Keeneland's prestigious fall meet kicks off with FallStars Weekend, featuring the major local preps for the Breeders' Cup World Championships. A crowd of 24,480 was on hand on a hot Saturday afternoon, under sunny skies.
The richest race on FallStars weekend is the $600,000 Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) for older horses at 1 mile on turf. 12-1 T.D. Vance was quickest out of the gate and led the field first time past the stands through a 1/4 in 23.64 while battling on the pace with 37-1 Spotsgone, who took over the lead on the backstretch after a 1/2 in 47.21. T.D. Vance tired at the halfway stage, allowing Spotsgone to open up a 1 1/2-length lead on the far turn. However, 5-1 Cosmonaut, who had stalked the pacesetters early, went 4 wide to take the lead at the top of the stretch through 3/4 in 1:23.17. Cosmonaut opened up a 2 1/2-length lead with a furlong to go, but 21-1 longshot Purim, who was 6th early, came out 5 wide into the stretch and closed with a rush to get up by a neck in 1:35.56. It was another 3 3/4 lengths back to late-running 3.10-1 second choice Shakis in third. 3-1 favorite Astronomer Royal stalked the pace in fourth throughout but showed no rally late, finishing sixth.
Winning jockey Jamie Theriot, celebrating his first Grade 1 victory, said, "We broke good. Our plans were to stalk and save ground, and that's what we did. I never had to steady at all. I got the perfect clean trip. At the 1/8 pole I thought I would get there when I saw how close we were getting to the other horse on the lead, but (Cosmonaut) just kept digging in, digging in, and I was like, 'Hell, I might not get to him.' But then finally at the 1/16 pole my horse gave me a final surge and broke through."
Results chart
