With an eighth of a mile to go in the April 4 $291,000 Carter Stakes (G2), Point Dume looked as though he may be in deep water. After setting the pace, he prepared for the onslaught of champion male sprinter Book'em Danno, who would draw directly alongside.
However, if there was one lesson the 5-year-old Into Mischief gelding may have learned from the humans who surround him daily, it would be to never quit. Just like those humans, especially owner Bryan Bushey, Point Dume dug deep, found more, and battled for a neck victory over the champ.
The celebration that ensued was surreal for a group of longtime racing participants that never expected to be on the graded stage. The celebration was jubilant as Point Dume entered the winner's circle, but quickly turned emotional as the group began to reflect in postrace interviews.
Bushey claimed his first horse in 2004, and has been a gateway into the industry for many of his friends and family members since. Always sporting a smile and wearing a pair of shorts, he has become one of the most loved figures on the Penn National Race Course backstretch, finding time to give back to those who take care of his horses. He said the backstretch community there was having watch parties in support of Point Dume.
In 2024, Bushey was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. At the time, he was given just five months to live. But Bushey possesses the same fighting spirit that Point Dume displayed Saturday and, two years after his diagnosis, he stood triumphantly in the Aqueduct Racetrack winner's circle surrounded by family and friends on his birthday, celebrating the first graded victory of his career. The win was extra meaningful as, after several good months, he recently had to begin undergoing chemotherapy once again.
"Just being here; being here is No. 1," Bushey said. "The win is icing on the cake."
READ: Fighting Cancer, Bushey Achieves Claiming Crown Dream
The gelding, who was claimed by Bush Racing for $40,000 in July 2025 at Penn National, has taken the Busheys on a journey they never expected. In November, he took the team to Churchill Downs to compete beneath the twin spires in the Claiming Crown Jewel. At the time, given their business is purely claiming horses, they believed that was the pinnacle achievement of their decades of hard work.
But Point Dume kept improving.
Exiting the Claiming Crown, he finished second in a Parx Racing stakes before winning a $100,000 handicap at Laurel Park. Then, he took the General George Stakes at Laurel Park Feb. 14 in front-running fashion by 3 3/4 lengths. On Saturday, he was cross-entered for the $100,000 Frank Y. Whiteley Stakes at Laurel Park where the connections thought he'd be an odds-on favorite. Instead, they loaded up their friends and family in a limo and went north to Aqueduct to take on the big boys.
"This is beyond our wildest dream," Dave Bushey, Bryan's son, said. "Kentucky was a dream, this is seriously a dream. I am going to pinch myself riding back in that limo tonight. This is not real, I am floating on air, this is not real. I fell to my knees after that race.
"We came up with all the people who are most important to us, our family," he continued. "Day in and day out, the guys behind the scenes. We wanted it to be an experience for everyone, win or lose, because we knew we had a legitimate shot. We were joking upstairs when we were eating dinner, we're kind of just a bunch of hillbillies from central Pennsylvania and here we are rubbing elbows with people who are serious in this game. I can't put it in words."
The unreal outcome came thanks to a fantastic front-running ride by Edwin Gonzalez, who got Point Dume out of the inside post and on the lead to set fractions of :23.01 and :45.70. Atlantic Six Racing's Book'em Danno settled in fourth behind horses. Turning for home, Paco Lopez found a seam and pushed Book'em Danno through. The reigning champion male sprinter, making his first start since August, drew even.
It was then that Gonzalez called upon his mount. He said Point Dume always felt comfortable, and was ready to give it his all.
"I was waiting with (Point Dume) a little bit," the rider said. "I got close to (Book'em Danno), he pricked his ears and got the job done."
Watching the horse fend off Book'em Danno in a final time of 1:22.53 for 7 furlongs created elation for the whole team, especially for trainer Timothy Kreiser. The trainer, who began his training career in 1993, earned his first graded victory.
"This is my 43rd year being at the racetrack," Kreiser said. "I felt my heart stop for about two seconds right before the wire."
The Carter reunited Kreiser and Gonzalez, who teamed up with great success when the jockey used to ride at Penn National.
"He won hundreds of races for me, and he's my kind of rider, we like speed," Kreiser said. "We go to the front; if they catch us they catch us. If we have the best horse, they can't catch us."
The victory was an 11th in 31 career starts for Point Dume, who was bred in Kentucky by Sea Horse Breeders. Out of the dual grade 1-placed Malibu Moon mare Maya Malibu, he becomes the seventh graded stakes winner this season for seven-time leading sire Into Mischief, who stands at Spendthrift Farm for $250,000 in 2026.
He paid $16.86 for his upset Saturday. Repole Stable's Be You finished third.
Book'em Danno may have been beat, but ran well off the long layoff. Trainer Derek Ryan said after the race he was concerned about the 7-furlong distance and would have preferred a 6-furlong option. However, he still plans to move on to Saratoga Race Course, where Book'em Danno won three graded stakes last year, for the True North Stakes (G3) June 6.
"I worked him the last time in Tampa—he's very good, we know that, but I think he needed the race today," jockey Lopez told New York Racing Association publicity. "He feels great. I feel like he is more heavy (conditioned) and comfortable—he grew up, that horse. He seems to be doing very well."
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Grammy Girl Upsets Immersive in Distaff
Another Eclipse Award winner—Immersive, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2024—was upset later on the card in the $139,500 Distaff Stakes (G3) when Grammy Girl swooped past on her way to victory in a scratch-reduced four-horse contest over 7 furlongs.
Last early but always within a few lengths of front-running Hold Your Breath, as that one went to the lead with splits of :22.92 and :45.66, Grammy Girl swung into action with a wide bid on the turn and took over in early stretch. She opened up a 1 1/2-length edge with a furlong to run and maintained that advantage to the wire over Immersive, who outfinished Jody's Pride by a head for the place. The winner was clocked in 1:23.47 under Hall of Famer Javier Castellano, paying $11.30 for a $2 bet.
Immersive, who pressed the early pace in her first start as a 4-year-old, came under early urging from jockey Manny Franco, and was slow to respond, falling back to third at the eighth pole. She leveled out late for secondary honors.
Saffie Joseph Jr. trains Grammy Girl, a 5-year-old daughter of Mastery out of the Songandaprayer mare Song Girl, for Red Storm Stable, Miller Racing, and Flower Power Stables. A former claiming horse, Grammy Girl captured her second consecutive stakes race and her first at the graded level.
