Both graded stakes on Saturday night’s “Downs After Dark” program at Churchill Downs will have Breeders’ Cup implications.
Saudi Crown aims to secure his Dirt Mile (G1) spot in the “Win and You’re In” Ack Ack (G3), and his Brad Cox stablemate Hit Show ranks as a prime player in the $500,000 Lukas Classic (G2). Also prominent in the 1 1/8-mile Lukas Classic is Disarm, who will try to regroup following a series of losses at the Grade 1 level.
Ack Ack (G3): Race 8, 9:37 p.m. ET
Saudi Crown figures to be heavily favored in the $400,000 Ack Ack around Churchill’s one-turn mile. Last year’s Pennsylvania Derby (G1) hero nearly pulled off a frontrunning coup in the $20 million Saudi Cup (G1) on Feb. 24, when he was just run down late by Senor Buscador and Ushba Tesoro. After that gutting loss, Saudi Crown threw in a clunker in the Godolphin Mile (G2) on Dubai World Cup night.
Rested for a fall campaign, Saudi Crown returned on a winning note in the Aug. 11 R.A. “Cowboy” Jones S. at Ellis Park. The son of 2017 Kentucky Derby (G1) victor Always Dreaming prevailed despite an early pace battle off the layoff, suggesting that he’ll be even stronger here. He’s also drawn in the outside post 7 with regular pilot Florent Geroux.
His leading opponents include the Wathnan Racing duo of Cagliostro and Tumbarumba, the respective top two from the June 30 Hanshin S. at this track and trip, and Chilean import Mufasa, who is cross-entered to Saturday’s Vosburgh (G3) at Aqueduct. If Mufasa runs here, he could force Saudi Crown to go faster early. The Ignacio Correas IV pupil pressed a very hot pace en route to his Aug. 12 allowance romp at Colonial Downs.
Cagliostro had been knocking on the door in graded company until his Hanshin breakthrough. In his prior start June 1, the Cherie DeVaux trainee was runner-up in the 1 1/8-mile Blame (G3) to Highland Falls, the eventual winner of the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1). Cagliostro was most recently a troubled fourth in the seven-furlong Forego (G1) at Saratoga, losing all chance with a bad stumble at the start. Stepping back up to a mile will help, especially with a clean break.
The Brian Lynch-trained Tumbarumba has endured a bout of seconditis since his hard-fought score in the Jan. 27 Fred W. Hooper (G3), but not through any lack of effort on his part. Following tough beats in the Gulfstream Park Mile (G2) and Ghostzapper (G3), the Louisiana-bred enjoyed a three-month freshening going into the Hanshin. Tumbarumba has had a similar break ahead of the Ack Ack.
Three Technique, third in the past two runnings of the Ack Ack, doesn’t enter in quite the same form after a fourth in the Hanshin and a fifth in the “Cowboy” Jones.
The same comment applies to Stage Raider, an erstwhile promising half-brother to Justify. The winner of the 2023 “Cowboy” Jones and runner-up next time in the Ack Ack, Stage Raider has subsequently lost the plot altogether.
Big Blue Line, who had been second to Stage Raider in that Ellis Park feature last summer, just won a Spa allowance first off the claim for William Walden. Note that he has been cross-entered to Saturday’s John Henry Turf Championship (G2) at Santa Anita in the name of his new owners, a partnership led by Wachtel Stable. At entry time for the Ack Ack, Big Blue Line was owned by Elliott Logan’s TEC Racing.
Lukas Classic (G2): Race 10, 10:40 p.m. ET
Disarm and Hit Show, the respective fourth and fifth from the 2023 Kentucky Derby, renew rivalry beneath the Twin Spires on Saturday night.
At this stage a year ago, Disarm appeared to have greater long-term appeal, reminiscent of his sire Gun Runner. Likewise trained by Steve Asmussen, Disarm rebounded from the Derby in last year’s Matt Winn (G3) and polished off his campaign with a fine second to champion Arcangelo in the Travers (G1).
The favorable impression was reaffirmed when Disarm cruised in his May 18 allowance comeback at Churchill, but he’s been disappointing in his ensuing starts in top company. Sixth in the course-and-distance Stephen Foster (G1), Disarm was a belated, non-threatening fourth in the Whitney (G1) and third in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
Aside from the relative class relief in the Lukas Classic, Asmussen makes two key changes. Disarm takes the blinkers off and picks up a new rider in Tyler Gaffalione.
Hit Show may have been feeling the effects of the Triple Crown grind with a lackluster second half of 2023. A rejuvenated winner of his Churchill reappearance in a May 11 allowance, the son of Candy Ride regressed to seventh as the favorite in the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker H. (G3). But Hit Show was right back in business with a rallying victory in the Aug. 4 West Virginia Governor’s S. (G3) at Mountaineer, prompting a private purchase by Wathnan Racing.
The Lukas Classic has also attracted a pair of Grade 1-winning millionaires on the comeback trail, Rattle N Roll and Stilleto Boy.
Rattle N Roll has not raced since the 2023 Lukas Classic, where he finished fourth as the favorite. Trained by Ken McPeek, the five-year-old sports smart form at this track and trip as last year’s Blame winner.
Stilleto Boy’s last win came in the 2023 Santa Anita H. (G1), and the Ed Moger Jr. veteran went badly off form thereafter. Seventh when resurfacing from a seven-month holiday in an Aug. 31 Kentucky Downs allowance, he’s eligible to show more second up back on the dirt. Yet the six-year-old gelding’s career could be at a crossroads.
Conversely, Cooke Creek arrives in career form as the likely pacesetter. The well-bred son of Uncle Mo, who briefly competed on the 2022 Road to the Kentucky Derby, is 2-for-2 since being claimed by Mike Maker.
Hot trainer Phil Bauer sends out Warrior Johny, whose 111 Brisnet Speed rating from a July 11 allowance at Saratoga establishes his ability to fire on the right day. The Rigney Racing color-bearer hasn’t duplicated that performance in his past two outings, but his latest fifth in the Charles Town Classic (G2) was a step back in the right direction.
Rounding out the eight-horse field are Happy American, a deep-closing third to Saudi Crown at Ellis last out, and Bolzy, last seen getting up for fourth in the Feb. 24 Razorback H. (G3) at Oaklawn Park.
