FRANKLIN, Ky. — Kentucky Downs ended its 33rd race meet Wednesday with Frankie Dettori sweeping the inaugural $500,000 Blackwood Distilling Nashville Gold Cup aboard Limited Liability and the $1.6 million Pepsi Dueling Grounds Oaks on Kathynmarissa.

The seven-day meet set another record for wagering, totaling $90,181,408 and up 8 percent over last year. That included a single-day record of $21,184,941 on the Saturday, Sept. 7 showcase card featuring six graded stakes worth $2 million for Kentucky-breds ($1 million for others).

The fierce competition among America’s best jockeys and trainers continued up until the meet’s very last race. That’s when Tyler Gaffalione and Brendan Walsh teamed to win a 2-year-old maiden race with first-time starter Isle of Capri to each secure of share of the riding and training titles, respectively. Gaffalione finished with nine wins, to pull even with Irad Ortiz Jr., while Walsh’s sixth victory put him in a tie for leading trainer with Joe Sharp and Steve Asmussen.

Ken Ramsey won the fourth race with Ramsey Pond for a meet-leading three wins, giving him a record 10th Kentucky Downs owner’s title.

Kathynmarissa proves stick-out under Dettori in Dueling Grounds Oaks

Trainer Rick Dutrow was at Kentucky Downs for the first time. Kathynmarissa didn’t disappoint, closing through the stretch for a 2 1/2-length victory under Frankie Dettori in the $1.6 million Pepsi Dueling Grounds Oaks. Finishing second was Waves of Mischief, ridden by Tyler Gaffalione and trained by Brendan Walsh.

“Ever since we put her on the grass and every time she’s run, she just kept getting better,” Dutrow said of Kathynmarissa, who went off the favorite at just under 3-1 in the capacity field of 12 three-year-old fillies. “Her last race, we were absolutely thrilled with. And we were thrilled training her up to this race, and we were thrilled coming in here because every time she’s run on the grass she’s run huge. Don’t know why she wouldn’t have done it today.”

Kathynmarissa toured the 1 5 1/6 miles in 2:06.40, paying $7.90 to win.

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“I always liked her, going long even better,” said Dettori, who was on Kathynmarissa when she won a Santa Anita maiden in April and also when she was second in the Saratoga Oaks Invitational (G2). “She played up a little bit in the gate. I had a good spot. She relaxes halfway into the race, which is good. Then when I asked her to get closer at the quarter pole, I know she stays well.”

When she made the lead, Kathynmarissa “started to look around a bit,” Dettori said. “So I went to give her a tap. I got one in but the second one the stick went up in the air. I was resorting to my shouting and I was slapping her with my hand on her neck because I was wanting her to concentrate. But she knuckled down and won.”

The daughter of 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah now is 3-1-2 in eight starts, the $914,900 payday ballooning her earnings to $1,147,185 for Michael J. Caruso and Michael Dubb. Kathynmarissa also owns a Churchill Downs allowance race and was a close third in Churchill’s Tepin Stakes.

“Irad (Ortiz) told us she’d like this course when he breezed her the other day,” Dutrow said. “Frankie said when he jumped off her last time, you’ve got to take her to Kentucky Downs. So we were very excited, yes, and especially when they were turning for home.”

Dutrow wasn’t at Kentucky Downs when his five prior starters didn’t finish in the top three. But he came to the track for the first time at the right time. Afterward, he said he would be back to Kentucky Downs, adding, “I want to buy a house here, the whole thing.”

When it was pointed out that Kentucky Downs runs only seven days, he said, “That’s OK, I can come by and look at it.”

Dutrow indicated that Kathynmarissa would train up to the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf on Nov. 2 at Del Mar.

“Two months break. She just ran a huge, huge race,” he said. “I think it’s only proper that we just prepare her for a huge race again.”

When asked his thoughts, Dubb said: “I just listen to the boss. All I can do is sign the checks and put the horses in the best hands I can possibly put them in. And Rick is the best hands… I was in Saratoga when she ran in the Oaks. The first thing (Frankie) said to me was ‘Kentucky Downs.’ I said, ‘That’s the plan.’”

Waves of Mischief held off the late-running Irish invader Siege of Troy (GB) by a head for second. Shiloh’s Mistress, who pressed the pace set by Charlene’s Dream, settled for fourth. She was followed by Yatta, Pin Up Betty, Charlene’s Dream, Dancing N Dixie, Sakura Blossom, Sanctify, Kalispera and Mo Fox Givin.

Limited Liability rolls in 2 1/16-mile Nashville Gold Cup

Stuart Janney’s homebred Limited Liability led all the way under Frankie Dettori through the 2 1/16 miles of the Blackwood Distilling Nashville Derby Wednesday for an 8 1/4-length victory over his nemesis, The Grey Wizard.

A 5-year-old gelding, Limited Liability had been second in his last start, Delaware Park’s 1 1/2-mile Cape Henlopen, and before that was third by only a neck in the two-mile Belmont Gold Cup (G2) at Saratoga. The Grey Wizard won both races.

“He ran really well at Saratoga going two miles,” said Reeve McGaughey, son and assistant to winning trainer Shug McGaughey. “We thought maybe he just hung on the horse in front of him. I think today, giving him the lead and letting him go his pace, he liked it. When they came around the first turn, and he looked like he was just in Frankie’s hands, I was pretty confident it would take a good horse to come catch him.”

A good horse came after him but it was too little too late. Limited Liability had a five-length margin over The Grey Wizard and jockey John Velazquez with an eighth-mile to go. Limited Liability finished the distance in 3:23.86, now the track standard as the first time the distance has been run, certainly since hand-timing was replaced with the current GPS timing system in 2021.

“I’ve been watching his replays,” Dettori said. “I thought the last time going slow and he had no turn of foot. So I didn’t want a sprint finish. I jumped to be forward, and he let me have that. He was going nicely with the fractions, in his own rhythm. And then I let him free and stretched him and he found a little bit more, and I knew he would be hard to catch.”

A Kentucky-bred son of Kitten’s Joy, Limited Liability paid $6.06 to win as the second choice in the field of seven, the all-gray exacta returning $5.09 for $1. Limited Liability now is 4-2-6 in 18 starts, earning $805,199 with the winner’s purse of $301,900.

Cyber Ninja was another 1 1/2 lengths back in third, followed by Six Minus, Duvet Day, Conglomerate and British-bred Irish invader Familiar Dreams.