Bourbon (Grade 2) (BC)- $400.000 Purse
KEE- For Two Year Olds
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
October 5, 2025

Two-year-old stakes races can often give us a surprising winner, but that would not be the case for readers of our preview, as Fight Clubber showed that his win in the KD Juvenile was not a fluke by knocking out the field in the Bourbon. Why he was 19/1, I can’t explain but take that easy money! Barcelona Farms will take something much greater, the spot in the BC Juvenile Turf, and when you look at these last two races of Fight Clubber’s, he should be the favorite. But maybe people will make him 19/1, again, too. For Barcelona Farms, this is his first win in the Bourbon, and it is for jockey Jam Rodriguez as well. Congratulations to the connections! The time of the win was 1:40.33, one of the better such times:

(1/4 Mile- :23.37)- The Riggins Racing- trained Harbor Lights jumps out to the race lead, and has the field cleared prior to entering the opening turn. From the outside, Kynsli moves into second from the outside for Royalty Stables and is a length ahead of a group of three that battles for third. Superior Palace, trained by Mb Stables, has the upper hand of the group, with his stablemate Hide In Plain Sight one of the two that are to his inside. Jigsaw runs between them for Pan Farms. Indistinguishzzaire, is behind them and by himself for Maxmillion Farm, and behind him Captains Breath (Blazin D) and Launch Code (TwinTowersRacing) are side by side. Fight Clubber, our eventual winner from Barcelona Farms, runs in the ninth spot, five lengths from the lead, but don’t worry, that’s where he likes to be. Fittingly, Get My Punch On (The Sidley Stud) is beside him. Phantom Thunder (Red Fox Farms) can see them all.

(½ Mile- :47.02)- Harbor Lights leads the way down the backstretch, but Kynsli narrow that gap a bit and is close to matching strides with him, though still on the far outside. Superior Palace pulls away from those he had been running with and is about a length ahead of stablemate Hide In Plain Sight, with Jigsaw losing some ground. Indistinguishzzaire is still by himself in the middle of the pack but may have company soon as Launch Code get a little closer. Captains Breath is next in line, with Fight Clubber still in the ninth position and now six lengths from the lead. Get My Punch On and Phantom Thunder still trail.

(Top of Stretch, 1.7F To Go)- Harbor Lights is still the race leader after rounding the turn and entering the stretch. Hide In Plain Sight has maintained a solid rail trip throughout and is now second and looking for more. Superior Palace and Kynsli are next, and on the outside though not looking quite as strong. Next comes Jigsaw, then Indistinguishzzaire and Launch Code but none of them were looking that appealing. Fight Clubber would begin to push forward towards the exit of the turn, and entering the stretch, he’d have Captains Breath passed with a nice lane wide open forward for him to come through. Phantom Thunder was beginning to show more interest now, too, but the same could not be said for Get My Punch On.

(Finish- 1:40.33)- Fight Clubber quickly took advantage of the lane that was available to him, advancing to fifth before you could blink. Those in front of him would be harder to pass, but at this rate of speed, he would have enough time. It would help that he could simply hold his lane to get by the frontrunners as well. Our pick to win, that should never be a 19/1 longshot again or at least not anytime soon, was at his best late and while Hide In Plain Sight was having the better run of those that were near the front, this was one fight that he could not hide from. Coming through, thank you very much, Jam Rodriguez was thinking as Fight Clubber was clearly the best, blowing by the competition and winning by a length. Hide In Plain Sight had the right strategy to beat everyone else, but will settle for second. Phantom Thunder also ran well late, and his third for his efforts, with Harbor Lights doing enough for fourth place spoils. The rest of the order will read Superior Palace, Kynsli, Get My Punch On, Launch Code, Indistinguishzzaire, Captains Breath, and Jigsaw.

About The Winner- Fight Clubber, trained by Barcelona Farms and ridden to victory by Jam Rodriguez, is a two-year-old gelding by Heretowinthisfight and is out of Neon Fire. He was bred in New York by Night Mare Racing as a yearling and was acquired by Barcelona Farms while he was still unraced for $25.000 in a January private sale. The win is his third in five starts, second stake win and first graded win. His career earnings are now $856.800.

Track: Firm
Time: :23¹  :47  1:10⁴  1:40¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 6 – 1 Paid 88.20
$1 Trifecta: 6 – 1 – 9 Paid 1,373.60

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES