LOUISVILLE, KY – Fern Circle Stables and Three Chimneys Farm’s King Fury held gamely over the 4/5 favorite Super Stock to win Sunday’s $98,000 Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs.
King Fury broke from post 4 under Brian Hernandez Jr. as the 5/2 second choice and settled into a stalking trip while Franz Josef posted opening fractions of :24.60, :49.51, and 1:14.34.
Sent three-wide heading into the far turn, King Fury outmuscled Super Stock for the lead in mid-stretch and denied the bettors’ choice, pulling ahead late to win by a 1/2-length.
The Kenny McPeek trainee completed the 1 1/16-mile fast dirt route in 1:44.30.
“This is a Kentucky Derby-type horse,” McPeek said. “The future is very bright for a horse like this.”
Though unable to find victory, Super Stock was 3 3/4 lengths clear of Oncoming Train in third, while Arabian Prince was another 1/2-length further back in fourth.
Franz Josef and Crime Spree completed the order of finish.
Eucharist was scratched.
King Fury’s win followed a disappointing eighth-place finish in the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) and more resembled his maiden-breaking debut over this course and distance on September 3. The Curlin colt, purchased in August 2019 for $950,000, has now earned $116,979.
“His last race at Keeneland was pretty puzzling because we thought he’d run a lot better than he did,” McPeek said. “I think the track ended up being pretty forward that day and his trip (four-wide throughout) didn’t really help things.”
King Fury returned $7.40 to win, $3.40 to place, and $3 to show. Super Stock brought back $2.80 to place and $2.40 to show, while Oncoming Train paid $3 to show.
