Big-money claims prominent in River City
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When an owner claims a horse for $100,000, fair to say there are high expectations. Kupuna and Ole Crazy Bone already have met them.
Trainer Norm Casse, on behalf of Jay Provenzano’s Flying P Stable, dropped a hundred-grand claim on Kupuna in September 2025, and Kupuna has since earned nearly $300,000, winning stakes races at Fair Grounds and Saratoga.
Trainer Mike Maker, on behalf of Provenzano, claimed Ole Crazy Bone for $100,000 in June 2025, and Ole Crazy Bone, mainly through his 2025 victory in the $1.5 million Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs, has banked about $1.7 million.
Both horses are entered Saturday at Churchill in the Grade 3, $300,000 River City Stakes. Eight went into the race, but Teao won’t ship from California, trainer John Sadler said Wednesday.
Set at 9-2 on the morning line, Kupuna races for the first time since Sept. 3, when he returned from a half-year layoff and captured the $200,000 Bernard Baruch at Saratoga. Casse had to scratch Kupuna from the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile last month at Keeneland when Kupuna “was fighting a little infection.”
“This is more of a Plan B,” Casse said. “It’s a litmus test to see how he handles the distance.”
Kupuna finished a solid third with a less-than-ideal trip in his lone previous start at 1 1/8 miles, the Fair Grounds Stakes last February.
“I felt like he handled it all right, but this is more assurance to see what we do over the winter,” Casse said. “Looks like he’s in a pretty good spot.
Ole Crazy Bone beat River City rival Lambeth in a Churchill middle-distance turf allowance in May and went on to capture the 11-furlong Bowling Green at Saratoga. One would have imagined the Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs would have been his major summer goal, but Ole Crazy Bone raced just three weeks before the Turf Cup, finishing a fading sixth in the Christophe Clement at Saratoga. At Kentucky Downs, Ole Crazy Bone abruptly lost position on the second turn and checked in a well-beaten sixth. He comes fresh to the River City.
Lambeth is listed as the 9-5 morning-line favorite, Jose Ortiz up for trainer Joe Sharp and owner Carl Moore. Set to make his fifth start in about three months, Lambeth won the Grade 2, 1 1/2-mile Sycamore Stakes a month ago at Keeneland with help from a dream pace setup, closing from 15 lengths back into a furious pace. But Lambeth also has raced competitively over middle distances on the Churchill grass.
“I think this definitely will be the toughest class ask we’ll have made of him at the mile and an eighth distance,” Sharp said. “He loves Churchill. This is probably end of the season for him; hopefully, we can finish it in a big way.”
Carcano wants more distance than nine furlongs and at age 6 never has been fast enough to contend. Plensa has made his career winning two rich races at Kentucky Downs; his form on more standard ovals doesn’t stack up. Vote No is a faster version of Carcano, a horse devoid of speed who probably, at base, wants more ground than he gets Saturday.
That leaves Mercante, the only horse in the River City with any real measure of early pace. Mercante got away poorly in the 2025 River City and still rallied for a decent third, and coming out of the Coolmore Turf Mile, with blinkers going back on, Mercante could find himself leading the River City for a long time.
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