Elkhorn – (Grade ll)

Purse $400.00 – For Four Year Olds And Upward

1 1/2 Miles – Turf

Keeneland – April 18, 2026

The “good” turf was no problem for King Z as he got back to his winning ways in the 22nd edition of the Elkhorn. Mb Stables has now campaigned this son of Z Grayte One to six graded stakes victories since being claimed for $16.00 back in November 2023. This score boosted this gelding’s career earnings to $1,765.54 over ten wins, and he stopped the clock for the 1 ½ miles in 2:27.36. Mb Stables also gets his second victory in the Elkhorn, which moves him to the top of the owner standings, tied with Maxmillion Farm and Maverick Racing. Jockey Edgard Zayas wasted no time making an impact, winning in his first-ever Elkhorn mount. Connections should definitely be happy with this effort, as King Z is coming into the summer with a lot of momentum! Well done! Kegger and Chagrin Falls were both late scratches after the course was downgraded from firm to good overnight.

Winner: King Z – (Mb Stables, E J. Zayas) The two late scratches were to the inside of King Z, so he ended up breaking from post #8 instead of post #10. This was huge because Edgard Zayas was able to get his gelding to the rail quicker to save as much ground as possible. It was really a perfect trip after clearing the field in the first two furlongs. He sat on the rail to the inside of Hail Justice for seven furlongs and eventually took the lead on the backside at the ⅝ pole. King Z slowly started to distance himself from the rest of the field around the far turn and was a length in front at the top of the stretch. No one was able to catch him, and he cruised to an easy ½ length victory. He’s now a two-time winner on a “good” turf course and owns a 2-for-4 record on off-tracks. Congratulations!

Second Place: State Cavier – (Diablo Diablo, F. Pennington) This son of State Police is what we call a check-getter, as he has hit the board in eleven out of thirteen races for Diablo Diablo. For the first half of the race, he settled in the second flight of horses, while running three-wide. At the ⅝ pole, Frankie Pennington got this seven-year-old to start inching forward and take aim at the leaders. Little by little, he was closing the gap and found himself in third halfway around the far turn. However, the losing move was made at the quarter pole, when Frankie decided to move State Cavier to the outside—three wide at the top of the stretch. It eventually turned into running four wide in the final furlong, losing so much ground. If he went inside, this would’ve been your winner.

Third Place: Whipped – (The Sidley Stud, A A. Gallardo) Nothing changed for this habitual deep closer, as he had no speed after breaking from the gate. In the first half of the race, Whipped was battling with Tech App for seventh place, while running eight lengths off the pace. The ⅝ pole was where he started to make his run but had a lot of work to do to catch the front runners. This Ontario-bred was coming on strongly around the far turn and found a little bit of traffic trouble at the top of the stretch. Whipped was staring at a wall of horses, and jockey Antonio Gallardo made a good move and dove down to the rail. There was just unfortunately not enough time in the lane to catch the winner but was able to nose out Great Vault for third. He’s never been out of the money on an off-track.

Fourth Place: Great Vault – (Winning Link Stables, A. Fresu) There was a big question mark on whether this son of Good Authority was going to run well with moisture in the turf. It wasn’t a terrible effort, but he needed to find a little bit more in the stretch. Great Vault actually went off as the favorite and had a very good trip, sitting just off the pace in fourth. For ten furlongs, he ran by himself with no one to his outside. Antonio Fresu got him in a good rhythm down the backside, waiting for the perfect time to pounce on King Z. Some ground was gained at the 5/16 pole; however Great Vault really wasn’t able to keep up down the stretch and was obviously out closed by Whipped and State Cavier. The 1 ½ mile distance is where he runs best but unfortunately keeps running into the top turf runners.

– AJM

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES