Maker makes two $80,000 claims out of the same race
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Don’t look now, but Mike Maker is at it again. The claiming maven haltered both Line Judge and Pete’s Play Call for $80,000 out of the seventh race Friday and will be looking to replicate the type of success he has enjoyed with similar high-dollar claims such as Furthest Land, Dark Cove, Da Big Hoss, and Hogy.
Owner Michael Hui, who claimed Zulu Alpha here last September for $80,000 and since has won four graded stakes with him, the last three with Maker as trainer, is one of the partners in both of the new claims.
Kentucky claiming rules were changed a few years ago to allow owners and/or trainers to claim more than one horse out of a given race.
Two Twilight Thursday allowances
A pair of turf allowances that drew oversubscribed fields anchor the final Twilight Thursday card of the year at Churchill.
Parlor, a stakes-winning earner of more than $400,000 for Eddie Kenneally, is among the deserving favorites in race 5, a $102,000, two-turn mile with multiple conditions. Parlor is eligible by way of an $80,000 claiming tag.
With first post being 5 p.m. Eastern, the eight-race card will end under the lights with the other allowance – a $97,000, first-level route for fillies and mares – serving as the finale. Delta’s Kingdom and Woodfin are among the main players in a very competitive group.
The final four-day stretch of the September meet will start with $63,034 in the carryover jackpot for the 20-cent Single 6 (races 3-8).
◗ Brian Williamson and Ron Moquett had an exacta thing going last weekend. Williamson won the seventh race Saturday with Field Daisey (37-1) over the Moquett-trained Punish (23-1), producing a $2 exacta worth $1,073.60.
In the fifth race Sunday, Moquett returned the favor when Miracle Hill (19-1) prevailed over the Williamson-trained Kansas City Zip (14-1), yielding a $405.80 exacta.
◗ The Hall of Fame duo of trainer Carl Nafzger and jockey Calvin Borel teamed to win the eighth race Sunday with Broadway Diner ($30.20), reviving memories of their 2007 Kentucky Derby win together with Street Sense.
Nafzger, semi-retired while still working closely with trainer Ian Wilkes, had saddled his last winner, Makin’ Sense, on Oct. 26, 2016, at Keeneland, also with Borel riding.
