Bucchero Bombs Big Upset In G2 Woodford

LEXINGTON, KY – Ironhorse Racing Stable’s Bucchero used a well-positioned stalking trip to spring a major upset in Saturday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Woodford Stakes Presented by Keeneland Select at Keeneland.

Breaking alertly from post 2 under Fernando De La Cruz, Bucchero sat three-wide stalking the pace set by Latent Revenge through early splits of :22.13 and :44.97. Set down for the drive off of the far turn, Bucchero reeled in the leader with less than a furlong to go and kicked away, holding back a closing Hogy by 1 3/4 lengths to complete the 5.5-furlong turf sprint in a final time of 1:03.06.

“The horse broke good and I just stayed behind the horse on the lead,” said De La Cruz. “On the stretch, he took off and got first to the wire.”

Hogy overcame a slow start to get up late for second, a 1/2-length ahead of Mongolian Saturday. Conquest Panthera split horses in the stretch to edge a fading Latent Revenge by a neck for fourth. Commend, Balandeen, Mongol Bull, and Indy Hill completed the order of finish.

Mainly a dirt horse running in Indiana, Bucchero finished 11th in this race last year. The win was not only his first career graded stakes win, but the first for both De La Cruz and Ironhorse Racing Stable, as well. It was the second for trainer Tim Glyshaw, who won last year’s Grade 3 Louisville Handicap with Bullards Alley.

“Last year’s race wasn’t nearly as bad as it seemed,” Glyshaw said regarding his decision to return to the Woodford in 2017. “Today, we made a plan to sit off of (Latent’s Revenge), and everything just worked. Really, really proud to have a horse like him.”

The 5-year-old son of Kantharos now has a career record of 22-9-6-1 with earnings of $638,366.

Bucchero returned $55.20 to win, $17.20 to place, and $7.40 to show. Hogy brought back $4.20 to place and $2.80 to show, while Mongolian Saturday paid $3.60 to show.

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