KY Juvenile

Purse $250.00 – For Two Year Olds

5 Furlongs – Dirt

Churchill Downs – April 29, 2026

Whispering Pines etched her name into the record books with a stylish win in the 17th KY Juvenile. She is just the second filly to capture this race, following Arques, who was the 2016 winner. The daughter of Championship Rounds ran the five furlongs in 57.22. This marked Mb Stables’ first win in this race, while John Velazquez secured his fourth victory to lead all jockeys. Whispering Pines’ earnings climbed to $204.00 and is now a perfect two-for-two in her career. A key trend remained intact, with every KY Juvenile winner entering off a maiden victory, and this Ontario-bred ensured that streak lived on. With the first two-year-old stakes race of the year now in the books, all eyes turn to what this filly will do next. With her encouraging conformation, Whispering Pines looks poised to be even more dangerous as she stretches out in distance. Congratulations to the connections on a great win!

Winner: Whispering Pines – (Mb Stables, J R. Velazquez) It wasn’t a fast start for this filly as she was seventh down the backside and passing the ⅜ pole. Rounding the far turn, Whispering Pines was staring at a wall of horses in front of her, and jockey John Velazquez stayed patient. She didn’t start making her move until the quarter pole, where she found room on the rail and started gobbling up ground. This Ontario-bred took the lead in the final sixteenth and held off all the fast closers to win by a neck over Bronze Wolf. Sent off as the favorite, this impressive filly definitely ran to expectations with a commanding performance over a field of colts. No doubt a star in the making!

Second Place: Bronze Wolf – (TwinTowersRacing, S X. Bridgmohan) This was my top pick in this race, and all he needed was a little more luck. Just like in his last race, Bronze Wolf settled in the back of the pack, and this time he was in ninth place rounding the turn. The good thing was that Shaun Bridgmohan had him two-wide, so he wasn’t losing too much ground. At the top of the stretch, the son of Neon Wolf was starting to look for some racing room three lengths back and was inching closer to the leaders. A lane opened up at the 1/16 pole, and he was closing fast. Unfortunately, it was too late, and Bronze Wolf couldn’t find the wire in time. Put this one in your watchlist.

Third Place: Sacred Star – (Serenity Stables, G W. Corbett) New tactics were in play, as this colt went from showing sharp early speed in his maiden to none in this start. He was in last place down the backside while racing three-wide, and Glenn Corbett was hoping for some really quick fractions on the front end. There was no change rounding the turn, but Sacred Star started making a move at the top of the stretch.​​ While a clear running lane opened, he simply had too much ground to make up in such a short amount of time. Connections should be ecstatic that this trip resulted in only losing by a neck. This Kentucky-bred has now proven that he’s effective on the lead or closing.

Fourth Place: Berserker Fast – (TwinTowersRacing, A. Beschizza) With a late rider change from Manny Franco to Adam Beschizza, the son of Averys Sunset broke sharply and was part of the early pace. He was on the rail and dueled with the expensive filly, Sassette, to his outside. The early fractions were: 22.26 and 45.45. They traded punches up until the top of the stretch, where Berserker Fast started to pull away. He held the lead to the 1/16 pole before Whispering Pines came charging up the inside. It was a clear fourth place finish, but it’s evident that this colt has a ton of speed. TwinTowersRacing is going to have to be strategic about how he places this horse in the future.

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded