Leofric rallies for stakes win on final day of record-setting Fall Meet at Keeneland
That gray streak nudging his head in front at the finish for Keeneland’s closing day Hagyard Fayette Stakes on Saturday was a horse determined not to lose.
Leofric wore down Prime Attraction by that short margin and banked the $120,000 winner’s share of the $200,000 purse. He also handed a Grade 2 stakes win to Steve Landers Racing, trainer Brad Cox, and jockey Florent Geroux.
Nice Not Nice was third in the 1-1/8 mile marathon, followed by Hence, Rated R Superstar, Hofburg and Scuba, with the race clocked in 1:49.87. Hofburg and Leofric went postward co-favorites at $1.70 to $1 with slightly more money bet on Hofburg, third last spring in the Belmont Stakes. But when the dirt cleared on the sealed muddy track, the less popular member of this duo of favorites — Leofric — was the winner paying the $5.40 price.
Leofric and Prime Attraction pushed the thrill-meter all the way to the right throughout. They raced one-two around the track, Prime Attraction always in front until Leofric briefly got his nose past Prime Attraction in the stretch. Then they switched back and Prime Attraction looked the winner until Geroux pushed Leofric back in front right before the finish.
Geroux said the close finish was a great feeling because the other horse never gave up. “It was a great battle right to the wire,” the jockey said. “These are the type of races people want to see.”
In staying close to Prime Attraction, never getting farther back from him than by a length, Leofric demonstrated that he does prefer running near the front, although he has shown he can also win when coming from far off the pace. Geroux called him a “very tactical” horse while Cox, Leofric’s trainer, said the 5-year-old son of Candy Ride is getting better with age. Leofric won the Grade III West Virginia Governor’s Stakes in August and has also won three of his last four races.
Prime Attraction, on the other hand, had not previously raced in mud as his trainer, Jim Cassidy, pointed out. “That was my concern going in,” Cassidy said. “I was hoping it would dry out.” Cassidy credited jockey Kent Desormeaux with riding a perfect race on the lead, and lauded Prime Attraction for not giving up when Leofric came at him nearing the wire.
Both horses might be headed to the Clark Handicap on Nov. 23 at Churchill Downs.
The thriller that was the Hagyard Fayette Stakes capped off a Fall Meet that set a record in all-sources wagering for live racing. This figure reached $144,309,944 for the 17-day Fall Meet. The figure surpassed the previous record of $139,660,204 set in 2013. The total also increased by 18.57 percent from the $121,712,702 posted for the fall meet a year ago. The all-sources total for this season’s fall meet does not include whole-card simulcasting at Keeneland.
Leaders for the Fall Meet in the owner, trainer and jockey divisions went down to closing day Saturday. Ken and Sarah Ramsey won their 21st leading owner title at Keeneland with six wins during the fall meet. Todd Pletcher wound up the meet as leading trainer with nine wins, beating out Mike Maker and Steve Asmussen. Eclipse Award-winning jockeys finished 1-2 in the rider standings: Tyler Gaffalione was first with 15 wins during his first full meet riding at Keeneland. Julien Leparoux finished second with 12 wins.
Other noteworthy milestones included the Pick Four and Pick Five wagering records for the fall meet. The All-Stakes Pick Four handle of $737,408 broke the previous record of $479,166. The All-Stakes Pick Five totaled $619,106, besting the former record of $496,723.
Keeneland also set betting records for single-day all-sources handle and Pick Four and Pick Five pools on Fall Stars Saturday, Oct. 6. Total all-sources handle of $17,122,465 exceeded the previous fall meet single-day record of $15,926,396 set two years previously.
Keeneland’s on-track attendance and on-track wagering were down compared to a year ago. On-track attendance totaled 241,806, dropping 10.63 percent from last fall. Average daily attendance was 14,224 while last year it averaged 15,915.
A total of 54 horses that raced or trained at Keeneland during October were pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships Nov. 2-3 at Churchill Downs. Ten of those horses earned a spot in the Breeders’ Cup through Breeders’ Cup Challenge races held at Keeneland during this fall meet.
This story was originally published October 27, 2018 at 8:19 PM.