Mind Your Biscuits breezes five furlongs in Lukas Classic prep

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mind Your Biscuits completed his serious preparation for his next start in the Lukas Classic by breezing five furlongs in 1:02 before dawn Friday over a fast Churchill Downs strip.

Tyler Gaffalione, who will ride Mind Your Biscuits when the Grade 3, $200,000 Lukas Classic is run Saturday night under the Churchill lights, was in from Florida to work the 5-year-old horse.

“Everything went as planned,” trainer Chad Summers said. “He broke off a little slow, but I got him from the three-eighths to the wire in :36. He’s sitting on a big race.”

Official splits on the work from Churchill clocker John Nichols were 13.40, 25.80, and 38, with “out” times of 1:15.40 and 1:29.40.

Mind Your Biscuits, the all-time leading New York-bred earner with more than $4.1 million, was second to Diversify in his last start, the Grade 1 Woodward Sept. 1 at Saratoga. Summers is using the 1 1/8-mile Lukas Classic as a barometer as to whether to run the horse next in the 1 1/4-mile Breeders’ Cup Classic or turn him back in distance in the BC Dirt Mile or BC Sprint. Mind Your Biscuits is a two-time winner of the Dubai Golden Shaheen at about six furlongs.

Honorable Duty, the 2017 Lukas Classic winner and probably the chief threat to Mind Your Biscuits, breezed Friday at Churchill after the sun came up, going five furlongs in 1:00.60 for trainer Brendan Walsh. He and Toast of New York, who could train here as early as Tuesday after clearing quarantine, are among a small cast of challengers expected when entries are taken Wednesday, along with Flowers for Lisa, Rated R Superstar, Securitiz, and maybe a couple more older horses.

The Lukas Classic is the richest of four stakes to be run on an 11-race Downs After Dark card that starts at 6 p.m. Eastern. In the supporting events:

Grade 3, $100,000 Ack Ack: Awesome Slew and Seeking the Soul could vie for favoritism over C Z Rocket, Guest Suite, Warriors Club, and maybe a few more in this one-turn mile.

$100,000 Jefferson Cup: Captivating Moon, Dubby Dubbie, Real Story, and Tigers Rule are among the known prospects for this 1 1/8-mile turf race for 3-year-olds.

$100,000 President of the United Arab Emirates Cup: Several of the most accomplished Arabians in North America will clash in a 1 1/16-mile race that has been run off and on at Churchill since 2011.

The 11-day September meet ends Sept. 30, with Keeneland opening its 17-day fall meet Oct. 5.