Pixelate opts for extra furlong in Buckland Stakes
Three turf stakes on the second Monday of the 2021 Colonial Downs meeting have brought out some talented horses, and the featured $150,000 Buckland is a legitimately interesting race.
The Buckland, carded for nine furlongs on grass, drew a highly competitive group of 10 entrants. Pixelate and Talk Or Listen were cross-entered in a Saturday stakes at Pimlico; Pixelate was to be scratched from that spot in favor of the Buckland, while Talk Or Listen runs in Maryland. Talk Or Listen’s trainer, Arnaud Delacour, has Eons for the Buckland.
Pixelate and Eons finished first and third, respectively, in the nine-furlong Prince George’s County last month at Pimlico, and both can race competitively Monday in Virginia. Trainer Mike Stidham said he chose the Buckland over the one-mile Pimlico stakes because Pixelate prefers this distance.
“Plus that was going to be a short field, and those often turn out to be tricky, screwy races. He’s worked four times since his last start and he’s ready to go,” Stidham said.
Eons endured a troubled trip last month, and as a horse lacking positional speed needs a fair tempo in front to spread the field and give him a fair shot.
“He’s a tricky horse to ride, and it has a lot to do with the pace,” Delacour said. “If there’s a little bit of pace in the race, he can relax, and in a bigger field there’s more chance of getting that.”
Megacity, a recent Belmont allowance winner, is a confirmed front-runner, but there’s little other obvious speed in the Buckland.
The race marks the first start since October for Mr Dumas, whose peak performance level probably is the highest in this field. John Ortiz trained Mr Dumas as a 2-year-old and 3-year-old, but last year the horse went to Florida, where Ortiz doesn’t stable, with trainer Mike Maker and stayed in the Maker barn all season. Mr Dumas finished a fine second in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch last July and capped his campaign with a sharp Keeneland allowance win, and Ortiz, who welcomed Mr Dumas back into his barn earlier this year, said the horse, despite the layoff, is ready to fire.
“He’ll be all right. He’s on his toes right now; he’s at his best. I know when he’s asking for a race, and that’s what he’s doing right now. He’s got a lot of energy. We just gave him a three-eighths blowout this morning,” Ortiz said Friday.
Kentucky Ghost was scratched from a Friday allowance race at Saratoga and could still be considered for an Ellis Park start on Aug. 7 rather than shipping to Colonial, but trainer Victoria Oliver said he’s a likely runner in the Buckland. Vastly improved this year at age 4, Kentucky Ghost finished a closing fifth last out in the Wise Dan, a race won by the impressive Set Piece that, at 1 1/16 miles, fell short of Kentucky Ghost’s best trip.
Da Hoss
With the Churchill Downs backstretch closed this summer, trainer Michelle Lovell has taken out 22 stalls at Colonial Downs, and Just Might, one of the best horses to occupy those stalls, starts Monday in the $100,000 Da Hoss Stakes.
Just Might notched a 101 Beyer Speed Figure in an off-turf Fair Grounds stakes earlier this year, caught courses with some give while running below his best form in April at Keeneland and Churchill, and was back on his game June 5 with a front-running turf-sprint score at Churchill. Lovell has worked Just Might twice over the Colonial grass course.
“He seemed to get over it fine,” Lovell said. “I’m looking forward to a very good race from him. He’s doing great.”
Regular rider Colby Hernandez has the mount. Just Might likes to lead but is drawn inside a main pace rival, Francatelli.
“I know there are a couple other horses with speed, but if he breaks well we don’t ever take anything away from him,” Lovell said.
Just a 4-year-old, Francatelli is a horse with room to improve, and he’s already very good. A five-time winner last year at age 3, he finished second to the strong turf sprinter Completed Pass in his 2021 debut before encountering trouble that cost him any chance of winning last out at Monmouth.
“He’s a big, big horse, and you don’t expect them to be five-eighths turf horses, but lo and behold, that’s what he is,” trainer Cal Lynch said. “He’s just very talented. He got a little unlucky at Monmouth, got chopped up pretty bad, but he’s come back and trained really well with a couple really good works.”
Andy Guest
Beantown Baby’s career was transformed when she was moved to turf, but Ain’t No Elmers can beat her in the $100,000 Andy Guest if she can transfer her dirt form to turf.
Ain’t No Elmers showed talent from the start of her career but looked somewhat lost earlier this year before trainer Bret Calhoun added blinkers two race ago.
“Early in her career, everybody thought she needed them, but she was so fast and so forward that I was concerned about putting blinkers on her,” Calhoun said. “Finally, I decided I wanted to tweak things a little, and I do think it’s helped her. She focuses more and she’s much braver.”
Ain’t No Elmers tried grass for the first time last summer at Ellis Park and raced respectably while in lesser form than her current state. Calhoun entered her Friday in the Honorable Miss on July 28 at Saratoga and would opt for that spot, he said, if the Colonial course is wet for the 5 1/2-furlong Andy Guest.
Beantown Baby started her career with four losses but has gone 5-2-0 in seven starts since being moved to turf. She makes her stakes debut Monday.