The Spinster (Grade 1) (BC)- $600.000 Purse
KEE- For Fillies and Mares Three Years Old and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
October 6, 2024

On Sunday, a spot in the BC Distaff would be clinched as a field of twelve took part in the Grade 1 Spinster at KEE. After nine furlongs on the main track, it would be a horse that ran in the BC Fillies and Mares Turf getting the job done, as Untidy would grab the win by a little more than a length. She is trained by Mb Stables, a trainer who’s had his share of heartbreaking second places in races that I have recapped recently, but this time he gets the win in one of them. It is second win in the race, as he also won in 2017 with the late Updated. The winning jockey is M Franco, who wins for the second year in a row. Congratulations to them! The time of the win was 1:47.99, the fifth quickest in the race’s history. Let’s take a look at it now:

(½ Mile- :46.38)- Four horses jump out to the front of the field early on, but only three of them stay there after a half mile. Along the rail, Alice Springs will be first while running for TwinTowersRacing, and in the third lane, Ragnar is right there with her for D J C Racing Stables. Running between these two is Thanks Mucho, for Mo Mentum Farm. There was another horse there, but Smokey Stover’s Divine Moonlight is restrained pretty heavily around the opening turn and falls back as far as sixth at this point in the race. The eventual winner from Mb Stables, Untidy is one that will get around her, and put a length and a half on her, which is interesting to note considering Divine Moonlight finishes second (in a dead heat). Wrong Farm, from Winning Link Stables, is the other filly that passes her, as she moves into fifth. Saratoga Stud’s Wavy Girl is seventh, then it’s a two to three length gap to the rest of the field. Starting Over (TwinTowersRacing) and Childe Girl (Nakamura Stables) run together, and further back, it’s Shining At Knight (Our Athletes), Liberty Lake (D J C Racing Stables) and Ignore Tucker (Fractious).

(3/4 Mile- 1:10.65)- Heading into the turn, Alice Springs is still out in front, but narrowly over Thanks Mucho, who is right alongside her. Ragnar is within a length in third while Untidy makes a four wide move entering the turn that could see her making the pass for the lead sooner than expected. Wrong Farm stalks the top four and is a length ahead of Divine Moonlight and Wavy Girl, who are side by side. There’s a still a gap to the rest of the field but Starting Over is showing a lot more interest and has pulled away from Childe Girl. Further back, Shining At Knight, Liberty Lake, and Ignore Tucker had not made a move as of yet.

(Top of Stretch, 1.8F To Go)- It would not matter that Untidy was four wide in the turn as she would make it work and passed all three of the previous frontrunners. At the top of the stretch, she’s out in front by a neck and would now have to hold off any new challengers, wherever they emerge from. Divine Moonlight starts to regain some of the ground she conceded with her sharp restrain, and is even with Wrong Farm, two lengths from the lead. Wavy Girl was not able to keep up with her. Meanwhile, Starting Over makes an aggressive outside move as she cuts into her deficit. Childe Girl was dropping back, and still we had not seen much from any of Shining At Knight, Liberty Lake, or Ignore Tucker.

(Finish- 1:47.99)- Untidy takes control of the race in the stretch, and would run too well all the way to the wire for anyone to get near her. There were a couple running well, including Divine Moonlight and the hard charging Starting Over in the middle of the track, but Untidy simply had too much left in the tank for them to challenge and their battle would be for second. They’d settle for a dead heat of that spot while Untidy celebrates her win by a length! It’s about two lengths to Thanks Mucho, who’s simply the best of the rest in fourth. None of the others were contenders, as the rest of the order reads Ignore Tucker, Alice Springs, Wavy Girl, Liberty Lake, Wrong Farm, Shining At Knight, Childe Girl, and Ragnar.

About The Winner- Untidy, trained by Mb Stables and ridden to victory by M Franco, is a four-year-old filly by Lil Pink Panther and is out of Play It Forward. She was bred by Two Hearts One Love in California as a second quarter two-year-old, and was acquired by Mb Stables in the June 2022 auction for $32.010 while she was still unraced. Congratulations to the connections! The win is her eighth in 20 starts, her seventh stake win and sixth graded win. Her career earnings are now $2,214.000.

Track: Fast
Time: :46¹  1:10³  1:35³  1:47⁴

$2 Mutuel Prices:

$1 Exacta: 5 – 6 Paid 20.20, 5 – 7 Paid 20.80
$1 Trifecta: 5 – 6 – 7 Paid 231.60, 5 – 7 – 6 Paid 308.50

Scratched: None

— NS

Categories: Grade I, STAKES ARTICLES