Full fields for mandatory Single 6 jackpot

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kids will be all over Churchill Downs on Sunday, and so will good horses. Three allowances are part of a 10-race program that ends the 11-day September meet, with two carded in a Single 6 sequence requiring a mandatory payout.

By the end of twilight racing Thursday, the Single 6 jackpot was up to $42,853 after failing to be swept by a solo winner since the meet began Sept. 15. It will all have to go Sunday – as required by state statute whenever a meet ends – meaning even bettors who normally don’t play the gimmick wager might be otherwise enticed. The 20-cent Single 6 runs from races 5 through 10.

First post is 12:45 p.m. Eastern, with many locals bringing out their children on a “Family Adventure Day” that promises a variety of activities, including stick-horse races on the turf course, a bouncy house, pony rides, and other good stuff.

The more serious-minded will keep their heads buried in the Daily Racing Form, intent on taking home the proverbial shipping money. Back-to-back allowances anchor the Single 6 as races 8 and 9, and both require detailed study.

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Race 8 is the richest of the card, with an oversubscribed field of older turf routers vying for a $55,000 purse under the hybrid condition of second-level allowances and a $62,500 claiming option. Adventist and Zambian, the respective one-two finishers in a July 4 allowance at Ellis Park, are among a very well-matched group that also includes Zapperini, Royal Son, and Go Navy Go as viable contenders. Eleven are entered, but only as many as nine will start.

Likewise, race 9 is a puzzler. It’s a $53,000, first-level dirt route that drew a capacity group of 12 3- and 4-year-old fillies, and it’s anyone’s guess as to who is the favorite. Song of Spring, trained by Neil Howard, should get her share of support when returning from a four-month layoff, but a few turf-to-dirt fillies appear similarly capable of victory, including Fun, trained by Ian Wilkes, and Dreamcall, trained by Steve Asmussen.

Earlier in the day, Richie’slilwildcat ships down from Chicago as the likely favorite in race 3, a $53,000, first-level allowance that drew eight 2-year-old fillies at 5 1/2 furlongs. Exiting the Arlington-Washington Lassie, the speedy Illinois-bred will break from post 2 when ridden by Jose Valdivia Jr., the leading jockey at the recently ended Arlington Park meet.

Sunny skies and a high of 78 are forecast. After Sunday, the Kentucky circuit goes dark for four days before live action moves Friday to Keeneland in Lexington for a 17-day meet. Racing returns to Churchill for the fall meet Oct. 29.