KEENELAND DAILY NOTEBOOK
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2005
by Brian P. Turner
A field of eight two-year-old fillies went to the post for Thursday’s 1
1/16-mile Jessamine S. on the lawn. Beau Dare (Military) was
the favorite after her victory in the Kentucky Cup Juvenile Fillies S.,
where she led from gate to wire for a solid 6 1/4-length score. The filly had
also shown that she could handle the turf, breaking her maiden by 2 3/4 lengths at
Arlington Park in front-running fashion.
Once the gates sprang open, Beau Dare immediately jumped out onto the lead
and opened up on the field by 6 1/2 lengths, going wide on the first turn and
running in the middle of the track, while setting early fractions of :22 4/5 and
:47 1/5 . As the field approached the final turn, the other runners began to
gain ground on the leader and the Todd Pletcher-trained Dyna’s Destiny
(Dynaformer) actually overtook her as jockey John McKee attempted to navigate
Beau Dare through the turn without the filly bolting toward the outer rail. Once
McKee finally straightened her out, she began to put in another furious run
toward the wire, but another Pletcher runner, New York-bred J’RAY (Distant View),
came through along the rail with a tremendous late kick to hit the wire three
parts of a length in front.
Beau Dare’s late charge was enough to get her to the wire in second, a length
in front of Dyna’s Destiny in third.
There were six sprints contested on the main track today and horses on or
near the pace won five of them as well as the lone route Thursday. In addition
to the feature, a turf route was also won by a
runner closing from off the pace.
Rafael Bejarano booted home two winners today to increase his lead in the
jockey standings. He now has 26 for the meet. Robby Albarado went winless on
the day but still has sole possession of the second spot with 16, three ahead of
Shaun Bridgmohan in third.
As for the trainers, Steve Asmussen still leads the way with eight winners
for the meet, closely followed by Nick Zito in second with seven. Bob Holthus
saddled a winner today and has moved into a tie with Neil Howard for the third
spot. The pair has five winners each.
Horses to Watch
3RD – FOTOGENICO (Arg) (Ride the Rails) reeled off his second victory for the
meet in this seven-furlong claiming event. The dark bay did it in identical
fashion both times by rallying from well off the pace and relying on his
devastating closing move through the stretch drive to get him to the wire in
front. This is especially impressive given the bias toward speed this meet and,
given the tremendous form he is in now, there is no reason for him not to carry
on his winning ways wherever the connections decide to take him next.
5TH – BRILLIANT (War Chant) was the victim of an unfortunate trip in this
six-furlong maiden special event. The dark bay was content to lay a couple of
lengths off the pacesetters through early fractions of :22 and :46 1/5 and
appeared to be full of run once the field hit the stretch but had absolutely no
place to go. Robby Albarado waited patiently for a hole to open but once it did,
it was far too late to make it to the winner’s circle and he was forced to
settle for third. An unhampered trip next out could find Brilliant getting his
picture taken.
Tomorrow’s Outlook – Friday, October 28
A highly competitive field of eight is scheduled to go to the post for
Friday’s featured Woodford Reserve S. for two-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on
the grass. HYTE REGENCY (Diligence) is one that stands a solid chance in this
field as he is a perfect two for two on turf with his latest victory coming
in the Harrah’s Juvenile S. at Louisiana Downs. The gray overcame a bit of
trouble at the start and stalked the pace early on his way to a game one-length
victory. WEDDING SINGER (Songandaprayer) is coming off of a third place effort
in the Summer S. (Can-G2) at Woodbine after breaking his maiden on the grass at
Saratoga back in August. Trainer Todd Pletcher will undoubtedly have the
chestnut ready to roll.
INTERNATIONAL CAT (Cat Thief) has found the winner’s circle in both of his
turf starts and has closed from last on each occasion. His latest effort came
right here at Keeneland against allowance-company where he closed from more than
eight lengths off the lead, overcoming a bit of trouble along the way, to hit
the finish line a neck in front. YANKEE MASTER (Yankee Victor) only has a maiden
win to his credit but comes from the always dangerous barn of Linda Rice.
Friday’s forecast calls for mostly sunny skies and a high in the 50s.
Friday’s Best Plays
5TH – THOR’S DAUGHTER (Tiznow) will be stretching out to a route for the
first time after sprinting in the first two starts of her career and trainer
Neil Howard wins 38 percent of his starts in the “Sprint-Sprint-Route” trainer
category. The two-year-old filly’s BRIS Speed ratings are at the top of the
field and she also holds the advantage in BRIS Prime Power and BRIS Class. The
bay’s BRIS Pace ratings indicate that she should be a bit closer to the pace
than usual now that she is stretching out but she should still have plenty left
for the run to the finish. Albarado, Howard’s main man, will be aboard.
7TH – EXPLOIVACIOUS (Exploit) should put in a better performance than her
last effort earlier in the meet where she finished fourth but was beaten by 10
1/4 lengths. The chestnut was too far back on a track that has been speed
favoring and really had no opportunity to run down the pacesetters, though she
was moving with good energy at the end. Exploivacious has shown the ability to
run near or on the lead in the past and that was exactly how she broke her
maiden back in April and over this very track. The three-year-old filly ranks
second in BRIS Prime Power and her trainer, Zito, has been red hot for the meet.
Bejarano has been enlisted for the ride and has combined with Zito for a 25
percent win rate over the last 60 days.