Closing-day 10-race card includes two juvenile stakes

The lucrative seven-day turf meeting at Kentucky Downs concludes with a 10-race card Wednesday, topped by a pair of rich stakes for 2-year-olds – the $500,000 Juvenile Sprint and the $500,000 Untapable.

Conditions should be kind. Following about a 50 percent chance of rain forecast for Franklin, Ky., in the early hours of Tuesday, conditions are expected to be clear and sunny Wednesday, with a high of 78. Horseplayers can chase a carryover of $6,061 in the Super High 5. First post is 12:30 p.m. Central.

Both the Juvenile Sprint and Untapable will be held at 6 1/2 furlongs and start just before the sweeping turn of this European-style course. The races conclude with a stout run through the stretch, including an uphill portion. Sprint races often feel like longer distances at Kentucky Downs, which means looking for juveniles with a propensity to stretch out is key.

Good Lord Lorrie is the morning-line favorite in the 10-horse Juvenile Sprint for George Weaver, who also saddles Please Advise. Weaver is having an outstanding year in this division, with 10 individual juvenile winners this season. His arsenal includes Royal Ascot heroine Crimson Advocate, along with stakes winners Amidst Waves and No Nay Mets.

Good Lord Lorrie, who will have Jose Ortiz in the irons, rallied to a one-length maiden win going 5 1/2 furlongs on Aug. 12 at Saratoga, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 72, the best in this field. A clue to the form of that race will come early on the Kentucky Downs card when third-place Ocean Mermaid – who finished second to Crimson Advocate earlier in the year – starts in the day’s first race, a maiden.

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Please Advise has seemingly faced solid competition. He was a debut winner over two next-out winners, then finished fourth in the Tyro Stakes at Monmouth Park, with the top three all winning their next outings. Most recently, Please Advise finished fifth in the Soaring Free Stakes at Woodbine going 6 1/2 furlongs. He will be blinkers-off Wednesday.

While Please Advise stalked the pace in his maiden win, Good Lord Lorrie may need some pace to set up a late run. Bledsoe, Jimmythetooth, and Vote No have all flashed some speed in their brief careers.

Hidden Class is a tepid favorite in an overflow field for the Untapable. She is one of a few in this field making a second start at the Kentucky Downs meet. The Joe Sharp trainee was a 6 1/2-length allowance winner going the distance of the Untapable on Aug. 31, stalking the pace and then rallying by. Prior to that, she was second to subsequent Grade 3 winner Gala Brand on debut.

Buttercream Babe, trained by Mike Maker, won her debut on the same Kentucky Downs card, going the same distance, leading throughout for a 1 3/4-length score. Buttecream Babe was timed in 1:17.43, while Hidden Class went in a slightly faster 1:17.31

The pair are among several who would like to be on or near the lead in the Untapable. Candy Girl, Copper Em, Determined Sail, Honey Dijon, Maya’s Halo, Song of Norway, and Zo Lee also have shown that they’d like to be on or prompting the pace.

The top Beyer in this field belongs to Copper Em, who is intriguing at a price as she makes her first start on turf, a surface for which she is bred. The filly earned an 81 for a front-running debut win on June 30 at Ellis Park, then finished eighth in the Grade 3 Adirondack at Saratoga. Since then, she has breezed twice on turf for Steve Asmussen.

Copper Em is from the first crop of Copper Bullet, who is by the prominent turf and juvenile sire More Than Ready. Copper Bullet already has a turf winner at this meet, and Copper Em’s dam, Lovely Em, by the versatile Scat Daddy, has produced a turf winner.

Determined Sail is interesting at a price as she cuts back in distance. Most recently, she set the pace in the Kitten’s Joy Stakes against males at Colonial Downs, finishing third by two lengths going 1 1/16 miles.

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Coming into the closing-day program, Brendan Walsh leads the trainer standings with seven wins to five for Maker. Walsh has four entrants Wednesday, but none in the stakes. In addition to Buttercream Babe, Maker’s 10 entrants on Wednesday include Jimmythetooth.

In the race for the rider title, Tyler Gaffalione, who has nine wins at the meet, is named to ride all 10 races Wednesday, including mounts on Jimmythetooth and Honey Dijon. Joel Rosario, currently tracking with seven wins, is named to ride eight races, and will be aboard Bledsoe and Hidden Class.

Following Wednesday’s action, the state’s circuit moves to Churchill Downs for the 14-day September meet that begins Thursday and runs through Oct. 1.

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