The winning combination of trainer Brad Cox and jockey Florent Geroux struck again April 29 at Churchill Downs for Juddmonte when Set Piece went surging late to the wire to win the $130,000 Opening Verse Overnight Stakes.
Sent off at odds of 2-1, the 5-year-old Dansili gelding did not get the best break from post 5 and was last out of the gate. Tucked in along the inside rail by Geroux, Set Piece rated well off the pace in seventh as Gray's Fable and John Velazquez took the early lead.
Out in front of the field, Gray's Fable set fractions of :23.89, :49.12, and 1:13.73 through six furlongs and managed to maintain his 1 1/2-length lead coming off the turn and heading for home.
Waiting patiently for enough room to make their move, Geroux swung Set Piece out four-wide exiting the turn and set the gelding down for a drive. Happy to oblige, Set Piece made short work of a hard-running Snapper Sinclair and Gray's Fable and was 1 1/4 lengths clear of his competition at the finish line.
"He broke a step slow but he's never been a good gate horse, he's always a little bit sluggish getting away from there," said Geroux. "I just wanted to be able to save ground and take my time. It looked like on paper there was a bunch of speed horses in there, the one, two and three, so I thought they would go an honest pace. He ran a great race here last year in the spring so I was confident with him."
Final time for the one-mile race was 1:38.26 over turf rated good. Snapper Sinclair got up in time to take second, finishing a head in front of Gray's Fable in third. Sugoi, Logical Myth, Captivating Moon, Sayyaaf, and Spectacular Gem completed the order of finish.
"We actually had a doubt about him on the soft turf after all of the rain," said Juddmonte's Garrett O'Rourke. "We thought it was a lovely spot for him but he ran here once before after a rain and didn't run well in the fall meet. Florent said that it was a different turf back then and it's a fresher turf today. He gave him a lovely rail-hugging trip, saved all the ground, and pulled him out. We were wondering, 'Well, now what will happen?' when he pulled him out but he went quick and beautifully."
Set Piece entered Thursday's race off a second-place finish in the March 27 TwinSpires Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes at Turfway Park. His only prior stakes win in the states came in December of 2020 when he took the Prairie Bayou Stakes at Turfway by 3 1/4 lengths after turning in a similar late-running effort. He also won the British Stallion Studs E.B.F. Hyde Stakes at Kempton Park in November 2019. O'Rourke said the style is signature for the horse, who tends to save all his power for the final push to the wire.
"Both Brad and Florent have said that you can think about changing his style, but the horse isn't going to cooperate," said O'Rourke. "He likes to run that way and switch off behind. When he accelerates like that, it's a winning strategy."
A homebred for Juddmonte, Set Piece is out of the Kingmambo mare Portodora, who has also produced stakes winner and twice group 3-placed Alocasia. The gelding improved his record to 7-1-1 from 14 starts and now has earnings of $211,474.
Into Mystic Scores Second Stakes of the Year in Unbridled Sidney
Geroux made it a stakes double Thursday afternoon when two races after his Opening Verse score he returned to win the Unbridled Sidney Stakes aboard Into Mystic for trainer Brendan Walsh.
Campaigned by George Chris Coleman and Brad King, Into Mystic got away well from the gate and settled in third just off the inside, running less than two lengths behind early frontrunner Elle Z and jockey Mitchell Murrill. A half-length in front of her closet competitor in the field, Elle Z posted fractions of :23.04 and :48.21 for the half mile, all the while stalked closely by Yes It's Ginger and Into Mystic.
Entering the lane, space on the rail opened up as runners swung wide in the turn. Geroux seized on the sudden aperture and urged Into Mystic past her competition and the pair were in front by 2 1/2 lengths at the top of the stretch. Change of Control, who had stalked the pace in the three path off the turn, was guided out four wide by Colby Hernandez and the pair made a strong run at Into Mystic hoping to catch her at the wire.
Feeling the pressure, Into Mystic's lead was steadily cut down by Change of Control, but the mare managed to hold sway and win by three-quarters of a length. Final time for the 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint was 1:05.89.
"She broke super sharp," said Geroux. "I was able to keep her a little bit off the pace. Perfect trip. The rail was wide open so I took advantage of it turning for home. She was waiting around at the end. I made the lead a little sooner than I wanted, but I just took advantage of my position."
“She always shows up and runs a hard race," said Walsh. "This was the first time over this turf course, but she’s run well over the soft going in the past. She got a great trip today.”
Bred in Kentucky by Runnymede Farm and Catesby W. Clay Investment 2, Into Mystic is out of the Medaglia d'Oro mare Loveofalifetime. The 5-year-old mare has finished first or second in all four of her starts in 2021 and entered off a second-place run in the April 10 Giant's Causeway Stakes at Keeneland behind Change of Control.
