Mercante acting like old self for Mint Millions Turf Mile Preview

It was no sure thing, but the $250,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Mint Millions Turf Mile drew more entrants than there are words in the race name. And the field for this one-mile grass contest came up much better than its appellation.

A dozen were entered in a race that, as you can read, serves as at least a nominal prep for the Mint Millions at Kentucky Downs, a race worth 10 times more than Saturday’s contest.

It will not take a handicapper perusing past performances long to identify two primary players. Taking Candy, a reasonable 4-1 on the track’s morning line, breaks from the rail with Brian Hernandez Jr. riding for trainer Cherie DeVaux, while Mercante, Joe Ramos up for trainer Brian Knippenberg, drew post 2 and was made the 2-1 favorite.

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Mercante emerged from relative obscurity late this winter and spring to win Grade 3 races over the Tapeta surface at Turfway Park and on the Churchill Downs grass course, where in his last race he captured the Arlington Stakes by a neck, nipping the Devaux-trained Brilliant Berti.

While Brilliant Berti hits a higher level than Taking Candy, and Mercante’s best would beat Taking Candy’s, Mercante did miss an intended start in the Wise Dan on June 28 at Churchill. Knippenberg and owner-breeder Carl Pollard entered Mercante in the Wise Dan, but Knippenberg a couple days out pulled the plug on participation.

“He just seemed a little not himself, just a little flat,” Knippenberg said. “We knew we had crammed in a lot of racing, so we played it safe, gave him a couple light weeks, and he’s doing all his normal antics again indicating he’s feeling good.”

Mercante’s top performance probably came in defeat, when he was beaten a neck by Spirit of St. Louis going 1 1/8 miles in the Grade 1 Turf Classic on Derby Day at Churchill, and though Mercante’s Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway came over 1 1/8 miles, this one-mile trip should suit him. Mercante has speed to lead but Knippenberg prefers having a target. To get one, Ramos will have to find a way outside in a bulky field.

In Mercante’s absence, Brilliant Berti won the Wise Dan by three-quarters of a length over his stablemate, Taking Candy, whose four wins have come between 1 1/16 and 1 1/8 miles. At this one-mile trip, Taking Candy has a third in a Churchill third-level allowance and a fifth in an Ellis first-level allowance

“I think he’s pretty versatile,” DeVaux said. “There weren’t many options to run him in right now.”

Encino, beaten a length by Mercante in the Kentucky Cup Classic, won at a similar class level last out in Indiana while making his turf debut, and as a confirmed front-runner, he’s a horse that Mercante could target. Faster still might be Epic Ride, who hasn’t raced around two turns since checking in 14th in the 2024 Kentucky Derby, and whose four wins have come over the Turfway Tapeta.

Komorebino Omoide probably prefers dirt to turf but did finish a solid second last out in the Texas Turf Classic at Lone Star Park. His trainer, Robertino Diodoro, said he’d be pleased if Saturday’s race got rained onto the main track, but that owner-breeder Perry Martin wants to give the 5-year-old horse another chance on turf. Bred in Japan, Komorebino Omoide is by California Chrome, whom Martin co-owned during his Hall of Fame racing career.

Steal Sunshine, a commendable dirt miler, switched to turf in his most recent start and finished a closing second behind Beach Gold in a Gulfstream Park allowance race. Both horses ship from Florida, while Best Actor, a Turfway-based pace player, tries grass for the first time.

They’re coming out of the woodwork for the Kentucky Downs Preview Mint Millions Turf Mile. The race offers the winner automatic fees-paid entry into the $2.5 million Mint Millions on Sept. 6 – a race with a lot of words leading to another worth a lot of money.

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