Don't discount Coach's humble beginnings

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The filly named Coach has won her first two starts by a combined 14 lengths, and now’s the time to see what that means.

As the only one of 16 starters with more than a single victory in the two ungraded stakes that help to open the Churchill Downs fall meet Sunday, Coach will be in for a legitimate test for class in the $98,000 Rags to Riches after opening her career with back-to-back sprint romps at Indiana Grand.

“We’ve always felt she’s the type of filly that’ll get better with more ground, and we’re glad she’ll have that opportunity Sunday,” said trainer Brad Cox. “I’m very happy with the way she’s trained up to this race.”

Coach, owned by Kueber Racing, is one of nine fillies in the Rags to Riches, race 10, which co-anchors an 11-race Stars of Tomorrow program with its colt-and-gelding counterpart, the $98,000 Street Sense, which goes as race 8. Both will be run around two turns at 1 1/16 miles.

It might be worth noting that Monomoy Girl, an eventual champion, got a 59 Beyer Speed Figure winning her 2017 career debut for Cox at Indiana Grand, so dismissing those first two wins by Coach simply because of where they occurred might be a mistake. In her Sept. 15 allowance romp, the daughter of Commissioner earned a 72 Beyer, highest in the Rags to Riches. She’ll have Florent Geroux aboard from post 8.

:: Click to learn about our DRF's Free Past Performance program.

With most of the field, including Coach, stretching out to two turns for the first time, judging how the pace might develop is something of a tricky endeavor. Coach rallied from just off the pace in both prior starts, while opponents such as Orsetto, Malibu Bird, Lady Traveler, and Midnight Ballerina also have shown the kind of early speed to factor into the running from the opening bell.

Street Sense Stakes

The Street Sense, which drew a field of seven, figures to have Super Stock as a solid favorite breaking from the outside post under Ricardo Santana Jr. Not only is Super Stock the most experienced in the field with five career starts, but the Steve Asmussen-trained colt also can boast the three highest Beyers (71, 77, 80) and was good enough to finish third in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland in his latest try.

Possible threats to the favorite include King Fury and Arabian Prince, both of them first-out winners of maiden races at a mile or longer during Kentucky Derby week, as well as Oncoming Train and Eucharist, both of them debut winners going six furlongs on opening weekend of the Keeneland fall meet.

Purses for both stakes, as well as all allowances and maiden-specials throughout the meet, include substantial bonuses restricted to registered Kentucky-breds.

First post Sunday is 1 p.m. Eastern. Cloudy skies and a high of 61 are in the local forecast. FS2 will carry most of the live action except for a window of 2-3 p.m.

This is the 16th year Churchill has offered the Stars of Tomorrow program, which was inaugurated in 2005.