LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Doug Cowans is in unknown territory, and that might well be a good thing. “I’ve never had a marathon horse like this before,” Cowans said, referring to the 5-year-old gelding Next, a romping winner of the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance on Breeders’ Cup weekend last November at Keeneland. Next, with Luan Machado back riding, is the 8-5 morning-line favorite when he returns to action for the $175,000 Isaac Murphy, the 1 1/2-mile co-feature on a 10-race Wednesday card at Churchill Downs. Given the six-month layoff, the gray son of Not This Time will provide an interesting test to the training skills of Cowans, who has been based primarily in Ohio throughout a career that began in 1993. “We’re hoping he’s ready,” Cowans said. “We’ve got a lot of breezes in him into this race. We’ve kind of made his works a little different than normal, a little farther, a lot of two-minute licks.” Next, a stakes winner on turf at 3, was claimed by Michael Foster for $62,500 from a subpar effort at Keeneland last April, after which Cowans ran him twice on turf. It was an eye-catching romp in the off-the-turf Cape Henlopen last September at Delaware Park that led Cowans to run him back in the TAA, a 1 5/8-mile race he dominated from the start in winning by 6 1/4 lengths with a career-best 105 Beyer Speed Figure. :: Bet the races on DRF Bets! Sign up with code WINNING to get a $250 Deposit Match, $10 Free Bet, and FREE DRF Formulator.  “As soon as he ran that big at Delaware, I said we’ve got to run him in the mile-and-a-half race Breeders’ Cup Day,” Cowans said. “Obviously, we’re very excited about him.” A field of seven older horses is entered in the Isaac Murphy. Next will break from the outside gate, while his top challenger Lone Rock will leave from the inside post with Ramon Vazquez up. Whereas Next is a relative newcomer to this niche, Lone Rock has been a divisional mainstay in recent seasons, winning a slew of key races across the country going these longer distances on the main track, including the last two renewals of the Isaac Murphy. Trained by Robertino Diodoro for a partnership that includes the Flying P Stable, Lone Rock has gone winless in just three starts since winning this race during Derby week of 2022. He does have benefit of a recent start, having finished second as the favorite behind a 30-1 shot, Calibrate, in the 1 1/2-mile Temperence Hill on April 2 at Oaklawn Park. An 8-year-old gelding, Lone Rock has earned more than $1.4 million in an outstanding 43-race career. Among the rest, Scarlet Fusion (post 4, Luis Saez) merits respect on the strength of his last-out triumph in the Grade 3 John B. Connally on the Sam Houston turf. The 5-year-old Curlin horse is trained by Joe Sharp for longtime clients Carl Moore and Brad Grady. Calibrate (post 3, Francisco Arrieta) also is back and looking to show his Oaklawn upset was no fluke. Rounding out the cast are fellow longshots Decision Maker, Red Run, and Warrant. The Isaac Murphy, named for the iconic African-American jockey who won the Kentucky Derby three times (1884, 1890, 1891) from 11 mounts, goes as the eight race and directly precedes the co-featured Mamzelle Stakes. First post is 12:45 p.m. Eastern. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.