Romeo came into Sunday’s $225,000 Bashford Manor Stakes as the most experienced member of the field with two starts, and the only one with prior stakes experience. He parlayed that into a 3 3/4-length win in the early-season fixture for the division on closing day of the Churchill Downs meet.
Romeo ($18.70), a colt from the second crop of Honor A. P., is trained by John Robb for Joseph Lloyd. He won his debut by 10 1/4 lengths at his Laurel Park base. He then finished third behind the filly Mythical in the Tremont Stakes the first week of June at Saratoga; the filly earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 93, tops for this division so far this year.
On Sunday, Romeo and Xavier Perez set a pressured pace, coming to the quarter pole a half-length ahead of Comport in a split of 44.39 seconds. But the top two had plenty left in the tank, as Romeo cleared through the lane to his final margin, and Comport came home another seven lengths in front of favored Password in third.
The time for the six furlongs was 1:08.61.
In converse circumstances, Percy’s Bar came into the sister race, the $225,000 Debutante, with relatively little experience compared to her foes. She was not only racing for the first time in two months, but was going from the 4 1/2-furlong heats of the start of the season to six furlongs. It made no difference, as the filly made a bold, wide move approaching the quarter pole under Luan Machado and opened up to win the Debutante by five lengths.
Jaboss, the longest shot on the board, was second after bumping the gate, 1 1/4 lengths ahead of third-place Color Comin’ In.
The fillies finished the six furlongs in 1:09.71.
Percy’s Bar ($8.88), by Upstart, is trained by Ben Colebrook for Hat Creek Racing. She won her debut April 23 at Keeneland.
“We gave her a couple weeks just galloping and just kind of let her be a horse a little bit,” Colebrook said. “But when we picked up the breezes she was like a fish to water.”
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