New York-based Yankee Fourtune, Beau Choix stand out in Commonwealth Turf

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Barclay Tagg and Kiaran McLaughlin have had their proverbial moments in the sun at Churchill Downs. The New York-based trainers ship in some of their better stock during peak times on the Kentucky racing calendar, and more often than not, those horses figure as major contenders in stakes events.

That scenario will be played out again Saturday, when the Grade 3 Commonwealth Turf Stakes is run for the seventh time at Churchill. Tagg, who won the 2003 Kentucky Derby with Funny Cide, sends in Beau Choix, while McLaughlin, who sent out Invasor to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic here in 2006, counters with Yankee Fourtune.

Beau Choix and Yankee Fourtune are among a well-balanced field of 13 3-year-olds entered in the $100,000 Commonwealth Turf, a 1 1/16-mile event carded as the ninth race. While Beau Choix has been a steady performer, finishing no worse than third in all but one of his nine career starts, Yankee Fourtune has been on a flashier rise. He is unbeaten in all four turf starts, ending with the Grade 3 Hawthorne Derby last month.

Beau Choix, with Julien Leparoux to ride, was assigned post 13, while Yankee Fourtune, with Victor Santiago keeping the mount, gets post 11.

Other considerations in the Commonwealth lineup include Turallure and Dark Cove, both on a three-race win streak; Canadian invaders Don Cavallo and Stormy Lord; and Mystic, a sharp recent allowance winner at Keeneland.

Dark Cove was claimed this past summer at Saratoga for $16,000 by trainer Ken McPeek.

“He had a little problem that I think we’ve taken care of,” said McPeek. “He’s shown the potential to be graded-stakes material.”

One last-minute development worth noting: Uareoutlaw was supplemented to the race for a $5,000 fee by owner Tom Conway. The Brazilian-bred Uareoutlaw will be treated with the bleeder medication Lasix and switching back to turf when trying to rebound from a 21-length defeat in the Indiana Derby in his North American debut.

Last fall, Get Stormy, with Javier Castellano up, barely held off Street Move to win the Commonwealth for his third of six turf stakes wins.

Two allowances (races 7, 8) directly precede the Commonwealth on a 10-race card that starts at 12:40 p.m. Eastern.

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