Empress Eleanor favored in Turfway feature
Empress Eleanor, a dead-heat allowance winner over the Keeneland turf in the spring, is a deserving morning-line favorite in the lone allowance of an eight-race Friday night card at Turfway. Rafael Bejarano will be aboard Empress Eleanor from post 2 for trainer Igancio Correas in the seventh race, a $65,000, second-level allowance going 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta.
An oversubscribed lineup of fillies and mares includes the uncoupled Brendan Walsh duo of I Hear You, exiting the Grade 3 Dowager at Keeneland, and Fate of Ophelia, a last-out winner over Tapeta at Gulfstream Park.
Geraldo Corrales, who will ride Fate of Ophelia, is the leading jockey at the 2021 winter-spring meet at Turfway. He has jumped out to an early lead atop the local standings with nine wins from the first four cards at a holiday meet that runs through Dec. 31. Joe Talamo, who rides I Hear You, is next with four wins.
First post is 6:15 p.m. Eastern, with the nominal feature set for 9:16.
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For the second straight winter, fans are not permitted at Turfway as the facility continues to undergo a total overhaul expected for completion sometime next summer. Arrangements are in place for owners and trainers to watch their horses on-site.
◗ Adventuring, whose two stakes wins this year include the Bourbonette in late March, heads a full field of fillies and mares in the weekend highlight at Turfway, the $100,000 My Charmer, to be run Saturday night as the fifth race.
A 3-year-old Godolphin homebred, Adventuring will be facing older rivals for the first time in the 1 1/16-mile My Charmer, one of the traditional stakes that has been revived by Turfway management after being on hiatus in recent years. Talamo has the call for trainer Brad Cox. Fourteen are entered, with only as many as 12 allowed to start.
◗ The recovery of local horse owner Chris Allen from the perilous depths of COVID-19 was so remarkable that the CBS television affiliate in Louisville (WLKY-32) has produced a 30-minute documentary about Allen and his horse My Miracle Man, a 3-year-old colt who also has survived major adversity. The show goes live Saturday at 2 p.m. and will be archived at wlky.com.
◗ Turfway fans in the Louisville area can now tune in to a one-hour radio show every Friday evening (6-7 p.m.) on ESPN (680-AM) as Jennie Rees and Joe Clabes are hosting “Kentucky Racing Spotlight,” sponsored by the Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association.