At age 6, Totally Boss begins anew in Mighty Beau Stakes
RACE REPLAY IS NOT AVAILABLE
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – At his peak nearly two years ago, Totally Boss won four of five starts, with the only loss coming by a nose. That hot streak made the gelding the fourth wagering choice in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita in November 2019, but that’s when the good times vanished.
A tough trip from the one-hole in the Breeders’ Cup has been followed by three more defeats, all coming amid a stop-and-start racing schedule. Now 6, Totally Boss returns to action for the first time in nearly nine months in the Mighty Beau, a $110,000 overnight stakes that concludes an excellent 11-race Saturday card at Churchill Downs.
Totally Boss missed the 2020 BC Turf Sprint at Keeneland after exiting his most recent race, the Sept. 12 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint, with a minor ailment. He wintered in Midway, Ky., at the Margaux Farm of his owners, Susan and Jim Hill, returning about a month ago to the care of veteran trainer Rusty Arnold at Keeneland, where three more half-mile breezes have the gelding primed for a comeback.
Arnold is confident he has Totally Boss ready, saying the gelding won’t necessarily need the race but that the 5 1/2-furlong distance might be “a bit shorter than his best.” Indeed, Totally Boss, with Brian Hernandez Jr. riding from the outside post in a field of 10 older horses, might need every yard of the Churchill stretch for his usual kick to overtake a number of opponents who have been more active than him in recent months.
Foremost among those rivals are three returnees from a rugged renewal of the Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint on the April 30 Kentucky Oaks undercard – Carotari (fifth), Johnny Unleashed (sixth), and Just Might (eighth). All three tend to get their best results racing on or near the lead, which also is the case for two more starters who finished unplaced in stakes in their latest starts, High Crime and The Connector. Whether that overabundance of early speed will set the table for a closer such as Totally Boss is the obvious handicapping question being presented here.
Carotari, as winner of the March 13 Silks Run at Gulfstream Park for jockey Julien Leparoux and trainer Brian Lynch, seems to merit the most respect among the early goers, and his toteboard odds probably will reflect as much. He and Totally Boss could vie for post-time favoritism.
The Mighty Beau is the last race on what is expected to be a warm and dry afternoon at Churchill, where the 2021 Triple Crown began five Saturdays ago with the now-tainted win by Medina Spirit. Named for the turf-sprint specialist who earned $646,000 in 75 starts from 2001-08, the Mighty Beau caps a program that also includes three allowances and three maiden-specials. First post is 12:45 p.m. Eastern, with the feature going at 5:58.
Churchill will remain open to fans following the Mighty Beau for the Belmont Stakes simulcast, which is scheduled for 6:50 and can be seen throughout the plant and outdoors on the big board.
The next graded stakes at Churchill is the Grade 3 Mint Julep on a nighttime card next Saturday, June 12.