The Final Sixteenth Belongs to a California Shipper

Somerset West traveled the farthest and finished the strongest at Kentucky Downs, closing through the last sixteenth of a mile to collar four rivals who had set the pace ahead of him. The Kantharos colt's late kick carried him past the field to take the Grade 2 Ainsworth Music City Stakes, a result few had circled given the distance he'd shipped to get there. It was the kind of finish that turf writers live for — a horse still accelerating as the leaders began to shorten stride, arriving at the wire first. For a California-based runner making the trip east, it was a statement delivered in the final seconds of the race.

With reporting from Thoroughbred Daily News.