Pleuven, Thatcher Street meet again in Warrior Veterans
The first- and third-place finishers from the Grade 2 Wise Dan Stakes on June 18 at Churchill Downs meet again in the $100,000 Warrior Veterans Stakes on Saturday night at Indiana Grand, and the second-place finisher from the Wise Dan already has put a stamp of validation on the race.
Kasaqui, the Wise Dan runner-up, returned to action last weekend in the Arlington Handicap and won it with aplomb, a performance that especially boosts the stock of Pleuven, who ran down Kasaqui to win the Wise Dan. Third in that race was Thatcher Street, and he and Pleuven figure to be the betting choices in an unusually deep, competitive edition of the Warrior Veterans, which will be run over 1 1/16 miles on what should be firm turf.
The 5-year-old Pleuven is an interesting horse. Imported from France, he resided in the Chad Brown barn and looked like an up-and-coming grass miler early in 2015, winning back-to-back races at Gulfstream before going to the sidelines for more than a year. When Pleuven reappeared, he had a new owner, Nelson McMakin, and a new trainer, Phil Sims, the connections who campaigned the very good grass mare Hot Cha Cha several years ago.
Pleuven closed strongly into a walking pace to be beaten less than one length in his Keeneland comeback run, was a good second behind Thatcher Street and in front of the solid listed-stakes-class miler Aztec Brave in the Opening Verse, and finished very fast off a slow gallop to win the Wise Dan. Pleuven has enough speed to adapt to different pace scenarios. He worked between starts and shows no sign of losing his strong form. All of that makes Pleuven a solid choice to win the Warrior Veterans.
Thatcher Street, trained by Ian Wilkes, came off a first-level allowance win to finish second in the 2015 edition of this race. That was a weaker group than the one Thatcher Street meets this time, but he is an improved horse. He is less able to make his own race than Pleuven and probably already has hit his ceiling, whereas it’s still uncertain how good Pleuven can become.
Trainer Mike Maker starts Watchyourownbobber, who is priced too high at 15-1 on the morning line, and as a front-runner in a race that might not be run at too fast a tempo, Watchyourownbobber has enough quality to stick around to the end on his best day. Flashlight was just claimed from Maker out of a very sharp Churchill win and can’t totally be ignored for new trainer Tim Glyshaw. Conquest Typhoon, Nun the Less, and Fredericksburg provide further depth to an interesting race.
Cash Control on a roll
Cash Control and Lovely Loyree look like the principals in the $100,000 Indiana General Assembly Distaff, another 1 1/16-mile grass race, this one restricted to older females.
Cash Control, a 5-year-old, is having a season almost as good as that of her rising young trainer, Brad Cox. She’s made five starts in 2016, winning twice, with a place and a show for good measure. On turf, she has traded decisions with the very nice mare Mizz Money, and the only time she was well beaten on grass this season was when she deigned to face the reigning queen of the lawn, Tepin, in the Distaff Turf Mile at Churchill.
Cash Control is an iron horse for this era: She didn’t race last October or this April but has otherwise started once a month for the last year. The schedule has not made a dent in her form, and if Cash Control holds that level, she is nearly certain to finish in the top three Saturday. A perfect pocket trip from the rail, which looks possible, only would help her cause.
Lovely Loyree was narrowly defeated by Cash Control last fall in a Churchill allowance race and is a better horse now. She was a work short of being fully ready for an Illinois-bred turf stakes last out, trainer Michele Boyce said, and if hustled from the gate Saturday might make a clear lead and control the pace.
Lady Fog Horn was cross-entered here and in a dirt race later on the card, and her connections were said as of Thursday to be leaning toward the dirt stakes.