By Alan Carasso
From his nine previous rides on the veteran New York-bred Spirit of St Louis (Medaglia d'Oro), jockey Manny Franco had amassed an enviable record of seven wins and two second-place efforts, one of those defeats coming by a flared nostril.
With Tyler Gaffalione–who rode the gelding to victory in the GI Pegasus World Cup Turf two starts back–sidelined via injury, Franco rekindled his relationship with the Chad Brown galloper in Saturday's GI Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic and the partnership's 10th trip to the races resulted in their biggest score to date on one of the biggest stages in horse racing.
“We get along really well, I think he likes me,” Franco told Churchill's Kaitlin Free before hustling off to change into the Godolphin blue for the Derby ride aboard 'TDN Rising Star' East Avenue (Medaglia d'Oro).
Favored at 31-10, the $280,000 Keeneland April Horses of Racing Age Sale graduate left fairly from barrier 10 in the 11-horse field and raced at the tail of the field, three deep out of the stretch with cover on the back of Cameo Performance (Oscar Performance) as Gigante (Not This Time) slowly but surely worked his way to the front from the outside box, overtaking the early leader Mercante (Gun Runner).
Snugly held together by Franco as the Turf Classic raced past the half-mile marker and now traveling in the wake of his well-fancied stablemate Running Bee (English Channel), Spirt of St Louis came out once again to follow Cameo Performance's move into the stretch. Shifted farther out three-sixteenths from home, Spirit of St Louis found another gear inside the final furlong and was along in time in a frenetic finish. Mercante was a tough second ahead of and Highway Robber (Hard Spun), back from Dubai for Jim and Susan Hill, was third ahead of the rail-rallying Gold Phoenix (Ire) (Belardo {Ire}). Second favorite Integration (Quality Road), fourth in this event last year, struck traffic at midstretch and could never fully let down, finishing seventh.
“He was standing flat-footed and he didn't break all that well. But Manny (Franco) did a good job of saving ground with him in the first turn and then got him running late. I was confident today with this horse because he does real well on soft turf. I've been following his numbers and he is getting better and better. But he has surprised me with how far he can run.”
A smashing debut winner in January 2023 for this trainer and owner Peter Brant , Spirit of St Louis was second in allowance company that April before changing hands for $280,000 at the Keeneland Horses of Racing Age Sale. Since then, the Broman-bred had won nine times, five in state-bred restricted stakes and six of those with Franco at the controls, including a successful defense of his title in the Oct. 27 Mohawk Stakes at Aqueduct. He made the most of the opportunity in the Pegasus, denying Integration by a neck, but stubbed his toe a bit when only fourth in the GII Muniz Memorial Stakes at the Fair Grounds Mar. 22.
Pedigree Notes:
The Turf Classic was yet another feather in the cap for the ageless Medaglia d'Oro, who was not only represented by GI Longines Kentucky Oaks heroine Good Cheer on Friday, but also by the talented sophomore turf filly Nitrogen.
Chester Broman purchased Spirit of St Louis's second dam Confidently, a full-sister to the stakes-winning sire Yankee Gentleman (Storm Cat), for $1 million in foal to Mr. Prospector at the 2000 Keeneland November Sale and she produced five winners from six to race, the best of which was Khancord Kid, winner of the 2010 GIII Herecomesthebride Stakes for the Bromans' former trainer John Kimmel. Chief among her five winners from five starters is Spirit of St Louis's full-sister Bar of Gold, who famously got her nose down on the wire to cause a 66-1 upset in the GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint at Del Mar in 2017. Bred to Tapit for her first covering, Bar of Gold produced Coinage, winner at two of the GIII With Anticipation Stakes in 2021.
Khancord Kid sadly passed away in 2023 and her final foal is Kid's Khanclusion, a full-brother to Spirit of St Louis and Bar of Gold. She is also responsible for the unraced 3-year-old filly Starship Pegasus (Uncle Mo), a $200,000 purchase out of the 2024 OBS March Sale.
Saturday, Churchill Downs
OLD FORESTER BOURBON TURF CLASSIC S.-GI, $934,200, Churchill Downs, 5-3, 4yo/up, 1 1/8mT, 1:48.20, gd.
1–SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS, 123, g, 6, by Medaglia d'Oro
1st Dam: Khancord Kid (GSW, $167,343),
by Lemon Drop Kid
2nd Dam: Confidently, by Storm Cat
3rd Dam: Key Phrase, by Flying Paster
($300,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP; $280,000 4yo '23 KEEAPR). O-Madaket Stables LLC, Michael Dubb and Richard Schermerhorn; B-Chester Broman & Mary R. Broman (NY); T-Chad C. Brown; J-Manuel Franco. $530,100. Lifetime Record: 16-11-3-0, $1,809,250. *1/2 to Land Mine (Mineshaft), SP, $158,342; full to Bar of Gold, GISW, $1,551,000. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree. Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue- style pedigree.
2–Mercante, 123, g, 5, Gun Runner–Caressing, by Honour and Glory. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O-Carl F. Pollard; B-CFP Thoroughbreds LLC (KY); T-Brian Knippenberg. $191,000.
3–Highway Robber, 123, g, 5, Hard Spun–Yabba, by Lemon Drop Kid. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($65,000 RNA Ylg '21 KEESEP; $30,000 2yo '22 OBSAPR). O-Jim and Susan Hill; B-Foxpointe Thoroughbreds (KY); T-Brian A. Lynch. $95,500.
Margins: 3/4, NK, NK. Odds: 3.12, 13.28, 13.76.
Also Ran: Gold Phoenix (Ire), Running Bee, Redistricting (GB), Integration, Cameo Performance, Gigante, Taking Candy. Scratched: Brilliant Berti, Idratherbeblessed.
Click for the Equibase.com chart and the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
Spirit of St Louis flies home under Manny Franco to win the G1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic! pic.twitter.com/kKZYtlmYsn
— Churchill Downs (@ChurchillDowns) May 3, 2025
Not a subscriber? Click here to sign up for the daily PDF or alerts.
