Kera's Kitten gives Poly a try

Ken and Sarah Ramsey bred and own a lot of 3-year-olds by their 2004 turf champion, Kitten's Joy, and it goes without saying that some of those first-crop horses are better than others.

Kera's Kitten started off as a pretty good one, winning his career debut at Kentucky Downs and following with a minor stakes win at Retama Park. But in his third start, the colt faltered to seventh after chasing the pace in the 1 1/16-mile Grand Canyon Stakes at Churchill Downs.

"Of all the Kitten's Joys we have, this one might be a little suspect going a distance, at least against top horses," said Mike Maker, who trains Kera's Kitten for the Ramseys and currently has his best horses in south Florida. "So I thought he'd fit into the stakes series at Turfway Park this winter."

Kera's Kitten, with John McKee to ride, is the likely favorite among nine 3-year-olds in the $50,000 Turfway Prevue, the ninth of 10 Saturday races at Turfway. Turning back to 6 1/2 furlongs, Kera's Kitten should be able to put his speed to better use when switching to Polytrack after beginning his career with three turf starts. Kera's Kitten, who will race in blinkers for the first time, was assigned post 2.

Lucky Chuck, drawn right alongside in post 1, looks like the top challenger. As the winner of a Dec. 17 allowance designed as a prep for the Prevue, the Indiana-bred colt will be going for his fourth win from his last five starts. Trainer David Pate has named apprentice Ben Creed back aboard Lucky Chuck.

Successful Score (post 6) is another logical threat despite his disappointing form in three starts since his maiden win at Saratoga in August. Trainer Dale Romans has named Jon Court to ride.

Trainer Greg Foley will be trying for his fifth Prevue win in the last eight runnings by sending out Coosada (post 5). Foley most recently won the race in 2007.

The Turfway Prevue is the first of four stakes for 3-year-old at the winter-spring meet at Turfway in Florence, Ky. Still to come are the Jan. 30 WEBN Stakes, the Feb. 27 John Battaglia Memorial, and the March 20 Lane's End Stakes.