After a bang-up Churchill meet, Bango moves on to Ellis
Bango sure did run well as an underdog during the spring meet at Churchill Downs. Saturday will be a good time to see how he can fare as a favorite at a different venue.
Fresh from back-to-back stakes victories, Bango figures as a solid choice when he faces six other older sprinters in the $75,000 Good Lord Stakes at Ellis Park in western Kentucky. The 4-year-old colt was 4-1 in winning the six-furlong Aristides on May 29 from well off the pace, then 6-1 in capturing the seven-furlong Kelly’s Landing on June 25 from an up-close tracking spot.
“He’s won every way you could think about winning,” said Greg Foley, who trains Bango for the Tamaroak Partners of Fred and Debbie Schwartz, who bred and own the dark bay Congrats colt.
Bango, with Marcelino Pedroza riding, will break from post 3 in the 6 1/2-furlong Good Lord, the seventh of eight races on a card that starts at the usual 12:50 p.m. Central. Post time for the feature is 3:40. Televised action is available on TVG and TVG2.
Bango hinted that he was ready to join the upper echelon of Midwest sprinters when he put forth a big effort in the Grade 1 Churchill Downs on the May 1 Kentucky Derby card. Dismissed at 23-1, he drew off in daring fashion leaving the eighth pole, only to give way late when beaten 2 1/2 lengths by the victorious Flagstaff.
“Seven-eighths gets to testing him, but he did get it done last time,” said Foley.
Several of Bango’s rivals appear capable of keeping him from a third straight stakes score.
They are Mocito Rojo, a Louisiana shipper who has won a remarkable 20 of 37 starts; Sir Alfred James, a solid third in the Aristides for Al Stall Jr.; Guest Suite, a late-running Indiana-based colt who was up late to win the one-mile Hanshin over the Arlington Park synthetic in his last start; and I’m Corfu, a speedy Chicago shipper whose trainer, Brittany Vanden Berg, is winning at an eye-popping 38 percent clip (28 for 74) this year.
Rounding out the lineup are longshots Lamartine and Dark Oak.
Juan Cano trains Lamartine for Two Dimes Stable, a Louisville-based partnership headed by Clint Glasscock and that includes Chance Dugan, the women’s basketball coach at Bellarmine University. Lamartine, a Brazilian-bred gelding, will be looking to emulate his most recent race, which resulted in a 31-1 stunner in a $50,000 claiming sprint on closing day of the Churchill meet.
The Good Lord long had been known as the Don Bernhardt until it was renamed for the gelding who started in it five straight years (2011-15), winning it three times. Good Lord earned $803,305 from 84 starts, all for the late Forrest Kaelin.
Four maiden-specials and one allowance (race 5) also are part of a Saturday program expected to be run amid low 80s temperatures.