High Holy stretches out in John Battaglia Memorial

The chance to pick up black type and the chance to move forward to more important preps for the spring classics are among the incentives for 3-year-olds in the $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial and the $75,000 Cincinnati Trophy on Friday night at Turfway Park.

The Battaglia, at 1 1/16 miles on the synthetic track, and the Cincinnati Trophy, a 6 1/2-furlong sprint for fillies, have each drawn a field of 12 and are co-features on the eight-race Friday night card, which begins at 6:15 p.m. Eastern. The Battaglia serves as the local prep for the Grade 3, $250,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks on March 14, a 1 1/8-mile race that awards the top finishers points toward the Kentucky Derby starting gate on a 20-8-4-2 scale. The Cincinnati Trophy provides a lead-in to the one-mile Bourbonette Oaks, also on March 14. The $150,000 Bourbonette Oaks awards Kentucky Oaks points on the same 20-8-4-2 basis.

High Holy, who is coming off a 91 Beyer performance, gets the chance to make a statement as he stretches out in the Battaglia. High Holy, unplaced in two starts on dirt last fall at Keeneland and Churchill Downs, moved to the synthetic track at Turfway to win his maiden in December. He followed up with a front-running optional-claiming victory Jan. 16, rolling by 10 lengths under Alan Garcia, who is back aboard Friday. The 91 Beyer Figure ranks among the top 20 figures earned by a 3-year-old male in this young season. Tiz the Law holds the lead with his 100 Beyer earned winning the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes earlier this month at Gulfstream Park.

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High Holy is trained by Darrin Miller for Bonnie and Tommy Hamilton’s Silverton Hill Farm; those connections sent out a pair of runners in the 2007 Kentucky Derby, with Sedgefield finishing fifth and Dominican finishing 11th. High Holy, a homebred for Silverton Hill, is by leading Maryland sire Great Notion, whose best runners have been sprinters, such as graded stakes winner Havelock and multiple stakes winners Anna’s Bandit and Lewisfield. High Holy is out of Altagracia, by the A.P. Indy horse Flatter. Altagracia won on turf and dirt at distances up to 1 1/16 miles. Altagracia is a half-sister to winning sprinters Gloria’s Gal, by Great Notion, and Mozelle, who is bred on the A.P. Indy line.

Mike Maker has won the Jeff Ruby five times, including last year, when he sent out Somelikeithotbrown to sweep both the Battaglia and the Ruby. He has a pair of entrants for this year’s Battaglia in Toma Todo and Artemus Eagle. Toma Todo recently finished second in the Texas Turf Mile at Sam Houston, earning an 80 Beyer.

The regally bred Invader, by classic sire War Front and out of European Group 3 winner Say, was a $500,000 Keeneland September yearling. Now in the hands of Wesley Ward, the colt was a 12 3/4-length maiden winner going a mile on Dec. 4 at Turfway.

Ward, who also has maiden winner Hail to the Chief entered in the Battaglia, holds a strong hand later in the evening for the Cincinnati Trophy, a race in which he has won three of the last four runnings. The trainer sends out Anna’s Fast and Karak, both of whom got stakes seasoning as juveniles.

Anna’s Fast was a maiden winner at Keeneland before finishing 16th in the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at the renowned Royal Ascot meeting last June. After that ambitious trip, the filly was away from the races until December, when she won an optional-claiming race going six furlongs at Turfway with a Beyer of 70, among the top numbers in this field. Albin Jimenez, currently Turfway’s leading rider, has the call.

Karak, a maiden winner on the Belmont turf, finished 15th in the Windsor Castle on the soft ground at Royal Ascot. She bounced back to win the Tyro Stakes in August at Monmouth against colts. The fourth-place finisher was Ryan’s Cat, who runs earlier in the evening in the Battaglia. Karak then finished fourth in the Grade 3 Matron Stakes at Belmont and third in the Stewart Manor Stakes in November at Aqueduct.