Jac's Fact stands out in Catlaunch Stakes
Jac’s Fact, a four-time stakes winner already this season, will be difficult to deny again when he faces six other Ohio-accredited horses going 1 1/16 miles in Saturday’s $75,000 Catlaunch Stakes at ThistleDown.
The 4-year-old Jac’s Fact, 6 for 10 overall this season, is coming back three weeks after scoring by 1 3/4 lengths as the 2-1 favorite in the 1 1/4-mile Governor’s Buckeye Cup.
The other hot horse in the lineup is Pyrite Mill, who has won five of his last six starts since early May. All of his success, however, has come in six-furlong sprints while facing low-level statebred claimers and starter-allowance/optional-claiming company. His lone route try this season produced a weak 41 Beyer Speed Figure. His best route race came when he was second facing 3-year-olds in the mile-and-70-yard Horizon two seasons ago at Beulah Park.
Plain Ol’ Willard won last year’s Catlauch, one race after finishing sixth in the Governor’s Buckeye Cup at 57-1. He was sixth again in that stakes earlier this month but was beaten nearly 25 lengths and would need a complete form reversal to contend.
The 5-year-old mare Deniro’s Saint defeated males, including Plain Ol’ Willard, in last year’s George Lewis Memorial over a wet-fast track, and she was second, 4 1/2 lengths behind Jac’s Fact, in that same 1 1/8-mile race two starts ago. She regressed, however, in her only subsequent start against females, beaten more than 16 lengths.
The 3-year-old Blazing Charcoal returns to the main track after a wire-to-wire score against his peers going 1 1/16 miles on turf in the Horizon at Belterra Park. His only win going two turns on dirt, however, produced a 36 Beyer, and he will need to run much faster than that to threaten Jac’s Fact.