Keeneland: Calumet Farm tops early leaderboard at spring meet

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Echoing its glory days, Calumet Farm was all alone atop the owner standings at the 2014 Keeneland spring meet – at least for one race.

A 4-year-old filly named English Council rallied to a 10-1 upset in the first race of the 15-day meet Friday, giving the formerly all-powerful Calumet a short-lived lead and delighting 68-year-old trainer Jose Fernandez.

“It’s always good to win here,” said Fernandez, who has worked in various capacities for Calumet since the mid-1990s, including as trainer for a small local string. Calumet, now owned by Brad Kelley, has had most of its top horses in recent years with Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, including 2013 Preakness winner Oxbow.

Fernandez strikes quite a contrast to winning jockey Marcelino Pedroza Jr., a 21-year-old Panamanian who is as tall as he is young. Pedroza rode this winter at Fair Grounds for the first time and said he was happy to be back on his home circuit. “Especially when you win the first race of the meet,” he said.

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The second race of the 10-race opener was won by a first-time starter named Share the Sugar ($13.80), ridden by Julien Leparoux, who has won or shared nine Keeneland riding titles since 2006. The 3-year-old filly is trained by Ken McPeek, who went winless with 19 starters this winter at Gulfstream, while also active at Oaklawn Park, where he was 6 for 48 through Thursday.

“We love winning here and Churchill the most,” said McPeek. “We’ve been sitting on this filly for a while.”

Although the sun kept trying to peek out and the weather improved as the day progressed, the first few races were conducted under gray skies, with the occasional drizzle and strong winds keeping most fans indoors and out of the elements. It was so wet and nasty overnight and into Friday morning that track officials moved the three races scheduled for turf to the main Polytrack surface, including the ninth-race feature, the $100,000 Transylvania Stakes, from which four of the 12 entrants were early scratches.

Understandably, with so many important turf events still to come, Keeneland was looking to preserve the course for another day. Foremost among those upcoming races is the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile next Friday, when the two-time reigning Horse of the Year, Wise Dan, is scheduled to make his 7-year-old debut.