McPeek opts for tougher race for King Fury, going in Clark

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – King Fury could have stuck with fellow 3-year-olds by running Saturday in the $150,000 Discovery at Aqueduct, but no. Trainer Ken McPeek is shooting for bigger game Friday in the $750,000 Clark at his home track, Churchill Downs.

“He loves this racetrack,” said McPeek, alluding to the three wins for King Fury from four career starts at Churchill, the latest a 13-length romp in the Bourbon Trail on Sept. 25. “We’d thought about cross-entering him in the Discovery, but the Clark is a go.”

King Fury, with Brian Hernandez Jr. to ride, will face some of the best horses still active in 2021 as part of a field of eight in the Grade 1 Clark. The only other 3-year-old in the lineup is Midnight Bourbon, who will vie for favoritism with Maxfield in the 1 1/8-mile race.

From the rail, this is the Clark field: Midnight Bourbon, Night Ops, Dr Post, Happy Saver, King Fury, Chess Chief, Militarist, and Maxfield.

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Maxfield, a 4-year-old Godolphin homebred, will have Jose Ortiz aboard when making the last start of his standout career.

The Clark will be run under the Churchill lights as the 11th of 12 Friday races. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern, with the Clark going at 5:56. There is no network television coverage of the race.

Missing from the Clark are Independence Hall and Code of Honor, the one-two finishers in the Fayette Stakes at Keeneland last month. Both go instead in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile on Dec. 4 at Aqueduct. King Fury was third as the favorite in the Fayette, which was run over a sloppy track.

The 21-day, dirt-only fall meet ends Sunday.