Keeneland: Wise Dan's repeat bid in Shadwell highlights FallStars Weekend

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The premise of FallStars Weekend at Keeneland is self-evident, although some years are better than others. And with Wise Dan heading the roster of FallStars entrants as Keeneland opens its 17-day fall meet Friday, let there be no doubt that this is a banner year.

Wise Dan will bring his 2012 Horse of the Year title and a nine-race winning streak from his Rice Road stable Saturday as a heavy favorite to repeat in the $750,000 Shadwell Turf Mile, one of five Grade 1 races during the three-day FallStars schedule.

The meet opens with the Grade 1 Darley Alcibiades and the Grade 3 Phoenix on Friday, but the heavy artillery comes out Saturday, with Wise Dan in the Shadwell and four other graded races, including the Grade 1 First Lady and the Grade 1 Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity.

“I know the fans here at Keeneland love seeing Wise Dan, and I couldn’t find a reason not to run him in the Shadwell,” said Charlie LoPresti, who trains Wise Dan for owner and breeder Mort Fink. “I really think he’s about as good now as he’s ever been.”

Wise Dan, who won the Shadwell last year en route to a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, isn’t the only hugely popular horse scheduled to make an ontrack appearance Saturday: Groupie Doll, the defending champion in the female sprint division, will run in one of the supporting features, the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America Stakes.

“This is probably going to be an emotional experience for us because it’s the last time the mare will run here in Kentucky,” said trainer Buff Bradley, who is part of the ownership group that plans to sell Groupie Doll at auction next month at Keeneland. “We’re going to enjoy her as much as we can while we can.”

The 10-race Saturday card drew more than 100 horses, including entries and also-eligibles, underscoring the entry-box onslaught that resulted in even larger fields for the 10-race Friday opener, where as many as 116 horses will run.

The big fields are largely attributable to the purse levels that perennially rank among the highest in North America. Keeneland racing secretary Ben Huffman said he expects about $617,000 a day to be paid out during the meet, which runs through Oct. 26.

Among the top story lines that will resonate throughout these three weeks is whether trainer Mike Maker and owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey can approach the success they enjoyed here in the spring, when both shattered meet records in their respective categories with 26 and 25 victories apiece, many of them as a team.

“We’re all lined up, ready to go,” said Maker, the former D. Wayne Lukas assistant who has entries in each of the first eight races Friday and four more Saturday. “If we can come close to what we accomplished in the spring, you’d have to be content with that.”

The jockey colony will be missing Joel Rosario, who set a spring-meet mark with 38 winners in April. Rosario is scheduled to return from injury Oct. 12 when resuming regular riding at Belmont Park. The record for wins at a fall meet is 45, set in 1991 by Pat Day.

Otherwise, the top jockeys from the recently concluded Churchill Downs and Arlington Park meets will be here the entire meet, with Rosie Napravnik perhaps the favorite to earn her first Keeneland riding title. A number of New York- and California-based jockeys will be here opening weekend and surely for other stakes later in the meet.

The FallStars schedule ends Sunday with the Grade 1 Spinster and the Grade 3 Bourbon.

Keeneland is offering pool guarantees of $200,000 in the late pick 4 (races 7-10) for the first three Fridays at the meet and $250,000 for an all-stakes pick 4 Saturday, ending with the Shadwell (races 6-9). The track also offers a pick 5 on the last five races every day.

Kurt Becker, the only race caller Keeneland has had since a public-address system was first used in the spring of 1997, is back for another meet.

As usual, TVG will have extensive on-site coverage throughout the meet, with particular emphasis on major stakes days.

The weather outlook for the first two days could not be much better, with fair skies and highs in the mid-80s forecast for Friday and Saturday. A chance of rain and cooler temperatures are forecast for Sunday.