Don Juan Kitten Just Good Enough in Murphy

BALTIMORE, MD – Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Don Juan Kitten proved to be just good enough, narrowly holding off a charging Bye Bye Melvin to win Saturday’s $100,000 James W. Murphy Stakes at Pimlico.

Don Juan Kitten broke from post 10 under Gabe Saez as the 5/2 favorite and went right to the front, where he dueled outside of Oceans Map through opening fractions of :23.95 and :47.90.

Breaking clear to lead convincingly at the top of the stretch, Don Juan Kitten put enough distance between himself and the rest of the field that he was able to nose out a hard-charging Bye Bye Melvin in a head-bobbing finish.

The Danny Gargan trainee completed the mile-long yielding turf route in 1:42.24.

Bye Bye Melvin suffered an unavoidable wide trip throughout after breaking from post 13, which may have cost him victory.

Reconvene was third by a 1/2-length over Vanzzy, while Jolting Joe took fifth by a 1/2-length over both Jack the Umpire and Andesite.

Sunsation, Chocolate Bar, Paradise Pride, Monday Morning Qb, and Oceans Map to complete the order of finish.

So Street and Buy Land and See were scratched from the race restricted to 3-year-old runners.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8r4m8xlWys

Don Juan Kitten’s win was his first at the stakes level and improved his overall record to 7-3-2-1. The Kitten’s Joy colt, purchased for $77,000 as a yearling, has now earned $187,900.

Don Juan Kitten returned $7 to win, $4.20 to place, and $3.20 to show. Bye Bye Melvin brought back $5.60 to place and $4.20 to show, while Reconvene paid $5.20 to show.