LEXINGTON, Ky. - Tennessee Lamb became a lion in the stretch of the Grade 3, $350,000 Ben Ali Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland. Passed by favored Uno Mas Bourbon in the stretch, with that one appearing poised to sail on to the win, Tennessee Lamb battled back and edged clear in the final stages for a 1 1/2-length victory.
"He did pass me," jockey Jose Ortiz said. "I went to my left hand [with the stick], and my horse responded very well."
Tennessee Lamb ($9.74) is a Calumet Farm homebred trained by Rusty Arnold, who sent out two winners on the day. With that, Arnold moved into a tie with Bill Mott for the all-time wins record at Keeneland, with 307 each.
Tennessee Lamb, a May foal, took eight tries to break his maiden, doing so in November of last year at Churchill Downs. That kicked off a run in which the now-4-year-old has won three of his past four starts. The Ben Ali was his stakes debut.
"He was a big, rangy baby," assistant trainer Lyndsay Delello said. "I think he just needed time to mature, mentally and physically. Obviously, you can see, he's a big, gorgeous horse, and I think he's really hit his stride. We're so proud of him."
Tennessee Lamb was keen out of the gate, racing on the flank of Prince of Power, who broke just to his inside, as those two led the field through early splits of 23.40 seconds for the opening quarter, and 47.70 for the half.
"I felt like going into the first turn, he was too keen," Ortiz said. "I wanted to get him to settle, and he didn't settle until he got to the backside. Approaching the half-mile, he took a deep breath, and then I was very happy to feel that underneath me. And after that, he did the rest. He was very resilient."
Tennessee Lamb inherited the solo lead as Prince of Power backed out of it around the far turn, but soon found himself confronted on both sides. Uno Mas Bourbon, sent away as the favorite, had made a steady run from fifth to pose a threat on the outside. Meanwhile, second choice San Siro, who had gotten a nice ground-saving trip, briefly considered following Uno Mas Bourbon before diving back to a clear rail.
Uno Mas Bourbon surged by Tennessee Lamb before jumping back to his left lead and appearing to idle. Tennessee Lamb fought back to reclaim his advantage at the sixteenth pole and edged clear to the wire. San Siro, appearing to be put in tight quarters by the winner down inside, continued on well to be second, edging Uno Mas Bourbon by a neck.
“My horse has just one big, long pace so it took him a while to get going,” Edgar Morales, aboard San Siro, said. “By the time he got going, [Tennessee Lamb] came over enough just to keep intimidating him. He crowded me, he did what he had to do. He didn’t bump into me or anything.”
The time for the 1 3/16 miles on the fast track was 1:59.
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