Casa de Goat tops trio of comebackers

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Layoffs always throw an added variable into a handicapping equation. Horseplayers trying to make sense of the Wednesday feature at Churchill Downs should get a good feel for all that.

Casa de Goat, Customer Driven, and Traverse – all of them 3-year-old fillies unraced since the spring meet at Churchill – figure among the top wagering choices in the lone allowance of a 10-race card that kicks off another five-day race week.

Casa de Goat, with Florent Geroux riding for trainer Brad Cox, will be of particular interest to fans as the 9-5 program choice in a field of seven fillies and mares competing for a $127,000 purse. A nearly 13-length winner of her career debut in April at Keeneland with an 81 Beyer Speed Figure, the Twirling Candy filly regressed when stretched out to two turns in her only subsequent start, fading to a well-beaten fourth as the favorite in a May 21 allowance.

Duly regrouped, and with no fewer than 10 timed workouts in the interim, Casa de Goat surely will be a solid favorite when breaking from post 2 in this one-turn mile out of the Longfield Avenue chute.

The two other layoff fillies, Customer Driven and Traverse, will break from either side of her.

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Customer Driven will have leading jockey Tyler Gaffalione aboard from the rail post when making her first start since finishing fourth for this same first-level condition in a 1 1/16-mile race on the May 6 Kentucky Oaks card. The daughter of Quality Road shows eight timed works at Churchill in the meantime for trainer Rusty Arnold’s longtime assistant, Jack Bohannan.

Traverse (post 3, Joe Talamo) has been away five months since grinding out a June 19 triumph in her first race on dirt. The Claiborne Farm homebred was making her first start in the care of Tommy Drury, who has sent the Street Sense filly through five timed works since having to briefly stop on her in July.

Rounding out the lineup are Pistol, Romance Novel, Sunny Isle Beach, and Braganza. Of those, maybe Sunny Isle Beach rates the best upset chance following a confidence-building victory just 10 days ago for Matt Shirer.

The nominal feature goes as the ninth race on a card that starts at 1 p.m. Eastern, meaning it likely will be run under the Churchill lights at 5:05. It’s part of a late pick four that also includes a $72,000 starter allowance (race 7), a $120,000 maiden-special (race 8), and a $92,000 maiden-auction (race 10). All Churchill purses include bonuses restricted to registered Kentucky-breds.

None of the Wednesday races are on the turf, which has had just one race over it since the meet began Oct. 30. The next scheduled turf race is Friday, weather permitting. Sub-freezing temperatures are in the local forecast throughout the week, with daytime highs barely making it to 40. The 19-day meet runs through Nov. 27.

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