Top to bottom, the Mint Millions came up a stronger race than in 2023, when Ancient Rome swooped in from England and scooped up a winner’s purse a little less than $1.2 million. Ancient Rome, bidding for a Mint Millions repeat, is up for a sterner challenge. “I think he’s probably a better horse this year than last year, and he had a pretty good year last year,” trainer Charlie Hills said. Ancient Rome made his first 14 starts based in France with trainer Andre Fabre before moving across the English Channel and into Hills’s Faringdon Place in Lambourn, England. More important vis-à-vis the one-mile, Grade 3 Mint Millions: Ancient Rome, by War Front, was bred in Kentucky, which means he’s eligible for the $1 million portion of a possible $2 million purse available only to Kentucky-breds. His return to Kentucky Downs has been in the offing all season. Ancient Rome, as he did last year, will have Jamie Spencer in the irons, and no more than 10 rivals. While Goliad and Cash Equity finished first and third, respectively, in the Tight Spot Handicap last Sunday at Kentucky Downs, the trainers of both horses said earlier this week they intend to run. So, too, will Irish Aces, winner of the Tapit Stakes on Aug. 29. “Why wouldn’t we give it a try?” trainer Brendan Walsh wanted to know. “He likes the track, and there’s nothing else really for him right now.” :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Walsh said that the Mint Millions became a consideration for Irish Aces, who will need a stronger showing than his Tapit, after he bounced happily out of a hard-fought Tapit win. But Richard Mandella, Goliad’s trainer, said this six-day turnaround had been planned before Goliad was shipped from California. Seven-year-old Goliad, who went wire to wire in the Tight Spot, has raced only 19 times. Now comes his second start in a week. Mandella said the gelding, who has battled through a series of nagging injuries, never has looked better. Goliad, who breaks from post 11, is a major pace player under Flavien Prat, who takes over from Florent Geroux. “We just let him go out there and do his thing,” Mandella said. Geroux winds up on the other main speed, Strong Quality, the first-call leader 11 times in his last 12 starts. Tut’s Revenge wants to lead, as he has his last three starts, but might not have the pace to get there. He’s one of two entered by trainer Mike Maker, along with Emmanuel, who makes his first start for Maker since being purchased at auction for $500,000. Funtastic Again has a high TimeformUS early pace number, 117, but can comfortably settle off the pace, trainer Wesley Ward said. “He can rate; he can do whatever,” said Ward, who went 20 for 64 in graded stakes during 2021-22 but is 1 for 37 in such races in 2023 and thus far in 2024. Ward entered and scratched Funtastic Again from the Tapit and the Tight Spot, awaiting this richer opportunity for Funtastic Again’s first outing since he finished second May 27 in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile at Santa Anita. There, Funtastic Again had an early lead before none other than Goliad essentially ran off with his rider to take command down the backstretch. Funtastic Again chased a hot pace before digging in bravely to finish a close second behind Johannes, California’s top middle-distance grass horse. Though the Shoemaker marked a career best, Ward believes Funtastic Again can repeat it. The other European shipper, Mountain Bear, comes from Ireland and is trainer Aidan O’Brien’s first Kentucky Downs starter. A closing third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, Mountain Bear is an imposing physical specimen who can struggle with the mental aspect of the endeavor. He can be difficult to ride and pulled hard in the early stages of the Group 3 Desmond last month, nonetheless coming with a strong run in the best performance of his career. Frankie Dettori is tasked with trying to relax Mountain Bear this time. Talk of the Nation won the Gun Runner Stakes over a lesser field of 3-year-olds last year at Kentucky Downs and rates a win chance as a pace-stalker for trainer Todd Pletcher and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. Talk of the Nation exits a fourth-place finish in the Arlington Million, a 1 1/4-mile race farther than he prefers. Third in that Million was Ancient Rome, who had three-quarters of a length on Talk of the Nation and ran about as well as the two in front of him, Nations Pride and Integration. Last behind a crawling pace, Ancient Rome zipped his final quarter-mile in 21.86 seconds. “We brought him home for a few weeks after the Million, and he traveled back over nicely,” Hills said Tuesday. “He hasn’t been over-raced for a couple years. He loves his traveling.” A good thing, that portability. In America, Ancient Rome has earned about $1.3 million in two starts. Overseas, he’s won $380,000 from 18 outings. More riches await Saturday. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.