Big Score Produces Big Score in Opening-Day Transylvania

By Amy Owens —-

Big Score wins the Grade 3 Transylvania; Keeneland Photo

LEXINGTON, KY (April 7, 2017) – George Krikorian’s homebred Big Score collared pace-setting Holiday Stone in the closing strides Holiday to win the 29th running of the $150,000 Transylvania (G3) Presented by Keeneland Select for 3-year-olds by a half-length on Friday before a Spring Meet opening-day crowd of 14,301.

Trained by Tim Yakteen and ridden by Javier Castellano, Big Score covered the 1 1/16 miles on a turf course rated as “good” in 1:43.23. It was the first Keeneland stakes victory for Yakteen and 31st for Castellano, who also won the 2015 Transylvania with Night Prowler.

Breaking from the outside post position, Holiday Stone outhustled Sonic Boom and odds-on favorite Oscar Performance for the lead and led the field of eight through fractions of :23.92, :48.48 and 1:13.17 as Big Score raced in fifth.

Castellano split horses in the upper stretch, shook clear of traffic at the eighth pole and gradually wore down Holiday Stone.

The victory was worth $90,000 and increased Big Score’s earnings to $237,800 with a record of 5-3-1-0. Now a two-time stakes winner, Big Score was making his first start since finishing fifth behind Oscar Performance in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) at Santa Anita in November.

Big Score is a Kentucky-bred son of Mr. Big out of the Unusual Heat mare Not Unusual.

Big Score returned $22.40, $10.40 and $7 Holiday Stone, ridden by Luis Saez, returned $26 and $13.80 and finished a length in front of Makarios, who paid $9.80 to show under Corey Lanerie.

Ticonderoga finished another three-quarters of a length back in fourth and was followed in order by Oscar Performance, Cowboy Culture, Sonic Boom and Profiteer.

Racing resumes Saturday at 1:05 p.m. ET with a spectacular 11-race program that includes five graded stakes headlined by the 93rd running of the $1 million Toyota Blue Grass (G2) for 3-year-olds aspiring to the $2 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) in four weeks.

Also on the program are two Grade 1 races, the $500,000 Central Bank Ashland for 3-year-old fillies eyeing the $1 million Kentucky Oaks (G1) on May 5 and the $300,000 Madison for fillies and mares.

************
Today was College Scholarship Day, which attracted more than 2,000 college and university students from Kentucky and beyond. Full-time students registered to win $1,000 scholarships and prizes from local vendors were awarded after each of the day’s races.

For the second consecutive year, Jim and Linda McIngvale, owners of champion and Keeneland sales graduate Runhappy, gave away a $10,000 college scholarship. This year’s winner of the Runhappy Scholarship was April Fronk, who graduated from Henry Clay High School in Lexington and is a junior at the University of Kentucky. She is pursuing a double major in Spanish and math, with a minor in business.

“I want to study abroad, and I was thinking about it for next summer, so this will be perfect for that,” Fronk said. “I’ve come to Keeneland a bunch but I’ve never come on Scholarship Day before. And I got a call (that I’d won), and I was like, ‘Oh my goodness.’ ”

Keeneland hosts College Scholarship Day in partnership with the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association. The program began in October 2002 and has distributed more than $600,000 at tracks statewide, including more than $300,000 at Keeneland.

Quotes for the $150,000 Transylvania (G3)
Presented by Keeneland Select

Click here for a replay of the race

Tim Yakteen (winning trainer of Big Score)

“We were expecting a strong effort, but until you run you never know. He’s a good horse. I’m really happy for (breeder and owner) George (Krikorian). He stands (Big Score’s sire) Mr. Big, and this is a big start for him.”

On Big Score’s next race

“We’re going to look at Churchill (Downs and the $300,000 American Turf-G2 on May 6) most likely next First we’re going to digest this and then come up with our next move.”

Javier Castellano (rider of Big Score)

“I had a wonderful trip. I really like the way he did it today – very relaxed, very comfortable, good rhythm all the way through the race. I kept track of the pace. The way he did it (winning from off the pace) was phenomenal. I give all the credit to Tim and the owner (George Krikorian) and the wonderful fans here at Keeneland. Nothing better than to win the Transylvania on opening day of the meet.”

Luis Saez (rider of runner-up Holiday Stone)

“Big run – he was very nice. I thought he was gonna get it, then Javier’s horse (Big Score) came by. First time I’ve ridden him. (Trainer George Weaver) said just break and be comfortable, and that was it. And he was very comfortable. He ran pretty hard. I think he’s gonna learn a lot.”

Corey Lanerie (rider of third-place finisher Makarios):

“He ran an awful good race. He settled toward the back of the pack. I had never been on him before, and I think I left him a little too much to do or he could have been in the photo. He had a smooth trip, saved some ground and I tipped him out and he came running really good.”

Joel Rosario (rider of fourth-place finisher Ticonderoga)

“I was in a good spot. He just steadied a bit in the end. I thought he was going to have a little more finish. I don’t think they went very fast, and I thought he’d go a little more in the end. (He was) just kind of even today. “

Jose Ortiz (rider of fifth-place finisher and beaten favorite Oscar Performance)

“I broke a bit slow. That is why I was not on the lead. It was a very clean trip.”

Bryan Lynch (trainer of Oscar Performance):

“No real excuses. He settled in nicely behind. The pace was not real quick and the rail opened up when it needed to but he just did not quicken. (First race since winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf-G1 in November) was a concern. He could have gotten tired. He was working on a much faster turf course at Palm Meadows (training center in South Florida). Maybe he was not as tight as I thought he would be.”

###
For more than 80 years, the Keeneland Association has devoted itself to the health and vibrancy of the Thoroughbred industry. As the world’s largest Thoroughbred auction company, Keeneland conducts sales every January, September and November. Its sales graduates dominate racing across the globe at every level. In April and October, Keeneland offers some of the highest caliber and richest Thoroughbred racing in the world. In 2015, Keeneland hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships. Uniquely structured, Keeneland is a private, for-profit corporation that returns its earnings to the industry and the community in the form of higher purses, and it has donated millions of dollars in charitable contributions for education, research and health and human services throughout Central Kentucky. To learn more about Keeneland, visit Keeneland.com.

Cover Photo: Big Score; Keeneland File Photo