Full field for closing-day Bewitch Stakes
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The curtain comes down Friday at Keeneland, but not before one last encore. An overflow field of female turf marathoners with no clear-cut favorite has been assembled in what shapes up as a terrific closing-day feature, the 54th running of the Grade 3, $150,000 Bewitch Stakes.
The 1 1/2-mile Bewitch, the ninth of 10 Friday races, will bring together contenders from the barns of Christophe Clement, Chad Brown, Graham Motion, Bill Mott, and other top outfits when providing a fitting conclusion to what has been a highly eventful 15-day spring meet.
As many as 14 horses will traverse three turns on the turf course, with Clement standing a solid chance by sending out the trio of Anipa, Tabreed, and Courtesan. Brown has his own duo in Cay Dancer and Hellenistic. In all, 16 horses are on the program, including two also-eligibles. There are no stable entries for wagering purposes.
Hellenistic, a last-out winner at Gulfstream Park, will be ridden by Javier Castellano, the two-time defending Eclipse Award winner whose performance throughout this meet has been a true bright spot. Castellano entered the final three-day stretch of the meet with a commanding lead atop the jockeys’ standings in what will result in his first Keeneland riding title.
First post Friday is 1:05 p.m. Eastern, with the Bewitch going at 5:13.
After Friday, live action on the Kentucky circuit moves Saturday night to Churchill Downs, with Kentucky Derby week starting in earnest Tuesday. The first Sunday of the Churchill spring meet is dark.
KEY CONTENDERS
Kitten’s Point (Last 3 Beyers: 93-90-91)
◗ Motion has won the last two renewals of the Bewitch with Strathnaver (2013) and Inimitable Romanee (2014) and has an obvious threat here in an Augustin Stable homebred who captured a non-graded stakes at Santa Anita three starts back at this same 1 1/2-mile distance.
Tabreed (Last 3 Beyers: 94-92-91)
◗ Even though she hasn’t won since crushing allowance foes here more than 18 months ago, this might be the best of the Clement chances, if only she follows through a tad more on a series of solid efforts at Gulfstream this winter.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 10 Tabreed. Trainer Christophe Clement is 10-7-1-1 with a $5.92 ROI over the past five years in turf route graded stakes with John Velazquez aboard. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
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White Rose (Last 3 Beyers: 92-85-94)
◗ This distinctive gray mare stands to benefit from her two starts at Gulfstream for Mott while returning to the scene of her dramatic victory here last October in the fall counterpart to the Bewitch, the Dowager.
Cay Dancer (Last 3 Beyers: 83-84-NA)
◗ This British-bred has drawn conspicuous play in a couple of respectable efforts since being sent to Brown from her native England and seems a viable breakthrough candidate in her third stateside start.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 4 Cay Dancer and No. 14 Hellenistic. Trainer Chad Brown is 18-1-4-1 with a $0.43 ROI over the past five years in turf routes of 12 furlongs and longer. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Caroline Thomas (Last 3 Beyers: 91-94-94)
◗ This hard-knocking homebred has tons of graded experience and would seem to need only a little more racing luck when negotiating her way through a bulky field.