By Alan Carasso
California-based Umberto Rispoli was set to ride Amerman Racing's Endlessly (Oscar Performance) in the GI Kentucky Derby about three hours later, and he got the partnership off to a fortuitous beginning on the Derby undercard, guiding Trikari (Oscar Performance) to a massive upset of the $600,000 GII American Turf S.
A whopping 47-1 while making his first foray into graded competition, the $27,500 OBS October yearling scratched down into the inside stall and immediately secured the box seat, as 24-1 Formidable Man (City of Light) came across from the four hole to set the pace from a tugging and visibly lathered-up 6-5 chalk Legend Of Time (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) to the backstretch.
Going well while slipstreaming the pacesetter passing the half-mile peg, Trikari was patiently ridden into the final three furlongs by Rispoli before popping away from the fence and into the three path to deliver his challenge in upper stretch. Formidable Man proved an exceptionally stubborn foe up front and held grimly into the final furlong, but Trikari grabbed him at the sixteenth pole and inched away to lite up the tote. Lagynos (Kantharos) ran into a bit of traffic trouble inside the three-furlong pole, was switched out late and flashed home for third at 36-1.
The $1 exacta returned better than $662, the trifecta nearly $6,000 for a buck and the dollar superfecta, with 7-1 Cugino (Twirling Candy) filling the fourth spot, over $69,000.
A veteran of just four career starts, Trikari took some nibbles on Keeneland turf debut last October, but was one of the first beaten, then turned it around with a 26-1 upset in a two-turn maiden over the Gulfstream Tapeta Dec. 28. Beaten on the post when making nearly every yard in a 7 1/2-furlong turf allowance in Hallandale Feb. 10, Trikari most recently gave Rispoli a landmark victory in the Mar. 23 Rushaway S. on the Turfway synth.
“This horse is a very special horse in my career,” the Italian reinsman said. “I won my 2,000th race aboard him and I can't thank his connections enough for keeping me aboard.”
Pedigree Notes:
The fifth graded winner from two full crops to race for his outstanding young sire–campaigned by the Amermans–Trikari hails from a classy George Strawbridge family and is out of a winner of the grassy Herecomesthebride S., who was purchased by Michael Slezak for $14,000 with this colt in utero at the 2021 Fasig-Tipton February Sale.
Trikari's stakes-winning second dam was responsible for eight winners from nine runners, of those four full black-type winners, including GSWs Lift Up (Ghostzapper) and Varenka (Ghostzapper), SW/MGSP Appealing Cat (Successful Appeal) and SW Cat's Holiday (Harlan's Holiday). Third dam Silent Cat was a half-sister to Augustin Stable's talented Crowd Pleaser (A.P. Indy).
Dynamic Holiday is represented by a New York-bred 2-year-old Jimmy Creed filly and a yearling colt by Beau Liam. She was sold for $3,000 in foal to Mind Control during the Fasig-Tipton Digital October Sale. Trikari was the second graded winner on the afternoon as a broodmare sire for the late Harlan's Holiday, whose daughter Vahva (Gun Runner) took the GI Derby City Distaff.
Saturday, Churchill Downs
AMERICAN TURF S. PRESENTED BY TWINSPIRES-GII, $596,560, Churchill Downs, 5-4, 3yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:43.59, gd.
1–TRIKARI, 118, c, 3, by Oscar Performance
1st Dam: Dynamic Holiday (GSW, $267,126),
by Harlan's Holiday
2nd Dam: Dynamic Cat, by Dynaformer
3rd Dam: Silent Cat, by Rahy
1ST GRADED STAKES WIN. ($9,000 Ylg '22 KEEJAN; $27,500 Ylg '22 OBSOCT). O-Amerman Racing LLC; B-Michael A Slezak & Amy Boll (KY); T-H. Graham Motion; J-Umberto Rispoli. $342,100. Lifetime Record: 5-3-1-0, $541,890. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Formidable Man, 118, c, 3, City of Light–Fanticola, by Silent Name (Jpn). 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. ($375,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-William K. Warren, Jr. and Suzanne Warren; B-Town & Country Horse Farms, LLC (KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy. $111,000.
3–Lagynos, 118, c, 3, Kantharos–Steamy, by Speightstown. ($200,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP). O-HRH Prince Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud; B-Robert Spiegel (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen. $55,500.
Margins: 1HF, HF, 1HF. Odds: 47.17, 24.00, 36.64.
Also Ran: Cugino, Legend of Time (GB), Agate Road, Neat, Noted, Can Group, Abrumar, Blue Eyed George, Set, Lord Bullingdon, Stay Hot. Scratched: Dancing Groom, Rock'n a Halo, Twirling Point.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
#2 Trikari pulls off the huge upset in the American Turf Stakes @ChurchillDowns at odds of 47/1!
Jockey: @umbyrispoli
Trainer: @GrahamMotion
Owner: Amerman Racing Stables LLC🎥 #TwinSpiresReplay pic.twitter.com/3kw3sIDGiC
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) May 4, 2024
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