Ezmosh Headlines Field of Eight in $200,000 Spendthrift Farm Juvenile Stakes

Oct 26, 2017 Churchill Downs Communications

Zayat Stables’ Oklahoma-bred Ezmosh headlines a field of eight 2-year-olds that were entered for Sunday’s second running of the $200,000 Spendthrift Juvenile Stallion Stakes at Churchill Downs.

The seven-furlong contest, carded as Race 7 on Churchill Downs’ “Stars of Tomorrow I” card, has a scheduled post time of 4 p.m. (all times Eastern). The 11-race card also includes the $200,000 Spendthrift Juvenile Filly Stallion Stakes, $80,000 Street Sense Overnight Stakes and $80,000 Rags to Riches Overnight Stakes. The first race is 1 p.m.

The second running of the Spendthrift Juvenile Stallion Stakes was made possible through a partnership between Churchill Downs and Lexington, Ky.-based breeding operation Spendthrift Farm. The lucrative race is restricted to 2-year-old offspring sired by any active or non-active Spendthrift stallion, including all Spendthrift-owned stallions standing regionally in North America.

The purse has been structured with a unique approach to award $100,000 to the owners of the placed horses, with the other $100,000 allocated to award the breeders of the first-thru-fourth-place finishers. Specifically, the winning breeder will earn $40,000, with $30,000 going to the breeder of the runner-up, $20,000 for third, and $10,000 for fourth.

Ezmosh, a 2-year-old colt by Tizway, broke his maiden by two lengths in a one-turn mile maiden special weight on Sept. 16 at Churchill Downs for trainer Brad Cox. The colt then tested the 1 1/16-mile $500,000 Breeders’ Futurity (Grade I) at Keeneland on Oct. 7, but finished sixth and was beaten 11 lengths after he failed to relax in the first half-mile and tired late.

Jockey Florent Geroux is once again signed on to ride Ezmosh and will break from post position 5.

John Tippmann is among Ezmosh’s rivals. The 2-year-old colt by Tizway, named after one of his owners, broke his maiden at Ellis Park on Aug. 11 by 1 ¼ lengths under jockey Robby Albarado. Trainer Kenny McPeek opted to try the colt on the turf at Kentucky Downs in his subsequent start, the Sept. 6 $350,000 Juvenile Stakes, which resulted in a runner-up effort at odds of 15-1. Most recently, John Tippmann finished fifth in the Oct. 8 $250,000 Bourbon Stakes (GIII) at Keeneland – a race that was originally scheduled for the turf but was taken off following inclement weather.

Albarado has the return call on John Tippmann and will break from the rail.

The field for the Spendthrift Juvenile Stallion Stakes from the rail out (with jockey): John Tippmann (Albarado); Just Be Frank (Cisco Torres); El Rubio (Jack Gilligan); Dream Baby Dream (Shaun Bridgmohan); Ezmosh (Geroux); O’Malley’s March (Eddie Perez); Captivating Moon (Jose Valdivia Jr.); and Fight On (Ricardo Santana Jr.).