Ack Ack at Churchill probable return spot for Lea

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Lea, the Grade 1 Donn Handicap winner, most likely will make his return to the races in the Grade 3, $100,000 Ack Ack Handicap at Churchill Downs on Sept. 6, trainer Bill Mott said Wednesday.

Lea was entered for the main track only in Saturday’s Grade 2, $250,000 Bernard Baruch, scheduled for 1 1/16 miles on the turf. As of 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, the weather.com forecast for Saturday called for only a 10 percent chance of rain.

Mott said he preferred the one-turn mile of the Ack Ack to the 1 1/8 miles around two turns of the Woodward against Grade 1 competition for Lea, who has not run since Feb. 9.

“The combination of the distance and the fact I think these horses [in the Woodward] are on their game,” Mott said. “This horse has been off six months.”

Mott said the only drawback of running Lea in the Ack Ack is that he would likely have to run back in three weeks, in a race like the Kelso, a one-turn mile, or the Jockey Club Gold Cup, at 1 1/4 miles, both Sept. 27 at Belmont Park.

Lea, a son of First Samurai, is 2 for 2 this year with victories in the Grade 3 Hal’s Hope in January and the Donn in February. He was initially pointing to races like the Charles Town Classic and Metropolitan Handicap before being felled by an illness.

Seek Again likely to Shadwell

Mott also said Wednesday that Seek Again, the winner of the Grade 2 Fourstardave Handicap here Aug. 2, most likely will skip the Woodbine Mile and point to the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland on Oct. 4.

“I like the timing of the race,” Mott said. “He seems to run well fresh, and this gives him a little time between races.”

By running in the Shadwell, Seek Again would have four weeks to the Breeders’ Cup Mile, should his connections opt for that spot.

“To me, these are very important races in their own right and should not be discredited,” Mott said, referring to the Shadwell and Woodbine Mile. “If you got enough left over, then you go to the Breeders’ Cup.”