Up-and-coming Utah Beach takes on Bold Act in Louisville Stakes

Trainer Ignacio Correas IV on Wednesday posed the question anyone with a turf horse in the Louisville Stakes is asking.

“Will we run on the grass?”

Correas entered the rising 4-year-old Utah Beach in the $250,000 Louisville, carded for 1 1/2 miles on turf, the seventh of 11 races on a Saturday night program at Churchill Downs. Eleven were entered, four trained by the king of the American long-distance male turf division, Mike Maker.

Among the Maker quartet, Sugoi and Quadra Island are marginal players at best. Guntown is a dirt horse, potentially a key player if the race is rained off, while Starting Over is the likely second choice on grass.

Seven-year-old Starting Over has made only seven starts for Maker, six competitive, the seventh a wet-turf dud in the Canadian International. Starting Over was second to the sharp Francesco Clemente in the 1 1/2-mile McKnight on Jan. 27 at Gulfstream Park and just got up going 1 3/8 miles there March 2 in the Mac Diarmida. His age notwithstanding, Starting Over, a son of Liam’s Map, barely is exposed in 11- to 12-furlong grass races, and with the March 2 Mac Diarmida his most recent start, he comes fresh to the Louisville.

:: Subscribe to the DRF Post Time Email Newsletter: Get the news you need to play today's races!

The Grey Wizard can factor at a longer price. He returned last month at Keeneland in the 1 1/2-mile Elkhorn after a long break, and trainer Graham Motion’s suggestion that The Grey Wizard wasn’t ready for his best first-time back was born out in his performance. The Grey Wizard will improve, but perhaps not enough to win.

The Louisville runs through the Godolphin homebred Bold Act. Trained by the England- and Dubai-based Charlie Appleby, Bold Act beat older rivals making his American debut last fall at Keeneland in the Sycamore Stakes, and on the strength of a smooth Group 2 win over the winter in Dubai, he was favored at 1-2 in the Elkhorn. That did not go well.

Hard held behind a slow pace by Frankie Dettori, Bold Act was rank in the early stages, and when he ceased pulling too hard, Bold Act got into one tough spot after another. He steamed through his final quarter-mile in a field-best 22.80 seconds, only good enough for third in a race won by Bold Act’s front-running stablemate Silver Knott.

Silver Knott’s score was no fluke. He returned last weekend to easily win the Grade 2 Man o’ War with an elite 106 Beyer Speed Figure. Italian expat Dettori gives way to French expat Florent Geroux on Saturday night. Geroux will be hard-pressed not to give his mount a better trip.

Utah Beach, like Bold Act, is just a 4-year-old, and as a son of English Channel, his best days almost certainly lie ahead of him. First or second in his seven starts, Utah Beach has prospered since Correas stretched him out to 1 1/4 and 1 1/2 miles this year. Going 1 1/2 miles on turf, Utah Beach ran through two allowance conditions this spring, comfortably winning a second-level race at Keeneland.

“He is pretty good,” said Correas, who has given the mount to Jose Ortiz. “He’s not an easy horse to ride. You try not to fight too much with him. He’ll always fight you the first sixteenth or eighth of a mile, but after that, he’s pretty good.”

Utah Beach likely will go to the Belmont Gold Cup should the Louisville wind up on dirt. The question is how much rain falls, and how willing Churchill is to run this race over a sodden course.

:: Bet with the Best! Get FREE All-Access PPs and Weekly Cashback when you wager on DRF Bets.

Disarm returns wearing a bar shoe

Disarm returns to the races in Saturday’s fourth race for his first start since a second-place finish Aug. 26 in the Travers Stakes. A Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred trained by Steve Asmussen, Disarm will be favored in this second-level dirt route allowance that also is open to $80,000 claimers.

Asmussen said he’s using the race as a prep for the Stephen Foster on June 29. Disarm returned to training several months ago at Fair Grounds but battled “a little bit of a foot issue” in New Orleans, Asmussen said, and races Saturday in a bar shoe. The Gun Runner colt nonetheless has logged eight timed workouts without missing a beat, and Asmussen said the colt has been breezing impressively.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.