Allowance route at Turfway draws well-matched group

The penultimate card of Turfway Park’s meeting is Friday evening’s eight-race program, with the nominal feature a $48,500 allowance race for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on the Polytrack. Several in this field are getting class relief off recent outings, creating a well-matched lineup.

A familiar face in the field is Coco Channel, now in her fifth season of racing, all for owner-breeder Calumet Farm and trainer Charlie LoPresti. The mare has been a regular in stakes competition, finishing third in the Grade 3 Cardinal Handicap in 2017 at Churchill Downs, and beaten just three lengths when fifth in last year’s Grade 3 Mint Julep Stakes on the same course. Coco Channel has run twice at this Turfway Park meeting, finishing sixth in an optional-claiming race on Dec. 27 and then third in a similar event on Jan. 30. Both races were won by the streaking Rogue Too, who recently won the Latonia Stakes at Turfway for her sixth straight victory.

Gerardo Corrales got aboard Coco Channel for her most recent third-place outing and remains in the irons Friday.

Lady Worthington has drawn the inside post in the full field of 12 and will thus need to use the speed she showed last out when wiring a second-level allowance field at Turfway by 3 3/4 lengths on Feb. 28. The filly earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 80, the top number earned by anyone in the race this year.

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Corrales was aboard Lady Worthington for that allowance victory and gets off in favor of Coco Channel. Julio Garcia picks up this mount for trainer Wesley Ward.

Las Ramblas, who has been based at Turfway all winter, gets some class relief after most recently finishing fifth in the Bourbonette Oaks on March 14. Several others in this field also will theoretically find softer competition as they come in from difficult circuits. Chief among those is Mighty Scarlett, who was previously based in New York with trainer Chad Brown. She now makes her first start since October and first for trainer Ignacio Correas. The mare earned Beyers of 82 or higher in all four of her starts in 2019.

Nikki Beach most recently started in a pair of optional-claiming races at Gulfstream Park for trainer Ben Colebrook. This will be her first start on a synthetic surface. She finished eighth in her lone outing on turf. She does pick up the services of Turfway’s leading rider, Albin Jimenez.

Makeme Dream won an allowance race last November on the Tampa Bay Downs turf in her final start for Christophe Clement. In her first outing this year, and first for trainer Jeff Engler, she finished 10th in a race on yielding Fair Grounds turf after being bumped at the break.