On Wednesday, trainer Dale Romans announced his candidacy to become a United States senator from Kentucky. Were he in government already, Romans might want to introduce legislation requiring that race 10 on Friday at Churchill be redrawn. The Romans-trained Ivory and Ebony is absolutely ready to clear this first-level allowance condition. Improving all year, through a barn change to Romans three starts ago, Ivory and Ebony hit a peak on Aug. 31 at Saratoga, where she cleared the maiden ranks in her first start at a distance as far as one mile. She rose even higher on Sept. 20 in her first two-turn try, checking in second behind 2024 2-year-old filly champion Immersive in the Seneca Overnight Stakes. Alas, Ivory and Ebony drew post 12 in Friday’s 1 1/8-mile contest, and winning from that post has been about as difficult as passing bipartisan legislation in the Senate. A draw this wide requires a truly superior animal or plenty of luck, and as the 5-2 morning-line favorite with a relatively thin résumé, Ivory and Ebony will be hard to play. Take Charge Omaha, sharply improved late this summer and fall, would offer value at her listed 4-1 morning-line odds but could go off shorter than that, while 12-1 Jewel Box holds some appeal at a longer price. Ian Wilkes trains Jewel Box, a Whitham Thoroughbreds homebred out of Ivory Empress, a broodmare good enough to verge on blue hen status, and Wilkes is a trainer who always takes the long view. Jewel Box only won a maiden race last month at Keeneland while making her fifth start, but that race marked her first start over a route of ground, and the filly, improving throughout her career, can step forward again. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. The race 9 feature, a turf sprint, is for second-level allowance horses or $80,000 claimers, and, if nothing else, you can anticipate that Heart Headed will be claimed. The 4-year-old colt has made 19 starts and been claimed six times, including in his last three outings and four of his last six. Mike Maker trains Heart Headed now and tries the gelding in a turf sprint, his first such start since June 2024, when Heart Headed raced competitively over six furlongs on the Santa Anita grass course while facing lesser foes than these. Maker sends a second contender, Smokey Smokey, while Eakly, at 8-1, represents the race’s best morning-line value. Poster poised for return to stakes Godolphin and trainer Eoin Harty will have plenty of race options for the 3-year-old colt Poster, who returned from a layoff of more than eight months on Nov. 9 with a sharp second-level turf-mile allowance win. Poster quickened nicely in his grass comeback but also has run competitively and trained well over the Tapeta surface at Turfway Park. His signature win came 11 months ago in the Remsen, a dirt race at Aqueduct. Harty, who thinks Poster might be “a little better on dirt,” is just glad to have the horse back in action. Moreover, Poster, who wasn’t the easiest doer and keeper at age 2 and early in his 3-year-old season, has grown into a very robust and powerful-looking colt. “He always had the framework but was just a bit physically immature, long, and a bit narrow,” Harty said Tuesday. “His races were harder on him. He seemed to lighten up, even prior to his win in the Remsen.” There’s nothing light now about Poster, a son of Munnings and the Tapit mare, Pinup. “He looked a little too prosperous in the paddock for my liking the other day, but I knew he was plenty fit,” Harty said. Fit, hearty, and sound – now Poster just needs a stakes target. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.