Fans who don’t get their stakes fill on Saturday’s Stephen Foster Day program at Churchill Downs will have more to feast on Sunday as the curtain comes down on the track’s 2024 spring meet.
Much attention will be given the meet’s signature events for two-year-olds: the $225,000 Bashford Manor S. and $225,000 Debutante S. for fillies, both over six furlongs. A baker’s dozen entered the Bashford Manor, while the seven-filly Debutante is the first of the afternoon’s five stakes offerings.
Trainer Steve Asmussen has won the Bashford Manor seven times and will rely on the quick-returning Spiralizer to make it eight. The son of Twirling Candy debuted on June 13, succeeding by two lengths despite acting up before the start.
Spiralizer is joined by various other first-out winners, including Heat, War Tax, and California invader Bodacious, who earned a 102 Brisnet Speed rating graduating at Santa Anita going 4 1/2 furlongs. Enduring Spirit, Conquering Cat, and Vinegar Hill are other potential players.
Asmussen will be more stocked in the Debutante, where he sends out Lone Star graduates Glee and Adeera. Vodka With a Twist will command support following her recent maiden win in the slop, while Santa Anita raider So There She Was doesn’t look out of place despite finishing a distant second on debut.
The $300,000 Hanshin S., for older horses at one mile, is the most lucrative of Sunday’s features. Zozos, who won the Hanshin by three lengths at Ellis Park last summer before going on to win the Ack Ack (G3), figures to be sharper following his season-opening third in the Churchill Downs (G1) on Kentucky Derby Day.
There is no shortage of serious threats, though the one with the best current form might be Tumbarumba. The four-year-old was involved in three photo finishes at Gulfstream over the winter, winning one in the Fred W. Hooper (G3) and missing two others in the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) and Ghostzapper (G3).
The lightly raced Extra Anejo enters off a sharp third-level allowance score in late May, while Frosted Grace, Best Actor, Charge It, Cagliostro, Raise Cain, and Three Technique all possess back class.
Heavenly Sunday and recent Grade 3 scorers Fast as Flight and Walkathon are among a field of nine fillies and mares in the $175,000 Anchorage Overnight S. over nine furlongs on the turf. The $175,000 Maxfield Overnight S. for three-year-olds at seven furlongs marks the stakes debut for impressive maiden winner World Record, who will square off against Carbone, Raging Torrent (earner of a 107 Brisnet Speed rating last time), and four others.
Racing on the Kentucky circuit shifts to Ellis Park beginning July 4.
