Ack Ack could end up prep for Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Lukas Classic isn’t the only race at Churchill on Saturday night likely to produce something for the Breeders’ Cup. The Ack Ack could do the same.

C Z Rocket, Seeking the Soul, Awesome Slew, and Giant Expectations are among the Ack Ack starters with a legitimate opportunity to stamp their ticket to the BC Dirt Mile, to be run here Nov. 3.

Here’s a quick rundown of all three supporting events on the card:

Grade 3, $100,000 Ack Ack (race 8, 9:39)

C Z Rocket comes favorably drawn in the outside post in this one-turn mile, and trainer Al Stall Jr. is hoping jockey Shaun Bridgmohan can work out a clean trip as the field of seven sorts itself out on the long run down the backstretch.

“He really got a lot out of his last race, running against some seriously seasoned veterans,” said Stall, referring to a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Forego last month at Saratoga. “He didn’t have the best of trips when the leader kept carrying him out into the middle of the track. But I’d like him to be a shade less keen than that, anyway. He’s ready to run a good one, I think.”

With scant opposing speed, C Z Rocket could find himself in front on a relatively slow pace, a scenario that would seem to disadvantage stretch runners such as Seeking the Soul, winner of the longer Clark Handicap here last fall, and Awesome Slew, the 2017 Ack Ack winner.

Giant Expectations, in from California for Peter Eurton, can be expected to show early speed, being fresh from a layoff of nearly seven months, while Warrior’s Club, a $700,000 earner for the Churchill Downs Racing Club, also has shown tactical ability.

$100,000 Jefferson Cup (race 7, 9:05)

This 1 1/8-mile turf race might well be the deepest of the night, as it lacks a clear standout in a field of 10 3-year-olds. Majestic Eagle, shipping in off a fourth-place finish in the Del Mar Derby for Hall of Fame trainer Neil Drysdale, is a lukewarm 5-2 program choice, but it would be of little surprise if Hot Springs or Captivating Moon wound up as the favorite.

Hot Springs, trained by Steve Asmussen, won twice over the Churchill turf during the spring meet to advance to stakes company, and then finished second in the Kent at Delaware Park and fourth in the Saranac at Saratoga.

Captivating Moon, trained by Chris Block, has finished first or second in eight of his 12 starts while earning checks in such notable races as the American Turf, American Derby, and Dueling Grounds Derby.

Fringe players include Tigers Rule, most recently second versus older horses in a Kentucky Downs allowance, and Dubby Dubbie, a winner over the local course at the spring meet.

$100,000 President of the United Arab Emirates Cup (race 10, 10:42)

Lynn Ashby, who over the last quarter-century has become arguably the premier trainer of purebred Arabians, holds a strong hand in this Grade 1 race with a pair of 8-year-olds: Quick and Rich, who won the UAE Cup here last year, and Thess Is Awesome. They’ll have Quick Sand Aa, a last-out winner of the Delaware Classic on Aug. 18 at Delaware Park, as their top opponent. A field of nine will go 1 1/16 miles.

Ashby registered just her second graded victory with a Thoroughbred when Tricky Escape won the Grade 3 Cardinal Handicap here last fall. Since 1995, she has 45 graded victories with Arabians.