King's review: The Will Rogers Downs connection

Thursday, June 5 review

The Oklahoma pipeline

Most winners at Churchill Downs come from Keeneland, Gulfstream, Fair Grounds, and Oaklawn. But if Will Rogers Downs horses keep running as they have at the current meet, that track might be added to the list.

Heykittykittykitty became the second Will Rogers Down horse to score at Churchill in less than a week when she won the fifth race at Churchill Thursday, defeating a starter allowance field by 5 1/4 lengths after winning an Oklahoma-bred stakes race at Will Rogers May 3.

Her success followed Z Rockstar, who won a third-level allowance Sunday after winning stakes for Oklahoma-breds at Will Rogers in April and May.

To be fair, both winners were based at Oaklawn over the winter. They only made side trips to Will Rogers Downs to capitalize on statebred opportunities.

Their victories in Oklahoma-bred races contributed to their success at Churchill. Like many tracks, Churchill sometimes offers raceswith conditions that exempt statebred victories – in essence treating them like maiden or claiming wins.

Consider the conditions for the fifth race Thursday, which fit Heykittykittykitty perfectly. It was a starter allowance for 3-year-old fillies that had raced for a claiming price of $30,000 or less and had not won a race other than maiden, claiming, starter, or statebred. In the case of Heykittykittykitty, she had won three races since breaking her maiden for $15,000 first out – two statebred stakes races (one coming last year at Remington Park) and a starter at Oaklawn Park.

That seasoning gave her an edge over runner-up Little Gidding, who had raced merely three times and was coming off a maiden $30,000 claiming victory at Churchill.

New 2-year-old debut king

Care to guess who has trained the most first-out 2-year-old winners in Kentucky this spring? In years past it would have been a no-brainer question, with Wesley Ward dominating in that category.

This year Mark Casse is tops. Since the Keeneland meet began - with his son, Norman, supervising his Kentucky division – Casse has trained five first-out juvenile winners in Kentucky, most of any trainer.

The Casse-trained Conquest Bigluck E won his debut in race 3 Thursday, improving Casse’s record to 5 for 8 with such runners this year.

As for the three that lost, two ran third, and only one was off the board.

Ward and Steve Asmussen are second and third in first-out juvenile winners in Kentucky this spring.

Horses to Watch

Finding Candy
Trainer: Chris Richard
Last race: June 6, 6th
Finish: 1st by 4
Beyer: 88

Shipped to Churchill from Prairie Meadows, this horse relished a cutback in distance from a mile to six furlongs. He blew past the leaders with a wide rally and drew off in the lane against a solid group of $25,000 claimers. He can repeat on the rise.