Pocahontas, Iroquois attract 60 noms to open Churchill's September meet

Pocahontas, Iroquois attract 60 noms to open Churchill's

September meet

The names of 60 promising two-year-old stars are included on

the rosters of horses nominated to compete in the Grade 2, $200,000

Pocahontas for

juvenile fillies and the Grade 3, $100,000

Iroquois for

juveniles, races that will kick-off their respective "Road to the

Kentucky

Oaks" and "Road to the

Kentucky Derby" series that will determine the

participants for the 2015 renewals of the spring classics at

Churchill Downs.

The Pocahontas and Iroquois also begin the Juvenile Fillies and

Juvenile divisions, respectively, of the

Breeders' Cup "Win & You're In"

series, and their winners will earn automatic starting spots in the Breeders'

Cup Juvenile Fillies and Juvenile, along with a $10,000 travel stipend

for the races to be run at Santa Anita Park on October 31-November 1.

The Pocahontas and Iroquois are part of a special Churchill

Downs racing program that will feature four stakes events on September 6,

the second day of the track's 12-day September Meet. Nomination rosters also

have been issued for the day's other stakes races -- the 22nd running of the

Grade 3, $100,000

Ack Ack, a one-mile race for

three-year-olds and up, and the 31st running of the $100,000

Locust Grove for fillies

and mares at 1 1/16 miles.

The four events are among eight stakes races with total

purses of $925,000 scheduled during the upcoming September Meet, which opens on

September 5 and concludes on September 28. Only the second racing meet

scheduled exclusively during that month in Churchill Downs' 140-year history,

September Meet racing will be conducted on a Friday-through-Sunday schedule

during its four-week run. "Downs After Dark" night racing celebrations are

set for opening night Friday and September 19.

The 2013 Pocahontas was won by

Untapable, who finished eighth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies for trainer

Steve Asmussen but rebounded this season with victories in the 140th running of

the Kentucky

Oaks, Mother Goose, Fair Grounds Oaks and Rachel Alexandra. Cleburne won the Iroquois for trainer Dale Romans

and traveled to Santa Anita for the Juvenile, but suffered an injury there that

prevented him from participating in the event.

The Pocahontas attracted nominations of 25 juvenile

fillies, a list headed by Angela Renee, the Todd Pletcher-trained

runner-up in Saratoga's

Adirondack; Take Charge Brandi, a

winner at first asking under the Twin Spires and runner-up in Saratoga's

Schuylerville for Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas; Unbridled Reward, a 7 3/4-length

debut winner at Churchill and runner-up in

the track's Debutante for trainer Mark Casse; unbeaten A. P.'s Glory, who romped

by 7 1/2 lengths in her

Arlington debut prior to taking the

Mountaineer Juvenile Fillies for Arlington

Park-based trainer James Divito; and Rachel's Ready, who finished

third for conditioner David Vance in her most recent outing in the Mountaineer

Juvenile Fillies.

Thirty-five colts and geldings were nominated to the Iroquois. That roster is

headed by Hashtag Bourbon, a runaway winner of the

Mountaineer Juvenile for trainer Kellyn Gorder; Mr. Z, a

Lukas trainee who won at first asking at Churchill Downs and followed with

runner-up finishes in the Saratoga Special and Sanford at the Spa; W V

Jetsetter, third in the Saratoga Special and winner of the TTA Sales Futurity at

Lone Star Park

for conditioner George Weaver; Holiday

Camp, who ran last of six as the favorite in the Santa Anita Juvenile following

an impressive debut victory over the Southern California track for Hall of Famer

Bob Baffert; undefeated Private Prospect, victorious in the

Prairie Meadows Juvenile Mile and

Prairie Gold Juvenile for trainer Michael Campbell; and Gotta Get Paid,

saddled by Tom Amoss to a runner-up finish in the Mountaineer Juvenile.

Defending winner Pants On Fire as well as

Grade 1 scorers Golden Ticket and Lea head 23 experienced and accomplished

stakes veterans nominated to compete in the Ack Ack Handicap.

Pants On Fire scored a 2 1/4-length victory in the Ack Ack during last year's first September Meet

at Churchill. The Kelly Breen charge traveled to Santa Anita to finish seventh in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile

next out before shipping to Japan to complete his season with a last-place finish in the Japan

Cup Dirt. The son of Jump Start was third in the

Monmouth Cup to open

his six-year-old campaign on July 27 and was a half-length second last out in

the August 17 Philip H. Iselin.

Golden Ticket rose to fame when finished in

a dead-heat with Alpha to win the 2012 Travers at Saratoga, but has yet to visit

the winner's circle this year from six prior starts. His best finishes thus far

have come as a head second in the

Gulfstream Park

Handicap to open his five-year-old season on March 8 and a half-length second in

the May 2 Alysheba. The

Kenny McPeek trainee finished second in last fall's Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile

and is exiting last-of-nine placing in Saratoga's Whitney on August 2.

Lea is two-for-two on the year after taking the Hal's Hope and Donn Handicap at Gulfstream

Park. He hasn't competed since that latter event on February 9 and is one of a

pair of accomplished stars nominated to the Ack Ack by

Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider, which also made multiple Grade 2 hero Departing eligible for the

race.

Lea is trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott, the all-time

leader in victories and stakes wins at Churchill Downs, while Departing is

conditioned by Al Stall Jr. That four-year-old followed a good third-place run in the

June 14 Stephen Foster with a disappointing eighth-place finish the Whitney.

Other Ack Ack nominees include Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap winner Carve; Sir Barton

scorer Class Leader; Grade 3 hero Falling Sky, third recently in the Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga;

Grade 2 conqueror Flashback, unraced since a fourth-placing in the December 26

Malibu; Grade 3-placed multiple stakes king Good Lord; Mylute, fifth in the

2013 Kentucky Derby and third in the

Preakness who is exiting

a third-place effort in the West Virginia Governor's on August 2; and Grade 1

veteran Regally Ready, winner of the West Virginia House of Delegates Speaker's

Cup.

Nominations to the Locust Grove include Molly Morgan, who finished sixth in last

year's running but has had a breakout year in 2014 highlighted by a runner-up

finish to multiple Grade 1 winner On Fire Baby in the La Troienne followed by a win over that rival in the Fleur

de Lis Handicap. The

Dale Romans-trained daughter of Ghostzapper also recently won the Gardenia at

Ellis Park.

The Locust Grove could serve as round three in the growing

rivalry between Molly Morgan and On Fire Baby as that two-time Grade 1 queen is

also nominated to the race. The Smoke Glacken five-year-old mare has not run since her fifth-place finish in the Fleur

de Lis for trainer Gary

Hartlage.

Also nominated is My Miss Sophia, the

Pletcher-trained runner-up to Untapable in the Kentucky Oaks who posted a 7

1/4-length decision in the Gazelle prior to the Oaks. The Unbridled's Song filly has not competed since a seventh-place run in the Acorn

at Belmont Park on June 7.

Other nominated fillies and mares include Ria Antonia, winner via disqualification of the 2013 Breeders' Cup Juvenile

Fillies and fourth last out in the Monmouth Oaks; Grade 2 victress Don't Tell

Sophia, last seen finishing third in the March 15 Azeri;

Honey Hues, winner of the Mint Julep and Ellis Park Turf thus far this season;

multiple Grade 3 diva My Option, a 6 1/2-length romper in the Chicago Handicap

two back; and the McPeek-trained Tapit's World, a head second in the Gardenia.

Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com