One Shot. (Courtney Snow/Past The Wire)
Gets first graded stakes victory in Woodford Presented by FanDuel
Keeneland Release
LEXINGTON, Ky.–Gatsas Stables, Steven Schoenfeld and trainer John Terranova’s Our Shot hit the front at the 16th pole en route to a 1¾-length victory over Charcoal in the Woodford (G2) Presented by FanDuel.
Ridden by Luis Saez, Our Shot completed the 5½ furlongs over a firm turf course in 1:02.36 to post his first graded stakes victory. It is the second win in the race for Saez, who won on Leinster in 2020.
Our Shot got a ground-saving trip on the run down the backstretch as the quartet of Souper Quest, Coppola, Nobals and Foxtrotanna dueled on the front end. Approaching the stretch, Saez angled Our Shot off the inside and swung five-wide for a clear path and taking over in deep stretch.
Our Shot is a 5-year-old Pennsylvania-bred son of Kantharos out of the Northern Afleet mare Fleetheart. The victory was worth $169,725 and improved Our Shot’s earnings to $570,080 with a record of 19-6-4-1.
Second in this race last year, Our Shot returned $13.66, $7.44 and $5.02. Charcoal, ridden by Axel Concepcion, returned $17.66 and $10.64 and finished a neck ahead of defending champion Arzak, who paid $4.42 to show under Jaime Torres.
It was another nose back to Coppola, who was followed in order by One Timer and Nobals, who dead-heated for fifth, XY Speed, Souper Quest, Let My People Go, No Nay Hudson (IRE), Foxtrotanna and Gear Jockey.
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 $350,000 Woodford (G2) Presented by FanDuel
Luis Saez (winning rider of Our Shot): “The plan with him was to try to take him out there, and everything came like we planned. We really liked him for this race. His last two races at Saratoga were a little tricky. We had a lot of trouble (beaten a nose in an allowance optional claiming race July 28 and a head in the listed Harvey Pack Stakes Sept. 2), but we couldn’t wait to be here today and were pretty comfortable that he was going to do a pretty good race.”
John Terranova II (winning trainer and co-owner): “We hope (he’s turned a corner after this performance). We think so. These turf sprinters, they tend to get better with age and with some seasoning. He was coming into this race doing really well. We saw a little something extra in him this week – his attitude, just his whole mental attitude and everything since he got here – so were pretty confident he was going to run a good race, hoping it set up well and he got a good trip. (Jockey) Luis (Saez) gave him a fantastic ride. The whole team did a great job.”
Jaime Torres (rider of defending champion and third-place finisher Arzak): “I wish I could have saved a little bit more ground. He’s a horse that likes to run on the outside. He tried hard. We are happy with him, he tried hard.”
Mike Trombetta (trainer of Arzak): “I would’ve liked to do a little better than that, but I’m grateful we did as well as we did. These races are never easy, as the rider said he lost a bit of ground coming around the turn but, we just weren’t quite strong enough to get there. But I was very happy as he put in his run.”
Whether Arzak will continue to the Breeders’ Cup: “As far as I’m concerned it’s certainly a conversation, but we have to talk to the owner (Marc Tacher) and see what he’s feeling.”
