Bango

3rd-Churchill Downs, $136,640, Alw (C)/Opt. Clm ($175,000), 9-27, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:09.76, sy, 2 1/4 lengths. BANGO (h, 7, Congrats--Josaka, by Smart Strike) had not visited the winner's circle at his home track since the Louisville Thoroughbred Society Stakes over a year ago. On the hunt for his 12th victory which would give him the all-time Churchill record over Ready's Rocket (More Than Ready), the 7-year-old was last seen finishing off the board over this surface in the Kelly's Landing Stakes June 29. Facing three others and as the 9-5 second...

Hoist the Gold (Mineshaft) punched his ticket to the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint with an overdue first graded stakes win in Friday's 'Win and You're In' GII Stoll Keenon Odgen Phoenix S. at Keeneland. He finished third in the GI Runhappy Malibu S. at Santa Anita last December and second in this year's GI Churchill Downs S. on the Kentucky Derby undercard. He fell just a neck short in this spring's GIII Commonwealth S. in Lexington. Last seen finishing a well-beaten sixth in the GII Pat O'Brien S. Aug. 26...

The fall isn't really, The Fall, until Keeneland arrives. Well, get your steaming pot of burgoo ready, because it's here. Scheduled for Friday, Oct. 6, the meet's opening day at the Old Keene Farm is upon us and the 10-race card includes a trio of graded stakes which all have Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' implications. Leading off is the GII Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix S. for 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs on the Main Track. Suitors for the GI Breeders' Cup Qatar Racing Sprint include MSW Bango...

Bango (Congrats) tied the record set by Ready's Rocket (More Than Ready) in 2012 for wins at storied Churchill Downs on Saturday when he won the Louisville Thoroughbred Society S. Last seen having his picture taken July 1 at Ellis Park in the Kelly's Landing S. July 1, the experienced even-money favorite here stayed close to Strobe (Into Mischief) up the backstretch, but entering the lane he seized the lead. Despite a strong late performance by Gulfstream Way (Gemologist), Bango finished the job to notch his eleventh victory under the...

It was a day Greg Foley will never forget when his stable got to the winner's circle for not just one, but two stakes wins last Saturday at Ellis Park. The barn's beloved Bango (Congrats) added to his already impressive resume when he took the Kelly's Landing S. Not long after, Stitched (Mizzen Mast) pulled a 46-1 upset in the GII Wise Dan S. to give Foley his second career Grade II victory. "It was an exciting day for sure," Foley said later the following week. "It was one of...