Gretzky the Great kicks off season in fortified Battaglia Memorial

The John Battaglia Memorial Stakes already held an important place on Turfway Park’s winter calendar as a springboard to the track’s signature Kentucky Derby prep, the Jeff Ruby Steaks. This year, following Turfway’s acquisition by Churchill Downs, it has added importance with Derby qualifying points of its own, as Churchill has bolstered the prep series at its northern Kentucky track.

Friday’s $100,000 Battaglia Memorial at 1 1/16 miles on the Tapeta has attracted Grade 1 winner Gretzky the Great. The race awards Derby points to its top finishers on the 10-4-2-1 scale and is the co-feature on Friday’s eight-race card with the $65,000 Cincinnati Trophy, a sprint for fillies that awards points for the Kentucky Oaks on the same 10-4-2-1 scale. The card has a first post of 6:15 p.m. Eastern.

The Battaglia is a prep for the March 27 Jeff Ruby Steaks, a Grade 3 which this year has been designated as one of the preps with maximum point values toward the Derby, on a 100-40-20-10 scale. The Cincinnati Trophy leads to the Bourbonette Oaks on the same card, which still awards Oaks points on the same 20-8-4-2 basis as prior years.

In the last quarter-century, two horses have won both the Battaglia Memorial and the Ruby, which has been run under a variety of names – Concerto in 1997 and Somelikeithotbrown in 2019. Since the Ruby was moved to a synthetic track, the only horse to win the Ruby and the Kentucky Derby is Animal Kingdom in 2011. Victorious Hard Spun finished second in the 2007 Derby.

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Gretzky the Great, a finalist for the Sovereign Award as Canada’s outstanding 2-year-old male, is considered a leading candidate for Canada’s Triple Crown series, and is also a nominee to the American Triple Crown. The son of Kentucky Derby winner and leading freshman sire Nyquist has wintered at Palm Meadows for trainer Mark Casse.

“I thought maybe he just might be a quick sprinter, but as he’s gotten older, he’s gotten taller and longer,” Casse recently said. “The success of his father, Nyquist, has been tremendous. They all seem to stretch out and run farther.”

Gretzky the Great won the Soaring Free Stakes sprinting on the Woodbine turf before stretching out to a mile to win the Grade 1 Summer Stakes there on Sept. 20. He finished sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on Nov. 6 at Keeneland, the only unplaced effort of his career to date.

“Last year, he did extremely well,” Casse said. “We were a little disappointed in the Breeders’ Cup, but when he came back, he could hardly open his eye after the race. The next day, he was a little off, so we decided to give him some time off.”

Gretzky the Great, who typically runs on or near the lead, will have to use his speed, as he has drawn the rail in an oversubscribed field under Gerardo Corrales.

Pico d’Oro won the Ellis Park Juvenile last summer for trainer Bill Morey. More recently, he won an allowance/optional-claiming race in December at Turfway, then was third in the Jimmy Winkfield Stakes Jan. 31 at Aqueduct, beaten half a length. Morey also has Hush of a Storm, coming off consecutive wins going a mile at Turfway. In the most recent of those victories, he defeated Hard Rye Guy, previously a maiden winner going a mile on the Tapeta for Ian Wilkes.

Catman won last fall’s Laurel Futurity at 1 1/16 miles on turf for Mike Maker, but is unplaced in three outings since.

The 6 1/2-furlong Cincinnati Trophy drew an oversubscribed field of 3-year-old fillies. The highest Beyer Speed Figure in the field, a 78, belongs to Just Read It, who comes in off a 6 1/4-length victory in a maiden special weight in January at Aqueduct for trainer Ray Handal.

Only two fillies in the field have previously started in stakes company. Dirty Dangle won her first two starts at Woodbine for Ralph Biamonte, including the Woodbine Cares Stakes with a 75 Beyer. She was subsequently transferred to Casse, for whom she finished ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. Rocket Reload, third in the Woodbine Cares when trained by Mike DePaulo, recently won an off-the-turf allowance/optional-claiming race at Fair Grounds in her first start for Brad Cox.