Maker's Mark Mile betting will center on Brown duo

Chad Brown can’t account for the trifecta in the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile, as he has done with some frequency in major grass stakes in recent years. But that’s because he only has two horses in the Friday feature at Keeneland.

Nonetheless, Brown could sweep the exacta when represented by Raging Bull and Without Parole in the $300,000 Maker’s Mark, the eighth of nine Friday races at the Lexington, Ky., track. Raging Bull comes off the strongest performance of his career, a 2 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile, a Memorial Day race at Santa Anita where Without Parole was an unlucky third as the favorite.

The Brown pair are among a field of 10 older horses in the 32nd Maker’s Mark, the first of four Grade 1 races at a five-day July meet being held without spectators amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Together, they’ll attract the lion’s share of wagering action from thousands of offtrack bettors, with perhaps Raging Bull and Joel Rosario a slight favorite over Without Parole and Irad Ortiz Jr.

“They both arrived Monday in Lexington on a flight from New York and settled in real well,” said Whit Beckman, Brown’s local assistant.

Brown has yet to win the Maker’s Mark, but that could end with a fast pace ahead of his stretch-runners. High Crime, last-out winner of a turf-sprint allowance at Churchill Downs, would seem to ensure an honest pace, with the 2019 Preakness winner, War of Will, among those likely to give closest chase. Once they wheel for home, Raging Bull and Without Parole could be difficult to contain.

Raging Bull, a 5-year-old horse owned by Peter Brant, was relentless in the Shoemaker, angling out to the middle of the course to quickly close things out. His work slate in the interim has been steady, with five breezes coming over the Belmont Park turf since early June.

Raging Bull earned a career-high 105 Beyer Speed Figure in the Shoemaker, his fourth graded stakes victory from 13 overall starts. The French-bred has earned triple-digit Beyers in three of his last four outs.

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Without Parole, a 5-year-old homebred owned by John Gunther and his daughter, Tanya, was delayed by traffic troubles after saving ground in the Shoemaker, with Ortiz finding a clear run only after the issue had been settled. He, too, has been active in the mornings, with his work pattern mirroring that of his stablemate.

Without Parole became a Group 1 winner as a 3-year-old when taking the St. James’s Palace at the 2018 Royal Ascot meet. That remains his most recent triumph.

“He’s been a little unlucky,” Brown said. “He’s better than his record shows.”

Ortiz, the two-time reigning champion jockey, has ridden at Keeneland with less frequency in recent seasons than his younger brother, Jose. His most recent stakes win here came in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf aboard Stephanie’s Kitten for Brown.

War of Will and Next Shares, a Grade 1 winner who split the Brown duo when second in the Shoemaker, could emerge as the top challengers, along with the Mike Maker pair of Hembree and Parlor.

War of Will was fifth in the Shoemaker, marking his fifth straight defeat since his memorable Preakness score in May 2019. Tyler Gaffalione will be aboard the 4-year-old colt for Gary Barber and trainer Mark Casse.

“We’d like to make him a Grade 1 winner on the turf,” Casse said. “He ran well over the Keeneland turf as a 2-year-old. We’re still not sure we’ll keep him on the grass the whole year, but we feel like his first try this year in California should be good to build on.”

Next Shares, with John Velazquez riding, has shown occasional late kick, such as when he captured the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland in 2018.

Rounding out the lineup are English Bee, Everfast, and Emmaus. English Bee is trained by Graham Motion, who four years ago won this race with a filly, Miss Temple City.

The Maker’s Mark, first run in 1989 as the Fort Harrod, has undergone another name change. It was known as the Maker’s Mark from 1997 to 2011, then as the Maker’s 46 through last year, when Delta Prince rallied to win as the favorite for Stronach Stables and Jimmy Jerkens.

First post Friday is 1:05 p.m. Eastern. The Maker’s Mark (4:57) will be directly preceded by the Beaumont Stakes (race 7, 4:24), a 20-8-4-2 points qualifier toward the Kentucky Oaks.

Possible thundershowers and a high of 87 are in the local forecast for Friday.

Bourbon bottles honoring local celebrities or landmarks are a part of the Maker’s Mark tradition, with fans typically queueing up by the hundreds for autographs in non-pandemic times. This year, sales of a limited supply of commemorative bottles will benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.