Forego Stakes matches the speedy Sir Alfred James against the late-running Visitant

The $100,000 Forego Stakes on Saturday, a sprint for older horses, has drawn an interesting matchup of two horses with form over the Turfway Park Tapeta. Sir Alfred James is looking for his second stakes victory of this meet, and he faces reigning Kentucky Cup Classic winner Visitant in that quest.

But for the second weekend in a row, racing at Turfway Park in Florence, Ky., could be in jeopardy due to winter weather. Last weekend, the track was forced to cancel both its Friday and Sunday cards due to temperatures in the single digits and snow; it was able to run a Saturday card that included the $100,000 Wishing Well Stakes.

:: For the first time ever, our premium past performances are free! Get free Formulator now!

A winter storm warning, with significant accumulations of ice possible, was expected to impact much of Kentucky from Thursday morning into Friday, with temperatures then remaining below freezing on both Friday and Saturday. As a result, Turfway announced Wednesday evening that it would cancel its scheduled Thursday card. At that time, a statement from the track said that “a decision will be forthcoming for the remainder of the weekend’s race cards.”

If the Forego goes as scheduled, Sir Alfred James will be seeking his second stakes victory at Turfway this year. He scored his first career stakes victory by drawing off to a 6 1/4-length score in the Holiday Cheer on Jan. 1, matching his career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 103. The Holiday Cheer was his first start on a synthetic surface. He then ran into a hiccup not of his own making in the Duncan F. Kenner sprinting on the Fair Grounds turf on Jan. 22. He was impeded in the early stages of the race and checked hard into the rail, eventually credited with a seventh-place finish via the disqualification of Just Might.

Sir Alfred James prefers to race on the front end, and he will likely have company in the Forego from Divine Leader, who also is coming off a pacesetting victory on this track. Pole Setter is coming off consecutive front-running allowance scores at Turfway, but those races were at two turns and against starter-allowance company.

Some pace up front would suit Visitant fine. The horse won 3 of 4 outings during the 2020-21 Turfway season. He rallied from midpack to win the 1 1/8-mile Kentucky Cup Classic in March, then finished second in the Grade 2 Alysheba Stakes at Churchill and eighth in the Grade 2 Stephen Foster there in June. Both races were won by Eclipse Award finalist Maxfield.

Visitant didn’t race after the Foster until Dec. 18, when he romped by six lengths in an allowance. He matched his career-best Beyer of 100.