Regally Ready Nips Bridgetown to Win Twin Spires Turf Sprint

May 14, 2011 John Asher

Vinery Stables’ Regally Ready caught Bridgetown in deep stretch and then pulled away to a 1 ¼-length victory in the 17th running of the $111,200 Twin Spires Turf Sprint Presented by GE Appliances & Lighting (GIII) on Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs.

Given a ground-saving ride by Corey Nakatani, Regally Ready covered the five furlongs on a firm Matt Winn Turf Course in :56.57.

Southern Region, with Corey Lanerie up, and Bridgetown, ridden by John Velazquez, dueled through a first quarter in :21.89 as Nakatani had Regally Ready tucked in next to the hedge. At the top of the lane, Nakatani moved off the inside and gradually wore down Bridgetown.

Trained by Steve Asmussen, Regally Ready is a 4-year-old son of More Than Ready out of the King of Kings (IRE) mare Kivi. An allowance winner here last fall, Regally Ready has won four consecutive starts and improved his record to 13-7-2-3 for earnings of $364,854 including Saturday’s $66,876 check.

Regally Ready rewarded his backers with mutuels of $8.80, $4.40 and $3. Bridgetown returned $4 and $2.80 with Chamberlain Bridge finishing 3 ¼ lengths back in third under Jamie Theriot and paying $2.60 to show.  Chamberlain Bridge won the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (GII) over the same course in 2010.

It was a length back to Southern Region, who was followed in order by Custom for Carlos, Spectacular Kid, Early Return and Henry’s Time.

TWIN SPIRES TURF SPRINT QUOTES

COREY NAKATANI (Jockey, Regally Ready, winner) – “I’ve just got so much confidence now when I ride for Steve (trainer Steve Asmussen). He and his team are such a good bunch of horsemen. They give you good horses and they put them in the right spots. This makes me three for three on him. And they’re thinking this horse is only going to get better and be a Breeders’ Cup horse by the end of the year.”

STEVE ASMUSSEN (Trainer, Regally Ready, winner) – “With who was in the field and the draw he got, you knew he was going to have to show a different element. He didn’t used to show this much speed and it never kept him from winning. He has run quite a bit recently so now we need to map out a plan that gets him back here for (the Breeders’ Cup) the fall.” 

BRET CALHOUN (Trainer, Chamberlain Bridge, third as favorite) – “Those were two nice horses that ran 1-2. They've been doing good and I respected them coming into the race. (Jockey) Jamie Theriot said that he got shuffled back a little more than he would have liked and going down the backstretch the ground was breaking out from underneath him. He just couldn't get his feet underneath him. He took him wide into the stretch, on a little firmer ground, and he made his run. It was just too late.'