The stakes races on Sunday at Ellis Park boast rich purses – and offer automatic entry into events with seven-figure purses next month. As a result, they have drawn large, competitive fields. The consistent Siege of Boston is the morning-line favorite in a full field of 12, plus two also-eligibles, for the $300,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup. That 1 1/4-mile race for older horses is one of four races on the card offering an automatic berth into a corresponding race at the rich upcoming meeting at Kentucky Downs – in this case, the Grade 2, $2 million Kentucky Downs Turf Cup on Sept. 7. The other stakes Sunday at Ellis are the Grade 3, $400,000 Pucker Up, with a field of 10; the $250,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf Mile, with a full field of 14; and the $250,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint, with a field of 12. Siege of Boston finished a fast-closing third, beaten less than a length, in the 2023 edition of the Preview Turf Cup. He subsequently went on to show some affinity for Kentucky Downs, finishing a good second in a handicap. He ended his year with a third in the Grade 3 River City at Churchill Downs. He began 2024 by finishing third in the Grade 3 Tampa Bay and second in the Grade 2 Canadian Turf, beaten a total of a length in those races. He then was sixth against a strong field in the Grade 1 Turf Classic and fourth, beaten a half-length, in the Grade 3 Monmouth. “He is a pretty nice horse,” trainer Jimmy Toner told racetrack publicity earlier this year. “He tries all the time. He deserves to win one of these [graded stakes] races. “He brings his lunch every day and goes to work,” Toner continued. “He has been knocking on the door. This horse does everything the right way. He just has to get lucky. When you run in these grass races, you have to get the trip.” Siege of Boston and Jose Ortiz will certainly have to work out a trip from post 5 in this large field. He would like a bit of pace to sit just off, but there is not an abundance of speed entered. Classic Causeway, who is still looking for his first win since the Grade 1 Belmont Derby in 2022, has shown some speed on both turf and dirt, but is coming off a non-factor seventh in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster on dirt. He is drawn well outside the other potential speed, the longshots Miranda Rights and Uncle Jake. Win for the Money, the second choice on the morning line, is cross-entered in the $250,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Mint Millions Turf Mile on Saturday, the first of Ellis’s two preview cards, and is expected to run there. Behind Siege of Boston and Classic Causeway, the top choices on the morning line would then be Anglophile and What Say Thee. Anglophile, stakes-placed at Ellis last year, joins Classic Causeway as the only members of this field to win at the 1 1/4-mile distance. He is coming off a fourth behind the accomplished Webslinger in a solid edition of the Chorleywood at Churchill. What Say Thee is coming off a stout rally to win the Texas Turf Classic. Ladies Turf Mile Preview Earlier on the card, multiple graded stakes winner Walkathon should have plenty of company on the front end as she looks for a springboard back into graded competition in the $250,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf Mile, a qualifier for the Grade 3, $1.5 million Ladies Turf on Aug. 31 at Kentucky Downs. Walkathon, trained by Ian Wilkes, won the Anchorage Stakes racing on the lead on June 30 at Churchill, adding that win to the Grade 3 Regret in 2022 at Churchill and the Grade 3 Endeavour earlier this year at Tampa Bay Down. “You’ve got to be proud of her,” Wilkes told track publicity. “She always shows up and runs hard.” However, Walkathon, who got what regular rider Brian Hernandez, Jr., termed a “perfect” trip, will have others looking for that same trip on Sunday. Dana’s Beauty has been on the lead in her best efforts for a pair of stakes victories this year, although she is looking to bounce back after fading to ninth in the Grade 2 Nassau at Woodbine. Synthetic stakes winner Maxisuperfly, a 3-year-old taking on older fillies and mares, is coming off a solid first turf effort, setting the pace in the Grade 2 Edgewood at Churchill before finishing fourth, beaten less than two lengths. Safeen and Bolivie have also shown a tendency to be forwardly placed. Stalking the pace should be Fast as Flight, who was a stakes winner on the Ellis turf last summer, and who has reached a new level this year, with an upset win in the Grade 3 Modesty at Churchill. That score came on yielding turf, conditions she is not likely to get this weekend. Fast as Flight was most recently seventh in the Nassau. Regal Realm, a Grade 3 winner last year at Kentucky Downs, is eligible to improve in her second start of 2024 off a long layoff. The same is true of Neverwalkalone, a Group 1 winner in Argentina. Turf Sprint Preview Rounding out the action is the $250,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint, which awards an automatic berth into the Grade 2, $2 million Turf Sprint on Sept. 7. That event is a Win and You’re In automatic qualifier to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Sunday’s race could set up as a terrific battle on the front end between morning-line favorite Coppola and the 3-year-old Joe Shiesty, both coming off forwardly placed stakes victories with strong speed figures for trainers Dale Romans and Eric Foster, respectively. Coppola is coming off a 6 1/4-length victory in an off-the-turf edition of the William Garrett Handicap in Indiana, earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 96. That was his third stakes victory of the year, and he also finished a creditable fourth in the Grade 1 Jaipur. Meanwhile, Joe Shiesty is coming off a well-graded win in the William Walker Stakes on the Churchill turf, earning a 95 Beyer. The deep field also includes graded stakes winners Arrest Me Red and Mo Stash, and stakes winners Bear River, Charcoal, Kavod, Oceanic, and Outadore. Arrest Me Red and Oceanic are among those who would likely appreciate a solid pace up front. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.