Juvenile stakes featured along with Ack Ack & Locust Grove
at Churchill Downs
The Road to the Kentucky Derby and Road to the Kentucky Oaks series begins
Saturday with a pair of stakes at Churchill Downs, the Grade 3
Iroquois
and Grade 2
Pocahontas
for fillies. Both races offer points on a 10-4-2-1 scale to the top four
respective finishers.
Those aren’t the only stakes races of interest as the Louisville, Kentucky
track will also offer Grade 3, $100,000
Ack Ack H.
for older horses and the $100,000
Locust
Grove for fillies and mares.
The $100,000 Iroquois drew a strong field of nine for 1 1/16 miles and
features a rematch between two of the top three finishers from a June 28 maiden
special weight at Churchill Downs, Mr. Z and Hashtag Bourbon. Mr. Z won at first
asking that afternoon and came back to finish second in both the Grade 3 Sanford
and Grade 2 Saratoga Special at Saratoga. Trained by D. Wayne Lukas, the Malibu
Moon colt figures to go favored off of those performances, earning a field-best
94 BRIS Speed rating last time. Corey Lanerie retains the mount.
Hashtag Bourbon rallied late for third while making his career debut in the
aforementioned maiden and came back to flatter Mr. Z with a stirring performance
at Mountaineer, breaking his maiden with a 4 1/2-length romp in the August 2
Mountaineer Juvenile. By the white-hot freshman sire Super Saver, Hashtag
Bourbon registered a respectable 92 BRIS Speed rating last out and Brian
Hernandez Jr. sticks with the extremely promising Kellyn Gorder trainee.
Bold Conquest, a well-built son of Curlin conditioned by Steve Asmussen, is
likely to attract some support following a nice maiden special weight victory at
Saratoga and Asmussen is also responsible for Lucky Player, who exits a neck
second in the August 9 Prairie Juvenile Mile. Cleveland Sound, a debut maiden
winner at Delaware Park two back, invades for Graham Motion following a fourth
in the Saratoga Special.
Rounding out the field is Danny Boy, who rolled home a convincing
three-length scorer when making his lone appearance for Dale Romans on Ellis
Park’s turf; Gulfstream stakes winner Dekabrist, who exits a recent fifth in the
Grade 1 Hopeful; and Ellis maiden winners Holy Frazier and The Gorilla Man.
Ten two-year-old fillies will contest the $200,000 Pocahontas at 1 1/16 miles
and Lukas looks well-represented by Take Charge Brandi. A Churchill Downs debut
winner on June 22, the daughter of Giant’s Causeway followed that 2 1/2-length
score with a close second in the Grade 3 Schuylerville at Saratoga. Take Charge
Brandi is eligible to rebound from a fifth in the Grade 2 Adirondack last out
while keeping Lanerie in the saddle.
Phoenix Park was sold to new connections and transferred to James Toner
following her initial performance at Parx, a head maiden win in the slop on June
9. She acted up in the gate and never fired when sixth in the Adirondack next
out, and the Lookin at Lucky filly’s connections are seeking an improved effort
Saturday. Chris Landerous will pick up the assignment.
Rachel’s Ready also owns stakes experience, finishing third in the
Mountaineer Juvenile Fillies last out, and she broke her maiden at Churchill in
June. Shaun Bridgmohan takes over the reins for David Vance.
Frolic to the Wire ships in for Milton Wolfson following a game maiden score
at Gulfstream Park, and a quartet of Ellis Park maiden winners — Cristina’s
Journey, Milehigh Butterfly, Pangburn and True to You — are set to make their
first start against winners. Loom and Queen’s Ready will both be stepping up to
face stakes company in search of their first victory Saturday.
Carve will bring a three-race win streak into the one-mile Ack Ack, which
drew a short but competitive field of five. Bradester, who exits a narrow second
in the Grade 2 Monmouth Park, and Grade 2-winning comebacker Flashback add
further depth to the line-up.
Winner of a nice allowance/optional claiming event on the June 14 Stephen
Foster undercard, Carve proceeded to reel off wins in the Grade 3 Cornhusker at
Prairie Meadows and the West Virginia Governor’s at Mountaineer. The
four-year-old First Samurai gelding will spot weight to all foes under a
120-pound impost that includes regular rider Jesus Castanon.
“(Carve) was my first graded stakes winner,” said Brad Cox, who boasts a 23.9
percent career win clip since he began training in 2004. “He’s been big for our
barn. It was a big accomplishment to get that first graded win and it was a nice
purse. His last race at Mountaineer was a big effort as well.”
Bradester has produced runner-up performances in his last two outings for
Eddie Kenneally, finishing 1 1/2 lengths back in the Grade 3 Salvator Mile
before missing by a half-length in the Monmouth Cup. Second in the Grade 2
Indiana Derby last fall, the four-year-old colt posted a nice win earlier this
season in the Grade 3 Mineshaft at Fair Grounds. He’ll add Lanerie to the
saddle.
Flashback was on the Triple Crown trail last year following a victory in the
Grade 2 Bob Lewis and a pair of seconds in the Grade 2 San Felipe and Grade 1
Santa Anita Derby, but he was forced out of Kentucky Derby consideration due to
a knee chip, missing seven months of action before returning with a second in
the Damascus on the Breeders’ Cup Saturday undercard. He followed that with a
fourth as the favorite in the Grade 1 Malibu, but has been sidelined 254 days in
advance of the Ack Ack.
A gray son of Tapit, Flashback will return to the races under the direction
of new trainer Wayne Catalano, who takes over for Bob Baffert, and receives a
rider switch to Bridmohan.
“If he runs well, we may be looking at the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, but we’ll
see how he does this weekend first,” Catalano said.
Multiple stakes winners Politicallycorrect and Right to Vote complete the
field.
The Locust Grove may not be graded, but the 1 1/16-mile race has certainly
attracted a field worthy of that distinction.
On Fire Baby, heroine of the Grade 1 La Troienne on the Kentucky Derby
undercard, is arguably the top draw among seven distaffers, but the
five-year-old gray mare will be making her first appearance since a fifth as the
favorite in the Grade 2 Fleur des Lis nearly three months ago. However, the Gary
Hartlage-trained daughter of Smoke Glacken has proven that she runs well
following a layoff, capturing last year’s Grade 1 Apple Blossom after an
11-month hiatus, and On Fire Baby merits serious respect in this spot with
regular rider Joe Johnson.
“She came out of her last race with some problems,” Hartlage said. “It wasn’t
leg problems or anything; she just had some ulcers that were bothering her. We
got everything cleared up and all systems are ‘go’ for Saturday.”
Molly Morgan romped by four lengths in the aforementioned Fleur des Lis and
exits a Grade 3 score in the August 9 Gardenia at Ellis Park. The runner-up from
the latter event, Tapit’s World, is also entered in the Locust Grove.
Don’t Tell Sophia likes Churchill, winning the Grade 3 Chilukki prior to a
runner-up in the Grade 2 Falls City last fall, and rates as a serious contender
if ready to go off the shelf for Phil Sims. The six-year-old mare opened 2014
with a pair of convincing wins in the Pippin and Bayakoa at Oaklawn Park, and
she’ll make her first start since a third, beaten only 1 3/4 lengths by Close
Hatches, in the Grade 2 Azeri on March 15. Joe Rocco Jr. rides.
Ria Antonia, the 2013 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner, is also entered. Sixth
when making her first start at Churchill Downs in the May 1 Kentucky Oaks, the
Tom Amoss charge finished second in the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks two back and exits a
fourth in the Grade 2 Monmouth Oaks. She gets a new jock in Joel Rosario
Multiple Grade 3 runner-up Frivolous and Thistledown shipper Baby Fresh round
out the fine field.
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