Keeneland notes: Successful Dan ready to return

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Trainer Charlie LoPresti has given the thumbs-up for Successful Dan to make a return to action Sunday in the Grade 3 Ben Ali Stakes after the 7-year-old gelding X-rayed clean following a five-furlong workout here at Keeneland on Monday in 1:01.80.

“He’s good to go,” said LoPresti. “We’re cleared for takeoff.”

Successful Dan could be the slight favorite in what is shaping up as a rugged renewal of the $150,000 Ben Ali, which is run at 1 1/8 miles on Polytrack. Successful Dan, the older 7-year-old half-brother to 2012 Horse of the Year Wise Dan, has been campaigned intermittently while plagued with ligament injuries for the last couple of years. His last race came nearly 10 months ago when he was second as the favorite in the Cornhusker at Prairie Meadows behind eventual Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Fort Larned.

Other probables include Golden Ticket, Richard’s Kid, Prospective, Newsdad, and several more. Entries were to be drawn Thursday.

** Extravaganza, Sensible Lady, and Sweet Cassiopeia look like the top wagering choices in the secondary feature here Saturday, the $100,000 Giant’s Causeway for filly-mare turf sprinters.

From the rail, this is the Giant’s Causeway field: Rosa Salvaje, Extravaganza, Holiday Soiree, Sally Sally, Sensible Lady, Formal Plan, Sounds of the City, Spun Cap, Sweet Cassiopeia, and Kiss In the Forest.

** Dylan Davis, the son of retired jockey Robbie Davis, will have his first mount in Kentucky when he rides Skylander with a 10-pound apprentice allowance in the second race Friday for trainer Wesley Ward.

Davis, 19, rode his first winner last September at Suffolk Downs. His next victory will be his fifth, meaning he will ride with a seven-pound allowance thereafter.

**Fans of the newly crowned University of Louisville basketball champions surely will see a hunch play Friday in Siva, a 3-year-old colt running for a $20,000 claiming tag in the second race. Named for the star point guard on the Cardinal squad, the colt is owned by the Ol Memorial Stable that includes Louisville coach Rick Pitino as a partner.

** Garry Simms is hoping one of his juvenile stars from last year, Circle Unbroken, can return to the form that made him a graded stakes winner when the colt runs Friday in the seventh race. Unlike his filly stablemate, Blueeyesintherein, who won her 3-year-old debut last week in an Oaklawn Park stakes, Circle Unbroken has struggled mightily so far this year when well-beaten in two tries at Fair Grounds.

** Point of Entry, gearing up for the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on the May 4 Kentucky Derby undercard, had his second breeze since shipping north from Florida when working a bullet five furlongs Monday in 1:00.60 over the Keeneland Polytrack. The move was the fastest of 21 at the distance for the day.