Iroquois, Pocahontas kick off road to Kentucky Derby, Oaks

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The parallel roads to the 2023 Kentucky Derby and Oaks will both open Saturday when a pair of longstanding fixtures for 2-year-olds anchor an 11-race program at Churchill Downs.

The Iroquois, for 2-year-olds, and Pocahontas, for 2-year-old fillies, are part of an all-stakes pick five wager (races 7-11) that closes out the day. They are the first qualifying races toward their respective classics next May, each worth 17 points on a 10-4-2-1 basis.

Both are Grade 3, $300,000 races at 1 1/16 miles, with the Iroquois carded as race 9 (4:55 p.m. Eastern) and the Pocahontas as the race-11 finale (5:58) on a card that starts at 12:45 p.m. The other stakes on Saturday are the $300,000 Open Mind (race 7), the Grade 3, $400,000 Locust Grove (race 8), and the $275,000 Louisville Thoroughbred Society (race 10). They are the first five of 11 stakes at the 14-day, dirt-only September meet, which was scheduled to begin Thursday evening.

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All listed purses include bonuses restricted to horses registered with the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund.

Sunshine and a high of 87 are in the local forecast. Televised action is available on FS2 (12:30-6:30).

Iroquois Stakes

Damon’s Mound has been quite the rage since he won on debut late in the Churchill spring meet. A 12 1/2-length maiden jaunt led to a similarly impressive score in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special on Aug. 13, his only subsequent appearance. Damon’s Mound earned mid-80s Beyer Speed Figures in both races, leading to trainer Michelle Lovell’s cell phone blowing up.

“Potential buyers did express a whole lot of interest, but the owners don’t want to sell,” Lovell said. “It’s not very often you raise a horse as good as him.”

Cliff and Michele Love are the owner-breeders of Damon’s Mound, who once again will have Gabriel Saez aboard when he breaks from post 3 in the 41st Iroquois. As a Florida-bred, the Girvin colt will be competing for the equivalent of a $225,000 purse, missing out on $75,000 in Kentucky-bred bonuses.

Damon’s Mound spent most of the last two months at Colonial Downs in Virginia, where he has breezed twice since the Special, with the latest work coming Sept. 7. The Iroquois marks his first start around two turns and his first beyond 6 1/2 furlongs.

“He’s really come along,” Lovell said. “He hasn’t had any bad days. That’s why we’ve been playing it by ear to see which race we wanted to go in. He really has acclimated to the track here at Churchill since we got back, really training out of sight.”

Lovell also had considered the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity on Oct. 8 at Keeneland as a final prep for Damon’s Mound toward the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 4, also to be run at Keeneland. It’s highly likely the Iroquois will be his last race before the Juvenile.

The top challenger to Damon’s Mound figures to be Echo Again (post 9, Joel Rosario), who has been established a slight favorite on the Churchill morning line off a win in his only start. Echo Again is the 2-1 program choice after earning a 94 Beyer on Aug. 20 going 6 1/2 furlongs at Saratoga, with Damon’s Mound listed at 5-2.

“We’re extremely excited about this horse,” trainer Steve Asmussen said of Echo Again, a gray Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred by Gun Runner.

Among the other seven Iroquois runners are Curly Jack, narrowly beaten in the Ellis Juvenile, and several last-out maiden winners, including Hayes Strike, Jace’s Road, and Confidence Game.

Pocahontas Stakes

The field for the Pocahontas doesn’t carry quite the same “name” cachet for its 54th running as does the Iroquois, but it should make for a terrific ending to an eventful day – especially with the program favorite in a field of 12 being an inordinately high 4-1.

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Justa Warrior is that lukewarm choice in what could become a real scramble. Trained by John Ortiz, the daughter of Justify has won both her starts, ending with the Ellis Debutante last month. Reylu Gutierrez will be back aboard from post 11.

Among the top challengers are Naughty Gal, whose two tries at Saratoga this summer resulted in a 2 1/2-length victory in the Grade 3 Adirondack and a 20-length defeat in the Grade 1 Spinaway; Grand Love, a Three Chimneys homebred entered off a Saratoga maiden win that graded out to a field-high 84 Beyer; Fun and Feisty, winner of the opening race on the Aug. 13 Arlington Million card at Churchill; Southlawn, a five-length maiden winner at Ellis Park; and Jet Setting, a Brad Cox sleeper also in off a sharp Ellis maiden score.

The Pocahontas occasionally has been a springboard to stardom, with Epitome (1987), Pure Clan (2007), Untapable (2013), and Serengeti Empress (2018) among its winners.