Tomlinson ends Churchill meet with stakes double, Harrodsburg shines in Bango
Michael Tomlinson closed Churchill Downs with Harrodsburg’s Bango upset and Blessed Flyer’s Bashford Manor shock, a rare stakes double from a 24-horse barn.
Michael Tomlinson finished the Churchill Downs spring meet with a stakes double from a 24-horse barn, and the results came in the kind of sequence that can reshape a stable’s profile. Harrodsburg powered to the lead in the Grade 3 Bango Stakes and Blessed Flyer followed with a 31-1 upset in the Bashford Manor Stakes, giving Tomlinson a weekend that stood out even before the numbers were stacked against him.
The Bango belonged to Harrodsburg from the start. Luis Saez sent the Constitution gelding straight to the front in the 16th running of the $275,000 race on June 27, and Harrodsburg never gave up the advantage, holding off Built by 3/4 of a length. It was the horse’s first graded stakes victory and first stakes win overall, a payoff for Tomlinson’s patience after claiming him for $50,000 in May 2024 for Rod Hatfield and Bud Hatfield. Harrodsburg had shown enough talent to be worth waiting on, but he had also been difficult to place; now his record stands at 19-7-3-3 with earnings above $670,000.
That patience showed in the way Harrodsburg handled the Churchill surface. His 2026 wins at the track came over slop and produced Beyer figures of 102 and 103, the kind of speed that says the gelding is more than a useful local runner. For Tomlinson, it also delivered a landmark result, his first Churchill Downs graded-stakes victory since 2007.
Blessed Flyer made the second half of the double look even more efficient. In the 125th running of the $225,000 Bashford Manor on June 28, the 2-year-old surged home in a fast final fraction to collar He Is No Lie by a head in 1:09.98 for six furlongs on a fast main track. Brian Hernandez Jr. rode the colt, who had won his debut at Keeneland on April 16 for Michel Douaihy before Tomlinson bought him for $270,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Digital May sale for Mark Farrar and Patricia’s Hope.
The two wins fit the same pattern: pick the right spot, wait for the horse to be ready, and let bigger barns chase the races Tomlinson could reach. Churchill’s closing weekend gave him two stakes trophies and one clear case for how a small operation can still win at the top level.
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