse Sound began

fading badly nearing turn, but Yankee Fourtune was more than willing to

take his spot to the outside of Stormy Lord. He quickly put that rival

away and began drawing off in the lane, keeping just enough in reserve

to hold the late runs of Guys Reward (Grand Reward) and Turallure (Wando),

who were separated by just a neck on the wire.

The 1 1/16-mile firm Matt Winn Turf feature was completed in 1:44 3/5 and

returned exotics worth $250.40 (exacta), $2,547.40 (trifecta) and $15,205.80

(11-4-8-9 superfecta). Guys Reward was responsible for the nice payouts as the

40-1 third longest shot on the board, giving back $32.80 and $17, while

Turallure was worth $4.40 at nearly 6-1. Mystic (Unbridled's Song) followed by

another 1 1/2 lengths, with Mister Marti Gras (Belong to Me), Stormy Lord,

Celtic New Year (North Light [Ire]), Don Cavallo (El Prado [Ire]), Thunder Brew

(Milwaukee Brew), Dark Cove (Medaglia d'Oro), Beau Choix (Elusive Quality),

Uareoutlaw (Brz) (Christine's Outlaw) and Lighthouse Sound finishing the order

under the wire.

Yankee Fourtune made his career debut on the dirt at Monmouth Park last

September, running a disappointing seventh, and was given the next nine months

off. He returned on the turf at Belmont Park and showed a definite liking for

the grass when breaking his maiden by 4 3/4 lengths against maiden claiming

rivals. McLaughlin sent the gray gelding against allowance company in his next

two, and Yankee Fourtune added those to his resume by a combined 10 3/4 lengths.

The sophomore made his stakes bow in the Hawthorne Derby (G3) on October 9 and

posted a front-running 2 1/4-length triumph on that day. This second straight

graded score boosted his earnings to $238,512 and improved his line to 6-5-0-0.