Bango Takes Record-Tying Form to Keeneland for G2 Phoenix

Bango wins the Louisville Thoroughbred Society Sep. 16 at Churchill Downs (JennyPhoto/Past The Wire)

Phoenix Is Win and You’re In for Breeders’ Cup Sprint

By Amber Joyce

LEXINGTON, Ky.— With his name freshly inked in Churchill Downs’ record books, fan-favorite sprinter Bango will take his accolades to Keeneland for Friday’s Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G2), a six-furlong sprint for horses aged three years old and upward. 

Trained by Greg Foley, Bango most recently captured the $300,000 Louisville Thoroughbred Society by a head, collecting his 11th win at Churchill Downs and tying the record for most documented victories beneath the Twin Spires. 

The Louisville Thoroughbred Society win was the ninth stakes win and 14th total from 33 starts for the six-year-old son of Congrats, but one thing is missing on his impressive resume: a graded stakes win. The Phoenix will be Bango’s fourth attempt at capturing a graded stakes race, having finished off the board in his three existing tries. His last attempt came in 2021 in the Churchill Downs (G1), where he finished sixth of 12 beaten 2 ½ lengths by Flagstaff.

Bango will also be looking for his first win around the Keeneland oval. He was fourth in the Commonwealth (G3) in 2021 and fourth in the $125,000 Perryville the year prior. 

A homebred for Tamaroak Partners LLC, Bango will be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione from post position seven. Gaffalione was aboard for Bango’s record-tying victory. 

Kueber Racing, LLC’s Gulfstream Way [Ricardo Santana, Jr., post position four] was second in the Louisville Thoroughbred Society behind Bango and will look to turn the tables. 

Susan Moulton’s seven-year-old veteran Manny Wah [Corey Lanerie, post position two] will set his sights on a title defense in the Phoenix. The Wayne Catalano trainee became a graded stakes winner when capturing this race last year by a neck at odds of 17-1. A month later, he was fourth beaten 2 ½ lengths in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) at Keeneland.

Since then, he has run four times, his best showing a third-place effort in the $100,000 Duncan F. Kenner Jan. 21 at Fair Grounds. Bango finished one spot ahead of him that day. 

Manny Wah was last seen finishing fifth in an allowance optional claimer April 8 at Keeneland.

Jun H. Park and Delia Nash’s Sibelius [Luis Saez, post position three] was fourth as the favorite in last year’s Phoenix but quickly made up for it, going on to win the Mr. Prospector (G3) to close out the year and this year, became a Grade 1 winner in the Dubai Golden Shaheen (G1).

That win on the Dubai World Cup undercard March 25 makes Sibelius the lone Grade 1 winner in a field of 11 in this year’s Phoenix, but he will need to reverse some losing form. 

In June, he was a well-beaten fourth behind Bango and star sprinter Gunite in the $225,000 Aristides at Churchill Downs. Connections then opted to ship him to California for the Bing Crosby (G1) July 29 at Del Mar, where he was prominent early but ultimately faded to seventh.

Another Phoenix alumni is 4 G Racing, LLC’s Top Gunner, who was third behind Manny Wah last year. The Into Mischief gelding secured his lone stakes win in the $160,000 St. Matthews Overnight at Churchill Downs last May, in which he got the best of Bango and Manny Wah. 

Trained by John Ortiz, Top Gunner returns to the races for the first time since November of last year, where he notched a third-place finish behind Bango and Sibelius in the $300,000 Bet on Sunshine at Churchill Downs. 

4 G Racing, LLC and Ortiz will also team up Friday in the Jessamine (G2) with Crown Imperial. Ortiz also sends out undefeated Grade 1 winner Brightwork in the Darley Alcibiades (G1).

McEntee Racing, Inc.’s Baytown Bear [Jane Elliott, post position 10] and The Scherr Boys’ Necker Island [Flavien Prat, post position six] also contested last year’s Phoenix.

A horse with a love for Keeneland and a handful of placings in graded stakes on his record is Qatar Racing and Mrs. Fitriani Hay’s Nakatomi [Irad Ortiz, Jr., post position eight].

Nakatomi has won three of his four Keeneland starts (from five wins overall in his career), dating back to his debut win as a juvenile in April of 2021. He returned later that year and became a stakes winner in the $150,000 Bowman Mill.

Last year, he defeated Grade 2 winner Endorsed in an allowance optional claimer and his most recent start at Keeneland came in the Commonwealth (G3) April 8, where he just missed show honors, settling for fourth. 

Including the Commonwealth, Wesley Ward-trained Nakatomi has tried graded stakes company seven times in his 13-race career, never finishing better than third. He’ll attempt to break through in the Phoenix off the back of a strong allowance win July 16 at Saratoga. 

Dream Team One Racing Stable’s Grade 1-placed Hoist the Gold will aim for his first stakes win and his first trip to the winner’s circle since defeating Gulfstream Way in an allowance optional claimer July 1 at Ellis Park. 

Hoist the Gold enters off of two distant off-the-board tries in graded stakes company at Del Mar, the July 29 Bing Crosby (G1) and the Aug. 26 Pat O’Brien (G2), respectively. 

Trainer Roddina Barrett will be taking a shot with Nicole Droder’s graded stakes-placed Voodoo Zip [James Graham, post position 11], who was picked up for a $50,000 tag out of a third-place finish Sep. 13 at Kentucky Downs. 

Voodoo Zip will be the first graded stakes starter for Barrett and the first starter in any stakes race for Droder. The six-year-old gelding is winless in nine starts since capturing an allowance optional claimer last spring at Belmont Park. 

Rounding out the field is an intriguing runner in the form of Peter D. Mattson’s Minnesota homebred Doctor Oscar [Alonso Quinonez, post position nine] for trainer Tim Padilla.

Doctor Oscar has won three stakes in his career, all at Canterbury Park for registered Minnesota-breds. With four wins under his belt from eight starts in 2023, he faces his biggest test yet after taking the $75,000 Crocrock Minnesota Sprint Championship by six lengths Sep. 9.

The Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G2) is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In, providing the winner with an automatic and free entry into the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1).

Keeneland’s Friday card also features the Jessamine presented by Keeneland November (G2) and the Darley Alcibiades (G1), Win and You’re In races for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) and the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), respectively. 

The field for the Phoenix (G2) with riders, trainers, and weights from the rail out: