The Music City Stakes (Grade 2)- $2,000.000 Purse
KD- For Fillies Three Years Old
Six and a Half Furlongs on the Turf
September 6, 2025

Saturday was just the third running of the Music City Stakes, but we have now had a dead heat in two of those races for the win! In 2023, Mb Stables had one of the two winners, but this time around he would do even better as the dead heat is between his two entries: Creepy Ruler and Just Average! The trainer now has two, or three, wins in the race, depending on which way you want to look at it. The winning riders are R Bejarano for Creepy Ruler and M Franco for Just Average, and it is the first time that they won the race. Congratulations to them! The time of the win on the soft turf was 1:18.23. Let’s take a look at it:

(1/4 Mile- :23.44)- There’s about eight horses out of the gate looking to be the leader, but no one is pushing forward among that group. Ultimately, after half a mile, we have five horses within half a length of one another, and the other three just a length back. This will leave some in a very wide position around the opening turn. Getting credit with the top spot early is a new arrival to Maxmillion Farm, Confident Elegance, as well Dupixent, for Night Rider Stables. But also, right there with them are Asgar’s Cunning Stunt, Our Athletes’ Aime La Nature, and in from the also eligibles for Williams9, Query Business. Very close to them are the other Our Athletes entry, Shine To Class, Team 7 Illusions’ Red Feathers, and Luz International’s Starry Craze. Just off the lead, one of our co-winners from Mb Stables, Just Average, runs side by side with Mo Mentum Farm’s Eighteen Ninety Two. The other Mb Stables co-winner, Creepy Ruler is next, and only three lengths off the lead. Then, it’s Matey (Red Fox Farms), Hot Pants (Maxmillion Farm) and Piatt (Royalty Stables).

(½ Mile- :47.51, Top Of Stretch, 2F To Go)- Rounding the turn solves nothing, as it is still very tight up front with the first four all neck and neck. They would be Dupixent, Cunning Stunt, Aime La Nature, and Shine To Class. Query Business had been with them for much of the turn but starts to drop back. Even with this, there was an opening on the rail for Just Average to take advantage, and she would begin to do this near the exit of the turn. Confident Elegance was starting to lose some ground, and Eighteen Ninety Two wanted to push forward more than she had but simply did not have room to do so. Then, it would be Creepy Ruler and Red Feathers running only two lengths from the lead. It’s another length to Starry Craze and Matey while behind them, Piatt looks to make a move on the outside. Hot Pants now trailed the field.

(Finish- 1:18.23)- The room that was available for Just Average to come through on the rail would continue to be beneficial for her as he moved by the frontrunners, but she was also a very nice teammate. That’s because she would also move down a lane once getting by everyone other than for Shine To Class, and guess who that was going to help. You guessed it, her stablemate, Creepy Ruler. Now, these two Mb Stables entries who could take advantage of this opportunity could settle it between themselves all the way to the wire, and ultimately, it would be a dead heat them! Shine To Class could have delivered another massive win for Our Athletes at KD, but settles for third, and fourth goes to the late running Piatt. The rest of the order reads Eighteen Ninety Two, Matey, Cunning Stunt, Confident Elegance, Dupixent, Aime La Nature, Red Feathers, Query Business, Starry Craze, and Hot Pants.

About The Winners:
Just Average, trained by Mb Stables and ridden to victory by M Franco, is a three-year-old filly by Bold Ruler, and is out Sass. She was bred in Ontario by Mb Stables as a second quarter two-year-old, and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her third in 10 starts, and second graded win. Her career earnings are now $978.000.

Creepy Ruler, trained by Mb Stables and ridden to victory by R Bejarano, is also a three-year-old filly by Bold Ruler, and she is out of Creepy Crawlies. She was bred as a third quarter two-year-old in Ontario by Mb Stables and they have been together throughout. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her fifth in 12 starts, and second graded win. Her career earnings are now $991.750.

Track: Soft
Time: :23²  :47²  1:12  1:18¹

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 1 – 3 Paid 97.70, 3 – 1 Paid 103.80
$1 Trifecta: 1 – 3 – 6 Paid 814.40, 3 – 1 – 6 Paid 814.40

Scratched: Mollys Sweet Nectar

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES