Twinspired ran a flawless race in the G1 Toyota Blue Grass April 16 at Keeneland, only to be nipped by the narrowest of margin in the final stride of the nine furlongs.[watch race] It took the placing judges several minutes to determine the official winner, Brilliant Speed, who came very wide down the stretch, out of the view of Twinspired, who was near the rail.
Twinspired, a 3-year-old gray or roan colt by WinStar’s Harlan’s Holiday, came into the Blue Grass off a promising third-place finish in the Spiral S. (G3) at Turfway Park last month.
In the Blue Grass, Twinspired got a great ride from Robby Albarado. He settled in third along the inside through the first turn and down the backstretch. Albarado made his move going into the turn and took the lead in midstretch. He put in a very determined run in the final furlong, with the finish too close to call.
“I had a great trip, nice rail trip. At the three-eighths pole, I got out about where I wanted to be. I called on him, and he gave me what he had to the wire. It was unfortunate he came on the losing end of it,” said Albarado. “I knew it was close. But I didn’t think I had it. In horse racing, anymore, you never think you got it when it’s that close. I try not to, anyway.”
Mike Maker, Twinspired’s trainer, contemplated what nearly was and at the same time looked to the next race. “My first thought was I didn’t think we won, and the second one I thought we won for sure.”
As far as the Kentucky Derby, Maker said, “Probably. I was just looking at it today, and I think this puts him about $200,000 ($197,500 in graded earnings).”
Twinspired is now 2-1-1 in eight starts, with overall earnings of $264,830. He was a $140,000 purchase at the Fasig-Tipton 2-year-old sale last May, where he was bought by Maker for the partnership of Alpha Stables, Skychai Racing LLC and Sand Dollar Stable LLC.
