Major Dude comes into Opening Verse off troubled Appleton
?q=100)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Major Dude won an allowance race at Keeneland in October and won the Fort Lauderdale Stakes on Dec. 21 at Gulfstream Park. Never rate a horse solely on his triumphs. Major Dude showed at least as much finishing fourth March 29 in the Appleton Stakes at Gulfstream as he had winning, and that defeat could lead to another win Thursday at Churchill Downs in the $350,000 Opening Verse Stakes.
The Opening Verse, a one-mile grass contest, drew 10 entrants but no more than nine will start with the connections of Mercante opting for the Turf Classic here Saturday.
Major Dude raced once before on Churchill grass, finishing third on Derby Day 2023 in a loaded renewal of the American Turf. Webslinger won that race but the real stars were second-place Far Bridge, fifth-place Johannes, and eighth-place Carl Spackler, all subsequently Grade 1 winners.
Major Dude has not progressed to that level, settling in as a Grade 3 type who likes to stalk the pace and come with a run more steady than flashy. But a slow start and a hard bump just after it forced him into different circumstances in the Appleton.
Last of 11 most of the race, Major Dude roared home with a field-best 22.50-second final quarter-mile, a more potent kick than he’d produced in his last two wins. Major Dude, a 5-year-old, breaks from post 6 Thursday under Irad Ortiz Jr. and with a better start will get a great trip stalking the pace of Tut’s Revenge and Portofino.
:: DRF Kentucky Derby Package: Save on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more.
The 4-year-olds Brilliant Bertie and Lagynos could provide the main competition. Brilliant Bertie is cross-entered in the Grade 1 Turf Classic but starts here provided the race stays on turf. The Klein Racing homebred went 3 for 3 over the Churchill course last year, winning a maiden and an allowance race before capturing the American Turf. He went on to land the rich Gun Runner at Kentucky Downs and the Bryan Station at Keeneland, a four-victory campaign worth more than $1.6 million.
But facing older stakes horses for the first time while returning from a winter break, Brilliant Bertie could only manage an even eighth March 22 at Fair Grounds in the $300,000 Muniz Memorial over 1 1/8 miles.
“That whole race was strangely run. It’s hard to make heads or tails of it, and we didn’t learn anything about how he could stretch out,” DeVaux said. “I am expecting him to improve.”
A month after Brilliant Bertie wrapped up his campaign in the Bryan Station, Lagynos won the Commonwealth Turf at Churchill under Flavien Prat.
“He likes Churchill, he likes the mile, and he loves Prat,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “He ran his lifetime best [in the Commonwealth] race and that’s what I’m going by,” Asmussen said.
Lagynos, returning from a three-month layoff, finished third in an April 6 Keeneland allowance carded for turf but rained onto dirt, a race Asmusssen said the horse needed. Lagynos is drawn poorly on the far outside Thursday.
“I don’t like the draw, but it’s in Flavien’s hands, not mine,” Asmussen said.
A longshot to consider: Georgie W, whose Saratoga turf allowance last summer stamps him as a contender. Georgie W can run well and boost exotics – even if he doesn’t win.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.