Ellis hosts three preps for Kentucky Downs stakes

HENDERSON, Ky. – A terrific eight-race card featuring three $100,000 prep races toward the rich Kentucky Downs meet is on tap for Saturday at Ellis Park.

Besides the Kentucky Downs previews, all to be run on turf, the Saturday program also includes the Tri-State – a $60,000 overnight stakes on the main track – plus two allowances and two maiden-specials. All four stakes are part of the 50-cent late pick five (races 4-8).

Lasix treatment is not permitted for any of the stakes, nor for the only race of the day for 2-year-olds (race 6).

Four more Kentucky Downs previews will be run here Sunday. No rain is in the local forecast through the weekend. First post daily is 12:50 p.m. Central.

In reverse order, here is a rundown of the Saturday features:

KD Turf Sprint Preview (race 8)

A pair of 5-year-olds who campaigned all spring and summer at Lone Star Park in Texas are the morning-line choices in a 5 1/2-furlong race that should bring the day to a thrilling conclusion.

My Boanerges (post 6, Brian Hernandez Jr.) and Archidust (post 11, David Cabrera) are the program favorites in a field of 11 after finishing one-two, respectively, in the June 27 Grand Prairie Turf Sprint at Lone Star. My Boanerges, trained by Dallas Keen, is a tepid 3-1 choice over Archidust (7-2), whose trainer, Steve Asmussen, was on pace to become the all-time winningest trainer in North American racing history sometime this week.

Among the handful of capable challengers to the Texas invaders are High Crime, back from a narrow loss in the June 23 Dark Star Memorial at Canterbury Park for trainer Darrin Miller and his son, jockey Chase Miller; Gray Attempt, a winner of back-to-back allowances on the Churchill Downs turf during the spring meet; and Born Great, a late-running 5-year-old looking to capitalize on what should be a fast pace.

The Grade 3, $1 million Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint is set for Sept. 11, the richest day of the six-day meet (Sept. 5-12) at turf-only Kentucky Downs in south-central Kentucky.

DG Oaks Preview (race 7)

Trainer Brad Cox, who entered the three-day weekend at Ellis with a meet-leading 11 wins, will be represented in this 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies by the two morning-line favorites, Adventuring (5-2) and Caldee (3-1), with Jorgito Abrego deputizing as his on-site assistant.

Adventuring, a Godolphin homebred, will have James Graham aboard from post 4 in a field of nine after making a respectable turf debut finishing fifth in the closing-day Tepin at Churchill. The daughter of the late Pioneerof the Nile has flashed brilliance on other surfaces, including a maiden win on the Fair Grounds main track and in winning the Bourbonette on the Turfway synthetic, but she’s still something of a question mark on grass.

Conversely, Caldee (post 3, Martin Garcia) has raced six times on turf, establishing herself as a dangerous front-runner while winning twice in New York. The Shortleaf Stables homebred daughter of More Than Ready was second as the favorite in her most recent start, the July 3 Christiana over soft turf at Delaware Park.

Two other speed types, Stillchargingmaria and Takntothecleaners, could make Garcia’s assignment a tricky one, while Oliviaofthedesert and Charges Dropped are fringe players with upset shots.

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 Kentucky Downs. Both will be run at the once-around distance of 1 5/16 miles.

DG Derby Preview (race 5)

Royal Prince, runner-up for Cox in the four-horse War Chant on closing day at Churchill, is the 8-5 morning-line favorite in a field of seven 3-year-old colts and geldings in this 1 1/8-mile race.

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Hernandez, who won the Black Gold in late February at Fair Grounds in his only prior ride aboard Royal Prince, will be back aboard when breaking from post 6, right alongside a Maryland ship-in, Gershwin (post 7, Mitchell Murrill). Gershwin, a Godolphin homebred trained by Mike Stidham, will be making his grass debut, with three of his six career starts having come in off-the-turf dirt races.

Accredit, second as the favorite in the American Derby three weeks ago at Arlington Park, is among the other contenders, along with Modern Science and Ethical Judgment. Core Values, an Honor Code filly coming off an upset of the Hatoof at Arlington, is facing the boys because of the slightly longer distance.

Tri-State (race 4)

Cox, who will be at Saratoga to saddle Knicks Go for the Grade 1 Whitney, is represented here by the 7-5 program choice, Shared Sense, who will have Hernandez up from the outside post in a one-mile race that starts from the clubhouse chute.

Shared Sense, a 4-year-old ridgling, won the Indiana Derby and Oklahoma Derby last year for owner-breeder Godolphin but will need to run much better than in his seasonal debut last month, when he was a dull fifth in the Schaefer Memorial at Indiana Grand. Exulting and Beau Luminarie are his chief threats in a field of six.