The article below was first published as part of the Paulick's Report.
Macho Music and Javier Castellano upheld the old adage about the clean horse getting their picture taken in the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile on the Kentucky Derby undercard. After extended periods of rain and thunderstorms, the race was contested over a sloppy track at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.
Castellano and Macho Music broke alertly and raced wide in the chute, coming over into the two path as the field joined the main portion of the track on the backstretch. The pair were stalked all the way by Bob Baffert trainees Madaket Road along the rail and Gaming just to their outside flank. Smoken Wicked chased those two but dropped back along the turn. The Baffert duo took aim at Macho Music through the stretch but could not reel him in, and the final margin for Macho Music was 3 1/4 lengths. The final time for the mile was 1:35.65 with splits of :22.43 and :44.93.
Macho Music went off at 13-1 and paid $29.86, $10.66 and $6.26. Madaket Road held on for second, and Gaming was third.
"He's improved every single step of the way in his races," said Castellano afterward, acknowledging that he and Crichton knew today's competition would be stiffer than anything he'd previously faced.
The win is the first graded stakes for trainer Rohan Crichton, who is also part-owner of the horse. According to NBC, Crichton is a part-time trainer and part-time accountant based in Florida. Crichton co-owns the horse with Mark Fletcher Taylor and Daniel L. Walters. Chrichton picked up Macho Music for $60,000 out of the OBS March 2-Year-Olds In Training Sale from the consignment of Pick View. Earlier in his life, Macho Music was a $50,000 yearling out of Keeneland September, where he was sold by Denali Stud to Anthony Tate.
Macho Music is the son of Maclean's Music and Tapit mare Southern Girl and was bred in Florida by Bridlewood Farm.
The Pat Day was a big step up for Macho Music, who won the Sophomore Stakes at Tampa Bay Down March 30, besting that field by an impressive 11 1/4 lengths. He was second in the Swale prior to that, and broke his maiden in August 2024 at Gulfstream Park.
