Maxfield, Midnight Bourbon among the big names certain for Clark

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Nominations have been released for the six closing-week stakes at Churchill, most notably a list of 22 for the Grade 1, $750,000 Clark, which is set for next Friday, Nov. 26. Maxfield and Midnight Bourbon are expected to clash in the 1 1/8-mile Clark, but beyond those two and Code of Honor, Dr Post, and Happy Saver, it’s unclear who else might show. Brad Cox said “doubtful” for his two nominees, Night Ops and Plainsman, while the trainers of other would-be contenders such as Independence Hall, King Fury, and Dennis’ Moment have been eyeing other races at Aqueduct. Entries will be drawn Sunday.

Midnight Bourbon, who earned 107 Beyer Speed Figures when second in his last two races, the Travers and Pennsylvania Derby, was sent by Steve Asmussen through his latest work for the Clark, going five furlongs Monday in 59.20 seconds in company. The Tiznow colt will have one more work before the Clark in what has been a very eventful 3-year-old season.

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◗ With so many bigger races around the corner, there’s not so much as one allowance on a nine-race Friday program that starts at 1 p.m. Eastern. The dirt-only card does end with a pair of six-figure maiden-specials (races 7 and 9) sandwiching a $72,000 starter allowance for 2-year-olds (race 8).

Sunny but cold weather is in the Friday forecast with a daytime high of just 46.

◗ With purses at an all-time high, claiming activity during the Churchill fall meet has been so frenetic that multi-way shakes of high numbers are no longer rare. With 110 horses having changed hands through the first 11 programs, one of the recent examples of a crowd at the claim box was Zero Point Zero, a New York-bred filly who on Sunday was claimed for $10,000 by Chicago-based trainer Alexis Claire in a 17-way shake.