Jackie's Warrior back at best game in Pat Day Mile
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Multiple Grade 1 winner Jackie’s Warrior is among the most accomplished 3-year-olds running Saturday at Churchill Downs. After being beaten twice going two turns, he gets back to doing what he does best – running one turn in a field of 12 for the Grade 2, $500,000 Pat Day Mile.
Jackie’s Warrior is unbeaten at one turn. He won four straight one-turn races to begin his career – his debut at Churchill, the Grade 2 Saratoga Special, the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga, and the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes going a mile at Belmont Park. He improved his Beyer Speed Figures with each performance, and recorded a 100 in the Champagne, becoming the only 2-year-old to break the triple-digit mark in 2020. Jackie’s Warrior briefly put his head in front in the lane in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 6 at Keeneland, but faded to fourth.
In his only start this year, he set the pace going 1 1/16 miles on a sloppy Oaklawn track before finishing third behind Essential Quality and Spielberg in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes on Feb. 27.
Freshened since that effort, Jackie’s Warrior has been working strongly at Churchill Downs. After zipping through a bullet five furlongs on April 11 and another quick five-furlong move that was among the fastest of the day on April 18, he turned in a maintenance half-mile on Sunday morning.
“He works unbelievable,” said trainer Steve Asmussen, who also saddles Grade 2-placed Whiskey Double. “He has continued to do that here, and he will be very hard to beat.”
Jackie’s Warrior drew post 3 under regular rider Joel Rosario and will have plenty of other speed to contend with. Two Three Zone, drawn on the rail for his stakes debut, is a proven pace factor, as are Dreamer’s Disease and Noble Reflection, in posts 10 and 11, respectively. There is a long run to the turn in one-mile races at Churchill.
Dream Shake had the points to run in the Derby, but his connections, including trainer Peter Eurton, opted for a shorter and easier spot. The colt won going 6 1/2 furlongs in his first start with a 96 Beyer, the second-highest number in this field. He then finished third in the Grade 2 San Felipe at 1 1/16 miles to Life Is Good and Medina Spirit, and third in the Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles to Rock Your World and Medina Spirit.
Defunded comes into the Pat Day Mile having finished fourth in the Santa Anita Derby for Bob Baffert.
Ultimate Badger, trained by Dale Romans, found a niche as a closing sprinter at Gulfstream over the winter and could have pace to rally into. The colt was third in the Grade 3 Swale and second in the Hutcheson Stakes. Romans also will saddle Sittin On Go, winner of the Grade 3 Iroquois last September at Churchill Downs going this same one-turn mile but unplaced in five graded stakes outings on the Derby trail since.
“He’s trained good all winter – I don’t know,” Romans said. “He leveled off a little bit on me. Ultimate Badger, he’s done very well. He’s a nice colt, and he ran well here. It’s a tough race, though. A lot of good horses.”
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Prevalance won a seven-furlong Gulfstream maiden race that has come back strong, and then stretched out for a mile allowance win. He subsequently faded to sixth in the Wood Memorial. Starrininmydreams, a two-time winner at Churchill last fall, was third in the Grade 3 Lexington at Keeneland. Completing the field is Joe Frazier, coming off a seven-furlong allowance win at Keeneland and, this week, a solid workmate to Derby entrant Mandaloun.