McCraken tries two turns in Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – They might be Stars of Tomorrow, but they’re pretty good today, too. Two-year-olds will put on quite the show Saturday on a 12-race Churchill Downs card that is highlighted by the 90th running of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes.

The KJC and its twin sister, the Golden Rod Stakes, both drew fields of 12 while offering eligibility points (10-4-2-1) in their divisions toward next spring’s classics, the Kentucky Derby and Oaks. Both are Grade 2, $200,000 races run at 1 1/16 miles, with the Golden Rod set as race 9 and the KJC as race 11.

McCraken, undefeated in two starts for Ian Wilkes, is a 7-2 program favorite in the KJC on the strength of a 3 3/4-length victory in the ungraded Street Sense, which was on the first Stars of Tomorrow card that opened the fall meet Oct. 30. The Ghostzapper colt will be making his first start around two turns when breaking from post 11 under Brian Hernandez Jr.

“Everyone seems to be handing it to him, but he hasn’t won it yet,” Wilkes told Churchill publicity this week. “He’s got to go out and do it and go out and earn it. There are a lot of good 2-year-olds out there right now.”

Indeed, at least a handful of his KJC opponents appears capable of a mild upset.

One is Wild Shot, whose trainer, Rusty Arnold, will be gunning for his third KJC win – but his first, remarkably, in 28 years. Arnold won in 1986 with Mt. Pleasant and in 1988 with Tricky Creek.

“I told somebody the other day I’d won a couple of these things, but they had to look it up to believe it,” Arnold said with a laugh.

Wild Shot (post 3, Corey Lanerie) outran his 42-1 odds in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity seven weeks ago at Keeneland when holding on for third after setting the pace. The winner, Classic Empire, proceeded to win the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and fifth-place finisher Gunnevera came back last week to win the $1 million Delta Jackpot.

“His race in the Breeders’ Futurity was huge,” Arnold said. “Obviously, that race is standing up strong.”

Other major players include Uncontested (post 12, Channing Hill), who earned a field-high 89 Beyer Speed Figure in his career debut at Keeneland; Warrior’s Club (post 9, Robby Albarado), whose victory in the restricted Spendthrift Stallion Stakes on opening day resulted in a winner’s-circle mob scene among the 200 members of the group that owns him, the Churchill Downs Racing Club; and the uncoupled Pat Byrne duo of Silent Decree (post 5, Florent Geroux) and Just Move On (post 6, Declan Cannon).

“These are two really good colts I’ve got,” Byrne said.

The balance of the KJC lineup includes Han Sense, Total Tap, Romeo O Romeo, Shareholder Value, Jocker Justice, and Perro Rojo.

First post Saturday is 1 p.m. Eastern, with the Golden Rod at 4:57 and the KJC at 5:56. Besides the two stakes, there are four allowances and six maiden special weight races, all for 2-year-olds; counting also-eligibles, there are a whopping 162 horses entered in the 12 races.

Many ontrack fans will be late arrivals from the Kentucky-Louisville college football game that kicks off at noon at nearby Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium. They’ll have a great day for a sports doubleheader, as the forecast calls for sunny skies and a high of 54. Likewise, pleasant fall conditions are expected for Sunday, closing day of the 21-day meet.