Rusty returns a winner
Six-year-old bay gelding Rusty made a successful return to competitive race following a near four-month layoff in the second race on Saturday’s (April, 13, 2024) nine-race card.
Rusty’s victory came in a three-year-old and upward Optional Claiming ($400,000 – $300,000) race that included native-bred six-year-olds (non-winners four) and import six-year-olds and upward (non-winners of three) at 5 ½ furlongs.
Trained by Patrick Lynch and ridden by Reyan Lewis, Rusty was alert at the start, moving into third place behind Rocket Lily (Raddesh Roman) and Queen Zan (Shane Richardson) going into the half-mile turn.
Rusty (Drill – Kenzie’s Charm) hugged the inside rails, cut the turn entering the drive and produced a strong run in deep stretch to win easily by 5 ¾ lengths ahead of Rocket Lily and
Victoriasmedallion (Romario Spencer). The final time for the race was 1:10.0 (23.4 x 48.2).