(Bless the Broken wins the Bourbonette Oaks at Turfway Park on Saturday / All Photos by Coady Media)

From the Turfway Park Media Team / Kevin Kerstein:

BLESS THE BROKEN SCORES 2 ¾-LENGTH VICTORY IN BOURBONETTE OAKS, EARNS 50 QUALIFYING POINTS FOR SPOT IN LONGINES KENTUCKY OAKS

Cypress Creek Equine and Madaket Stables’ Bless the Broken secured 50 qualifying points and a likely spot in the $1.5 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) by winning Saturday’s 43rd running of the $280,000 Bourbonette Oaks (Listed) at Turfway Park Racing & Gaming.

Trained by Will Walden, Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez rode Bless the Broken to victory while completing 1 1/16 miles in 1:44.65.

The speedy White Rocks set the early fractions in the Bourbonette Oaks with Admit applying slight pressure to her inside going to the first turn. Following a quarter-mile in :24.24, White Rocks drew a length clear of Admit and completed a half-mile in :49.02. Meanwhile, Velazquez tipped Bless the Broken to the three path and, around the far turn, drew within a length of White Rocks. At the top of the lane, Bless the Broken struck the front and kicked 2 ¾ lengths clear of As Catch Can, who closed late to finish second.

Admit, who had a troubled trip down the lane, finished third. She was followed by Bracelet, White Rocks, Zealous Moon, Golden Sunshine, Somethinabouther, Getting After It, Resolve and Just Ruthless.

“We had her here at Turfway over the summer and saw how well she worked over this track,” Walden said. “So we had that in the back of our minds when prepping for this race that we knew she would handle the racetrack. It’s great to be in the Kentucky Oaks. Rain or shine, we will be there.”

Bless the Broken returned $15.18, $7.94 and $5.36.

“Once she was able to get into the clear she really came with a big run,” Velazquez said. “She handled the surface very well today and was impressive.”

The top five finishers of the Bourbonette Oaks earned 50-25-15-10-5 qualifying points toward a spot in the starting gate for the Longines Kentucky Oaks on Friday, May 2 at Churchill Downs.