For Immediate Release
Mark Fletcher Taylor, trainer Rohan Crichton and Daniel Walters’ Macho Music (Maclean’s Music-Southern Girl, by Tapit) went to the front and never was headed en route to a 3 1/4-length victory in the $600,000 Pat Day Mile (G2) at Churchill Downs May 3, becoming one of two OBS grads to earn graded stakes victories on the weekend.
Ridden by Javier Castellano, Macho Music completed the mile over a sloppy track in 1:35.65. The Florida-bred son of Maclean’s Music has won four of eight starts with Saturday’s triumph being his first graded-stakes score.
“He’s a very fast horse and he’s very competitive,” Castellano told Churchill Downs publicity. “His last race down at Tampa when he stretched out in distance gave me a lot of confidence he’d be able to handle the step up in class today.”
Macho Music’s owners purchased him for $60,000 from the Pick View consignment at the 2024 OBS March Sale after breezing in :10 2/5.
Fellow OBS grad Gaming was third.
One day earlier at Churchill Downs, Dutch Girl Holdings and Irving Ventures’ Queen Maxima (Bucchero – Corfu Lady, by Corfu) uncorked a four-wide rally at the top of the stretch and then drew off to score a 3 1/2-length victory in the $400,000 Unbridled Sidney (G3).
Trained by Jeff Mullins and ridden by Juan Hernandez, Queen Maxima completed the 5 ½ furlongs over a course rated as good in 1:01.29 to establish a course record.
A 4-year-old daughter of OBS grad Bucchero, Queen Maxima has won five consecutive races and earned her second consecutive Grade 3 score. Consigned by Blue River Bloodstock, she was purchased by Michael Pender, agent for $40,000 from the 2023 OBS June sale after breezing in :20 3/5.
At Oaklawn Park on May 3, almost exactly a year after winning the Kentucky Derby (G1) by a nose, Mystik Dan was beaten by the same margin by Grade 1 winner Saudi Crown (Always Dreaming – New Narration, Tapit) in the $200,000 Lake Ouachita Stakes.
Trained by Brad Cox for FMQ Stables (Faisal Alqahtani), Saudi Crown collected $117,000 for the victory, his seventh in 15 lifetime starts, and improved his bankroll to $3,427,385. He recorded his biggest career victory to date in the 2023 $1 million Pennsylvania Derby (G1).
Consigned by Top Line Sales LLC, Agent, to the 2022 OBS Spring Sale, Saudi Crown was sold for $240,000 after breezing in :10 flat.
At Gulfstream Park, Starship Stables’ Starship Impulsive (Improbable – K P Wildcat, by Include), a front-running winner in her two-turn debut last month, used similar tactics to become a stakes winner for the first time in Saturday’s $80,000 Honey Ryder Stakes.
Ridden by Leonel Reyes for trainer Steve Dwoskin, Starship Impulsive registered her second straight win and third in six starts. Consigned by Wildheart Thoroughbreds, she was sold for $50,000 at the 2024 OBS April Sale after breezing in :10 flat.