Chasing the Crown has little margin for error in River City
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Chasing the Crown finished a closing, troubled third as a 64-1 shot last January in the Pegasus World Cup Turf. A half-year passed before he showed that was no fluke.
Making his first post-Pegasus start, Chasing the Crown captured a $500,000 handicap Aug. 30 at Kentucky Downs, his 100 Beyer Speed Figure equaling his Pegasus career-best. Trainer Mike Maker a week later named the 2026 Pegasus as a major objective, but first Chasing the Crown starts as the favorite Saturday at Churchill Downs in the Grade 3, $300,000 River City Stakes.
He’s one of a dozen older horses entered to run 1 1/8 miles on turf, though Epic Ride probably races instead on Friday at Churchill. Quatrocento also could end up in that Friday allowance, and the absence of those two front-runners would totally alter the River City pace scenario.
As for Chasing the Crown, he rated as a high-end allowance miler until raising his game in a pair of June 2024 turf stakes at Churchill, but by the time the Pegasus rolled around, those races looked like a form blip. Not only did Chasing the Crown suggest he could hang with higher-level horses in the Pegasus, he finished strongly that day over 1 1/8 miles. Nonetheless, distance concerns remain and while Chasing the Crown looked very good in his one-mile comeback score, he faces stronger competition Saturday.
Epic Ride and Quatrocento coming out would help no horse more than Corruption, who has done his best work on or just off the pace but lacks the raw speed of those quick milers. Unraced since failing to stay 1 1/2 miles yet putting up a competitive performance in the Kentucky Turf Cup on Sept. 6 at Kentucky Downs, Corruption wired a 1 1/8-mile Churchill turf allowance in May. He’ll need something better Saturday but is a lightly raced 4-year-old with a hint of upside.
Scratches also would benefit Taking Candy, drawn poorly in post 12. In February, Taking Candy won the Grade 3 Fair Grounds Stakes – albeit a soft renewal – over nine furlongs, and at Churchill in June he finished second to stablemate Brilliant Berti in the Wise Dan, a showing good enough to contend here. While Taking Candy hasn’t raced since Aug. 2, trainer Charie DeVaux had him in a Keeneland allowance race last month that failed to fill.
“Tough post, but he likes the distance and he’s training really well,” DeVaux said. “He’s just a horse you have to spot around.”
Until his most recent start, Encino looked like a horse who required forward placement, but after breaking poorly he rallied into a slow pace from sixth to win the Presque Isle Masters.
“Unexpected, but not breaking well maybe we did learn something about him,” trainer Brad Cox said. “This horse runs on anything. He’s just honest.”
Encino last year won the Lexington Stakes on dirt, and this past July became a turf-stakes winner. In March, racing on Turfway’s synthetic surface, he finished second in the Kentucky Cup Classic behind Mercante, a River City rival.
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On the surface Mercante doesn’t appear to be the same horse now that finished a contending second six months ago in the Grade 1 Turf Classic at Churchill. Still, the Kentucky Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs exceeded his distance limitations, and Mercante, checking in ninth after falling too far off the pace, clocked one of the faster closing quarter-miles in the Grade 1 Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland.
Lagynos prefers a slightly shorter trip, while longshot English Chunnel might excel stretching out to nine furlongs after an encouraging Keeneland allowance score.
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