Four allowances for females featured on Sunday card

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Churchill Downs has been carding 10 or 11 races a day as the fall meet has unfolded, and yet only nine are on the Sunday docket.

Nobody will complain. Four of the last five races are allowances with purses starting at $127,000, all of them with the classy-looking fields that have come to characterize this meet. All four are for females, including one for 2-year-old fillies.

Some of the coldest weather of the fall is forecast for this weekend. Overnight lows will dip into the upper teens, with a daytime high of just 36 predicted for Sunday.

Here’s a quick glance at the Sunday co-features:

Race 5: Inventing and Park On the Nile are major players among seven fillies and mares going the Kentucky Derby distance of 1 1/4 miles in this $127,000, first-level allowance. Take Care, adding blinkers, can contend if she can revert to an August maiden score at Ellis Park.

Race 7: This $127,000, first-level allowance for 2-year-old fillies is scheduled for a mile on turf, conditions permitting. If it stays on, Sabalenka might rate a slight edge for Whit Beckman, but if it comes off, the advantage could shift to Jet Setting, Southlawn, or a drawn-in Peacock Lass.

Race 8: A trio of 3-year-old fillies in outside posts – Repealing, Mischievous Diane, and Bombdiggity – form a core of lukewarm favorites among an oversubscribed lineup in the deepest race of the day, a $134,000, second-level race going 6 1/2 furlongs.

Race 9: Eight fillies going five furlongs under the lights should make for a quick ending to the card. An uncoupled pair from the Wesley Ward stable, Top Gun Girl and the comebacking Vaccine of Hope, are among the principals in this $127,000, first-level allowance.

All listed purses include substantial bonuses restricted to Kentucky-breds.

After Sunday, Churchill goes dark for two days before the final five-day stretch of the 19-day meet starts Wednesday. Next Sunday is closing day, with the newly constructed Turfway Park in northern Kentucky starting four months of winter racing Nov. 30.

Clark field takes shape

Entries for the Grade 1, $750,000 Clark will be drawn Sunday, with West Will Power and Rich Strike among the likely favorites in the annual fall meet showcase. The 148th running of the 1 1/8-mile Clark is set for Friday.

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Rich Strike, the 80-1 winner of the Kentucky Derby in May, was scheduled to arrive here “probably around Tuesday” from his Mercury training center base in Lexington, said trainer Eric Reed.

“I might blow him out five-eighths before we send him over, something a little stronger than a two-minute lick,” said Reed. “I’ve got him about as fit as he can be anyway.”

The Clark status of West Will Power, a 6 3/4-length winner of the Grade 2 Fayette on closing day of the Keeneland fall meet with a career-high 102 Beyer Speed Figure, depends on how the frigid weather affects morning training in the coming days, trainer Brad Cox said Friday. Same goes for the Cox-trained Fulsome.

“Can’t say quite yet,” said Cox. “We’re not sure what the track will be like to breeze this weekend.”

A field of about eight for the Clark seems reasonable, with Proxy, Double Crown, and Incentive among the others. It’s one of nine stakes set for a big closing week, with the 2-year-old twins, the Kentucky Jockey Club and Golden Rod on Saturday, both potentially attracting major prospects for the 2023 Kentucky Derby and Oaks. Both of those Grade 2 races will be run at 1 1/16 miles with qualifying points for their respective classics on offer.

Extra Anejo, a spectacular debut winner last month at Keeneland, is possible for the KJC, said Steve Asmussen, “depending on how the weather is for training.” Meanwhile, Hoosier Philly is confirmed as the likely favorite for the Golden Rod off her eye-catching triumph in the Oct. 30 Rags to Riches after breezing a half-mile here Thursday in 48.20 seconds.

Bregman wins once more

Alex Bregman, the All-Star third baseman for the recently crowned world champion Houston Astros, was on hand Wednesday to watch the 2-year-old filly he owns with his family, Goldblooded, win a $150,000 maiden-claiming race in her third career start. The daughter of Goldencents is trained by Rusty Arnold.

“In the World Series with two outs in the ninth inning you’re not as nervous as this,” Bregman told Churchill publicity. “Being a player is just sort of what you do. Here you’re watching your horse run, freaking out, sweating, and hearts beating. This is what it’s all about.”

◗ Dazzling Blue earned a 75 Beyer in a debut victory Wednesday when going six furlongs in 1:10.67. The 2-year-old Into Mischief filly was ridden by Florent Geroux for Cox and Juddmonte Farms.

◗ Pool 2 of the 2023 Kentucky Derby Future Wager opens Thursday for a four-day run with 40 betting interests. The first 40-horse pool held Breeders’ Cup week attracted $114,910 in combined handle (win and exacta).

◗ Early first post for the 12-race Thanksgiving card Thursday is 11:30 a.m. First post all other days is 1 p.m.

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