Keeneland: Glamour N Glory tops wide-open Wednesday allowance

LEXINGTON, Ky. – If there were some kind of law mandating a 4-1 favorite in horse races, Keeneland would be in compliance more than most other tracks. The depth of some of the races run so far at the 17-day fall meet has led to the kind of scenario that many horseplayers relish, with quite a few of those possibilities in the offing with a nine-race Wednesday card.

One such example is the only allowance of the day, a first-level $52,000 turf route for fillies and mares. Occupying the customary race-8 feature slot, it drew 14 entries and a 4-1 morning-line favorite in Glamour N Glory, with maybe another half-dozen liable to be sent away at single-digit odds. Only as many as 12 can start.

Glamour N Glory has been consistent in her 14 starts, all for a partnership that includes David Fawkes, the trainer of the 3-year-old Gulch filly. She has 2 wins and 7 seconds, and after finishing fourth in her latest race, a first-level $87,000 turf allowance on Sept. 1 at Saratoga, Fawkes has chosen to equip her with blinkers in an attempt at a more focused effort.

Jeffrey Sanchez will have the mount on Glamour Glory, who was assigned post 10 in the 1 1/16-mile feature.

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If Glamour N Glory can’t follow through, there is no shortage of candidates to fill the win slot, including Quinichette, Struck It Lucky, Stehekin, Explainable, Absolute Crackers, Stack the Storm, or even one of the also-eligibles, Off Limits, if she draws in.

Crackers is an intriguing Stateside newcomer, having raced seven times in the United Kingdom before being turned over this summer to trainer Graham Motion. Owned by the Flaxman Holdings Ltd., the 3-year-old filly is by Giant’s Causeway out of El Laoob, which makes her a half-sister to Pachattack, a 6-year-old star and earner of nearly $800,000 for Flaxman.

“She’s been very straightforward since coming to us,” said Motion.

Absolute Crackers will be treated with Lasix for the first time, and she will have Joe Rocco Jr. aboard from post 11.

Like the feature, some other Wednesday races have big fields and a wide-open feel to them, including split divisions of a 2-year-old maiden race at a mile on turf (races 3 and 6), a $30,000 claiming sprint on Polytrack (race 7), and a starter-allowance at the rarely run distance of 1 1/4 miles on Polytrack (race 9). First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern.

Wednesday is Make-A-Wish Day, when nine area children and their families are given VIP treatment, and a trophy presentation is made after every race.