In the wake of the 2008 stock market crash, Lindsay Bohannon found himself the sole owner in a filly named Archly, his partners wanting out. Because Archly was by Arch, whose son Blame had just handed the great racemare Zenyatta her only defeat in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs, Bohannon decided to keep Archly and breed her.
Archly went 0 for 4 on the racetrack, earning $680. To date, she is Bohannon’s only broodmare and he so far races only her offspring in the name of Clarendon Stable. But Sunday at Ellis Park, Archly’s second foal, the 5-year-old Bonnie Arch, earned her first stakes victory in the $50,000 Ellis Park Turf, stalking the early pace and coming five wide under Chris Landeros to surge to a half-length victory over favored I Remember Mama.
“She’s doing good, getting some confidence. Her last race at Churchill was pretty impressive,†Landeros said of a June 14 second-level turf allowance victory. “I thought if she could parlay it over to today, she might have a good shot. She’s getting better. She’s starting to relax a little more. She’s kind of a big, aggressive filly; she’s hard on herself. But she takes me to some good spots, and she’s getting there.
“I was just biding my time. She’s a big filly. You have to get your motor running before you start making her move, she’s so big. But once she gets that stride, she has a good kick.â€
Bonnie Arch covered 1 1/16 miles over the firm Wright Implement turf course in a fast 1:40.17, the last sixteenth-mile going in 5.90 seconds. She paid $10.60 win as the third choice in the field of eight fillies and mares.
It was another nose to British import Dubara, making her U.S. debut, with May Lily another head back. Bonnie Arch’s Ian Wilkes-trained stablemate Burma Road was yet another head back in fifth, beaten three-quarters of a length for everything.
“That was a good horse race. She tried, ran hard to the wire,†said Robby Albarado, rider of I Remember Mama. “I missed the break, just a little bit tardy, she got herself position well and was very responsive when I needed her. She took off, seemingly put away the winner turning for home, and they just came back and outrun us.â€
Said Tommy Drury, I Remember Mama’s trainer, after waiting out the photo for second: “It was close. First time stakes company, I thought she stepped up and ran her race. We had every shot to win it in middle of the stretch, and the other horse just out-footed us a little bit.â€
Bonnie Arch, a chestnut daughter of Regal Ransom, now is 4-2-2 in 18 starts, earning $157,882. It was her third start of 2018, which started with a seventh-place finish sprinting over soft turf at Keeneland and then the Churchill victory, in which she beat May Lily.
“She’s just continued to improve over the year,†Bohannon said. “It’s been a great thing to watch. Chris has done a great job with her, and Ian in schooling her to where she’s professional now. She likes it here at Ellis Park. She had another great race here last year (an entry-level allowance win). Getting the black type (stakes placing) today was what we were looking for. Now she can progress to a higher-caliber race next time.â€
That likely will be Ellis’ $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies at a mile on turf on Aug. 5, itself designed to be a launching pad to the $500,000, Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Ladies at Kentucky Downs, just a short drive from Bohannon’s home in Nashville, Tenn.
Peruvian Chuan wins Ellis riding debut
Martin Chuan, the leading rider in Peru who recently relocated to America, won his Ellis Park debut as Dennis Tuchefeld’s Angelo’s Ashes took the fourth race for trainer Mike Maker. Chuan’s agent is 22-year-old Jake Romans, son of trainer Dale Romans.
Chuan twice before came over to the United States, in 2013 at Turfway Park and 2016 at Churchill Downs, but both times were to ride Peruvian horses and he had no plans to stay. Now he wants to make it in America.
“Miguel Mena told me about this kid,†said Francisco Torres, the retired jockey and current jockey agent for Sammy Camacho who was helping Chuan in an interview.
But asked why he now plans to stay here, Chuan needed no translation of the question, quickly responding in English, “This is my dream.â€
Chuan pronounces his name Mar-TEEN Shwawn.
