Final Score can obviously win the Bourbon Stakes on Sunday at Keeneland. He is, after all, the 8-5 morning line favorite, unbeaten in two grass starts, and a last-out winner of the Grade 3 With Anticipation at Saratoga. He might not, however, be able to win the Bourbon in the same manner as his first two tallies.
Final Score led from start to finish in his maiden win and led from start to finish in the With Anticipation. The Bourbon’s dozen entrants include several pace players, including a couple drawn outside Final Score who might prove intent on making the lead.
Final Score might possess the requisite talent to hold up through a strong pace and might have heretofore unseen tactical versatility. He does not come into the $400,000 Bourbon, a 1 1/16-mile Grade 2 on turf for 2-year-olds, lacking talent.
A 9-1 chance in the With Anticipation, Final Score won by 4 1/2 lengths, and after setting a moderate pace and quickening past the three-sixteenths marker, he really showed a burst after belatedly switching leads.
“We were just a little unsure about his maiden win because he got to walk the dog pretty good on the front end,” said Todd Pletcher, who trains Final Score for the Repole Stable. “It was kind of a hard race to analyze, he had such an easy time of it on the lead. The With Anticipation was a little more truly run race. He really kicked. He got a little bit confused on his leads because he was quickening so rapidly.”
Dr. Agne exits an even fourth in the With Anticipation and drew poorly in post 12. Eight of the Bourbon entrants last raced at Kentucky Downs, the quirky European-style course from which form does not always travel. For Vintur, a blowout debut winner over 6 1/2 furlongs there, there’s a transition from a sprint to two turns along with the move to a standard grass oval. Vintur settled comfortably in mid-pack and immediately picked up when asked for run, cruising home by 5 1/2 lengths and extending his advantage on the gallop-out.
“I thought he was very impressive,” trainer Mark Casse said.
Asked what he thought of Vintur’s ability to negotiate another 1 1/2 furlongs and a second turn, Casse simply said, “I have no idea.”
Jose Ortiz rode Vintur last month but gave a call to the connections of Bourbon runner Awesome Connection before Vintur’s connections opted for Sunday’s race. Thus, Florent Geroux takes the mount on Vintur, a son of Violence whose many siblings generally have preferred sprinting to routing.
In his first route try on dirt, Password ran into the talented colt Blackout Time, a contender Saturday in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity. At Kentucky Downs, Password set off for the lead and never looked back, winning a one-mile maiden race by 2 3/4 lengths.
“I thought he jumped forward pretty good switching to the turf,” trainer Rodolphe Brisset said. “We got a little disappointed in his efforts on dirt. He’s a beast of a horse.”
Casa Cielo went wire to wire last out in the Kitten’s Joy, a Colonial turf route, and must deploy his speed to gain a decent position from post 11. Exonerate and Turf Star each rallied into fast splits winning Kentucky Downs maiden miles. Both are eligible to move forward. Repentless, another Kentucky Downs maiden winner, runs at Keeneland and will be scratched late this week from the Pilgrim at Aqueduct, trainer Kelsey Danner said.
Final Score’s raw ability carried the day in his two victories. To win for a third time and earn, through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, automatic fees-paid entry into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, he’ll need to race, not merely run.
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