Core Values takes Dueling Grounds Preview, tops big day for Bejarano, Oliver
HENDERSON, Ky. – Jockey Rafael Bejarano and trainer Vicki Oliver teamed for a memorable afternoon when four stakes were run on a busy Saturday at Ellis Park, including three designated preps toward the rich Kentucky Downs meet next month.
Oliver sent out three winners on an eight-race card, including a sweep of the previews for the Dueling Grounds Derby and Dueling Grounds Oaks with Core Values and Flippant, respectively.
Besides the Kentucky Downs previews, all contested over a firm turf amid typically hot summer weather, the Saturday program also included the Tri-State for older horses on the main track.
Four more Kentucky Downs previews will be run here Sunday. No rain is in the local forecast through the weekend.
Here are brief recaps of the Saturday features:
DG Oaks/Derby Previews
Core Values, the only filly while also the longest shot in a field of seven 3-year-olds, was up in the final jumps under Bejarano to nail favored Royal Prince in winning the $97,500 Dueling Grounds Derby Preview. Core Values returned $24.40 after finishing 1 1/8 miles in 1:46.94.
An hour or so later, Flippant ($8.20) and Bejarano also used last-gasp tactics in winning the $100,000 Dueling Grounds Oaks Preview at 1 1/16 miles in her stakes debut. Her win margin was a half-length over Caldee, who edged her Brad Cox stablemate, Adventuring, by a head for second.
Oliver and Bejarano also won an earlier turf-sprint allowance with Never Forget ($6), a 4-year-old half-sister to Flippant. It was the first three-win day for Oliver since June 19, 2006, at the Meadowlands.
“Unbelievable,” she said. “This is the first time I’ve won two stakes on a card, so it’s pretty special.”
Both the $500,000 Dueling Grounds Oaks and its male counterpart, the $750,000 Dueling Grounds Derby, will be run Sept. 5, opening day at the six-day Kentucky Downs meet (Sept. 5-12). Both will be run at the once-around distance of 1 5/16 miles.
With Core Values, “we thought about running in the Pucker Up next week” at Arlington Park, said Oliver, who trains Core Values for BBN Racing. “But we thought running here would suit us a little better, and the longer distance is why we ran her against the boys. The farther the better with her.”
Core Values trailed most of the way before launching a furious outside run that found her a nose in front of Royal Prince, the 2-1 choice, under the wire. The winner, a bay daughter of Honor Code, was winning at a generous mutuel for a third straight time, following an Indiana Grand allowance and the July 17 Hatoof at Arlington.
Oliver said Core Values probably will return with fillies when going next in the Dueling Grounds Oaks, “although we’ll have to talk it over with all the owners. Same with Flippant.”
Preview winners get automatic entry into the corresponding Kentucky Downs stakes.
Flippant, a late-blooming daughter of Tapit, finished in 1:39.56 when coming off a win in a 1 1/4-mile maiden-special race at Ellis in her fifth career start. The gray homebred is owned by Oliver’s father, G. Watts Humphrey Jr.
“She’s really come around,” Oliver said. “She deserved a shot at a stakes. We’re thrilled with how everything is working out with her.”
In all, Bejarano had four wins on the day, with Casino Star ($8.80) winning an earlier allowance for trainer Tom Van Berg.
KD Turf Sprint Preview
Born Great emerged from a tight pack approaching the eighth pole to win the $98,650 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint Preview by 1 1/4 lengths over Siem Riep.
Bet down to slight favoritism in a field of 10, Born Great returned $7.20 after rallying from near the back of the pack to finish 5 1/2 furlongs in a swift 1:00.48. Brendan Walsh trains the 5-year-old gelding, a son of the late Scat Daddy, for Marc Detampel and Fergus Galvin.
“That’s the way he likes it, with a good pace in front of him,” winning jockey Adam Beschizza said. “He was able to reel them in.”
Walsh’s assistant, Paul Madden, was on hand while Walsh saddled Maxfield for the Whitney at Saratoga. “We really thought he was sitting on a big one,” Madden said.
The Grade 3, $1 million Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint is set for Sept. 11, the richest day of the meet at turf-only Kentucky Downs in south-central Kentucky. The KD Turf Sprint is a Win and You’re In toward the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Del Mar.
Tri-State
Shared Sense ($5) rebounded from a disappointing comeback last month when fending off a stretch-long bid from Beau Luminarie in winning the $59,800 Tri-State at a mile out of the clubhouse chute.
Ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., Shared Sense stalked the pace before bidding into contention approaching the quarter-pole. He proceeded to turn back Beau Luminarie by three-quarters of a length when finishing in 1:36.30 over a fast track and returning $5 as favorite in a field of five.
Shared Sense, a 4-year-old ridgling, is trained by Cox, the meet’s leading trainer, for owner-breeder Godolphin. From eight starts at 3, he won the Indiana Derby and Oklahoma Derby, with this latest victory in the Tri-State atoning for a dull fifth-place finish in his only prior start this year, the July 7 Schaefer at Indiana Grand.
“This time he showed up and showed how good he is,” said Cox’s local assistant, Jorgito Abrego.