Irish Aces (#4 outside) battles Nineeleventurbo to the wire. (Kentucky Downs Photo)
By Tim Wilkin
FRANKLIN, Ky. — The way jockey Tyler Gaffalione sees it, being successful at Kentucky Downs is all about momentum. If the 29-year-old is going to win his third consecutive riding title at the seven-day meet, he has to have momentum on his side.
On Thursday, Gaffalione said it was all about momentum as Irish Aces won the $500,000 The Big Ass Fans Tapit Stakes, the opening day feature.
Irish Aces, trained by Brendan Walsh and owned by Marc Wampler and Jared Shoemaker’s Pocket Aces Racing, edged Nineeleventurbo by a head to get the victory in the 1 mile and 70-yard race.
“He is not an explosive horse,” Gaffalione said after the race. “He kind of builds on momentum. You keep building him up and he keeps finding.”
Irish Aces began finding when Gaffalione began asking. Early on, the pair rated inside and then came up two deep of the outside of the 17-1 Nineeleventurbo, who was ridden by Florent Geroux.
Heading down the stretch, the two horses separated from the rest of the field and it was Irish Aces who found more and had the momentum edge at the wire.
“This is a cool horse,” said Paul Madden, Walsh’s assistant who saddled Irish Aces. “He’s run some sneaky good races this year and it’s not the biggest surprise. Great race, picked out by the boss, and it’s been the plan for a while. And it came together.”
Walsh, who won the training title last year, had a solid opening day as he won two races. He won the third race with Oscar Season, who is also owned by Pocket Aces Racing. Walsh ran six horses on opening day; all of them hit the board.
Irish Aces, the 3-1 second choice in the field of nine, won for the third time in eight career starts on the grass. In his last start, a second level allowance at Saratoga on July 13, he finished third – beaten a half-length — as the even-money favorite.
“He was a little unlucky that day,” Gaffalione, who rode him that day, said. “He got caught behind a wall coming into the stretch and I had to wait a long time before I was able to get him out. It was unfortunate, but he definitely made up for it today.”
The 4-year-old Irish Aces is a son of Mshawish. He was bred in Kentucky by Lynch Bages LTD.
The final time for the race was 1:41.71.
Nineeleventurbo, trained by Neil Drysdale, took the lead from the start and carved out fractions of 24.38, 48.39, 1:13.66 and 1:37.67. But the 7-year-old gelding could not hold off the determined charge from Irish Aces.
“He gave me a great deal of confidence going around there,” Gaffalione said. “He was traveling well throughout. When I called on him – it was a hard-fought duel – he kept finding and got the job done.”
Siege of Boston finished third and was followed by 4-5 favorite Chasing the Crown, Howling Time, Eamonn, last year’s winner Harlan Estate, Miranda Rights and English Bee.
Big Ass Fans Tapit Stakes Quotes
Paul Madden, assistant trainer to winning trainer Brendan Walsh, Irish Aces: “This is a cool horse. They bought him for a wonderful partnership here, Pocket Aces, headed by Marc Wampler and Jared Shoemaker. You can see they have a big following here. It’s big. He’s run some sneaky good races this year, and it’s not the biggest surprise. Great race, picked out by the boss, and it’s been the plan for a while. And it came together.”
Winning jockey Tyler Gaffalione, Irish Aces: “He gave me a great deal of confidence going around there. He was traveling well throughout. When I called on him – it was a hard-fought duel – he kept finding and he got the job done.”
(He rode him in his last race, a third-place finish as the even-money favorite in an allowance optional claimer at Saratoga on Aug. 3): “A little unlucky that day. He got caught behind a wall coming into the stretch and I had to wait a long time before I was able to get him out. It was unfortunate, but he definitely made up for it today.”
(How did he take to the course, first time at Kentucky Downs): “He loved it. When I got him on the track, he felt very comfortable. I had a ton of confidence. Any time you can win here it’s great. Hopefully, we can just keep building off of this and see what happens.”
“Right before we made the bend towards the quarter pole, I started to ask him a little bit. He is not an explosive horse, he kind of builds on momentum. You keep building him up and he keeps finding.”
