Morey holds strong hand in Kentucky Cup Classic with streaking pair of Visitant and Beatbox
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FLORENCE, Ky. – Visitant is the defending winner of the $250,000 Kentucky Cup Classic and comes into Saturday’s renewal off three consecutive wins at Turfway Park. But standing in his way is his Billy Morey-trained stablemate Beatbox, a regally bred colt who has come to hand since joining the barn last winter, and who has also won three straight here. The Kentucky Cup Classic, for older horses going 1 1/8 miles on the Tapeta, is among the stakes supporting the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby for 3-year-olds on Saturday.
Williamson Racing’s homebred Visitant will look to become the second two-time winner of Kentucky Cup Classic, which will be run for the 22nd time Saturday. The race was changed in 2018 to a spring event after previously being run in the fall. Nun the Less won both the 2019 and 2020 editions.
Visitant won three of four outings during the 2020-21 Turfway season, including the Kentucky Cup Classic. He then finished second in the Grade 2 Alysheba at Churchill and eighth in the Grade 2 Stephen Foster there in June.
Visitant then went to the sidelines until Dec. 18, when he romped by six lengths in a Turfway allowance, establishing a track record of 1:15.07 for 6 1/2 furlongs on Tapeta and earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 100. He proceeded to win two sprint stakes, the Forego by 1 3/4 lengths in February and the Big Daddy by 5 1/4 lengths on March 12, earning Beyers of 93 and 105. He is the only member of this field coming off a triple-digit Beyer.
“He’s a great horse,” Morey said. “He loves Turfway, obviously. No question about that. I think he’s going even better this year than last year.”
Visitant’s versatility will give rider Deshawn Parker options as the horse stretches back out. In last year’s Kentucky Cup Classic, he laid off the pace in fifth before rallying to win. However, in his two recent stakes wins, he has stalked closely in second before pouncing to the lead.
While Visitant may be able to adjust to his circumstances, the pace setup will be key for Beatbox, who prefers to rally from off the pace. He and regular rider Rafael Bejarano are drawn in the outside post.
Beatbox, a Pioneerof the Nile half-brother to multiple Grade 1 winner Guarana, was picked up by current owners Rob Comestro and Jeff Ganje for $70,000 out of the horses of racing age portion of the 2021 Keeneland November sale. Transferred to Morey from Chad Brown, he won a pair of conditioned allowance races by a combined 11 1/4 lengths in his first two Turfway outings, earning a career-best Beyer of 94 in the second of those wins. He made his stakes debut in the Dust Commander on Feb. 19, and won by 2 3/4 lengths.
Beatbox comes into the Kentucky Cup Classic fresh, which was the plan, Morey said.
“The plan all along was to point for the Dust Commander and then the Kentucky Cup,” Morey said.
This is by no means a two-horse race. Invader won the 2020 John Battaglia Memorial here and was second by a neck in the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby a month later. Trained by Wesley Ward, he is coming off a front-running Turfway allowance win on Dec. 31 and will probably show speed from the inside post under James Graham.
Grade 3 winner King Fury, making his first start of the year, has never raced on synthetic. He is trained by Kenny McPeek.
Cross Border, a multiple graded stakes winner on the turf, finished his 2021 campaign with a victory in the Prairie Bayou at Turfway. He was fifth in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup Turf in January.
“He’s doing well,” trainer Mike Maker said. “He had a good run in the Pegasus. His only race at Turfway was very good; it was a big effort.”
Spectacular Gem finished third in the Dust Commander after a troubled break.
Bourbonette Oaks
The $250,000 Bourbonette Oaks has Kentucky Oaks points available to eligible fillies on a 50-20-10-5 scale. Only four of the 12 entrants in the 1 1/16-mile race are nominated to the Oaks, although fillies may still be supplemented for $25,000 at entry time for the May 6 race.
Of the Oaks nominees, Sandstone already holds solid credentials at Churchill Downs, as she won the Rags to Riches by 10 3/4 lengths last fall, then was third in the Grade 2 Golden Rod there on Nov. 27. This is the filly’s first start since, and first try on synthetic. She is trained by McPeek.
North County won the Untapable at Fair Grounds in December, earning 10 points toward the Oaks, but then was seventh in the Grade 2 Rachel Alexandra there on Feb. 19. Candy Raid has also been on the Fair Grounds path, finishing fourth in the Silverbulletday and eighth in the Rachel Alexandra.
Heavenly Hello, who is not an Oaks nominee, owns the best synthetic form in the field. She won the Grade 3 Mazarine last November on the Tapeta at Woodbine.
Latonia Stakes
Multiple graded stakes winner Crazy Beautiful is the most accomplished horse in the $200,000 Latonia, but she is trying synthetic for the first time and faces a few with solid Turfway form. The Latonia is for fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles.
Crazy Beautiful won last year’s Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Oaks, Grade 2 Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita, and Grade 3 Delaware Oaks. She also ran third on turf in the Grade 3 Valley View at Keeneland. In her only race this year, she was fourth behind champion Letruska in the Grade 3 Royal Delta at Gulfstream.
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Breeze Rider has won four stakes in her last five starts, with two of those victories coming at Turfway. Most recently, she was a front-running 5 3/4-length winner of the one-mile Wintergreen on Feb. 26 at Turfway.
Alydiva and Wait for Nairobi, both stakes winners at Turfway, were second and third in the Wintergreen and return in the Latonia
Skygaze is a three-time stakes winner on Woodbine’s synthetic, including the Grade 3 Maple Leaf in November in her most recent outing.
Rushaway Stakes
Three-year-olds not up to the Jeff Ruby have a softer spot on this card in the $200,000 Rushaway at 1 1/16 miles.
The Rushaway might provide a window into the Jeff Ruby. Grael returns off a third-place finish in the Battaglia Memorial, the local prep for the Ruby. The two who beat him in the Battaglia, Tiz the Bomb and Stolen Base, run in the Ruby.
Three others from the Battaglia run in the Rushaway: front-runner Erase, who faded to fifth; Droppin G’s, who followed his seventh in the Battaglia with an allowance win here; and Goldeneye, who finished 12th.
Tommy Bee was second in the Black Gold in Louisiana to Ruby entrant Dowagiac Chief.
◗ Rotknee is looking to win his fourth straight in the $200,000 Animal Kingdom, a six-furlong sprint for 3-year-olds. Rotknee most recently took the Damon Runyon at Aqueduct against New York-breds. Nobals won last year’s Arlington-Washington Futurity and January’s Turfway Prevue. Determined Kingdom was second in the Prevue.