Pair of $500,000 stakes close out meet

FRANKLIN, Ky. – If the purpose of having such a short meet is to make fans and horsemen clamor for more, well, mission accomplished. The curtain comes down Thursday on the five-day Runhappy meet at Kentucky Downs, an all-too-soon ending to what has been another unique celebration of racing.

Back-to-back $500,000 stakes anchor a 10-race finale that starts at 12:15 p.m. Central, with each boasting the full fields that have become the norm at this turf-only track. The Ramsey Farm, for fillies and mares going the once-around distance of 1 5/16 miles, and the Grade 3 Franklin-Simpson, for 3-year-olds going 6 1/2 furlongs, are those closing-day features.

Javier Castellano, the four-time Eclipse-winning jockey, will have his first-ever Kentucky Downs rides, coming in from New York for five mounts, including favored Archidust in the Franklin-Simpson.

Half the purses for both stakes comprise bonuses from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund. Nine of the 12 Ramsey Farm runners and 14 of the 16 Franklin-Simpson entries are Kentucky-bred and eligible for the bonus money.

The meet ends with a 1 1/2-mile starter allowance with a $50,000 purse.

More dry weather is in the Thursday forecast, although temperatures are expected to surge into the mid-90s.

Live action on the Kentucky circuit moves Friday to Churchill Downs for the 11-day September meet.

Franklin-Simpson

Archidust, trained by Jorge Navarro, possesses the kind of speed that has dominated for much of this abbreviated meet, having won a pair of turf-sprint stakes at Monmouth Park and Saratoga in bringing a three-race win streak into this. The Verrazano colt will break from post 1 in a full field of 12.

Among his most capable opposition is Casa Creed, who will be turning back from his hard-fought victory in the Grade 2 Hall of Fame nearly six weeks ago at Saratoga for trainer Bill Mott. The Jimmy Creed colt exits three straight one-mile races and will need a well-timed ride from Junior Alvarado to pull a mild upset here.

Other possibilities include Nitrous, runner-up in the Woody Stephens and Amsterdam in New York, and Moon Colony, winner of the Penn Mile in June.

Ramsey Farm

Gaining, a Juddmonte Farms homebred, is ineligible for the KTDF bonuses as an English-bred, but that’s not a big deal to her connections. Favored in all three of her starts on this continent, the 5-year-old mare is listed as the 3-1 second choice on the program, behind Gentle Ruler (5-2), who has defeated her in both of their meetings.

“We’ve actually been pointing to this race for a while now,” trainer Brad Cox said. “She breezed very well Friday, and I really like her a lot in this spot.”

Gentle Ruler, trained by Ian Wilkes for Morsches Stable, took 12 starts to win a maiden race, but it’s been full steam ahead since then. The 4-year-old filly has won four of her last five and has developed an effective kick while earning stakes-worthy Beyer Speed Figures.

Fringe players in the Ramsey include Na Pali Spirit, who wheels back in 12 days off a runner-up finish in the opening-day One Dreamer, and Lemoona, a two-back stakes winner at Santa Anita for Richard Baltas.