In Our Time Rolls in Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Sprint

Earlier this year, Micah Husbands and Saffie Joseph Jr. teamed to win top-level stakes with Claret Beret taking the Apple Blossom Handicap (G1) at Oaklawn Park and Eunomia capturing the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes (G1) at Del Mar. Now Kentucky Downs is yet another successful stop for the Florida-based duo, as the pair delivered with a front-running romp by In Our Time in the $1,676,500 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Sprint Stakes (G1T) Aug. 29. The quick-breaking 5-year-old daughter of Not This Time outsprinted two-time race winner Ag Bullet to the lead in the 6 1/2-furlong turf race. She comfortably set an opening quarter-mile in :22.79 and a half-mile in :45.39 before leaving her rivals far behind. In Our Time drew clear by 3 1/2 lengths by midstretch and maintained that lead to the finish, covering the distance in 1:16.01 on a firm turf course. She paid $32.60 for a $5 win bet, the minimum wager for win, place, and show bets at Kentucky Downs; a $2 win wager would return $13.04. Time to Dazzle, under Dylan Davis, edged the Francisco Arrieta-ridden Jody's Pride by a nose for the show. In a performance that foreshadowed Saturday's outcome, In Our Time and Time to Dazzle, another daughter of Not This Time, were 1-2 in an allowance optional claiming race at Kentucky Downs last September, though they were only separated by a half-length on that occasion. Husbands credited Joseph for always looking out for him. "He taught me a lot. Without him, this wouldn't be possible," Husbands said. The jockey, who walked the course in the morning to familiarize himself with the unique, undulating turf there, said he rode to Joseph's instructions. "I just wanted to do what the boss (Joseph) said. He said, 'Don't try to change anything up,' and if she broke sharp and no one wanted the lead to just go for it," Husbands noted. "There wasn't anyone with as much speed as us, so I just let her cruise and tried to take a long hold and not grab at her head. She was just cruising. "She loves it here. She knows when to switch leads; she's a nice horse. She was professional; I felt like there was a horse about to turn on me, and she was just waiting for me to ask her. I was just waiting for the quarter pole and, when I asked her, she took off." Favored Ag Bullet faded to finish eighth after chasing the early pace under Florent Geroux. The Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf Sprint, elevated from grade 2 status for this year's running, marked the first upper-tier stakes win for In Our Time, who won the Giant's Causeway Stakes (G2T) earlier this year when sprinting on the turf at Keeneland. She is 6-6-3 in 20 starts with earnings of $1,993,305. She has three career stakes victories and eight stakes placings, including in the 2025 Matriarch Stakes (G1T) at Del Mar. Joseph trains her for John Stewart's Resolute Racing and Myron Miller's Miller Racing. Joseph began training her for Miller Racing upon her fourth career start, after she previously raced for owner/trainer Jack Sisterson. Resolute Racing joined in partnership with Miller Racing later in her racing career. She was bred in Kentucky by Brian Kahn out of the Cactus Ridge mare Laura's Pleasure. The top-ranked sire in North America, Not This Time stood this year for $250,000 at Taylor Made Stallions near Nicholasville, Ky.