LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The sun was not shining bright on My Old Kentucky Home Friday afternoon. In fact, it wasn’t shining at all.
With the remnants of Hurricane Helene pouring down on the racing surface at Churchill Downs, there were few witnesses to history. But history happened.
Bango, trained by Greg Foley, owned by Tamaroak Partners Fred and Debbie Schwartz and ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, splashed his way to a 2 1/4 -length victory over a sloppy, sealed track to become the winningest modern horse at America’s most famous racetrack.
Churchill Downs’ modern leader for career wins took his 12th victory over a field of four and Mother Nature. It was his fourth attempt at breaking the record since moving into a tie with Ready’s Rocket last Sept. 16.
And, notably, it was the first of those attempts that I have missed. Blame the weather. The 7-year-old had finished third and fourth in a couple of stakes attempts, including a Thurby Day stakes this year, and most recently ran eighth in the Kelly’s Landing Stakes on June 29.
Bango after coming up short to break the Churchill Downs record for all-time victories in a race on Thurby Day, 2024.
Suffice it to say, the plaque for Foley’s Barn No. 11 at Churchill has been ready for a while. But Bango had to round back into form in training to make it happen.
“I’ll wipe a little dust off of it from the spring. They’ve had it over there for a little while,” Foley said, as Kevin Kerstein of Churchill Downs stood ready with the plaque. “We’ll shine it up a little. It’ll look good. . . . This spring he trained well and we thought we’d get it done the first stakes there on Derby Thursday. But I don’t know, he just was doing well and all that, but kind of got mentally out of the game for a little bit. We tried a few little things to try to trick him back and his works the past 3-4 weeks have been phenomenal. If he didn’t run today, I don’t know. We’d have probably took him home.”
Instead, Bango took his connections home, and had little trouble putting away the field after turning for home on Friday.
“It’s a really special day for all of us,” Foley said. “I can’t congratulate owners Fred and Debie Schwartz enough for accomplishing this feat with Bango. They’ve been so good to me for so many years. He’s got the all-time winningest record here at Churchill and that’s such a special meaning. He loves it here, as we all know. He really wasn’t himself this spring but the past three or four weeks he’s been phenomenal. He’s back.”
Bango’s 12 wins at Churchill have included multiple stakes. He won the Kelly’s Landing in 2021 and ‘23, The Aristides Stakes in 2021 and ‘22, the Bet On Sunshine Stakes in 2022 and the 2023 Louisville Thoroughbred Society Stakes, where he tied the Churchill record.
His career earnings now have topped $1.6 million on a career record of 15-4-4 in 28 starts.
And he may not be finished. Foley told Churchill Downs’ that the horse will stay in training and could look to add to his record during the track’s fall meet, perhaps a bid to win the Bet On Sunshine Stakes for a third time.
Why not? After winning in the remnants of a hurricane, maybe this horse carries his sunshine with him.
Copyright 2024 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
