Exotic Bloom set to go out a winner

?? |d tz is hoping Exotic Bloom will win from here to maternity when the 6-year-old mare makes what likely will be her final career start Saturday in the $50,000 Likely Exchange Stakes at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky.

"We're going to breed her after this, in all probability," said Seitz, a 63-year-old lifelong horseman who trains and co-owns Exotic Bloom with Harvey Clarke. "We'd love for her to go out a winner."

Exotic Bloom is a top contender in the Likely Exchange, which will be run at a mile on Polytrack. In her last start, the Florida-bred mare captured the Dec. 5 My Charmer Stakes at Turfway, capping off easily her most productive year of racing.

While Seitz took his other eight runners to the Palm Meadows training center in south Florida this winter, he left only Exotic Bloom behind at Keeneland with trainer Alex Clarkson, under whose watch the mare has breezed five times since her My Charmer triumph.

"She's a straightforward mare," said Seitz. "She's maintained her fitness and should run her race again. This should be the right spot for her."

Exotic Bloom, with Rodney Prescott to ride, was assigned post 6 among the 10 fillies and mares entered.

Danzon and Unspoken Word look like the top threats to a score by Exotic Bloom.

Danzon, trained by Kelly Gorder, is a multiple graded winner who rallied to be a close third behind Exotic Bloom in the My Charmer. An earner of more than $400,000, Danzon maintained her sharpness since that race by defeating male rivals in a Jan. 10 allowance mile at Turfway.

Unspoken Word, trained by Mike Maker, is the defending champion in this race, having won the 2009 edition by five lengths as the 1-2 favorite. Since then, the 6-year-old mare has won just once in seven starts, having taken a seven-furlong allowance two starts back at Keeneland.

Outside possibilities include Lady's Laughter, stretching out off a pair of fall sprints, and On a Roll, a Rusty Arnold-trained filly back in Kentucky from Tampa.

The Likely Exchange, named for the standout Kentucky-based mare trained by Tommy Stevens in the mid-1970s, dates to 1989. It goes as the 11th of 12 races Saturday, when first post is 1:10 p.m. Eastern.