Manny Franco celebrates victory aboard Spirit of St Louis in $1 million Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic Saturday. Churchill Downs/Coady Media.
Spirit of St Louis vaulted to the top of the North American male turf division Saturday with a rousing victory in the Grade 1 Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic Stakes on the Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs.
Reunited with Manny Franco – who rode the Medaglia d’Oro gelding to six stakes wins in 2023 and 2024 – Spirit of St Louis added the Turf Classic to his victory two starts back in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park. He also bounced back from a close fourth as the favorite in the Grade 2 Muniz Memorial Classic Stakes in late March at Fair Grounds.
Sent off again as the favorite – this time 3-1 against nine others over the saturated turf course labeled good – Spirit of St Louis closed from the back of the field to win a six-way wild finish by three-quarters of a length over Mercante and Highway Robber. Franco angled Spirit of St Louis wide into the lane, avoiding any trouble down inside to give owners Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables and Richard Schermerhorn the win in the traditional Derby Day fixture.
“I was so happy in the last 200 yards because I thought I made the right move,” Franco said. “There were a lot of horses back in the same spot and I never had to stop and that was the key.”
Brown also praised Franco’s ride, which provided the trainer with his fifth victory in the Turf Classic following scores with Program Trading (2024), Domestic Spending (2021), Digital Age (2020) and Bricks and Mortar (2019).
“He was standing flat-footed and he didn’t break all that well,” Brown said. “But Manny did a good job of saving ground with him in the first turn and then got him running late. I was confident today with this horse because he does real well on soft turf. I’ve been following his numbers and he is getting better and better. But he has surprised me with how far he can run.”
Spirit of St Louis improved to 3-for-4 at 9 furlongs, winning in 1:48.20. A full brother to New York-bred Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint winner Bar of Gold, Spirit of St Louis also improved to 11-for-16 with three seconds in the Turf Classic. He earned $530,110 to boost his bankroll to $1,809,250, good for 14th on the all-time list of New York-bred earners.
Bred by Chester and the late Mary Broman and foaled at their Chestertown Farm in Chestertown, Spirit of St Louis is also a half-brother to stakes-placed New York-breds Land Mine and Homeland. Khancord Kid, a Grade 3 winner, has produced five winners. She’s also the dam of a 2-year-old full brother to Spirit of St Louis named Kid’s Khanclusion.
The Bromans bought Khancord Kid’s dam, Confidently, for $1 million at the 2000 Keeneland January horses of all ages sale. Out of Grade 1 winner Key Phrase, Confidently is a full sister to multiple stakes winner Yankee Gentleman with her dam a half-sister to the dam of champion Shared Belief.
Spirit of St Louis, a $300,000 purchase by BSW/Crow out of the 2020 Keeneland September yearling sale, made his first two starts for owner Peter Brant and Brown. He won his debut on the dirt in mid-February 2023 before a second in a 9-furlong allowance on the dirt, both at Aqueduct. Dubb purchased Spirit of St Louis for $280,000 shortly after that effort, at the Keeneland April horses of racing age sale. He’s won 10 of 13, including a run of five straight stakes from late 2023 to the summer of 2024.
The Turf Classic marked just the fourth graded try for Spirit of St Louis, who also finished a troubled fifth in last year’s Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland. He bounced back from that effort to win his second straight Mohawk Stakes on Empire Showcase Day in late October to close his 5-year-old campaign and set up a strong start to 2025.
