Two course records were set at Ellis Park on August 4 when the Henderson, Kentucky oval hosted the rich Kentucky Downs Preview Day card and Kallio came within a tick of making it three.
Five turf stakes, each with a $100,000 purse, highlighted Sunday’s card and provided steppingstones to the five-day all-turf meet in Franklin, Ky.
The card drew one of the nation’s leading jockeys, Tyler Gaffalione, rider of Preakness Stakes (G1) winner War of Will who has spent recent weeks at Saratoga.
He piloted Kallio to a neck victory over Classy Act in the Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf. Kallio surged from sixth to race a mile on firm turf in 1:32.62, just .02 of a second off the course record of 1:32.60, set by Slewper Imp in 1995.
“It’s a great place to come,” Gaffalione said of Ellis Park. “Great people, fun environment. I always enjoy it. Hopefully, get to come back again next year.”
Kallio, campaigned by Madaket Stables, Tim Cambron, Anna Cambron, and Bradley Thoroughbreds, is now positioned for a lucrative opportunity in the Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf (G3T), for which she a received an entry-paid berth with her Ellis Park victory. She was bred by Nolan Creek Farm and was foaled and raised at Hidden Brook Farm in Kentucky. She later sold with Hidden Brook at the 2016 Keeneland September yearling auction. She joins Amalfi Sunrise (G2 Sorrento Stakes)and new millionaire Mr. Money (G3 West Virginia Derby) as weekend stakes winners foaled and sold by Hidden Brook.
“She’s very talented,” said trainer Brendan Walsh. “She has been tricky to train mentally, more than anything, but every time she runs, she gets it a little more, a little more. I really think we are only on the tip of the iceberg right now. She has plenty more to come. She looks like a filly that will mature with age. Yeah, we’re excited about her, especially the way she’s going.”
