Bern Identity goes for fourth straight win in speed-laden Phoenix

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Even if you were sure that the new Keeneland dirt track favors speed like the old one, which horse would you pick Friday in the Phoenix Stakes?

The Grade 3, $200,000 sprint drew a field of eight, most of whom own a blazing turn of foot that renders who will emerge as the front-runner in the six-furlong race, let alone the winner, highly uncertain.

Phoenix starters Bern Identity, Rainbow Heir, Mr. Baker, and Work All Week have won sprint stakes on the front end, and their collective presence makes for a fascinating 162nd running of the Phoenix, a Win and You’re In event toward the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

The Phoenix (4:42 p.m. Eastern) directly precedes the featured Alcibiades Stakes as the eighth of 10 Friday races. The Phoenix dates to 1831 at the old Kentucky Association track and is the oldest stakes in America. Sum of the Parts, trained by Tom Amoss, won it the last two years.

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Key contenders

Bern Identity (Last 3 Beyers: 94-91-95)

* His perfect record as a 4-year-old has his connections hoping to earn an expenses-paid Breeders’ Cup berth as he makes his fourth start on as many tracks following victories at Monmouth, Saratoga, and Laurel.

* Trainer Kelly Breen, based primarily in his native New Jersey, has traveled to Kentucky on a mission, with three other horses entered on the Friday opening-day card.

Lemon Drop Dream (Last 3 Beyers: 85-76-80)

* Although his recent form has been rather mediocre, his come-from-behind style could be well suited to this race shape, given the heavy volume of opposing speed.

* Trainer Steve Asmussen comes off yet another training title at Churchill Downs after tying for the September meet crown to extend his own record there to 15.

Rainbow Heir (Last 3 Beyers: 99-102-96)

* This New Jersey homebred has won 7 of 11 starts and is aiming for the second four-race win streak of his career, though he’s faced with one of his most demanding tests.

* The New Farm of Ebby Novak won the 1996 Phoenix with Forest Wildcat, trained by Ben Perkins Sr., the father of the trainer of Rainbow Heir.

Work All Week (Last 3 Beyers: 96-103-101)

* Illinois homebred is 10 for 13 in a career that started with modest expectations but eventually had his connections contemplating a run in the BC Sprint following his late-June win in Iowa.

* With 184 races won in 2014 (through Tuesday), the Chicago-based Midwest Thoroughbreds Inc. juggernaut of Richard and Karen Papiese is well on its way to leading all North American owners in that category for the fifth straight year.