Desvio with John Velazquez up wins the Sycamore. (Keeneland Photo)
Pick 6 Carryover for Saturday Climbs to $408,658
Keeneland Release
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Stonelea Stables and Bonnie Rye Stable’s Desvio rallied from far off the pace at 34-1 to post a half-length victory over Safe Trip Home to win the 31st running of the $400,000 Sycamore (G2) for 3-year-olds and up Friday afternoon.
Trained by Madison Meyers and ridden by John Velazquez, Desvio completed 1½ miles on a turf course rated as good in 2:29.16. The performance marked the first Keeneland victory for Meyers and the fifth stakes win of the Fall Meet for Velazquez, who also won the Sycamore with Highland Chief (IRE) in 2022.
Utah Beach led the field of 10 with favored Ohana Honor tracking closely in second through fractions of :25.49, :50.94, 1:15.26 and 1:39.51 while Desvio raced next to last while receiving a ground-saving trip from Velazquez.
The top two remained unchanged into the stretch with the first threats coming from Safe Trip Home and Grand Sonata. At the eighth pole, Velazquez tipped Desvio to the outside to make a six-wide move that propelled them past Safe Trip Home in deep stretch.
A Keeneland sales graduate, Desvio is a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding by Yoshida (JPN) out of the Uncle Mo mare Fitzrovia. In registering his first graded stakes victory, Desvio improved his record to 16-4-1-2 and boosted his earnings to $479,839 with Friday’s $174,375 check.
Desvio returned the highest win mutuel in the history of the Sycamore at $70.90 and added respective place and show payoffs of $25.18 and $11.60. Safe Trip Home, ridden by Emmanuel Esquivel, returned $10.36 and $6.68 and finished 1½ lengths in front of Utah Beach, who paid $3.28 to show under Jose Ortiz.
It was another length back to Ohana Honor with Anglophile, Grand Sonata, Il Siciliano, San Siro, Reiquist and Goldeneye following in order.
Racing continues Saturday with a 10-race program beginning at 1 p.m. ET and featuring the 42nd running of the $800,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana for 3-year-old fillies going 1⅛ miles on the turf.
Keeneland will offer a Pick 6 carryover of $408,658.
Quotes from the $400,000 Sycamore (G2) at Keeneland
John Velazquez (winning rider of 34-1 longshot Desvio): “The first part was pretty easy. (Trainer) Madison (Meyers) told me, ‘When you need to get going, you’re going to have to ride him. He’s not going to be an easy ride.’ Once I got to the five-eighths pole, I started knocking at him, knocking at him, and then when I got to the quarter pole, I put him in the clear and he started running. He got to the lead a little sooner and he started to wait, and I said, ‘No, buddy, we gotta keep running.’ It was well done by the team, coming here. Madison told me he was ready today and he was ready.”
Madison Meyers (winning trainer), On the decision to enter the Sycamore with Desvio: “He’s just been training better than he has in a while, since around the time of (his win in) the (listed) Kent (Stakes at Delaware Park in July 2024). He tailed off a little bit in the fall, and we had done a lot of traveling with him, so we sent him to the farm over the winter and just let him be a horse. (Former jockey and now exercise rider) Rob Massey gets on him in the morning — he had him at his place over the winter — and he’s come back in and was just in super form.
“A couple weeks ago, I was looking for long races and we were trying to figure out where you go this time of year, and Rob said, ‘If you’re going to take a swing, now’s the time, because this horse is better than he’s ever been.’ So honestly, we had kind of a very quiet confidence coming here, because it is Keeneland, and they don’t give races away here.”
On processing winning a graded stakes at Keeneland: “It’s going to take a while. This is actually my home track. I’m from Lexington. We’re based in Middleburg, Virginia, and at Laurel Park. My husband has a string there and we move horses in and out of the training center. So, this is going to take a while to sink in, being from here, growing up here and going to Keeneland.”
Jose Ortiz (rider of third-place finisher Utah Beach): “Broke clean. Going into the first turn, everybody was looking at each other. Who’s going to go? No speed in the race. So, I was there. I took it (the lead). I tried to nurse it along as long as I could. I felt like the times were very moderate. Very easy. Just couldn’t hold on.”
Did you see eventual winner Desvio come from behind? Were you expecting that?: “I don’t think anybody did. That’s why we run the races: Anybody can win.”
Terry Finley, President of West Point Thoroughbreds (co-owner of fourth-place finisher and beaten favorite Ohana Honor): “Flavien (Prat) rode the horse perfectly; he just didn’t quite fire today. He didn’t get beat (very far), he kept grinding. We will regroup for his next start. The third start off a layoff is a good handicapping angle. There are plenty of spots for him. He’s quality, he looks great, and we just need to get him back in the game.”
