Utah Beach and Vincent Cheminaud capture the Elkhorn (Keeneland Photo)
Tennessee Lamb Wins Stakes Debut in G3 Ben Ali
Keeneland Press Release
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jeffrey Amling and Merriebelle Stable’s homebred Utah Beach collared Limited Liability at the sixteenth pole and then outdueled that foe to prevail by a head and win the 40th running of the $400,000 VisitLEX Elkhorn (G2) for 4-year-olds and up Saturday afternoon.
Immediately following the VisitLEX Elkhorn, Calumet Farm’s homebred Tennessee Lamb took top honors in the 94th running of the $350,000 Ben Ali (G3) for 4-year-olds and up.
Trained by Ignacio Correas IV and ridden by Vincent Cheminaud, Utah Beach completed the mile and a half on a firm turf course in 2:29.78 in the VisitLEX Elkhorn.
Idratherbeblessed took the lead out of the gate and raced through an opening quarter-mile in :24.25, but by the time the field reached the finish line for the first time Frankie Dettori had sent Limited Liability past seven runners and into the lead after a half-mile in :50.09.
While Limited Liability was controlling the pace, Utah Beach was getting a ground-saving trip from Cheminaud as he inched his way toward the front. At the top of the stretch, Utah Beach moved off the rail and went after Limited Liability.
Utah Beach drew even at the sixteenth pole and finally pulled clear in deep stretch.
A 5-year-old Kentucky-bred son of English Channel out of the Lasting Approval mare My Own Story, Utah Beach notched his first stakes victory. Now 14-4-5-1 in his career, Utah Beach has earned $536,265 including Saturday’s $226,300 check.
Utah Beach returned $25.40, $10.16 and $6.86. Limited Liability returned $5.36 and $3.70 and finished 1¼ lengths in front of Anglophile, who paid $6.52 to show under Joel Rosario.
It was another 1¼ lengths back to Rebel Red (GB) with Verstappen, Grand Sonata, Ole Crazy Bone, favored Missed the Cut, Balnikhov (IRE), Idratherbeblessed, Dean Martini and Starting Over following in order.
Vincent Cheminaud (winning jockey of Utah Beach)
“To be honest, I wasn’t confident from the beginning because the pace was very slow, and I didn’t travel good into the first turn. But after that, when the favorite moved outside, the rest was much better. That’s why I was easier on the bit with my horse. Then I was confident. He breezed very good the last week. He’s a nice horse.”
Ignacio Correas IV (winning trainer)
“He likes Keeneland. Probably his best races, numbers and everything are here. We did like last year (when third in the Sycamore-G3 at Keeneland); we gave him a race before (a fourth-place finish in the March 22 Kentucky Cup Classic-G3 at Turfway Park), just to get him ready for today. Today it worked out better than last year. But this is racing: Some days it works, some days it don’t.”
On whether Utah Beach’s best days are still ahead
“Well, he’s by (2007 champion turf horse) English Channel, so he’s going to be better next year and probably better the next one (after that). That’s how they are so, yes, I’m sure the best is yet to come.”
Frankie Dettori (rider of runner-up Limited Liability)
“As usual, he was slow out of the gate – which is not helpful. First time around I slowed him up. I know he stays. I got to the front; he was relaxed with nice fractions. He’s a hard horse to take back. He’s exuberant. He doesn’t pull, but he wants to go for you. He’s a cash machine; he’s never out of the first three. He tried his hardest.”
Joel Rosario (rider of third-place finisher Anglophile)
“Good trip. It looked like for a second, he kind of got up there, but you know, it was a tough race, and he put his best out there, so I was happy.”
John Velazquez (rider of eighth-place finisher and beaten favorite Missed the Cut)
“It’s hard to go around all the way wide and keep running so far. I thought he still ran a pretty decent race.”
Tennessee Lamb Wins Stakes Debut in G3 Ben Ali
In the Ben Ali, Tennessee Lamb made his stakes debut a memorable one as he battled back in the stretch to overtake Uno Mas Bourbon and then hold off San Siro by 1½ lengths.
Trained by Rusty Arnold and ridden by Jose Ortiz, Tennessee Lamb completed the 1 3/16 miles on the fast main track in 1:59. With the victory, Arnold moved into a tie with Bill Mott for the most wins all time at Keeneland with 307.
Arnold also won Race 4 with Calumet’s Fixin to Bee.
The Ben Ali triumph gave Calumet and Ortiz a second stakes victory in two days coming on the heels of Gin Gin’s score in the Baird Doubledogdare (G3) at odds of 38-1.
Prince of Power led the field of seven through fractions of :23.40 and :47.70 with Tennessee Lamb tracking in second. Going into the final turn, Ortiz sent Tennessee Lamb to the front with Uno Mas Bourbon moving right behind him.
Uno Mas Bourbon took over at the top of the stretch only to have Tennessee Lamb battle back to inside and regain the lead at the sixteenth pole and pull away.
Tennessee Lamb is a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Tonalist out of the Smart Strike mare Tennessee Whiskey. Now 11-3-2-0 in his career, Tennessee Lamb picked up $211,575 for the victory to boost his earnings to $381,351.
Tennessee Lamb returned $9.74, $4.88 and $3.42. San Siro, ridden by Edgar Morales, returned $3.92 and $2.86 and finished a neck in front of Uno Mas Bourbon, who paid $3.22 to show under Brian Hernandez Jr.
It was another 3½ lengths back to Time for Trouble, who was followed in order by Piroli, Prince of Power and Duke of Love.
Jose Ortiz (winning jockey of Tennessee Lamb)
“Yeah, (Uno Mas Bourbon) did pass me (in the stretch). I went to my left hand and my horse responded very good, so I was very happy to see that. I felt like going into the first turn he was too keen. I wanted to get him to settle, but he didn’t settle until we got to the backside. I was a little bit worried – you know, a mile and three-sixteenths and he was a little bit keen the first three-eighths of a mile. I was a little bit worried on the backside but approaching the half-mile he took a deep breath, whoosh, and then I was very happy to feel that underneath me. After that, he did the rest. He was very resilient and we are very happy to get the win. He’s a barn favorite, so I’m very happy for the guys back in the barn.”
Edgar Morales (rider of runner-up San Siro)
“I was trying to get out of there (off the inside) and the 7 (Uno Mas Bourbon) got a little quicker turn of foot than mine. He got me on the jump turning for home, but then the rail opened and I thought I could go through there. My horse has just one big long pace so it took him a while to get going. By the time he got going, the 3 (Tennessee Lamb) came over enough just to keep intimidating (my horse). He crowded me, he did what he had to do. He didn’t bump into me or anything.”
Brian Hernandez Jr. (rider of third-place finisher and beaten favorite Uno Mas Bourbon)
“We had a good trip. He made the lead pretty easily and looked like he was home free. Then inside the eighth pole, for some reason, he jumped back to his left lead and it just kind of gassed him. He didn’t have much left to offer.”
