East Avenue. (Courtney Snow/Past The Wire)
Survives Objection For The Victory
Keeneland Release
LEXINGTON, Ky.–Godolphin’s homebred East Avenue took the lead out of the gate and never trailed as he posted a 5 1/4-length victory over favorite Ferocious in the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity.
Trained by Brendan Walsh and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, East Avenue completed the 1 1/16 miles over a fast main track in 1:43.17. It is the second victory in the race for Walsh, who won with Maxfield in 2019.
With the victory, East Avenue earned a fees-paid berth into the $2 million FanDuel Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) Presented by Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance to be held at Del Mar on Nov. 1.
East Avenue was first out of the gate. In the run to the first turn to his inside, Ferocious and Optical exchanged bumps while in tight that led to an objection against the winner by the runner-up. With clear sailing, East Avenue quickly established a clear advantage in the field of 11 through fractions of :23.18, :46.76 and 1:11.20.
Dapper Moon raced in closest pursuit with Ferocious third until the far turn when Ferocious moved into second but was unable to threaten the winner.
East Avenue’s victory gave Godolphin a sweep of the weekend’s Grade 1 events for 2-year-olds as Immersive won the Darley Alcibiades the day before. The win was worth $348,750 and improved East Avenue’s earnings to $390,645.
East Avenue is a Kentucky-bred son of Medaglia d’Oro out of the Ghostzapper mare Dance Music.
Sent off as the second choice, East Avenue returned $7.56, $3.72 and $3.36. Ferocious, who was fractious in the gate and unseated Luis Saez, returned $2.88 and $2.56 and finished 4¼ lengths in front of Filoso, who paid $8.02 to show under John Velazquez.
It was another length back to Dapper Moon with Mesero, Tenacious Leader, Big Boat, Handsome Pants, Saratoga Cruiser, Ready for Peace and Optical following in order.
Racing continues Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. ET with a 10-race program that features three stakes headlined by the $600,000 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) for fillies and mares. The Juddmonte Spinster is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race with the winner earning a fees-paid berth into the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Del Mar on Nov. 2.
Quotes from the $600,000 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1)
Tyler Gaffalione (winning rider of East Avenue): “I had plenty of horse left. He’s pretty special. I’m really excited about him.”
Brendan Walsh (winning trainer): “I’ve been lucky enough to have a couple of very good horses the last two years, especially with (owner) Godolphin, and he seemed like he was right up there. I was just waiting for confirmation. I think he’s a very special horse.”
Luis Saez (rider of runner-up and beaten favorite Ferocious): “He ran big. He’s a good horse.”
Ramiro Restrepo (co-owner of Ferocious): “You just have to take it race by race. Am I going to be upset that I’m second in a Grade 1 at Keeneland? The end-all be-all isn’t tomorrow. The end-all be-all is a long career. I’m happy that we got a great runner-up effort, and it’s onto the next race, whatever it may be. You have to have patience with these (young horses). He separated himself from the rest of the field.”
John Velazquez (rider of third-place finisher Filoso): “A little too far back for my horse. I knew my horse didn’t have much speed, but I didn’t think he’d be that far back. He made a nice run down the lane, so I’m pretty proud of him.”
