Joseph pointing Comedy Town toward class test in Phoenix

Comedy Town has taken his game to a new level since moving to dirt this summer at Gulfstream Park and now the plan is to test the waters against graded stakes company.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said Comedy Town is being pointed to the Grade 2, $350,000 Phoenix on Oct. 4 at Keeneland, going six furlongs against 3-year-olds and up.

Comedy Town has won all three of his dirt starts since trying the surface for the first time in June. He won an allowance in the slop that afternoon, then a month later took the Smile Sprint on a fast track with a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 100.

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Those races were run over six furlongs, and Comedy Town moved to seven furlongs last Saturday for the Benny the Bull, winning on a wet track again for a Beyer of 90.

“He handled the seven, he won nicely,” Joseph said. “It was sloppy again. He seems to be faster on a [dry] dirt track from a Beyer standpoint. But again, he got the job done, and a new thing, going seven furlongs, so we were happy with the result.”

Joseph co-owns Comedy Town with Ten Twenty Racing.

“We’ll probably give him a chance at Keeneland,” Joseph said. “I think six [furlongs] is probably a nice distance for him. We know he can get seven, and six, he ran his best Beyer at six, so we’re going to give him a shot there against some tougher competition and see how we get on.”

Comedy Town is a 6-year-old by Speightstown.

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