The Blame – GIII
$300.000 For Four Year Olds And Upward
1 1/8 Miles – Dirt
Churchill Downs – May 30, 2026

Crossing the wire as the winner beneath the sentinel twin spires of legend is always a great thing but especially rewarding in a graded stakes race. Five horses came forward on the final Saturday in May hoping to be the bookend to Gogh Wild’s Derby win on the first Saturday. In the end it was Royalty Stables Sick Boi who gained that honor becoming the eighth winner of The Blame flashing under the wire in a new stakes record time of 1:46.96 besting the old mark set by both Lunar Victory (Mb Stables) and Senor Vinagre Y Agua (YME Stable) in last year’s dead heat.

Winner: Sick Boi (Royalty Stables/E. Esquivel) Neon Wolf/Anythings Possible (Entice) It looked like it was going to be a long day for Sick Boi when he dropped back to last in the early going and didn’t really look interested at any point of the first five furlongs. Began to perk up with a half mile to go. It looked like a daunting task to come from so far back after a modest half mile of 47:21 set by the three early pacesetters. Swung wide at the top of the stretch he still had the entire field to pass. Made the lead with a sixteenth of a mile to go and extended to a half-length margin of victory at the wire. 

Second: Special Event (Nakamura Stables/R. Bejarano) Day Of Destiny/Imapartygirl (King Party) Sat well off the pace early just ahead of the dawdling Sick Boi. Began inching forward earlier than the eventual winner and appeared to have the jump on that one. Both horses caught the early leaders and drew away from them in the stretch, but Special Event was second best to Sick Boi on this occasion but also a clear second ahead of the rest. 

Third: Hurricane Ridge (The Sidley Stud/J.R. Velasquez) Chase My Tail Lights/Stormy Figs (Commanding The Storm) Set the early fractions along with Without Warning and Red Dot Aim. The trio loped along on the lead for the first three furlongs when Red Dot Aim began to give way. Hurricane Ridge steadily inched away from Without Warning but could not withstand the charge of the top two claiming third.

Fourth: Without Warning (TwinTowersRacing/T. Gaffalione) Neon Wolf/Ruffian Gal (Grandeur) Contested the pace as part of the early leading trio and was able to dispatch Red Dot Aim in the final three furlongs but could not challenge Hurricane Ridge in the stretch for third.

Preview Pick – Sick Boi. Got one right.

This was the first win in The Blame for both Royalty Stables and jockey E. Esquivel. Sick Boi gained his third straight graded stakes win of the season following his wins in both the G3 Essex Handicap and the G2 Alysheba. It is his seventh career win from twenty-one career outings and brings his lifetime bankroll to $1.587.80. Three straight graded wins will certainly boost your Breeders Cup stock and The Blame win has now vaulted Sick Boi into fifth place on the Classic charts behind only the stars of the three year old classics and his runner up today Special Event who stands in fourth having two graded wins of his own this year including the G1 Santa Anita Handicap. These two will hopefully tangle again soon as the season continues to heat up.

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES