Edited from The TDN (link)

Triple Crown-nominated Gilded Bandit out-dueled fellow second-time starter Deep Flame to a ‘TDN Rising Star’-worthy win at Keeneland Saturday for Pin Oak Stud and trainer Bill Mott.

This win also marked the first victory at Keeneland for the Bernhard family since they purchased Pin Oak Stud.

Racing with the blinkers added off a ‘better than it looked’ fourth-place run at Gulfstream Feb. 28 (highlighted here by the TDN’s Steve Sherack in his ‘Second Chances’ series), the 3-1 shot had to sit towards the back of the field while main rival, 6-5 favorite Deep Flame was up on a battle for the lead through the opening furlongs.

By the time the field crossed into the far turn, jockey Junior Alvarado had guided Gilded Bandit closer to the front where he stalked that pair of leaders before shifting out to engage the now solo Deep Flame.

Moving between runners at the quarter pole, Gilded Bandit still had work to do but kept grinding down the outside as the top pair easily opened up several lengths back to the rest of the field.

In a throwdown to the wire, the son of Charlatan just prevailed in the final strides while Deep Flame was again relegated to the runner-up slot.

Gilded Bandit, a $550,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad, is the first ‘TDN Rising Star’ for second-crop stallion Charlatan who earned the moniker himself in his Santa Anita debut in early 2020.

First dam Diamond Ore, who ran third in Aqueduct’s Busanda Stakes, sold to Clearsky Farms and Rac 04 Racing for $750,000 out of the Keeneland November Sale in 2018. A daughter of Bubbler, the mare is a half-sister to none other than Eclipse-winning 3-year-old, multiple G1 winner and late sire Arrogate.

After failing to meet her reserve at back-to-back renditions of the Fasig-Tipton November Sale in 2021 and 2022 for $825,000 and $745,000 respectively, Diamond Ore has produced a 2-year-old Life Is Good filly and a yearling colt by Nyquist. She is due this season to leading general sire Into Mischief.