By admin 
It was a blanket finish in Saturday’s $350,000 Indian Summer (G3) for 2-year-olds going 5½ furlongs on the turf at Keeneland, with Riverdee Stable and West Paces Racing’s European invader Adonius (IRE) winning a four-way photo by a head bob.
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Making his United States debut, the Soldier’s Call (GB) gelding trained by Rebecca Menzies was guided to the finish by John Velazquez in a final time of 1:03.46, paying $9.18 for a $2 win wager.
Adonius broke a step slow while Wood Island was quick out the gate before eventual pacesetter and favorite Ruiva took command as the field headed into the far turn, setting fractions of :21.15 and :44.37 for the first half mile. Ciarlatano raced in third and Love Warrior in fourth. Bee Crazy, Cactus Closer, Adonius, Fanshell Beach and Crack On followed in the stretched-out field of nine.
At the top of the stretch, Ruiva looked comfortable under jockey Irad Ortiz Jr., opening up by 2 1/2 lengths. Wood Island was all out in second, with Love Warrior launching his bid to the outside. Adonius, who was wide on the turn, also started to close ground from fourth.
As the finish line drew closer, Ruiva was starting weaken. Ultimately, Adonius’ momentum on the outside carried him to the wire, winning by a head over Love Warrior. Wood Island and Ruiva, who were also involved in the photo finish, ended up in third and fourth, respectively. Fanshell Beach outfinished Cactus Closer for fifth, while Crack On and Bee Crazy finished seventh and eighth, respectively. Ciarlatano completed the order of finish.
Velazquez said the colt didn’t behave in the gate as he expected.
“I knew he would break slow out of there,” he said. “With a lot of speed in the race, I was expecting that, but I wasn’t expecting to be that far back.
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“I tried to cover up a little bit the first part of the race. He was a little uncomfortable, so I took him outside of horses — now he’s trying to get away from the horses. I tried to cover up and he was much better following somebody. Once I got him out, he had a nice kick. For a horse who’s never come behind, he was very professional.”
Menzie said the colt will remain at Keeneland for the time being.
“On to the Breeders’ Cup (Juvenile Turf Sprint [G1]),” she declared.
Sean Clancy of winning co-owner Riverdee Stable, said the Sunday’s win was a thrill.
“For the horse to come over here, travel here, deal with all of that, then to break like that — he’s never been in that position in his life, to keep trying and keep digging. I thought, in the middle of the stretch, ‘Aww, he’s going to be a gallant fourth,’ and we’ll be thinking, ‘Oh, if he broke, if he did this, maybe it would have happened,’ so for him to get there — I honestly didn’t think he got any part of it. I was walking down and thinking, ‘I can’t believe he ran like that and got beat. Anybody who plays this game, it’s an honor to come here with a horse like that and win at Keeneland, it’s just a lifelong dream for all of us.”
Adonius was bred in Ireland by Thomas Hassett and is out of the Exceed And Excel mare Dubai Paradise. The Indian Summer is the first stakes victory for Adonius, who was a creditable second in the Molecomb (G2) July 20 at Goodwood, where he was seeking an automatic berth in the Juvenile Turf but came up two lengths short. With Sunday’s victory, his record improves to 4-2-0 from six career starts.
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This story was originally published October 4, 2026 at 4:01 PM.