Ageless must work out a trip in Franklin County Stakes
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ageless has won more than half of her 15 career starts, which is exceptional at any level but especially in the company she has kept.
Owned by Lael Stables, of Barbaro fame, and trained by Arnaud Delacour, Ageless will be making her sixth straight start in a turf-sprint stakes as part of an oversubscribed field Friday in the $100,000 Franklin County Stakes at Keeneland.
Ageless, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred by Successful Appeal, has won five of her last seven starts, including a victory here in April in the spring counterpart to the Franklin County, the Giant’s Causeway Stakes. She will have Julien Leparoux back aboard when breaking from post 2 in a 5 1/2-furlong race limited to 14 starters.
“I’m not too excited about the inside post,” Delacour, 39, said this week from Fair Hill in Maryland. “The idea is always to take back and make one run, which can be difficult from the inside. But Leparoux knows her very well. Hopefully, he can let the speed go and make his way around there.”
Despite her stellar recent record, Ageless is no better than a 4-1 co-favorite on the Keeneland morning line, sharing that role with Free as a Bird (post 12, Joel Rosario), a winner of her last four races, all ungraded turf sprints in New York. In all, nine of the 14 horses in the main body of the race are stakes winners.
This is the 18th running of the Franklin County, the ninth of 10 Friday races. It is part of a late pick four with a guaranteed pool of $200,000. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern, with the Franklin County going at 5:13.
Key contenders
Ageless (Last 3 Beyers: 86-94-89)
* One of about 15 active Lael runners in training with Delacour, this mare had her breakthrough in the spring when capturing the Giant’s Causeway at 8-1 over Free as a Bird and Sweet Cassiopeia. She has breezed twice at Fair Hill since finishing third in the Grade 2 Presque Isle Masters on a synthetic surface.
Free as a Bird (Last 3 Beyers: 90-89-89)
* Can’t do much more than what trainer Ian Wilkes has asked of her lately, having won five of her last six, with the only defeat coming by less than a length to Ageless here in the spring. Draws favorably toward the outside, with Rosario looking to make another late surge.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 12 Free as a Bird. Trainer Ian Wilkes is 32-3-1-2 with a $0.95 ROI over the past five years on the turf at Keeneland. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Quality Lass (Last 3 Beyers: 92-91-77)
* The winner of the rich Turf Monster Handicap at Parx in her latest, she really has come to peak form for the underrated trainer Lupe Preciado, although the additional half-furlong and the considerable amount of opposing speed appear to make this a tricky assignment.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 9 Quality Lass. Trainer Guadalupe Preciado is 20-6-2-1 with a $3.45 ROI over the past five years in turf sprints with last-out winners. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
To My Valentine (Last 3 Beyers: 51-90-83)
* One of numerous viable longshots in the lineup, she was a nifty two-back winner on the Saratoga turf for Wesley Ward, who goes out of his way to ship Gulfstream Park’s leading jockey, Edgard Zayas, in for the mount.