Golden Rod (G2)

The 1 1/16-mile Golden Rod S. (G2), the female counterpart of
the Kentucky Jockey Club (G2), helps close out the fall meet at
Churchill Downs on Saturday. RUNWAY MODEL (Petionville), who
exits a third-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies
(G1), figures to get hammered at the windows, so we’re going to
give a slight nod to IN THE GOLD (Golden Missile).

In the Gold broke her maiden in the mud at Belmont Park, then
just missed in a multiple-horse photo in the Alcibiades S. (G2)
at Keeneland. She stalked the pace from the outside, engaged the
leader turning for home, took the lead in midstretch, then
finished third, beaten a head, in the 1 1/16-mile event that day.
The chestnut, trained by the ever-dangerous Nick Zito, gets six
pounds from Runway Model and a rider change to Pat Day.

Runway Model saved ground around the far turn and then closed
down the middle of the track to capture the Alcibiades in a
blanket finish. The Bernie Flint trainee encountered considerable
trouble in the stretch run of the Juvenile Fillies and gets a
rider change from Rafael Bejarano to Eddie Martin Jr. She is a
serious contender.

Ellis Park stakes winner KOTA (Indian Charlie) finished a good
third in the Arlington-Washington Lassie S. (G3) and the
Pocahontas S. over this track in her last start. She has yet to
finish off the board in six starts and figures for a share.

QUIET OPTIMISM (Deputy Minister) forced or set the pace in the
one-mile Pocahontas and will make her two-turn debut here. She
figures to be in the mix early and is worth a second look in the
gimmicks. The Steve Asmussen-trained SUMMERLY (Summer Squall) ran
off the television screen when she broke her maiden by 14 lengths
going this distance at Keeneland in her latest. She could
surprise at square odds.

MILLE LACS (Unbridled) broke her maiden going seven-eighths
over this track last out and will get a class test here. She is,
however, trained by Carl Nafzger, who is enjoying a solid meet.