Tears, cheers, and every emotion in between were on full display in the Keeneland winners' circle Oct. 19 as Brunacini, a 28-1 longshot, pulled off a shocker in a deep edition of the $259,000 Perryville Stakes (G3).
The field of nine was affected by key scratches of horses like grade 1 winner Locked and multiple stakes winner and graded stakes-placed Who Dey, but the greatest impact from the scratches came by allowing Brunacini, the second also-eligible, to draw into the field.
The 3-year-old Dortmund colt was making just his third lifetime start, entering off a fifth-place finish—albeit defeated only a half-length—in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race at Churchill Downs Sept. 19.
"I really trusted the horse," said jockey Luan Machado, who had picked up the mount after exercising the horse in the mornings for trainer Matthew Sims. "He went super fast and comfortable in the morning, there was no way he could run bad."
Machado was correct as Brunacini set a stakes record in the 17th edition of the Perryville, completing seven furlongs in 1:22.80 and paying $58.16 for his victory.
He had a contested pace set before him with Goodlookinjustice setting fractions of :22.01 and :44.75 as Patriot Spirit and Epic Ride were in pursuit. Machado found himself midpack early with the undefeated Knightsbridge to his inside on the rail and favored Book'em Danno several lengths behind.
"I went to get him covered and at least save some ground in the turn, but couldn't get it done," Machado said. "The horse was taking me out there, but he was so comfortable outside. He never gave me a signal that he couldn't make it, ever."
Brunacini rallied wide to take command at the top of the stretch. Woody Stephens Stakes (G1) winner Book'em Danno was closing from behind but found himself in tight between Patriot Spirit and Epic Ride. Book'em Danno split horses with a furlong to go and rallied inside the winner but could only get within a neck at the wire.
"I thought I was going to get up there," Irad Ortiz Jr. said of the trip on Book'em Danno. "He'll be all right; he's a nice horse. We were unlucky that we didn't get there on time today."
Knightsbridge, making his first start since March, and Epic Ride, who hadn't raced since finishing 14th in the May 4 Kentucky Derby (G1), dead-heated for third. Connections of both horses were pleased with the efforts.
"We were happy with the way he ran after a long layoff. It was a good effort," Godolphin USA's director of bloodstock Michael Banahan said. "Maybe he was just a hair short, but there were some nice horses in here. ... This was a good starting point to get him going again."
John Ennis, trainer of Epic Ride, likewise commended his trainee's performance: "Great race for first race off a layoff. He ran huge. This looked like a great race on paper beforehand, and he ran great. Maybe past the sixteenth pole he got a little tired, but I could not be any prouder."
Redemptive Win for Machado
Brunacini's graded victory was a first in Sims' career and a first for Machado's career on a horse not named Next.
The win was particularly moving for Machado after a highly publicized and criticized mistake earlier in the week. During the Oct. 16 finale at Keeneland, Machado looked an easy winner as Ultimate Strike pulled away in the stretch. Thinking the race was 1 1/16 miles long, Machado eased up as they approached the sixteenth pole, used as the finish line for races of that distance. However, the race was actually 1 1/8 miles and using the traditional finish line. Machado was caught right on the wire to lose the victory by a neck.
He would later be fined $2,500 and handed a three-day suspension by the Keeneland stewards.
"That was an honest mistake, I rode as hard as I could to the first wire," Machado recalled of the now-infamous Wednesday ride. "I pulled up super happy for all the connections. When I found out I did it to the wrong wire, I just wanted to disappear. I'm so sorry for the connections, they're such hard workers."
Machado fought back tears as he discussed how crucial winning the Perryville was to him.
"Now, to come back and win a graded stakes just means—I couldn't say what that means to me right now but it means a lot," he said. "In this game, you've got to prove yourself every day and I think I will keep doing it better and better now."
Brunacini Legacy
The victory was also especially emotional for owner and breeder Emilie Fojan, who also bred the colt's late sire Dortmund. Fojan named the colt in honor of the late George Brunacini, her fiance and partner in the Thoroughbred business, who died in a plane crash leaving Lexington's Blue Grass Airport in 2006. Brunacini had bred Flower Alley, winner of the 2005 Travers Stakes (G1).
"It was extra special," Fojan said. "It means more than you realize, it means everything."
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Dortmund, winner of the 2015 Santa Anita Derby (G1) and third in that year's Kentucky Derby (G1), passed away due to colic in 2022 while standing in South Korea. Brunacini became his first stakes winner with Saturday's victory.
