Churchill Downs: Frac Daddy needs to overcome post position, inconsistency in Commonwealth

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Not that there’s anything easy about a race with a 4-1 morning-line favorite, but in the case of Frac Daddy in the Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf at Churchill Downs, trying to get an accurate assessment has been particularly difficult.

“Sometimes he’s a hard horse to predict,” said his trainer, Ken McPeek, in understatement. “But when things fall his way, he can run huge.”

Frac Daddy and his boom-or-bust form are among the many shifting variables in the $100,000 Commonwealth Turf, which will be run Saturday night for the 10th time as part of the lone Downs After Dark card of the Churchill fall meet. Alan Garcia will be aboard Frac Daddy when the gray colt breaks from post 12 in a field of 13 in the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds.

Winning Cause, with Joe Rocco Jr. riding from post 6, is the tepid 4-1 choice on the program, with six more pegged at 8-1 or less.

Frac Daddy (6-1) has mixed the good with the bad since finishing second in the Arkansas Derby, with two of his better races being allowance triumphs on the Saratoga turf and the Keeneland Polytrack. Not only will the colt have to overcome his outside post Saturday, but also his inconsistency.

“Physically, he’s super right now,” McPeek said. “But if things don’t fall his way and he’s not happy, he doesn’t run. Getting him there from that post might be tricky, but we’ll leave that up to Alan. Hopefully, things can fall into place for us.”

Besides Winning Cause, heretofore a synthetics specialist for Todd Pletcher, other considerations include a trio of Canadian standouts, Golden Sabre (post 1, Patrick Husbands), River Seven (post 4, Shaun Bridgmohan), and Kaigun (post 9, Leandro Goncalves); Moro Tap (post 5, Julien Leparoux), whose poor performance in the Hawthorne Derby can be easily excused by the boggy condition of the course that day; Dorsett (post 10, Brian Hernandez Jr.), winner of a $200,000 turf stakes this summer at Canterbury Park; and Central Banker (post 13, Robby Albarado), on an interesting stretchout for veteran trainer Al Stall Jr.

River Seven sports an intriguing look for trainer Nick Gonzalez, who does not often ship horses to American venues from his Toronto base. River Seven, by Johannesburg, has just two wins, both at Woodbine, in 11 career starts, but both were noteworthy: the Grade 3 Grey Stakes to end his 2-year-old season and then the Labeeb Stakes four weeks ago when he earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 105, easily the highest in this field.

The Commonwealth is the seventh of 10 races, with post time set for 7:32 p.m. Eastern.