Keeneland: Wise Dan to face four rivals in Maker's 46 Mile
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Wise Dan will break from the outside post in a field of just five older turf horses when making his first start since being named the 2012 Horse of the Year in the Grade 1, $300,000 Maker’s 46 Mile on Friday at Keeneland.
Jose Lezcano, who rode Wise Dan to victory last fall in the Grade 1 Shadwell Mile at Keeneland when regular rider John Velazquez had a scheduling conflict, has been named by trainer Charlie LoPresti to ride Wise Dan again Friday. Velazquez is sidelined after suffering what was described as "minor fractures" in a Sunday spill at Aqueduct.
Wise Dan, now 6, was a runaway choice for Horse of the Year when winning all but one of his six starts in 2012, ending with a rousing triumph in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita in early November.
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From the rail and with jockeys, this is the field for the 25th running of the Maker’s 46 Mile: Silentio, Rafael Bejarano; Mr. Commons, Corey Nakatani; Skyring, Rosie Napravnik; Data Link, Javier Castellano; and Wise Dan, Lezcano.
Wise Dan, bred and owned by Mort Fink, has had seven workouts since getting his customary winter vacation in Kentucky, the latest breeze coming Tuesday over the Keeneland grass. With the "dogs" well out onto the course, the gelding went in 38.60 seconds over firm going as the lone turf worker of the morning.
The Maker’s 46 goes as the ninth of 10 races, when first post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern. The feature goes at 5:13.
Conspicuous in his absence from the Maker’s lineup is the winner of the Grade 1 Kilroe Mile, Suggestive Boy, who recently suffered what trainer Ron McAnally described as a "tiny fracture" in a splint bone.
"We’re disappointed, because we really wanted to try the Horse of the Year," McAnally said Tuesday from California. "The bone isn’t separated or anything. It’s very minor, although he’s very sensitive to the touch right now. Hopefully we can get him back into training in a week to 10 days."