Snapper Sinclair Survives Tourist Mile

FRANKLIN, KY – Bloom Racing Stable’s Snapper Sinclair returned to the site of his only prior stakes score on Saturday to win an eventful edition of the $750,000 Tourist Mile Stakes at Kentucky Downs.

Breaking from the rail under Julien Leparoux at 10/1 odds, Snapper Sinclair settled into mid-pack early but drew up sharply in order to avoid running up on another horse. Up front, Real Story led while Great Wide Open gave closest chase.

Still in the rear as the real running began, Snapper Sinclair commenced an outside rally, racing as much as seven-wide toward the front. In the shadow of the wire, the ground-gobbling Steve Asmussen trainee swept to the front before crossing a 1/2-length clear in a final time of 1:37.95 for the mile-long event over the firm turf course.

“We were pretty close to the pace, but around the turn, we got shuffled back a bit,” Leparoux said. “He loves the track. He traveled very nice for me. When I got him outside, he finished up very strong for me.”

Outfinished late, Real Story dug in to neck out a gaining First Premio, who similarly necked out the favored Hembree for third. Majestic Eagle finished fifth by a 1/2-length over Exulting, while Next Shares was 3/4 of a length behind her. Mr Cub, Parlor, Bandar, a spent Great Wide Open, and a fading Rare Form completed the order of finish. Siem Riep and Welles Crowther were scratched.

Snapper Sinclair’s win was his third of the year and his second over the local turf after winning 2017’s Fasig-Tipton Turf Showcase Juvenile Stakes. The 4-year-old son of City Zip became racing’s newest millionaire ($1,040,404) to go with a record of 18-5-3-2.

“It’s going to be hard to wait a whole year to run him back here again because he obviously loves Kentucky Downs,” Asmussen said. “That was a great win by him. His last turf win was here as a juvenile at Kentucky Downs. He’s an extremely versatile horse. It’s been a ton of fun, and it’s great to see him in such good form right now.”

Snapper Sinclair returned $22.80 to win, $11.20 to place, and $9.20 to show. Real Story brought back $8.40 to place and $7 to show, while First Premio paid $8.80 to show.