KEENELAND DAILY NOTEBOOK
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2005
by Brian P. Turner
A field of eight went to the post for Friday’s Woodford Reserve Bourbon S.
for two-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the lawn. YANKEE MASTER (Yankee Victor)
was sent to the post as the favorite by the betting public and rewarded his
backers with an extremely impressive performance. A victim of some bumping at
the start, he nonetheless rallied from off the pace with a nice finishing move
through the stretch for a five-length victory. The bay was coming off of a solid
maiden win at Belmont Park and is now a perfect two for two in his young career.
Given the ease with which he handled this field, this colt prove to be any sort.
Wedding Singer (Songandaprayer) rallied from off the pace as well to pick up
the place, a half-length in front of Desert Wheat (Wheaton) in third.
There were three sprints contested on the main track Friday and the speedier
sorts won two of them. There were a total of five routes on the main track and
horses on or near the pace won three of these. In addition to the feature, there
was one additional turf route which was also won by a runner closing from off
the pace.
Rafael Bejarano picked up four wins on the day, two in tandem with Nick Zito,
to lock up the jockey title. The talented young jockey will be in New York
tomorrow for the Breeders’ Cup so he will end the meet with 30 winners. Robby
Albarado went winless on the day and he, too, will be riding in the Breeders’ Cup
so he will end the meet with 16. Shaun Bridgmohan, currently in third, will
still be in attendance at Keeneland tomorrow and has the opportunity to add on
to his 13 winners.
Zito’s pair of winners on the day was enough for him to regain the lead in
the trainer standings with nine for the meet. Steve Asmussen went winless on the
day but remains in second with eight, three ahead of Bob Holthus, Neil Howard,
and J. Larry Jones.
Horses to Watch
3RD – LA REASON (Labeeb [GB]) made short work of the field in this 1
1/16-mile allowance event. The bay was content to lay a couple of lengths off
the pace, under very confident handling, through opening fractions of :24 1/5
and :48 1/5, before moving into contention at the top of the stretch. Bejarano
then shook the reins at her and Labeeb absolutely exploded through the stretch
drive, leaving the field 6 1/2 lengths in her wake under nothing but a hand
ride.
7TH – EXPLOIVACIOUS (Exploit) stalked the pace early in this allowance event,
then was forced to wait for a hole to open at the top of the stretch. Bejarano
was patient, though, and waited for room. Once he got it, Exploivacious closed
with a tremendous turn of foot through the stretch drive to cross the finish
line 3 1/4 lengths in front.
Tomorrow’s Outlook – Saturday, October 29
With the Breeders’ Cup on tap for tomorrow, Keeneland will be offering an
abbreviated five-race card for the closing day of the meet, which will be
highlighted by the nine-furlong Fayette S. (G3) for three-year-olds and up. The
Todd Pletcher-trained SHANIKO (A.P. Indy) has been installed as the morning-line
favorite and with good reason. The dark bay has been in good form all year and
looked impressive in his latest effort where he rallied from just off the pace
to take the victory in the Kentucky Cup Classic S. (G2) at Turfway Park.
ALUMNI HALL (A.P. Indy) is a definite threat in here as well. The chestnut
absolutely loves the Keeneland strip as he has three wins to show for four tries
here. Alumni Hall’s last attempt over the track came in the Ben Ali S. (G3) back
in April, where he pressed the pace early on his way to a solid two-length
score. LORD OF THE GAME (Saint Ballado) attempted to get into the Breeders’ Cup
Classic (G1) but could not draw into the field. The connections feel he is doing
really well right now and he is definitely a contender.
M B SEA (Alphabet Soup) pulled off the shocker in the 2003 running of this
event, paying $71.40 for his one-length victory, and will be returning this year
in an attempt to repeat.
Saturday’s forecast calls for sunny skies and a high in the upper 50s.
Saturday’s Best Plays
2ND – DESERT QUEST (Gone West) stalked the pace early on his way to a solid 1
1/4-length victory against maiden special weight company here on October 9.
Though he will be stepping up to allowance company, the dark bay won his last
easily and could be capable of pulling off his second victory in a row. Trainer
Nick Zito has been red hot for the meet and he wins 14 percent of the time in
the “Maiden Winner Last Race” trainer category and with 17 percent of his
allowance runners over all. Desert Quest’s last race BRIS Speed rating tops the
field only adding to the list of things to like.
3RD – ELECTRIC LIGHT (Silver Ghost) will be making his first start since
coming up 1 3/4 lengths short in the Risen Star S. (G3) at Fair Grounds back in
February. Zito trains this one as well and wins 14 percent of the time in the
“90 + Days Away” trainer category. Electric Light tops the field in BRIS Prime
Power by more than four points and also has the advantage in BRIS Class as well.
The thee-year-old colt appears to have found a nice spot to make his return to
the track.