Alejandro gets to step out of shadow in Churchill allowance

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Several participants in the lone allowance Thursday evening at Churchill Downs come with footnotes of various interest.

Alejandro was Epicenter’s workmate; Aussie Pride sold for $4.1 million; Curbstone won a maiden race at the Kentucky Derby distance of 1 1/4 miles; Macallan raised eyebrows in a February maiden win; and Western River was a decent fourth behind his stablemate, We the People, in the Peter Pan.

All five are worthy contenders in a well-matched field of nine set to clash under the Churchill lights in the seventh of eight races, a $127,000, first-level allowance going 1 1/8 miles. Twilight first post is 5 p.m. Eastern, with the feature going at 7:54 and the finale at 8:23.

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Alejandro, a 4-year-old colt produced by Grade 1 winner Rachel’s Valentina, a daughter of the great Rachel Alexandra, could come a slight favorite here. The Stonestreet Stables homebred was second at 2-1 for these same conditions May 12 after some of his training for Steve Asmussen included team works alongside Epicenter, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness runner-up.

Brian Hernandez Jr. will be aboard Alejandro for the first time when breaking from post 7.

Aussie Pride (post 4, Tyler Gaffalione) and Curbstone (post 3, Adam Beschizza) both are last-out maiden winners. Aussie Pride, a Curlin colt out of Bounding, earned back a fraction of his original cost for Godolphin on April 22 at Keeneland, and Curbstone relished stretching out in the slop in an 11-1 romp during Derby week. Macallan (post 9, Florent Geroux) would do well to replicate his maiden win on the Feb. 12 Sam F. Davis card at Tampa Bay Downs, while Western River (post 2, Ricardo Santana Jr.) gets a measure of class relief ahead of Rudy Brisset sending out We the People less than 48 hours later as one of the favorites for the Belmont Stakes in New York.

A daytime high of 84 and mostly sunny skies are in the long-range Thursday forecast.

Limit to turf races

Owing to a new turf course that has drawn complaints from horsemen since early in the spring meet, Churchill will limit turf racing to a maximum of two races per day through the end of the 44-day meet on July 4.

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The move is “to allow the new turf course to continue to mature and become more robust,” Churchill spokesman Darren Rogers said in a prepared statement. “We’ve had good, open dialogue with the riders. The grass has been cut short to promote the continued root growth. . . . We have complete confidence it will be more robust for additional turf racing later this year with just a little more time.”

Loose footing and unusually large divots have plagued the course, which is composed primarily of Bermuda grass. The old turf was torn out last summer, replaced by a $10 million course first used April 30.

The new policy is effective starting Saturday. Churchill has notified horsemen that 19 races in the condition book originally scheduled for turf will be run on the main track.

Conagher’s next up in the air

Mike Tomlinson said he is undecided on a next start for his latest potential stable star, Conagher, the 3-year-old Jimmy Creed colt who earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure going seven furlongs in 1:20.62 in an eye-catching victory Friday in a second-level allowance.

Tomlinson said “The Allen Jerkens pops to mind right away when you have one like this,” referring to the Grade 1 race on the Travers undercard Aug. 27 at Saratoga. “How we get there is something I’ll have to think about some more.”

Conagher, owned by Mark Farrar and the Patricia’s Hope LLC of Vince Foglia, validated a 73-1 upset in his prior start April 13 at Keeneland, where he got a 97 Beyer. Tomlinson said he has been fielding calls from would-be buyers, but “they’ve really slowed down since word got around the owners aren’t interested in selling,” he said.

Tomlinson noted Conagher has been treated with Lasix for his last four races and would race without the bleeder medication in his next start, assuming it’s a stakes.

“That does concern me,” he said.

Cyberknife heads Matt Winn

Cyberknife, 18th in the Kentucky Derby following his victory in the Arkansas Derby, will return to action Sunday at Churchill as the likely favorite in the Grade 3 Matt Winn Stakes. Cyberknife has had three timed works for Brad Cox since the Derby, the latest a five-furlong breeze Sunday in 1:01.

Entries for both the 1 1/16-mile Matt Winn and its Sunday co-feature, the Leslie’s Lady, will be drawn Thursday.

The lone Saturday feature is the Mighty Beau for older turf sprinters. The Saturday card will be run in its entirety ahead of the Belmont Stakes simulcast.

◗ Caddo River may have run his way into the Stephen Foster on July 2 at Churchill with a third straight allowance romp Sunday, getting a mile in 1:33.52 under Ricardo Santana Jr. and earning a 100 Beyer. The 4-year-old Hard Spun colt is trained by Cox for owner-breeder Shortleaf Stable. Cox also has Mandaloun pointing to the Foster.

◗ The 20-cent Derby City 6 will be subject to a mandatory payout Sunday, assuming the jackpot was not swept any of the four preceding days. The carryover pool stood at $272,577 when a five-day race week began Wednesday.