Carnevale makes U.S. debut off layoff in turf marathon
LEXINGTON, Ky. – They start playing out the string at the Keeneland spring meet Wednesday as folks on the Kentucky circuit get ready to move westward to Churchill Downs. Three straight allowances anchor an abbreviated eight-race card that kicks off the final three-day stretch of a meet that ends Friday.
The richest of those is a $62,000, second-level turf marathon that’s slotted as the seventh race and attracted older fillies and mares from a number of top outfits, including those run by Christophe Clement, Shug McGaughey, Roger Attfield, and Mike Stidham.
Carnevale, trained by Clement, will be making her North American debut in what realistically could have come up a tougher spot. In 2014-15, Clement is winning at a 38 percent clip with horses making their first starts on this continent, and with some nice-looking Payson Park preps under her and Joel Rosario taking the call, it would be no surprise if she went favored in a field of eight on the Clement factor alone.
Clement and Rosario also will team with a major contender in Dance Champion in the preceding allowance (race 6), a $60,000, first-level race for older horses at the Beard Course distance of seven furlongs and 184 feet. Eight also go there.
The fifth race also is a $60,000, first-level race, albeit for 3-year-olds at 1 3/16 miles on turf. Ken and Sarah Ramsey appear to have a strong entry in there in Task Force Glory and Broughton Kitten.
First post Wednesday is 1:05 p.m. Eastern, with the nominal feature set for 4:11 and the last race for 4:42.
ALLOWANCE (RACE 7)
KEY CONTENDERS
Carnevale (first North American start)
◗ This British-bred chestnut gets first-time Lasix when returning from a layoff of almost six months after having rounded into form last fall in England.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Carnevale. Trainer Christophe Clement is 8-3-0-3 with a $4.27 ROI over the past five years with foreign shippers going 10 furlongs or longer and getting Lasix for the first time. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
:: Learn more about Formulator | Buy Formulator PPs
:: Follow the @DRFFormulator Twitter feed and get free Formulator facts
Stellaris (Last 3 Beyers: 81-72-64)
◗ This Stidham-trained daughter of Harlan’s Holiday got plenty of stakes experience last year at 3 and stands to benefit from her seasonal debut last month at Fair Grounds.
Meri Shika (Last 3 Beyers: 82-79-84)
◗ This Attfield-trained mare hasn’t been close in any of her last four starts but gets some obvious class relief here when dropping out of much tougher graded events.
Sabbatical (Last 3 Beyers: 77-82-69)
◗ This Phipps Stable homebred arrives here from Florida by way of New York after a solid work pattern for McGaughey when returning from a layoff of six-plus months.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 7 Sabbatical. Trainer Shug McGaughey is 10-4-1-2 with a $2.88 ROI over the past three years in turf routes at Keeneland following a layoff of 180 days or more. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan