Obligatory tries to redeem herself as Chilukki favorite

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Obligatory is the only 3-year-old in a field of eight fillies and mares in the Grade 3 Chilukki Stakes, but that’s of minimal importance in comparison to which Obligatory will show up Saturday at Churchill Downs for the one-mile race.

Obligatory, a Juddmonte Farms homebred trained by Bill Mott, was a sensational last-to-first winner of the Grade 2 Eight Belles at Churchill in late April in a performance subsequently validated by runner-up finishes in the Grade 1 Acorn and Grade 1 Cotillion.

But there were a couple of clunkers in there, too, and that’ll be something for bettors to ponder when Obligatory and jockey Joel Rosario break from post 7 in the $300,000 Chilukki, the lone stakes of the weekend at Churchill. The Curlin filly was never a factor when fifth in the Test in August and sixth in the Raven Run four weeks ago at Keeneland, so she’ll need to revert to one of her better efforts to live up to her status as the 5-2 morning-line favorite.

Obligatory has trained forwardly in recent weeks at Churchill when being sent through a trio of half-mile breezes by longtime Mott assistant Kenny McCarthy, but if she doesn’t bring her A game, then this could fall any number of ways.

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Matera (post 3, Florent Geroux), a likely forward factor in a race lacking an obvious front-runner, will be making her final career start when she looks to replicate the form that took her to back-to-back stakes victories this summer in the Mari Hulman George at Indiana Grand and Groupie Doll at Ellis Park.

Sally’s Curlin (post 2, Brian Hernandez Jr.), the 2019 Chilukki winner, signaled a return to form by closing stoutly to just miss in a two-turn allowance last month at Keeneland.

“She actually prefers one turn, so seeing her finish that way in her last race was really encouraging,” said her trainer, Dale Romans.

Miss Bigly (post 4, Martin Garcia), third or better in all but one of her eight starts this year when keeping classy company, has returned from California for trainer Phil D’Amato while still on her game.

She Can’t Sing (post 1, Tyler Gaffalione) earned a career-best 95 Beyer Speed Figure in an allowance romp on closing weekend of the September meet and would figure in the mix with something similar.

Pass the Plate (post 5, Joe Talamo) and Princess Causeway (post 8, Chris Landeros) both are turf specialists giving the main track a try, while Its Cold in Dehere (post 6, Ricardo Santana Jr.) rounds out what seems to be quite the well-matched cast.

The Chilukki, which starts at the far end of the Longfield Ave. chute, will be run under the Churchill lights as the 10th of 11 Saturday races. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern, with the feature going at 5:36. A fast track can be expected following Friday sunshine and a Saturday forecast calling for cloudy skies (but no rain) and a high of 55.

The Chilukki is named for the 1999 champion 2-year-old filly trained by Bob Baffert for Stonerside Stable. Chilukki won 11 of 17 starts, including a 4-for-4 record at Churchill during which she lowered two track records, and earned Beyers ranging from 104 to 109 on five occasions. This is the 36th running, having been renamed in 2005 in her honor.

Next week is closing week at a 21-day fall meet that runs through Nov. 28. Six stakes remain, led by the Grade 1 Clark on Friday.

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Sun Path makes return

Three allowances (races 5, 8, 9) and two maiden-specials (races 7, 11), all with six-figure purses, are part of an outstanding Saturday undercard.

Race 8 is of particular interest, given how it marks the return of Sun Path from a layoff of more than eight months. Sun Path, another Juddmonte homebred, became highly regarded at this time last year amid back-to-back victories for trainer Brad Cox prior to being defeated in both starts in early 2021. Off a series of sharp local works, the 3-year-old daughter of Munnings surely will be favored over six other fillies and mares going 6 1/2 furlongs in a $134,000, second-level allowance.

Racing throughout the September meet and current fall meet at Churchill has been conducted solely on the main track with the turf course having been unavailable due to a total renovation.

Knicks Go back with Cox

Knicks Go, the certain 2021 Horse of the Year following his romp in the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar, returned Wednesday to the Cox barn at Churchill to resume light training. The 5-year-old Maryland-bred had been at his future home at Taylor Made in Nicholasville, Ky., when being shown in recent days to prospective breeders.

After the Churchill meet ends, Knicks Go will be vanned to Fair Grounds, where he’ll pick up his training regimen ahead of his final career start in the Jan. 29 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park.