PLETCHER LOOKING FOR REPEAT SCORE IN SUNDAY’S BRYAN STATION
Team Valor International’s Kinsella, who returned to the races after a four-month layoff and posted a turf allowance win at Saratoga, will try to give trainer Todd Pletcher a second consecutive victory in the $125,000 Bryan Station (G3) on Sunday.
The Bryan Station, which drew a field of eight 3-year-olds, will be the eighth race on Sunday’s nine-race card with a 4:35 p.m. ET post time. First post time Sunday is 1:05 p.m.
Pletcher won the 2008 renewal of the one-mile test over the Haggin Turf Course with Cowboy Cal.
A Kentucky-bred son of Mr. Greeley, Kinsella has won two of three career starts on the turf. Kinsella will break from post position four under 117 pounds and be ridden for the first time by Robby Albarado.
G. Watts Humphrey Jr.’s El Crespo, the lone graded stakes winner in the field, will tote high weight of 123 pounds and break from the rail under Shaun Bridgmohan. Trained by Rusty Arnold, El Crespo won the Palm Beach (G3) in March at Gulfstream Park.
The field for the Bryan Station, from the hedge out, is as follows: El Crespo (Shaun Bridgmohan, 123 pounds), Mikoshi (Jose Lezcano, 117), Major Marvel (Anna Napravnik, 117), Kinsella (Robby Albarado, 117), Cedros (James Graham, 117), Get Stormy (Javier Castellano, 117), Strike Again (Julien Leparoux, 117) and Rescue Squad (Edgar Prado, 117).
SMITH HOPES TO STRIKE TWICE WITH MARYLAND INVADERS ON SATURDAY
Veteran Maryland-based conditioner Hamilton Smith is hoping his first trip to Keeneland pays off twice on Saturday.
Smith will saddle William Backer’s homebred Blind Date in the 26th running of the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) and three races prior to that send out another Backer homebred, Sales Tax, who is the older half-sister of Blind Date.
Blind Date, who arrived at Keeneland at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday after vanning from Laurel Park, has won three of four starts on grass with one of the victories coming on a course labeled as “soft,” a condition she may encounter Saturday as rain remains in the Central Kentucky forecast.
“She ran good on it at Colonial on a course that was not quite yielding but soft,” Smith said. “I don’t think soft turf will bother her, but the competition might.”
Blind Date, who will be making her debut in Grade 1 company, has compiled a career record of six wins, one second and one third in nine races with the lone off-the-board finish coming in the Boiling Springs (G3) this summer at Monmouth Park.
“The only bad race she ran, we shipped in the day before,” Smith said. “I don’t know if that had anything to do with it, but that was one of the reasons we came in here early. In that race, the rider (Jeremy Rose) said he had no horse at all on the backstretch.”
Blind Date and Sales Tax are daughters of the Fit to Fight mare Snit. Blind Date is by Not For Love and Sales Tax is by High Yield.
“She (Blind Date) is the third foal out of that mare and she is by far the best,” Smith said. “They can all run a little. She acted like a nice filly before she ran, but we just didn’t know how nice.”
Sales Tax, a three-time stakes winner, runs in the sixth race, a 1 1/16-mile allowance test on the Haggin Turf Course.
MISS WORLD BIDS FOR FOURTH CONSECUTIVE WININ QUEEN ELIZABETH II CHALLENGE CUP
Waratah Thoroughbreds’ Grade 1 winner Miss World has met every challenge since she began racing longer distances on the turf, and she is set to seek her fourth consecutive victory on Saturday in the $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1).
Ben Colebrook, assistant to trainer Christophe Clement, said the timing of Keeneland’s prestigious 1 1/8-mile stakes and the fact that it is the year’s final Grade 1 race for 3-year-old fillies on turf made it a good spot for Miss World.
“She’s doing super,” Colebrook said about the Bernstein filly, who has been at Keeneland for about a week. “She’s been training really well on the Polytrack.”
Last year, Miss World was winless in three starts on dirt and one start on turf in New York, where her best finish was a second in a seven-furlong race on dirt at Aqueduct.
“She’s always been a filly that’s trained really, really well,” Colebrook said. “Last year, we were kinda scratching our heads. She trained so well, but we couldn’t figure out why she wasn’t performing as well. Since we stretched her out, she’s really shown some promise.”
On July 8, in her second start of 2009, Miss World broke her maiden at Belmont going 1 1/16 miles on turf. After an allowance win at the same distance on August 19 on the turf at Saratoga, she jumped into the Grade 1 ranks and captured the 1 1/8-mile Garden City (G1) on September 12 on the Belmont turf by 1 ¾ lengths.
Miss World’s Garden City win came over a soft turf, and, based on the recent weather in Lexington, similar conditions are quite possible for the QE II.
“I don’t think she necessarily has to have it soft, but she certainly showed that she does have an affinity for soft turf, so it won’t be a problem for her,” Colebrook said.
Rajiv Maragh will ride Miss World in the QE II and break from post two as the 3-1 second choice behind Gozzip Girl in the field of seven. Clement won the QE II in 2004 with Danish (IRE).
Miss World, who was bred in Kentucky by Shane Ryan’s Kilboy Estate Inc., was sold for $160,000 at the 2007 Keeneland September Yearling Sale. Kilboy bred Grade 1 winner Gio Ponti, who races for Castleton Lyons of Lexington, also is trained by Clement and is expected to make his next start in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) on November 7 at Santa Anita. Shane Ryan is president of Castleton Lyons, which stands Bernstein.
ARNOLD TARGETS CHILUKKI FOR ONE CAROLINE’S RETURN
G. Watts Humphrey Jr.’s One Caroline, who stamped herself as one of the leading fillies in the nation after banner winter campaign at Gulfstream Park, is nearing a return to the races for trainer Rusty Arnold.
“She is going to breeze Sunday morning, and we are looking to come back in the Chilukki,” Arnold said, referring to the one-mile, Grade 2 race on the main track at Churchill Downs on November 7.
One Caroline, a 4-year-old daughter of Unbridled’s Song, won her first five starts with the highlights coming in wire-to-wire scores in the Sabin (G3) and Rampart (G2) at Gulfstream. She suffered her lone defeat in the Louisville Distaff (G2) on May 1 and has not raced since.
“She had a chip,” Arnold said of the injury that occurred just before a scheduled start in the June 13 Fleur De Lis (G2) at Churchill Downs. “She started back working last month and she is ahead of schedule.”
GALLOPING OUT
Fifty-year-old jockey Manfredi Guzman collected his first Keeneland victory on Saturday when he rallied Sing Sing Cindrela to a nose victory in the third race.
Guzman has resumed his riding career after years as an exercise rider. In the spring of 2008, he was the regular morning partner for Tomcito, who ran sixth in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes (G2).
“I got my first license in Lima, Peru, 29 years ago,” Guzman said. “I started back riding last year after six years because I wanted to have that feeling of riding races again.”
Since returning to the races, Guzman has ridden nine winners from 117 mounts, three of the victories coming in the past month from 18 mounts.
What’s in name? In this afternoon’s JPMorgan Chase Jessamine Whydah will be carrying a bit of history along with the colors of George Bolton and Gulf Coast Racing.
According to Diane Canelas of Gulf Coast, Whydah is pronounced “Widdah,” and she is named after the first documented pirate ship found off the coast of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The ship wrecked in 1717 and was discovered in 1984.
Morning rain forced Keeneland to take the Jessamine off the turf, meaning the winner will not receive an automatic qualifying position into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf to be run November 6 at Santa Anita.
GOOD THING GOODLET CAME OUT
Lawrenceburg, Kentucky, resident Drew Goodlet braved the inclement weather and headed to Keeneland to play in the weekly Wednesday Handicapping Contest, sponsored by Daily Racing Form. It was a good thing he did, as his $87 final bankroll was all it took to beat a field of 213 entrants and take home the $1,250 first prize.
Les Instone, a VIP Customer Service Manager for Bloodstock Research in Lexington who ran the Keeneland Saturday Handicapping Seminars for 13 years, dashed out of the office on his lunch hour, made his wagers and went back to work. He had $84.80 in winning payoffs, finishing second and earning $550 for his efforts.
Perennial contest player Dana Bohnhoff of Versailles posted a score of $81.60 and received $250.
“It was such a treacherous weather day, it was a tribute to our loyal contest players that they made the effort to come out and play,” said contest coordinator Jude Feld. “There were a couple of longshot winners early in the day, and over 70 players had one or the other, but nobody had both, so the contest was very competitive from there on in.”
Keeneland will offer another contest on Wednesday, October 21, and again on Wednesday, October 28. There is a $10 entry fee with a $2,500 guaranteed purse and all fees are returned in the form of prizes to the top 10 finishers.
2009 FALL MEET SPECIAL EVENTS
Friday, October 16 –
College Scholarship Day – Full-time college students receive free general admission and the chance to win one of ten $1,000 scholarships following each race. Registration will take place in Keeneland’s new College Zone in the North Terrace. Live music, prize drawings, free food for students and much more will be offered. The first 1,000 students to register will receive a free long-sleeve Keeneland College Scholarship Day T-shirt, courtesy of Hands On Originals.
Buffalo Trace Distillery Sweepstakes – Patrons can enter to win a VIP Distillery Experience. The first 1,000 patrons to register receive a free set of Buffalo Trace jockey goggles.
$200,000-guaranteed Pick Four on races 7-10; presented by TVG.
Saturday, October 17 –
Breakfast with the Works – Take a behind-the-scenes look at racing’s stars during Breakfast with the Works, from 7 – 8:30 a.m. Enjoy a Southern-style breakfast and free children’s activities. This Saturday, Susanna Thomas with the Maker’s Mark Secretariat Center will be featured in the paddock demonstration at 8:45 a.m. Presented by WLEX.
Handicapping Seminar – Hosted by Caton Bredar, beginning at 11:30 a.m. trackside.
2009 KEENELAND FALL MEET LEADERS
(Stats Through Wednesday, October 14)
Current Meet Leading Jockeys
Name Sts 1st 2nd 3rd Purses
Robby Albarado 34 6 4 3 $534,472
Rajiv Maragh 15 5 5 1 $906,468
James Graham 16 4 2 0 $116,555
Kent Desormeaux 23 4 1 7 $559,908
Julien Leparoux 34 3 5 8 $398,476
Jamie Theriot 24 2 3 0 $150,061
15 jockeys are tied with 1 win each.
Current Meet Leading Trainers
Name Sts 1st 2nd 3rd Purses
Ken McPeek 22 4 1 5 $482,929
George Arnold II 7 3 3 1 $236,500
Hugh Robertson 3 3 0 0 $ 66,600
Jonathan Sheppard 6 2 0 2 $219,769
Tom Proctor 5 2 0 1 $ 59,057
25 trainers are tied with 1 win each.