LEXINGTON, KY – One Go All Go battled hard in a grinding four-horse stretch duel to win Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Dixiana Elkhorn Stakes at Keeneland.
One Go All Go took to the front to set the early pace with 2-1 favorite Itsinthepost close behind. The grueling 1 1/2 mile race made sure the fractions were comfortable at :26.32, :51.60, 1:17.17, and 1:42.20 and the front-running pair stayed together the whole time. Just off the leaders sat the pair of Oscar Nominated and Call Provisions. Despite the 11 horse field, the race pretty much played out as a 4 horse race with none of the others ever contesting the lead. At about the 1/4 pole, the pace picked up and Oscar Nominated along with Call Provisions pulled up alongside the leading pair for a four-wide stretch duel. One Go All Go with jockey Chris Landeros proved to be the best grinding out the win by 3/4 of a length. Oscar Nominated finished second, a nose ahead of Itsinthepost, and Call Provision finished fourth
After the race jockey Tyler Baze said of the favorite Itsinthepost, “I had a good trip. I was hoping there was some good pace in there. My horse usually comes from two or three off it, and going that slow it was hard to get him to settle. I thought maybe I should just go ahead and put him on the lead, but what if he ends up getting beat anyways? He ran a good race.”
Meanwhile, jockey Chris Landeros had to say of the winner One Go All Go, “He’s just a cool horse, and it seems like he’s getting better.”
One Go All Go was purchased last year for $62,000 at Keeneland’s 2017 November Breeding Stock Sale.
When asked about buying the horse, trainer Scooter Dickey said, “He ran third to my good horse, Flatlined, at Ellis Park last year. I told (owner) Mr. Paden, ‘He’s good enough to buy if he doesn’t bring too much.’ We got him.”
One Go All Go returned $21.20 to win, $8.80 to place, and $5.60 to show. Oscar Nominated brought back $6.20 to place and $3.60 to show, while Itsinthepost paid $3.00 to show.