Fractious Gets a 1-2 Finish in KY Jockey Club

By Nynl Stables on November 25, 2023

KY Jockey Club (Grade 2) (KYD)- $400.000 Purse
CD- For Two Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Dirt
November 25, 2023

The KY Jockey Club will go down as a great race for Fractious, as the trainer not only had a 1-2 finish in the race, but his two horses were clearly the class of the field in the race. We didn’t have either one of them on top, but both were among our picks, making it quite a surprise that each of them went off with double digit odds. The wagering public would allow Van Go Go to go off at odds of 14/1 and the gelding came from out of nowhere to prevail over stablemate Panionios, who was a 23/1 longshot. This victory is the first in the race for Fractious but the third for jockey F Geroux. Congratulations to them! The winning time for the race was 1:41.86, the third quickest in the race’s history. Let’s take a look at it!

(1/4 Mile- :22.86)- From his outside post, Diamond Haggis bursts out of the gate for Arkansas Elite, and is able to get to the rail prior to entering the opening turn. It looks like he will have an uncontested lead, but Freakie The Ghost, trained by Mb Stables, is not going to let him get away and pushes forward to run alongside after a quarter mile. There’s a gap of two lengths to the Fractious- trained Panionios, and he’s ahead of TwinTowersRacing’s Beaten Path by nearly a length. Next up in the middle of the field, we have a group of three, with Master And Commander (Fractious) running on the rail, with Super Good (Mb Stables) between horses, and Frogs (South Shore Stables) on the outside. Jetstream Blues (Nakamura Stables) is nearby to them. Going back further, our eventual winner from Fractious, Van Go Go, is running in the ninth spot, and is six lengths off the pace. However, there’s no cause for concern there because this is the way he likes to run. Valance (D J C Racing) is next, and Saddle Battle (Riggins Racing) brings up the rear.

(½ Mile- :46.24)- Early in the backstretch, Freakie The Ghost takes over the lead, and pulls a length ahead of Diamond Haggis. That one is not putting up a fight for the top spot and is content to follow him along. Meanwhile, Panionios starts to creep closer to these two, and is in a good position to potentially attempt a pass for the lead while in the turn. It’s a length and a half to Master And Commander, with Beaten Path running to his outside and Super Good nearby. After another length, it’s Frogs and Jetstream Blues, with Van Go Go still unhurried running right behind them. Valance and Saddle Battle continue to trail.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- Around the turn, and into the stretch we go and Freakie The Ghost is still clinging to the lead, but as we anticipated Panionios make a push within the turn. He would get by Diamond Haggis, and was now half a length from take over the lead. After those top three, Beaten Path and Master And Commander were running evenly, but all eyes had to be on Van Go Go at this point. He would move to outside at the top of the turn and began making his push midway through. For now, he was four wide with Super Good, Jetstream Blues, and Frogs, but had a clear lane in front of him for the stretch and there was no one looking as strong as he was now.

(Finish- 1:41.86)- With a furlong to go, Panionios takes over the lead, and clearly has everyone beaten other than one horse. However, Fractious could just sit back, kick up his feet and wonder which of his two horses would earn the victory. Van Go Go was coming on well, the only horse that was that could make an impact. Yes, Valance was showing some signs of life way too late in the race but had too much work to do to be a threat for the win. Approaching the wire, I did feel as though Panionios was going to hang on for this win, but that would not be the case as the strong stretch run would be too much for him. It would be Van Go Go getting the bragging rights on the way back to the barn by half a length. Valance was a distant third, over a tight grouping that featured Beaten Path, Freakie The Ghost, Master And Commander, and Jetstream Blues. The rest of the order will read Frogs, Diamond Haggis, Saddle Battle, and Super Good.

About The Winner- Van Go Go, trained by Fractious and ridden to victory by F Geroux, is a two-year-old gelding by Dehara and is out of Final Artist. He was bred as a yearling in Kentucky by Team 7 Illusions and was acquired by Fractious in private sales for $175.000 in July. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his third in five starts and first stake win of any sort. His career earnings are now $334.630.

Horse Name

Owner Name

Jockey

Odds

Fin

Time

SRF

Van Go Go

Fractious

Geroux F

14.45

1^1/2