Golden Lad heads probables for Lukas Classic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – While Churchill Downs would love to have American Pharoah in the lineup for the Lukas Classic, the more realistic view is that the 1 1/8-mile race will draw a field with a little less panache.

American Pharoah is among the 32 nominees to the Lukas Classic, one of three stakes to be run here next Saturday (Sept. 26), but the nomination by trainer Bob Baffert appears to be a provisional one. Instead, the likely favorite could be Golden Lad, a winner of three stakes this year, all for Todd Pletcher.

Golden Lad, bred and owned by Robsham Stables, shows six works at Saratoga since his 1 1/2-length victory in the June 27 Cornhusker at Prairie Meadows. Earlier this year, the 5-year-old Golden Lad won the Essex at Oaklawn and the Mountainview at Penn National.

Other prospects include Abraham, Roman Unbridled, Skyring, Ulanbator, and possibly Departing. Entries will be taken and drawn Wednesday.

The purse for the Lukas Classic, which is ungraded, is $175,000, although it would be $1 million with American Pharoah in the field.

The Lukas Classic, renamed this year in honor of iconic Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, was known as the Homecoming Classic for its first two runnings. Both winners, Fort Larned (2013) and Cigar Street (2014), made their next start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Two Grade 3 stakes, the $100,000 Ack Ack and $100,000 Jefferson Cup, also will be run on the Saturday afternoon card. Closing day is Sept. 27.

Trainer Al Stall Jr. said Departing, an earner of more than $1.7 million, will run in either the Lukas Classic or Ack Ack, with a determination to be made after the 5-year-old gelding breezes this weekend.

Feature favorite listed at 9-2

A solitary allowance serves as the highlight of a 10-race Sunday card at Churchill, with first post set for 12:45 p.m. Eastern. The field of 10 older horses is so closely matched in that ninth-race feature that the track linemaker settled on a 9-2 favorite (Eton Blue) in the $42,200 one-mile race.

After Sunday, racing resumes with a Thursday program which leads off the final four-day stretch of the 11-day meet.

◗ Jockey Francisco Torres entered this week bearing down on 3,000 wins, with 2,991 wins through Thursday. Torres has ridden throughout the Midwest in a career that began in 1986.

◗ The world’s largest horseshoe at 610 pounds will be presented Sunday to a crowd including Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day at the Kentucky Derby Museum. The shoe was modeled after one worn by Secretariat and has been certified by Guinness to be a record.