Botanical easily wins Cincinnati Trophy, gets 20 Ky. Oaks points
Botanical made a bold move at the head of the lane to easily defeat her six rivals by 6 1/2 lengths Saturday night in the $150,000 Cincinnati Trophy Stakes at Turfway Park, a points prep for the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks on May 5.
Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Chris Landeros, Botanical completed one mile on the Tapeta track at 1:36.51.
It was an eventful beginning to the Cincinnati Trophy Stakes as jockey David Haldar’s saddle slipped on the speedy B G Warrior, causing her to skitter to an early 4 1/2-length lead. While B G Warrior completed a swift opening quarter-mile of 22.95 and half-mile of 45.65 seconds, Botanical and Landeros saved ground at the rail and bided their time in third.
Around the far turn, Botanical was angled wide and easily took command of the race.
“She’s a very talented filly,” Landeros said. “When I saw B G Warrior go out to the lead like that, I just let (Botanical) settle. I had a ton of horse beneath me and had all the confidence in the world in her. I can’t wait to see where she goes next. She’s got a very bright future.”
With her victory in the Cincinnati Trophy, Botanical earned 20 points on the road to the Kentucky Oaks. Jill Jitterbug, ridden by Manny Esquivel, finished second to earn eight points. B G Warrior held third for six points. Bulsara and Miss Peabody completed the Top five and earned four and two points, respectively.
Fun and Feisty and Moon Magic Chrissy completed the order of finish.
Jill Jitterbug, B G Warrior, Bulsara and Miss Peabody were not made early nominees for the $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks, but if their connections pay a late payment of $1,500 by April 15, their points will be reflected on the leaderboard.
Botanical was well-backed at odds of 4-5 and paid $2 mutuel prices of $3.90, $3 and $2.76. Jill Jitterbug returned $11.74 and $5.30. B G Warrior paid $5.08.
Botanical improved her record to 5: 3-1-0 and has earnings of $196,610. She is a 3-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro out of the Blame mare Daisy. She was bred in Kentucky by Clearsky Farm and Godolphin.
