Major Fed tops rich allowance race
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Directly preceding the inaugural running of the Seneca on the Friday card at Churchill is a $134,000, second-level allowance (race 8) that would serve as a nice stand-alone feature in its own right. Major Fed, aspiring to local fall fixtures such as the Fayette and Clark, will be favored when making his first start since winning a June 25 allowance at Churchill.
Trained by Greg Foley for the Lloyd Madison Farms of Fred Schwartz, Major Fed will have Florent Geroux aboard when breaking from post 5 in a 1 1/16-mile race that drew nine 3-year-olds and up. The 4-year-old homebred colt by Ghostzapper is part of a well-matched field that also includes Claytnthelionheart, Hop Kat, and Briefcase Bully as contenders.
Even eight weeks out, the Nov. 26 Clark is already shaping up as a corker. Trainer Steve Asmussen is purposely withholding Midnight Bourbon from the BC Classic out of the colt’s runner-up finish in the Pennsylvania Derby last weekend to possibly go instead in the Grade 1 Clark, while Ken McPeek said he intends to use the Fayette on Oct. 30 at Keeneland as a stepping-stone to the Clark for King Fury, a 13-length winner of the Bourbon Trail here last Saturday.
Earlier on the Friday card, Machismo goes for his fifth straight victory when shipping in from Cleveland as the likely favorite for owner-trainer David Wolochuk in a $66,000 starter allowance (race 4) at seven furlongs. Some fans may remember Machismo, now 6, from his futile efforts in early 2018, when he was tried by his prior connections as a perennial longshot in several Triple Crown preps.
Saez undergoing rehab
Veteran jockey Gabriel Saez is expected to be sidelined several more months while undergoing physical rehabilitation after suffering two fractures in his lower leg in an accident in early August at his home just east of Louisville, according to his agent, Liz Morris.
The last ride for Saez was a fifth-place finish aboard By My Standards in the Whitney on Aug. 7 at Saratoga. The 33-year-old native of Panama has ridden 1,431 winners since coming to the United States in 2006.
‘Doc’ Richardson remembered
A public memorial for the late Dr. J. David “Doc” Richardson will be held during the races from 2-4 p.m. Saturday in the Starting Gate Suites on the fourth floor. The sixth race is named in his honor.
Richardson, the highly respected Louisville surgeon who was an owner, breeder, and influential behind-the-scenes voice in racing, died Sept. 7 at age 76 in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
