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LEXINGTON, KY (Oct. 13, 2016) – Steve Landers Racing’s Illussion Artist got up in the final strides to edge Etiquette by a neck to win Thursday’s $62,000 Hagyard Purse for fillies and mares before a crowd of 10,054.
Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Robby Albarado, Illussion Artist covered the 6½ furlongs on a fast main track in 1:16.85 and remained undefeated in two starts.
Illussion Artist is a 3-year-old Louisiana-bred Drosselmeyer filly out of the Forest Wildcat mare Art of Illusion. Thursday’s winner’s check of $30,660 increased her earnings to $49,860.
Illussion Artist rewarded her backers with payoffs of $12.80, $5.80 and $3.60. Etiquette, ridden by Jose Ortiz, returned $4 and $2.80 with favored Breaking Bread finishing 5½ lengths back in third under Shaun Bridgmohan and paying $2.20 to show.
Racing resumes Friday with a 10-race program that begins at 1:05 p.m. ET. Highlighting the card is the $100,000 Buffalo Trace Franklin County (G3) for fillies and mares going 5½ furlongs on the turf. The race is the ninth on the program with a 5:30 p.m. post time.
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Today was Make-A-Wish Day for which local Thoroughbred farms and organizations teamed up with Keeneland to grant wishes for deserving children. Click here to meet them. The wish kids and their families were treated to a VIP day at the races and presented trophies to the winning connections after each race. (Make-A-Wish Day photos are attached.)
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Tomorrow is College Scholarship Day, one of Keeneland’s most popular promotions. College students will receive free general admission with a valid student ID and a chance to win one of 10 college scholarships awarded after each of the day’s races.
Keeneland hosts College Scholarship Day in partnership with the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association. The program began in October 2002 and has distributed a total of $582,000 at tracks statewide, including $282,000 at Keeneland.
NEW: Click here to register online and be entered to win an outdoor box for six at Keeneland for Thursday, Oct. 27. Pre-registration ends tonight at 11:59 p.m. ET.