Three Technique Earns BC Dirt Mile Berth With Sloppy Track Win In Ack Ack At Churchill Downs
In a compact field of four older horses, veteran Three Technique relaxed off the three pacesetters and collared the trio in deep stretch to easily win Saturday’s 32nd renewal of the $365,000 Ack Ack (Grade 3) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., by 1 ? lengths over Tumbarumba.
Three Technique, a 7-year-old son of Mr Speaker, ran one mile on a “sloppy” track in 1:36.77. Rafael Bejarano rode the winner for trainer Jason Cook and owners Eric Grindley, David E. Miller, Howard F. Preuss and John Werner.
The Ack Ack is a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” event for the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1). By winning the race, Three Technique will receive an entry-fees paid berth to the Nov. 2 race at Del Mar along with a travel stipend.
“This is unbelievable, and I wanted to win this race for a very long time,” Cook said. “We’ll sit down and talk about the plan after tonight. We are just enjoying every bit of this and honored to win this race. Two-turns is never really in his ballgame but neither was the mud until tonight.”
Eight of the last 11 Ack Ack winners – Pants On Fire (2013), Tapiture (2015), Tom’s Ready (2016), Awesome Slew (2017), Seeking the Soul (2018), Mr. Money (2020), Senor Buscador (2022) and Zozos (2023) – used the race as a springboard to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.
Breaking from post four in the one-turn mile, Three Technique let the others make the early running. Fred W. Hooper (G3) winner Tumbarumba led the way from the rail with Triple Crown winner Justify’s half-brother Stage Raider on his right hip chasing from second and Cagliostro, the Hanshin winner and 4-5 favorite, stalking from the outside. Three Technique was relaxed behind the trio down the backstretch and never too far behind.
Around the turn, the leaders raced shoulder to shoulder. Three Technique began to hit his best stride leaving the turn. He tipped out with a wide move down the center of the track and swept past the threesome with a little more than a sixteenth of a mile to go for the comfortable win.
“It’s been a great run this week, winning my 4,500th race,” Bejarano said. “They were battling on the lead in front of me. My horse doesn’t show a lot of speed but I let the horses in front of me go and he settled really well. I could tell my horse started finding his best stride in mid-stretch and the leaders started getting tired. He was all heart and never stopped trying.”
The first prize was $255,000 and hiked Three Technique’s bankroll over the million-dollar mark to $1,186,237 with a record of 7-6-8 from 39 starts. It was his third career stakes win. In 2022, he won the $159,800 Knicks Go Overnight Stakes at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard at odds of 36-1. A year later, Three Technique prevailed in the $250,000 John A. Nerud (G2) at Belmont Park.
Three Technique paid $12.58 and $5.16 as the 5-1 third betting choice. There was no show wagering. Tumbarumba, ridden by Luis Saez, paid $3.76. Cagliostro, under Jose Ortiz, was another two lengths back in third and was followed by Stage Raider.
The field was reduced to four when 4-5 morning line favorite scratched Saturday morning with a foot issue, according to trainer Brad Cox. Also, Mufasa (CHI) opted to run in the Vosburgh (G3) at Aqueduct and won by 4 ? lengths, and Big Blue Line finished eighth of 11 in the John Henry Turf Championship (G2) at Santa Anita.
Three Technique, out of the Harlan’s Holiday mare Nile in Rome, was bred in Kentucky by Omega Farm LLC and Bally Breeders..
The race is named in honor of Cain Hoy Stable’s 1971 Horse of the Year Ack Ack, who is enshrined in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. In his only Churchill Downs appearance, Ack Ack won the 1969 Derby Trial in 1:34.40 which was a track record for one mile that has since been eclipsed.