Bradley Stakes ($100.000 Purse)
FG- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
January 17, 2026

When I looked at Legit a couple of days ago, I saw a horse that certainly belonged in this race, but he did not have that one race that really excited me. Well, we can cross that off now as the 11/1 longshot stepped up and earned his biggest career win in the Bradley Stakes, doing so by a neck. The six-year-old horse is trained by Bigchief Stables and it’s the first win in the race for the trainer. That’s also true for jockey J L Ortiz. Congratulations to them! The race was won in a time of 1:39.03, the third quickest in the stake’s history. Let’s take a look at it now:

(1/4 Mile- :23.17)- Diamond Haggis surges to the lead out of the gate for John Henry and looked like he might have a bigger margin at this point, but TwinTowersRacing’s Snidely Whiplash reels him in and is right to his outside entering the first turn. Louis Litt runs third on the rail for Chili King Stables while the Royalty Stables- trained Pincay runs fourth while being right behind Snidely Whiplash. It’s another length to where we find our eventual winner from Bigchief Stables, Legit, as that one runs side by side with Choppy Inc’s My Dog. King Speed Party (Winning Link Stables) takes the long way entering the opening turn, followed by Jerry West (La Canada Racehorses), Sweet Deliberation (Langley Farms), Port Gibson (The Sidley Stud), and American Icon (Riggins Racing).

(½ Mile- :46.22)- Snidely Whiplash is determined to be the race leader, and powers his way by Diamond Haggis and looks to pull away. He’ll lead by a length and a half over Diamond Haggis and King Speed Party, the latter of which passed a few while rounding the turn. Behind them, Louis Litt runs evenly with Pincay, while Legit runs right between them, but about a length back. Overall, he is scored as being three off the pace here. It’s another length to My Dog, who’s the same distance ahead of Jerry West. At the back, it’s Sweet Deliberation, Port Gibson, then American Icon.

(Top of the Stretch, 2F To Go)- Out in front, Snidely Whiplash leads entering the turn, but Diamond Haggis is look to get right back to him, and these two are even at the top of the stretch. However, that is not where the excitement was during this portion of the race as J L Ortiz looked for and found openings to move Legit through traffic. Moving to the outside of Louis Litt, while having Pincay and King Speed Party to his outside, Legit made it look pretty easy to move into the third position, and was now only a length from the lead, clearly concerning the top two. My Dog hoped to follow him through, while further back, there was another one to keep an eye on as Jerry West was coming on strong while on the far outside. Sweet Deliberation looked to follow this move while Port Gibson had a lot of running room on the rail if he was able to make a late bid. American Icon was left behind.

(Finsih- 1:39.03)- Diamond Haggis took control early in the stretch, and now looked to fight off Legit, who got closer with every stride. With a furlong to go, Legit was there, about even with the leader and about to make the pass. That would not be all the work he needed to do, as there were multiple horses behind him to still be concerned about. Jerry West was continued to charge hard while on the outside while Port Gibson was also making up ground quickly. Closer to the wire, Legit would get the job done, running gamely to the wire while earning his signature win to this point in his career. Jerry West got close, but settles for second while Port Gibson battled well for third. Diamond Haggis is left with fourth place spoils, and it’s a length behind him to Pincay and Sweet Deliberation. Rounding it out, it’s My Dog, Louis Litt, Snidely Whiplash, King Speed Party, and a flat American Icon.

About The Winner- Legit, trained by Bigchief Stables and ridden to victory by J L Ortiz, is a six-year-old horse by People Pleaser and is out of Ocala Express. He was bred in New Mexico as a first quarter two-year-old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is his third in 16 starts and his first stake win. His career earnings are now $161.760.

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded