Include Betty will switch to turf for Valley View
Include Betty, who won her fourth stakes of the year in the $200,000 Remington Park Oaks, is likely to make her next start on turf in the Valley View Stakes at Keeneland.
Mary RampelliniOct 02, 2015
Include Betty, who won her fourth stakes of the year in the $200,000 Remington Park Oaks, is likely to make her next start on turf in the Valley View Stakes at Keeneland.
The Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland hasn’t produced a Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf winner since 2007, when Nownownow finished second in the Bourbon before winning the inaugural edition of the Breeders’ Cup race at Monmouth Park. The Juvenile Turf has since been dominated by runners prepared in Europe.
In 2014, Treve looked a dim shadow of her best self, yet she stormed to a two-length victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, winning the biggest prize in European racing for the second year in a row. This fall, Treve, well, is very much Treve again. No talk of sore feet or misaligned back, no worries about her never being the same again. She won her Arc prep, the Prix Vermeille, by six lengths while absolutely cruising under the wire, and all subsequent reports from the camp of trainer Criquette Head-Maarek point to a horse loving life, itching to race.
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin won the Grade 2 Prioress with Cavorting, but his other entrant in that race, Clothes Fall Off, didn’t run as badly as her seventh-place finish might suggest. Sunday, Clothes Fall Off takes a significant drop in class when she runs against five rivals in a $77,000 first-level allowance.
The weather might be the only thing that can stop Home Journey in Sunday’s $100,000 California Distaff Handicap at Santa Anita.
Swift Thoroughbreds Inc. will be making a trip to Keeneland. Horatio and Jackie Kemeny and Mark and Naudia Maché, who make up the stable, recently purchased Last Waltz and hope to get her into the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Two-time stakes winner Riker will look to remain unbeaten while trying two turns for the first time in Sunday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Grey Stakes for 2-year-olds at Woodbine. The winner of the 1 1/16-mile Grey will earn 10 points toward qualifying for next year’s Kentucky Derby.
Trainer Stuart Simon saddles Dragon Bay (#3, 12-1) in Friday's fifth race at Woodbine, a one-mile maiden special weight race on turf. Since Jan., 1, 2014, Simon is winning at a 40 percent clip in maiden special weight races, for a return on investment of $7.25. Check out the Positive ROI report as part of DRF Plus. Sign up for DRF Plus here.
Fancy Man (#12, 6-1) returns in Friday's 10th race at Keeneland, a six-furlong claiming race. It will be his first start since finishing fifth by three lengths in an allowance Aug. 22 at Arlington Park. The first-, second-, third-, and fourth-place finishers from that race came back to win their next starts. Get the Key Race report as part of DRF Plus. Sign up for DRF Plus here.
FallStars Weekend at Keeneland winds down Sunday with yet one more sensational matchup as Untapable and Lovely Maria, the last two Kentucky Oaks winners, clash in the 60th running of the Grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster Stakes.