Doubledogdare attracts 13 entrants

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A bulky field of 13 fillies and mares has been drawn for the Grade 3, $100,000 Doubledogdare Stakes, the feature of a 10-race Friday card. Valadorna, the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up who won her first stakes in December, could be a slight favorite after being assigned post 9 in a very contentious lineup that also includes Mines and Magic, Jenda’s Agenda, Well Humored, and Tapa Tapa Tapa.

The Doubledogdare is the first of two stakes to be run here this weekend, with the Grade 2 Elkhorn set for Saturday. The only subsequent stakes is the Grade 3 Bewitch on closing day, April 27.

Hotly contested jockeys’ race

The race for leading jockey is being hotly contested as Wednesday begins the second half of the 16-day meet. Florent Geroux and Corey Lanerie are tied with eight winners apiece and followed closely by Brian Hernandez Jr. and Jose Ortiz (seven each) and Joel Rosario (six).

Ortiz has had the most mounts (51) and mount earnings ($1,096,536), while newcomer Adam Beschizza has been the top rider in ROI ($3.05) for bettors (minimum 12 mounts).

◗ After none of the last three cards included one, a 4 1/2-furlong race for 2-year-olds is part of the Wednesday program as Wesley Ward looks to resume his dominance in the category. Ward will saddle Wonder Stone in race 3 when seeking a fifth baby race victory at the meet, having won already with Stillwater Cove (April 8), Luv This Lifestyle (April 8), Hargus (April 11), and Dragic (April 12).

Starting in 2007, Ward has won a remarkable 39 spring races for 2-year-olds at Keeneland for an average of more than three per meet.

◗ Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano has been given a three-day suspension for a riding infraction aboard Bird’s Eye View, although the exact timing of his serving the penalty is still to be determined by the Keeneland stewards. Bird’s Eye View was disqualified from first to fourth for interference in the fifth race Saturday.

◗ Tenacious Sally has been scratched from the last race Wednesday, said owner-trainer Chip Brownfield, who privately purchased the 4-year-old filly more than 30 days after she was claimed from Brownfield out of a March 9 race at Turfway Park.