Ellis features another round of preps for Kentucky Downs stakes
HENDERSON, Ky. – A second day of stakes preps for the rich Kentucky Downs meet is set for Sunday at Ellis Park with four turf races making up the late pick four.
A $125,000 preview toward the Calumet Turf Cup, the annual Kentucky Downs showcase, will end the day with a well-matched field of nine going 1 1/4 miles. Purses for the three preceding Sunday previews are $100,000 each. Purses for all four previews include $25,000 in bonuses restricted to registered Kentucky-breds.
First post is 12:50 p.m. Central. The turf course will surely be firm with mostly sunny skies and a high of 90 once again in the local forecast.
Three turf previews were to be run here Saturday, making for a total of seven on the weekend. All are intended as stepping-stones to stakes at the six-day meet, Sept. 5-12, at turf-only Kentucky Downs. This is the fourth year Ellis has held these previews.
Lasix treatment is not permitted for any of the stakes, nor for any of the three maiden races for 2-year-olds earlier on the card, races 2, 3, and 5.
Here’s a rundown of the Sunday features:
KD Mint Million preview (race 6)
Hieronymus figures to come favored off his nose victory in the Mystic Lake Mile at Canterbury Park, facing six other older horses in this one-mile race.
Brad Cox, the leading trainer at the meet, will have local assistant Jorgito Abrego deputizing when he sends out Hieronymus in search of his sixth win. From nine starts, the 4-year-old Godolphin homebred colt already has won three stakes, including two over the Fair Grounds turf in early 2020. Florent Geroux, who was aboard for the last-gasp triumph in the June 23 Mystic Lake Mile, has a return call.
The chief threats to Hieronymus, who will break from post 1 in the two-turn race, are Alfons Walde, who stands to benefit substantially from his last start, and Tut’s Revenge, third in the Mystic Lake Mile. Necker Island makes his grass debut.
This is a preview toward the Grade 3, $1 million Mint Million Mile, to be run on Labor Day, Sept. 6.
KD Ladies Sprint preview (race 7)
Greg Foley, who has been enjoying the greatest run of his 40-year training career with stakes horses such as Sconsin, Bango, and O Besos, has the favorite here in Yes It’s Ginger, a romping last-out winner of a stakes on the June 27 Texas Derby card at Lone Star Park.
Owned by the Brilliant Racing of Joe Kristufek and partners, Yes It’s Ginger will have Marcelino Pedroza up breaking from post 10 in an oversubscribed field of fillies and mares going 5 1/2 furlongs. Foley also sends out Skinny Dip, with other top challengers including Shesomajestic and the ultra-quick Elle Z.
This is a preview toward the Grade 3, $600,000 Ladies Turf Sprint, a 6 1/2-furlong race that’s part of a huge Sept. 11 card.
KD Ladies Mile preview (race 8)
She’sonthewarpath and Dominga will vie for favoritism when they are rematched five weeks after their riveting duel in the July 4 Ellis Park Turf. She’sonthewarpath won that day by a neck, with Dominga settling for second as an even-money choice.
“This mare gives her all every time,” trainer Steve Margolis said of She’sonthewarpath, a 5-year-old bred and owned by Robert and Lawana Low. “She’s as honest as they come.”
Fringe players in the one-mile race, which drew 11 fillies and mares, include English Affair, winner of this race last year for Rusty Arnold, along with Valentines Day and Nope.
The Grade 3, $750,000 Ladies Mile also is part of the Sept. 11 program.
KD Turf Cup preview (race 9)
Tide of the Sea, winner of the Grade 3 W.L. McKnight at Gulfstream Park earlier in the year, regained form finishing second at Belmont Park in his latest start and figures as a lukewarm choice in a lineup that also includes Strong Tide, Spooky Channel, and Family as logical contenders.
Mike Maker, easily the all-time leading trainer at Kentucky Downs, is represented here not only by Tide of the Sea but also by Bluegrass Parkway. Maker also is the former trainer of Henley’s Joy, the only million-dollar earner in the field.
The Grade 2, $1 million Calumet Turf Cup, which Maker has won four of the last six years, is the anchor of the Sept. 11 card.
◗ Entries will be taken Thursday for next Sunday, when the $200,000 Ellis Park Derby will anchor the richest card of the meet. Three-year-olds whose connections have expressed early interest in the 1 1/8-mile Ellis Derby include American Patrol, Kinetic Sky, and There Goes Harvard.