Not This Time’s Giocoso Runs’em All Down to Claim Commonwealth Turf

[Wandering Eyes]

Uncorking a ferocious rally in the lane, Giocoso (Not This Time) became racing's newest millionaire after claiming the GIII Commonwealth Turf Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Coming into the race with a win at the graded level under his belt–three back in the Aug. 9 GII Secretariat Stakes at Colonial Downs–and hovering just beneath the seven-figure mark in earnings, the son of red hot Not This Time had spent his last three races on the board. He was game as they come Sept. 6 at Kentucky Downs when he begrudgingly yielded late in the Gun Runner Stakes to finish second, and last out Oct. 25 employed his wicked kick to get up for third in Keeneland's GIII Bryan Station Stakes behind GISW Troubleshooting (Not This Time). The latter returned here as the 5-2 favorite.

Setting up well off the pace in eighth for most of the race, Giocoso went into the four path along the first turn and was able to avoid some of the traffic problems that ultimately eliminated Troubleshooting early on, and King's Plate winner Mansetti (Collected) later, from contention. Still well off the fence after six panels in 1:11.67, Jose Ortiz had a wall of horses in front of him around the final bend and had to come six wide for racing room in the lane. Sights locked on Chapman's Peak (Quality Road) and Outrunner (American Pharoah), as that pair had been at each other's throats since the gates opened, Giocoso relentlessly closed the distance to nail the former in the shadow of the wire by a head. Outrunner was a length back in third. Troubleshooting faded to ninth after being checked repeatedly early on, and tiring in the stretch.

“It was a little anxious moment down the stretch but the good horses know how to get the job done,” trainer Keith Desormeaux said. “Jose was able to get him to relax down the backside and I was blessed to have a jockey that used his skills to do that and we got the job done.”

“He's a horse that comes to run every time and always gives you his best,” said Ortiz. “I couldn't have gotten the job done today without Keith and his team back at the barn to get him ready to run. He broke well and I got him to settle going into the first turn. I asked him to go little by little and at the quarter pole when I tipped out, I could tell I had a ton of horse left.

 

 

GIOCOSO ($9.48) soars home in the $300,000 Commonwealth Turf Stakes (G3) with @jose93_ortiz in the irons. The son of @TMStallions Not This Time is trained by Keith Desormeaux. pic.twitter.com/YJkH2DkQaJ

— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) November 22, 2025

 

Pedigree Notes:

Giocoso is the most successful of his dam's offspring and her only black-type runner thus far. He is one of three winners with two of those siblings entering the winner's enclosure in Japan and Argentina while an unplaced half-sister named Ecoro Diana (More Than Ready) also campaigned in the Land of the Rising Sun. Nutcracker Suite (Ire) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), herself a half-sister to multiple group producer GSW-Ire Beauty Bright (Ire) (Danehill), had a stillborn 2024 McKinzie foal. She did produce a 2025 Up to the Mark filly since then and was bred to Cogburn for 2026.

Another of the dam's half-siblings, MSW-Aus & G1SP-Eng Aloft (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), was a five-time winner in his career but was the only one to be elite-placed for second dam Dietrich (Storm Cat). A second sister named Marquesa (Kingmambo) produced a fleet of stakes performers in Japan.

 

Saturday, Churchill Downs
COMMONWEALTH TURF S.-GIII, $299,800, Churchill Downs, 11-22, 3yo, 1 1/16mT, 1:41.47, fm.
1–GIOCOSO, 123, c, 3, by Not This Time
                1st Dam: Nutcracker Suite (Ire), by Fastnet Rock (Aus)
                2nd Dam: Dietrich, by Storm Cat
                3rd Dam: Piquetnol, by Private Account
($75,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP). O-Rocker O Ranch LLC; B-Breed First LLC (KY); T-J. Keith Desormeaux; J-Jose L. Ortiz. $177,250. Lifetime Record: 13-4-2-2, $1,119,971. Werk Nick Rating: B. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Chapman's Peak, 118, g, 3, Quality Road–Dickinson, by Medaglia d'Oro. 1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GRADED BLACK TYPE. O/B-Godolphin (KY); T-Brad H. Cox. $57,500.
3–Outrunner, 118, c, 3, American Pharoah–Gale Force, by Giant's Causeway. ($150,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP). O-Colts Neck Stables LLC; B-Dixiana Farms LLC (KY); T-Jorge Duarte, Jr. $28,750.
Margins: HD, 1, HF. Odds: 3.74, 4.53, 49.50
Also Ran: Anegada, Montador, California Burrito, Plensa, Mansetti, Troubleshooting, Flying Mohawk. Scratched: Simulate.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.

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