Admiral Lynch tries to make amends in Sunday sprint

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With shorter fields in evidence because of the track’s decision to close the turf course for the meet, a pair of allowances will anchor a nine-race Sunday card at Churchill Downs likely to be run over sloppy going.

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Race 4 is an $87,000 first-level route in which four of the six 2-year-olds entered were last-out maiden winners – Joe Frazier, El Sobreviviente, Angkor, and Starrininmydreams.

Race 8 is a $95,000 five-furlong dash with wide-open conditions. Admiral Lynch wheels back as a beaten favorite from a similar spot at Keeneland. He faces Wellabled, Johnny Unleashed, and Seven Nation Army in a well-matched field of seven.

A 90 percent chance of rain is in the forecast for Sunday.

Only 77 horses (including four also-eligibles) were entered for Sunday’s card. Average field size at this meet will be down substantially from the corresponding 2019 meet, when it was 8.9, in no small part because of the fewer opportunities on turf.

Futures Pool 1 on tap

The first of five pools in the 2021 Kentucky Derby Future Wager is set for closing week. Pool 1 will open Thursday and run through Sunday evening, concurrent with the Derby Sires Futures. Full lineups for both pools are scheduled for release no later than Monday.

The expansion from the traditional four pools to five is new. Churchill offered seven pools toward the 2020 Derby, but only after adding three additional pools due to the four-month postponement caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

◗ First post for the duration of the meet remains 1 p.m. Eastern, with the exception of Thanksgiving (11:30 a.m.).