Ours to Run Upsets Carousel

HOT SPRINGS, AR – Colonel Thoroughbreds’ Ours to Run took the big step up to open company and responded with a mild upset victory in Saturday’s Carousel Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

Breaking from the far outside post 6 under Terry Thompson at 3/1 odds, Ours to Run maintained her outer position down the backside while Salt Bae, Shanghai Tariff, and the 1/2 favorite Mia Mischief dueled up front. After sitting comfortably through opening fractions of :21.94 and :45.12, Ours to Run made a swift bid from the 5 path and emerged onto the stretch with a sudden lead. Drawing away impressively under only a mild ride, the Larry Jones trainee crossed the wire with a 3 3/4-length advantage in a final time of 1:10.84 for the 6-furlong sprint over the sloppy (sealed) main track.

“It was a short field with lots of speed on the inside,” Thompson said. “I had the perfect post position to see how the race set up. It worked out just like Larry and I thought. She engaged them at the top of the stretch and gave me all that she had. She dominated at the end.”

While no match for the winner, Mia Mischief was much the best of the rest, taking second by 1 3/4 lengths over Shanghai Tariff. Salt Bae weakened steadily to fourth, outkicking only World Riot to complete the order of finish.

Amy’s Challenge was scratched because her connections opted to run instead in the Madison Stakes (G1) at Keeneland, where she finished second by a neck.

Ours to Run’s win was her fifth straight following four consecutive stakes scores against Louisiana-breds at Evangeline Downs, Fair Grounds, and Delta Downs. The 5-year-old daughter of Half Ours improved her career mark to 19-11-2-1 with $427,988 earned.

“She’s done really well,” Jones said. “There wasn’t anything else to do with her in Louisiana right at this moment. We had a little space and she was doing good. It was maybe the time to try it. They were predicting rain. She loves the off track, so that was not against us at all when this happened. I can’t say that we maybe won’t keep her with some open company because now Louisiana is penalizing her so much. She’s packing so much more weight than the other horses. Her last win, she was 9 pounds heavier than anybody. There comes a time when you’ve got to start taking that into consideration. She handled this so well, so we may go to the drawing board and try to see what else we can come up with.”

Ours to Run returned $8.80 to win, $3 to place, and $2.20 to show. Mia Mischief brought back $2.20 to place and $2.10 to show, while Shanghai Tariff paid $2.20 to show.