At some point, after decades of watching him stun with results that laugh in the face of whatever was supposed to play out on paper, one would think the racing community would pause before underestimating the young protégés of D. Wayne Lukas.
He keeps doing this, after all—unveiling prospects that jump up just when others' bandwagons seem to be rolling along. He will joke that he has made a career out of running horses where they don't belong, often cracking that Hall of Fame wit in moments when he has had the last laugh.
The legendary trainer may not have been on hand at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots Feb. 17, but rest assured, he was as tickled as anyone at the Louisiana track after Bravazo stuck his nose on the wire in the $400,000 Risen Star Stakes presented by Lamarque Ford (G2).
The colt's odds read 21-1. The past-performance lines said others had far better credentials. The results of the photo finish said the man with the most Triple Crown race wins in history has another live one on his hands.
The 2018 Road to the Kentucky Derby welcomed Calumet Farm's homebred Bravazo to its ranks Saturday. In his second start this year and third crack against graded stakes company, the Lukas-trained son of Awesome Again tracked pacesetter Snapper Sinclair every step of the 1 1/16-mile test and got his best stride down when it counted to edge the frontrunner by a nose after a sustained stretch battle.
Lukas already has one classic hopeful in his barn in grade 1 winner Sporting Chance, who is scheduled to make his seasonal debut in the Feb. 19 Southwest Stakes (G3) at Oaklawn Park. After earning 50 qualifying points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, it is Bravazo who currently sits atop the leaderboard—not a bad feat for a colt who ended his juvenile season with a 10th-place finish at odds of 30-1 in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) Nov. 25 at Churchill Downs.
Many expected a Hall of Fame trainer to prevail in the Risen Star, they just figured it would be Jerry Hollendorfer, who saddled favored Instilled Regard. The dark bay son of Arch already turned in an impressive run at Fair Grounds, where he took the Jan. 13 Lecomte Stakes (G3) by 3 3/4 lengths. The same day that one garnered high praise for his upside, Bravazo quietly got himself back on track with a neck victory in a one-mile allowance test at Oaklawn.
That workmanlike effort got the screws tightened for the upset run he delivered Saturday. With fellow longshot Snapper Sinclair taking command after racing in the two-path to the first turn, Bravazo raced right off that foe's flank through an opening quarter-mile in :24.15 and a half-mile in :47.96.
Those two were still side by side as they reached the final turn, but it appeared 7-5 favorite Instilled Regard was going to hit them with a dose of reality as he advanced three-wide. That momentum went no further entering the stretch, however, with Snapper Sinclair gamely outrunning his 41-1 odds, only to be outdone as Bravazo kept coming to his outside under right-handed urging from jockey Miguel Mena—who only picked up the mount from Gary Stevens.
"I found out two, three days ago that Gary wasn't coming, and (Lukas) gave me the call," said Mena, currently the leading rider at Fair Grounds. "I talked to (assistant trainer) Bas (Nicholl) this morning and told me how much they liked the horse. They told me to ride him with confidence.
"I think they expected me to be fairly close, but I didn't think I'd be that close. A couple speed horses didn't show up."
Bravazo stopped the teletimer in 1:42.95 on a fast track, as he and Snapper Sinclair went two lengths clear of third-place finisher Noble Indy. Instilled Regard was outkicked in the stretch and ended up fourth, with High North fifth.
Ebben, Principe Guilherme, Givemeaminit, and Supreme Aura completed the order of finish. Kentucky Club, cross-entered in the Southwest, was scratched.
After breaking his maiden second time out at Churchill Downs in September, Bravazo was tossed into top-level company in the Claiborne Breeders' Futurity (G1) at Keeneland, where he ran second at 47-1 odds to Free Drop Billy and was beaten four lengths. He returned to finish third in the Street Sense Stakes later that month, but was a non-factor in the Kentucky Jockey Club won by Enticed.
A Kentucky-bred out of the Cee's Tizzy mare Tiz o' Gold, Bravazo improved his record to three wins from seven starts, with $426,528 in earnings.
