Aquaphobia one to fear in 10-horse Sycamore

LEXINGTON, Ky. – How is it that a horse can be claimed from a fourth-place finish as a 32-1 shot and become a Grade 1 winner just six months later?

Mike Maker is how.

Aquaphobia, claimed for $62,500 by Maker in January, won the Grade 1 United Nations at Monmouth Park in July, becoming just the latest in a succession of high-priced claims that Maker has taken to the next level. A 7-year-old horse, Aquaphobia will be looking for another graded score, perhaps on his way to the Breeders’ Cup Turf, as one of the favorites Thursday in the Grade 3, $150,000 Sycamore on the Keeneland turf.

Florent Geroux has the riding assignment on Aquaphobia, one of 10 older horses in the 26th running of the Sycamore, a 1 1/2-mile turf test that comes reasonably situated ahead of the Nov. 7 BC Turf, to be run at the same distance here 23 days hence. Aquaphobia will break from post 6 in the three-turn race, right alongside Big Agenda (post 5, Tyler Gaffalione), a second Maker trainee coming off back-to-back allowance wins since coming under his care.

Both of the Maker horses figure to have Red Knight (post 2, James Graham) as the one to beat. First or second in 13 of 20 career starts, Red Knight most recently split two of the top turf marathoners in training, Arklow and Zulu Alpha, when second in a terrific effort following a nearly eight-month layoff in the Sept. 12 Kentucky Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs.

Bill Mott, who on Saturday won the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on the Keeneland turf with Harvey’s Lil Goil, is the trainer of Red Knight, a 6-year-old gelding who earned a career-high 101 Beyer Speed Figure in his latest off the shelf.

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Trainer Graham Motion, who has won three of the past nine runnings of the Sycamore, has a pair of fringe players here in He’s No Lemon (post 3, Rafael Bejarano), a two-back allowance winner at Saratoga, and Ziyad (post 10, Manny Franco), a well-traveled 5-year-old with plenty of experience in group races overseas.

Ziyad, said Motion, “obviously is a nice horse,” adding the Wertheimer homebred was scheduled to clear quarantine Monday afternoon after arriving recently from France. “We won’t get to do much with him, but clearly he’s racing fit.”

Ziyad figures on or near an honest early pace, along with Postulation (post 1, Julien Leparoux), a longshot who typically is part of the early mix. In his only start outside France, Ziyad led most of the way before settling for third as the favorite in the Grade 1 Canadian International in October 2019. The British-bred gelding will race on Lasix for the first time Thursday.

First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern, with the Sycamore going at 4:57 p.m. as the eighth of nine races Thursday. Two allowances directly precede the feature on a solid card.

The Sycamore, named for the ancient tree that towers over the Keeneland walking ring, is the first of four graded stakes to be run here this week. It’s followed by the Grade 3 Valley View on Friday, Grade 2 Raven Run on Saturday, and Grade 3 Dowager on Sunday.

Mostly sunny skies and a high of 72 are in the forecast for Thursday, after which a cold front is expected to pass through this region.