Banishing among the more consistent Lukas Classic contenders
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Banishing won’t win the Breeders’ Cup Classic. He doesn’t really want 1 1/4 miles, and isn’t quite good enough. But if you’re looking for a paragon of durability, versatility, and credibility, look no further than Banishing, who makes his 10th start this year on Saturday in the Grade 2, $500,000 Lukas Classic at Churchill Downs.
The Lukas marks Banishing’s 14th start in 13 months, and after being pulled up in his first start for owners Lawrence Roman and David Jacobson, the latter his trainer, Banishing has gone 7-5-0 from 13 outings. His lone form dip, a blasé fifth, came May 31 in the Blame Stakes, but Banishing quickly rebounded. On July 20, he beat sharp sprinters going 6 1/2 furlongs in the Jeff Hall Memorial at Ellis Park. About five weeks later, he went three turns and 1 1/8 miles and easily captured the $1 million Charles Town Classic.
Banishing earned that whopping purse despite struggling with the tight configuration of the Charles Town oval and appearing to resent the surface’s kickback. He nearly blew the first turn and raced uncomfortably from the rear with his head held too high, yet on the backstretch he unleashed a wicked move rapidly propelling him from sixth to first. Banishing cantered home by 2 1/4 lengths.
For all that, Banishing, with Tyler Gaffalione getting a return call, is just one of several plausible Lukas Classic winners. Banishing drew the outside post in a seven-horse field. The Churchill surface, at least if it’s dry, might not be his favorite. Ideally, Banishing would race over a slightly shorter trip.
Mystik Dan, a horse who thrives at Churchill, looks like the one to beat. Mystik Dan’s won 3 of 5 over the track where he landed the 2024 Kentucky Derby. Everywhere else, he’s 1 for 10. Away from June through last December, Mystik Dan turned in a pair of winter clunkers before getting back on track at Oaklawn on May 3. Four weeks later, he parlayed a perfect trip into a decisive victory in the Grade 3 Blame.
A month later, another perfect trip netted only a fourth-place finish, a neck behind First Mission but Mystik Dan was more comprehensively defeated by Breeders’ Cup Classic contenders Mindframe and Sierra Leone in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster. Rather than fight that same sort of battle again, trainer Kenny McPeek gave Mystik Dan a look on turf. The colt turned in a respectable fourth-place finish in the Arlington Million.
“He’d run on anything,” trainer Kenny McPeek said.
He’ll run better on Churchill dirt than Colonial turf. McPeek has set the Breeders’ Cup as an autumn goal, with the Dirt Mile more likely than the Classic. Who knows about November, but workout video from Sept. 20 shows Mystik Dan putting in a robust half-mile drill punctuated by an excellent gallop-out.
“He’s doing fantastic, maybe better than ever,” McPeek said.
While Mystik Dan has a good chance, he doesn’t yet have a jockey. Brian Hernandez Jr. was injured after Lukas Classic entries were taken, and McPeek might not name a replacement before Saturday morning.
McPeek said he’s not scratching Rattle N Roll despite the 6-year-old showing just three published workouts for his first start since an eighth in the Dubai World Cup in April. Rattle N Roll legged up at McPeek’s Magdalena Farm in Lexington before moving to Churchill.
“He doesn’t need a lot to come together. He’s a one-run horse. He won’t be anywhere near the pace,” McPeek said.
Also running in the Lukas is the Dubai World Cup winner himself, Hit Show. Beaten 12 lengths in the Santa Anita Handicap in March, Hit Show posted a major upset in the $12 million World Cup, where heavily favored Forever Young laid an egg. Back in America, Hit Show didn’t come close to contending in the Foster, but he overcame ground loss, a 1 1/16-mile distance short of his best, and a tough foe named Not This Boy in capturing the West Virginia Governor’s on Aug. 3. That’s the same race that propelled him to victory in last year’s Lukas.
“Some numbers rated the last race the fastest he’s ever run,” trainer Brad Cox said. “He’s got to get a good trip. He’s not a horse that’s ever going to be a runaway winner.”
Disarm was a good third in the Whitney, a worse sixth in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, and needs 1 1/4 miles for his best. Rail-drawn Willy D’s – who will be scratched from the Woodward at Aqueduct, per Daily Racing Form’s David Grening – could push the pace of likely longshot leader Prince of Power.
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Banishing will be running late. He always is.