Ellis Park: Good Lord comes into Bernhardt off two bullet works over track

Forrest Kaelin is old-school, which helps to explain the two recent workouts at Ellis Park for his stable star, Good Lord, since the Churchill Downs meet ended.

“I’m not real big on shipping,” said Kaelin, 77. “I like to train where we’re going to run. Even though I live up in Louisville most of the year, we bring everything down here to Ellis for the summer.”

Good Lord is one of a handful of viable contenders Saturday in a competitive renewal of the $50,000 Don Bernhardt Memorial Stakes at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky. He is entered off a victory in the $100,000 Wild and Wonderful three weeks ago at Charles Town that not only snapped a 12-race losing streak but also earned him a career-high 105 Beyer Speed Figure.

The Bernhardt, which goes at 6 1/2 furlongs on the main track, drew an excellent field of 10 older horses. Good Lord will have Gabriel Saez aboard when he breaks from post 6.

Kaelin said he is hoping for a similar effort to the one Good Lord gave in the two-turn, seven-furlong Wild and Wonderful on June 30 at Charles Town. The 5-year-old gelding has been quite an active warrior, and a consistent one, in compiling earnings of nearly $270,000 from 40 career starts. His two Ellis works on July 12 and 18 both earned bullets.

“He’s really worked well and galloped well over this racetrack,” said Kaelin. “I like getting them used to it. He’s doing awfully well and I’m hoping we picked out a good spot for him.”

Most of his chief opposition will be shipping in on raceday from Churchill, as is the custom of many bigger outfits.

Those rivals include Delaunay (post 1, Malcolm Franklin), winner of an overnight stakes on June 23 in his first race off a Tom Amoss claim; Noble’s Promise (post 10, Corey Lanerie), an earner of nearly $1.1 million under the care of Ken McPeek; and Gold Element (post 5, Jesus Castanon), who got a 98 Beyer in winning a second-level allowance last out at Churchill.

Fringe players in the group include Shrill, Ammaroo, Latigo Shore, and Hurricane Ike. A pair of longshots, Dynamite Bob and Rumor Can Fly, round out the cast.

The Bernhardt is named for the late longtime sports editor of the local newspaper, the Evansville Courier and Press. First post is 12:50 p.m. Central, with the Bernhardt, the eighth of nine races, going at 4:24.