Plenty of cash up for grabs in trio of allowances

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The trail of silly money traces from Kentucky Downs to its big brother Churchill Downs as the September meet continues to unfold with the second of 14 programs on Friday.

Three co-featured allowances with purses ranging from $127,000 to $141,000 anchor a 10-race card that also includes a pair of maiden specials worth as much as $120,000. It’s enough to keep horsemen making a beeline to the Churchill entry box, even with turf racing suspended for the entire meet. A seven-day meet at turf-only Kentucky Downs was completed Wednesday.

All listed purses include substantial bonuses for Kentucky-breds registered to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund, much of it gleaned from the slots-like historical horse racing machines that have proliferated within state lines.

First post Friday is 12:45 p.m. Eastern. Sunshine and highs in the mid-80s are in the local forecast.

Race 3

Saffie Joseph Jr., who continues to make inroads on the Kentucky circuit, sends out the likely favorite in a field of seven 2-year-olds in this $127,000, first-level allowance in X Y Point, a 6 1/2-length winner at his primary base, Gulfstream Park, in his only start. Joseph, now the dominant trainer in Florida, had four wins and three seconds from his first 19 starters at Kentucky Downs.

:: DRF Bets members get FREE DRF Past Performances - Formulator or Classic. Join now!

Top threats in this seven-furlong event facing X Y Point, who earned a field-high 70 Beyer Speed Figure in that July 30 romp, are Judo, Frosted Departure, and Counterspy, all of them maiden winners at the Ellis Park summer meet.

Race 8

Lovemesomeme, already a three-time winner from five starts over the Churchill main track, appears to find an ideal spot for trainer Tommy Drury in this third-level, $141,000 race that drew seven fillies and mares. Although she was third in each of her last two starts, Lovemesomeme was facing the likes of Travel Column and Bell’s the One, both of them multiple graded winners, in those races.

Will’s Secret, a winner of back-to-back stakes in early 2021, could emerge the main foe, although this seven-furlong distance might be a tad short for her liking.

Race 9

This looks like the deepest of the allowance trio, with a field of 11 3-year-olds and up seeming to have no obvious favorite and maybe a half-dozen viable contenders. They’ll go a one-turn mile when competing for a $134,000 purse under a second-level restriction with an $80,000 claiming option.

Zoomer, a distant last in the Grade 1 Whitney, is back in for the optional tag after being haltered for $50,000 by Mark Casse early in the Saratoga meet off a seven-length romp that graded out to a 97 Beyer. He’s among a core of likely lukewarm favorites that also figure to include Digital and Business Model.