Fayette closes out Keeneland meeting
LEXINGTON, Ky. – And now the curtain comes down on an eventful fall meet at Keeneland with one more tricky handicapping puzzle to solve.
King Fury, as the would-be new guard, will be looking to overhaul one of the old guard, Code of Honor, both literally and figuratively – but is there enough pace in the Fayette Stakes for either of them to be most effective?
That’s a central question being presented Saturday by a field of nine in the Grade 2, $200,000 Fayette, the closing-day feature of the 17-day meet. Code of Honor, a 5-year-old earner of more than $2.9 million, is pursuing a couple of last hurrahs, while King Fury is trying to build on a couple of notable stakes wins as a promising 3-year-old season nears a close. Both have done their finest work from off the pace, but with this 64th Fayette appearing to lack much speed, the dynamics of the 1 1/8-mile race is apt to yield an interesting conclusion.
Sleepy Eyes Todd, making his second start following a lengthy layoff, stands to inherit the early lead when being sent by Ry Eikleberry from post 1, with maybe Night Ops (post 4, Florent Geroux) and Independence Hall (post 5, Javier Castellano) giving closest chase as they make their way onto the backside.
Shortly thereafter is where the class and versatility of the two favorites will need to come in.
Code of Honor (post 7) has proven tractable through much of an 18-career in winning such major races as the Travers and Jockey Gold Cup at 3, the Westchester at 4, and the Iselin at 5, so the meet’s leading jockey, Tyler Gaffalione, will have to push the proverbial button at the right time to coax the Will Farish homebred into contention.
“He had a good, solid work for me here in New York before I sent him to my son [Reeve)] down at Keeneland,” his Hall of Fame trainer, Shug McGaughey, said earlier this week by phone. “Then he blew out down there [Monday]. Tyler worked him a half” – in 49.60 seconds – “and texted me afterward, said he was very pleased. So we’re looking forward to running him.”
King Fury (post 6, Brian Hernandez Jr.) looked terrific in winning the Lexington here in the spring over a soupy track, and then again when laying fairly close before romping by 13 lengths in his most recent start, the Bourbon Trail last month at Churchill Downs. Something similar will be required for the Curlin colt to make an impact in his first start against older rivals, with the possibility of another sloppy surface perhaps a factor to move him up.
“His last race was ultra-impressive and he’s trained great since then,” said trainer Ken McPeek. “No, we wouldn’t mind if it rained.”
The local forecast for Saturday calls for a 60 percent chance of showers and high temperatures in the mid-50s.
With good efforts, Code of Honor and King Fury both would proceed to Churchill for the Grade 1 Clark, a Nov. 26 race already being eyed by the likes of Maxfield and Midnight Bourbon.
Sleepy Eyes Todd has racked up tens of thousands of travel miles in a highly adventurous 20-race career during which the 5-year-old gray has earned more than $2 million. However, he’s had just one start in a span more than six months, so the handiwork of trainer Miguel Silva will be tested here. Sleepy Eyes Todd won the seven-furlong Lafayette on the Breeders’ Cup Saturday undercard last fall in his only prior start at Keeneland, and with four recent works over the local strip under his belt, he and Eikleberry might well be looking to take no prisoners from the opening bell.
Night Ops, trained by Brad Cox, has served as a recent workmate for Essential Quality, one of the favorites for the BC Classic next Saturday at Del Mar. Otherwise, the 5-year-old horse has done yeoman’s work in compiling a bankroll of $888,656.
Independence Hall chased home Knicks Go, a second Cox favorite for the upcoming BC Classic, in the Lukas Classic earlier this month at Churchill in a decent performance for trainer Michael McCarthy.
Of the others, Major Fed (post 9, Ricardo Santana Jr.) merits an outside chance following back-to-back allowance wins at Churchill, while Manhattan Up, Militarist, and Fort Peck round out the cast at longer odds.
The Fayette is the last of three straight stakes, and the ninth of 10 races overall, on a Saturday card that starts at 1 p.m. Eastern. Post time for the feature is 5:16.
Live action on the local circuit moves Sunday to Churchill for a 21-day fall meet that runs through Nov. 28.