Hofburg to skip Clark Handicap, rest for 4-year-old campaign

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hofburg will not push onward to the Clark Handicap in the wake of his disappointing effort in the Fayette Stakes last Saturday and will instead get time off before rejoining trainer Bill Mott at Payson Park in Florida ahead of a 4-year-old campaign.

Mott and Juddmonte Farms manager Garrett O’Rourke had hoped Hofburg would show enough to justify a start in the Nov. 23 Clark, which in a perfect world might have led to the Jan. 26 Pegasus World Cup, which Juddmonte won in January 2017 with Arrogate. But all that was off the table when Hofburg finished sixth of seven with no excuse as the 17-10 favorite in the Oct. 27 Fayette at Keeneland.

“We had him checked out, and he came out of it fine physically, but we just want to regroup with him,” said Mott.

Thus does Hofburg’s 3-year-old campaign end on a down note. The chestnut Tapit colt sparked high hopes when he finished second to Audible in his stakes debut in the March 31 Florida Derby, after which he was seventh with traffic troubles behind Justify in the Kentucky Derby.

A third-place finish in the Belmont Stakes was followed by a five-length romp in late July in the Curlin Stakes at Saratoga, a restricted race in which he earned a 100 Beyer Speed Figure. But the rest of the season was a letdown.

The colt spiked an untimely fever before the Aug. 25 Travers, leading him to be withdrawn from consideration, after which he returned with a distant fourth-place finish behind McKinzie in the Sept. 22 Pennsylvania Derby at Parx. Mott said he felt the colt “was just swimming” over the Parx surface. Then came the Fayette clunker.

The Grade 1, $500,000 Clark, the post-Breeders’ Cup highlight of the 21-day Churchill Downs fall meet, figures to attract starters left over from the Breeders’ Cup races, which are being run here for the first time in seven years.

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Farrell being turned out

Conspicuous by her absence from the Saturday finale, the Grade 2 Chilukki, was Farrell, the speedy 4-year-old filly who has earned nearly $1.1 million, all for owner-breeder Coffeepot Stables and trainer Wayne Catalano.

“She’s going to the farm next week,” said Catalano. “She came up with a little something that kept us from entering. There won’t be any surgery or anything; she’s just out a while.”

Farrell, winner of the 2017 Chilukki, was second in both the Grade 1 La Troienne and the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis this year at Churchill.

Resumption of Single 6

The carryover in the 20-cent Single 6 (races 5-10) for Sunday will be $36,502. The Single 6 was paused from Thursday because a regular $2 pick six was to be held on both Breeders’ Cup cards Friday and Saturday. Rules were written so that no carryovers were to result from Saturday to Sunday, with all pools being emptied, even in the case of no perfect tickets being sold.

◗ After this weekend, the next stakes at Churchill will be the Grade 3, $100,000 Commonwealth Turf next Saturday, Nov. 10. The next cluster of major races will be held on Thanksgiving weekend (Nov. 22-24), with the Clark anchoring a schedule of six graded races. Closing day is Nov. 25.

– additional reporting by Jay Privman