Churchill Downs handicapping roundup: Week of Nov. 16

Almost Famous has Byrne dreaming of big things

Usually it is the first and last Saturdays of the Churchill Downs fall meet – the Stars of Tomorrow cards for 2-year-olds – that have the potential to showcase Kentucky Derby prospects.

Last Saturday’s card might also have revealed a Kentucky Derby colt: Almost Famous, who scored an emphatic six-length victory in the seventh race, a first-level allowance at 1 1/16 miles.

Almost Famous was able to quickly overcome a poor break from the inside in the two-turn race. He advanced inside of horses to take command before the field hit the first turn. From there, he always gave the appearance of being the winner. He carved out splits of 47.22 seconds and 1:12.09 with jockey Corey Lanerie sitting idle aboard him, then pulled away in the stretch.

His sharp final time of 1:44.98 earned him an 86 Beyer Speed Figure and put him on course for a potential leap into stakes company in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club on Nov. 30, closing day.

The only thing Almost Famous did not do was finish the final sixteenth quickly. His time for that stretch was 6.94 seconds, though he was not pressured to run any faster by his opponents. Perhaps he simply lost focus.

A 2-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song, Almost Famous is trained by Pat Byrne for Chuck and Maribeth Sandford. He raced with blinkers for the first time last Saturday and improved his record to 2 for 3. His only defeat came when fourth in the Street Sense Stakes on opening day.

Also winning last week for Byrne and the Sandfords was Chas’s Legacy, a gelded son of Bernardini who took a maiden race in his third start Nov. 7. He won by a half-length, racing 1 1/16 miles on a fast track in 1:45.42.

“We’ve got two horses now, and I don’t know if we’ll run both in the Jockey Club, but I know we’ll run one,” Byrne said. “We’ll talk with the Sandfords about that possibility. The important thing is that both horses came out of their races great.”

Leparoux starts strong

It did not take long for Julien Leparoux to make an impact in his return to Kentucky. After shifting his tack from California to Kentucky last week, he went 7 for 22, winning more races than Lanerie, who won with 6 of 33 mounts last week.

With Lanerie topping the standings with 17 winners through last weekend, making up that 10-win gap on him will prove difficult for Leparoux. But with Churchill having a longer-than-usual meet that continues through Nov. 30, Leparoux has an outside shot at catching him.

He won with 32 percent of his mounts last week while riding primarily first call for trainer Mike Maker, and his numbers could have been a bit higher if Roman’s Avenue had not been disqualified from first and placed fourth for interference in the fourth race last Friday. Roman’s Avenue drifted out badly in late stretch.

Abaco overcomes trouble

Abaco looked beaten when the gates were sprung open in last Saturday’s Cardinal Handicap, breaking poorly and getting bothered by rivals. But a hot pace up front, along with her strong closing punch, allowed Abaco to get up in the closing strides to beat Miz Ida.

Miz Ida got a dream run up the hedge to take command but simply could not contain Abaco, who appears to have the potential to prove a regular player in graded stakes company over the winter.

Rosie Napravnik was aboard Abaco for trainer Shug McGaughey and owner-breeder Dinny Phipps.

“She’s got a huge kick, and that’s her strength,” said Napravnik, who missed all of her weekday mounts due to lingering body soreness.
Abaco will join McGaughey’s string of horses in south Florida for the winter and likely will target the Grade 3 Suwannee River, a 1 1/8-mile grass race for fillies and mares at Gulfstream Park.

As for Napravnik, her focus now shifts to establishing her business in New Orleans in preparation for the Fair Grounds meet that begins Nov. 22.

Late post time Saturday

The one Downs After Dark card of the fall meet is Saturday evening, with first post set for 4:30 Eastern and the last of 11 races expected to go off at 9:36.

A pair of graded stakes on the grass, the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere and the Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf, highlight the card and feature deep fields as horsemen chase final opportunities to run their horses in restricted 3-year-old stakes competition.