Spinster Results: In Lingerie bounces back for the victory

After dull runs in both the G1-Alabama and the G1-Coaching Club American Oaks, I had soured quite a bit on the progress (or lack thereof) of In Lingerie. Sunday at Keeneland, the Empire Maker filly rebounded to score a clear and relatively easy victory in the Grade 1 Spinster, beating Mystical Star by a couple lengths at the line.

With her victory in the Spinster, In Lingerie now has three wins over Polytrack surfaces - two wins at Turfway (including the G3-Bourbonette Oaks) and Sunday's win in the Spinster. Her other win came in the G2-Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico on Preakness weekend. I went against In Lingerie that day at Pimlico hoping that her synthetic form wouldn't transfer to the dirt, which turned out not to be the case.

Some additional thoughts on In Lingerie:

• While the Spinster is on the Polytrack surface and clouds comparison ever so slightly, this is just another piece of evidence that the East Coast fillies are head-and-shoulders above the rest of the country. In her last two starts, In Lingerie lost by six and a half and nine lengths to Questing (GB).
• Going forward I'm still not sure how much I like In Lingerie on dirt given what we've witnessed from her this year. If Todd Pletcher is able to pick out the right spot, In Lingerie is plenty capable of winning on dirt. But in a race like the Ladies' Classic, a race that is absolutely stacked with talent (again) this year, I'm not sure In Lingerie is a top contenders. But, then again, you never know.

In the race prior to the Spinster, Balance the Books and Julien Leparoux won a wild finish of the Grade 3 Bourbon Stakes for juvenile colts on the lawn at a mile and a sixteenth. I grabbed some blurry screen caps from the head-on view and you can see the absolute mess that occurred in deep stretch. Essentially, Really Sharp ducked out for some unknown reason, causing a chain reaction of bumper cars all the way out to the winner, Balance the Books.

Balance the Books is probably headed to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (depending on how he comes out of the Bourbon) where he'll look to win his third straight stakes race on the grass.

Below are the payouts, Trakus fractions and Trakus splits for the Spinster and the Bourbon Stakes.

Grade 3 Bourbon Stakes

WIN: 6-Balance the Books ($3.80, $2.80, $2.40)
PLACE: 8-Brown Almighty ($4.60, $3.40)
SHOW: 9-Sonofasamurai ($4.40)

$1.00 EXACTA: (6/8) $9.90
$0.50 TRIFECTA: (6/8/9) $21.45
$0.10 SUPERFECTA: (6/8/9/7) $77.05
$1.00 DAILY DOUBLE: (7/5) $4.90
$0.50 PICK 3: (6/7/6) $39.55 3-of-3

Fractions
1/4: 23.19
1/2: 47.72
3/4: 1:13.60
Mile: 1:39.14
Finish: 1:05.34

Internal Splits:
1/4: 23.19
1/2: 24.53
3/4: 25.88
Mile:25.54
Finish: 6.20

Grade 1 Spinster

WIN: 5-In Lingerie ($6.80, $3.80, $3.20)
PLACE: 11-Mystical Star ($5.60, $4.60)
SHOW: 7-Upperline ($5.20)

$1.00 EXACTA: (5/11) $17.00
$0.50 TRIFECTA: (5/11/7) $63.05
$0.10 SUPERFECTA: (5/11/7/10) $113.68
$1.00 DAILY DOUBLE: (6/5) $6.90
$0.50 PICK 3: (7/6/5) $19.80 3-of-3

Fractions
1/4: 24.32
1/2: 48.05
3/4: 1:12.46
Mile: 1:37.35
Finish: 1:49.52

Internal Splits:
1/4: 24.32
1/2: 23.73
3/4: 24.42
Mile:24.89
Finish: 12.17