Nine entered for Aristides; Regally Ready headlines Opening Verse

Nine entered for Aristides; Regally Ready headlines Opening
Verse

Mico Margarita cruised home an easy winner of his last race at Evangeline Downs (Evangeline Downs/Coady Photography) Mico Margarita, a romping 8 3/4-length winner of the Oak Hall Stakes at Evangeline Downs in his last start, headlines a field of nine three-year-olds and up entered for Saturday’s 26th running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Aristides at Churchill Downs. Eight of the entrants are stakes winners, and the field of sprinters includes the top-two finishers in last year’s Aristides — Scatman and Jasizzle — as well as eight-time stakes-winning gelding Delaunay. The six-furlong Aristides, which honors the inaugural Kentucky Derby winner of 1875, is one of two stakes races on Saturday’s 10-race card at Churchill Downs. It will share the program with the $65,000 Opening Verse, an overnight stakes for three-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles on turf which attracted 11 runners. Mico Margarita, conditioned by three-time Aristides-winning trainer Steve Asmussen, enters the race off an ultra-fast performance in the Oak Hall, clocking six furlongs in 1:08.37 for his first win since capturing the Carry Back at Calder last July. However, the Run Away and Hide four-year-old colt will be facing much stiffer competition on Saturday.

Perhaps the top draw in the race is Delaunay, who exits the Churchill Downs
Stakes on Kentucky Derby Day in which he
tired inside the final furlong to finish fifth after setting the pace as the
defending champion. Claimed
for $40,000 in May 2012, the Maryland-bred seven-year-old trained by Tom Amoss hasn’t missed a
check in 13 subsequent races. At one point, the bay gelding won six consecutive stakes,
capped by the 2013 Churchill Downs Stakes. Regular rider Rosie Napravnik will be
aboard Saturday.

Scatman returns to defend his Aristides
title. Formerly trained by Bill Mott, the Scat Daddy five-year-old resurfaced under the care
of Eddie Kenneally after a 335-day break to finish fourth in the Twin Spires
Turf Sprint on Kentucky Derby Day. That was his first race since beating Jasizzle by a neck in last year’s Aristides
over a sloppy track.

“He’s been doing really well,” Kenneally said. “He won this
race last year and he likes the track, but I think we’ve drawn a little tougher
field this time around, especially with Tom Amoss’ horse in there. On his best
day he’s really good horse. He’ll be the favorite and deservedly so, but I’ve
been happy with the way our horse has trained too.

“We prepped him on the grass here on Derby weekend because we couldn’t find a
dirt race for him. We wanted to get a race under his belt and we were happy with
it. He’s been working really well and I think he’s ready to go.”

Julien Leparoux takes the mount on Scatman while Robby
Albarado has the call on Jasizzle, who was last seen taking a 5 1/2-furlong
allowance at Mountaineer on April 27.

Delaunay is no stranger to winning under the Twin Spires (Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography) Also in with a chance Saturday is Brewing, who strung together three straight wins, including the Gazebo and Bachelor Stakes at Oaklawn Park, before fading to second after setting the pace in the Chick Lang on Preakness Stakes Day at Pimlico. Voodoo Storm reverts in distance off a fourth in a 1 1/16-mile allowance at Oaklawn, while Jake Mo and Captain Genius recorded easy optional claiming scores at Oaklawn over the spring. Jake Mo was third in a one-mile allowance at Churchill last out on April 30 and Captain Genius scored a three-quarter length victory at the same track sprinting six furlongs in his most recent effort. The Aristides field is completed by Take It Like a Man, fifth behind Jake Mo in that optional claimer under the Twin Spires. All will carry 120 pounds but Brewing, a three-year-old late supplement, who will receive a two-pound weight break for his first try against elders. Regally Ready, an Asmussen-trained millionaire, and the Charlie LoPresti-conditioned duo of Villandry and Set the Sail headline a competitive renewal of the Opening Verse, which often serves as a steppingstone to the Grade 2, $200,000 Firecracker at one mile over the Matt Winn Turf Course on June 28.

Regally Ready had his best season in 2011, capturing the Breeders’ Cup Turf
Sprint, Nearctic, Twin Spires Turf Sprint and San Simeon Handicap, all graded
events. The chestnut gelding opened his seven-year-old campaign with a win at
Santa Anita on January 2 and followed up a month later with a nice third in the
Arcadia. He didn’t show much when eighth in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile in March,
but returned a winner at Churchill against optional claiming rivals. Napravnik
has the return call.

Set the Sail was second behind Regally Ready in that May 1 contest under the
Twin Spires and will try to turn the tables Saturday in just his second start
since a runner-up effort in the River City Handicap last November. Villandry
finished fourth in the River City and is still seeking his first stakes credit.
The Mr. Greeley five-year-old captured an optional claimer on May 9 over course
and distance.

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