'Bad Boy' goes for stakes repeat
ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Chris's Bad Boy tries to win his second consecutive Kennedy Road Stakes on Saturday, the next-to-last day of the meeting. The six-furlong Kennedy Road is worth $138,250.
Chris's Bad Boy set the track record of 1:08.05 winning the 2003 Kennedy Road by nearly seven lengths, earning a 114 Beyer Speed Figure. Following a winter vacation, he won his fifth race in a row here April 17 in the Jacques Cartier Stakes.
Chris's Bad Boy excelled on the grass earlier this year, setting a course record for 6 1/2 furlongs in an Aug. 7 allowance. He registered a front-running victory, with a 105 Beyer, in the Nov. 27 allowance prep for the Kennedy Road, a performance that impressed trainer Vito Armata.
"He ran an awesome race, and came back good," Armata said. "He won nice and easy."
Armata said he's concerned with bringing Chris's Bad Boy back on relatively short rest.
"Last year, the prep was three weeks out from the race, but this year, it's only two weeks," Armata pointed out. "It's not ideal for him, but it's the only game in town."
Ministers Wild Cat showed enough promise early in his career to be put on the road to the 2003 Kentucky Derby. This year, he raced twice in Kentucky, and in the fall was shipped here to trainer Scott Fairlie. Ministers Wild Cat finished a fast-closing second in the prep for the Kennedy Road.
Fairlie said Ministers Wild Cat would prefer a longer sprint than the six-furlong distance of the Kennedy Road.
"It would have been nice if this race was six and a half or seven furlongs, but it's not," Fairlie said. "A come-from-behind track would make a difference for him."
I'm the Tiger has been aimed toward the Kennedy Road by trainer Danny Vella since an Oct. 3 allowance triumph, which followed a three-month layoff. He had a dream run along the inside when he captured the July 11 Bold Venture Handicap, and hasn't missed the board in 11 starts on the main track.
Forever Grand won the restricted Kenora Stakes in September in his first start off a $32,000 claim by trainer Noel Randall. A victory in the Kennedy Road would enable Forever Grand to surpass the $1 million mark in earnings.