Quip will try to rebound in Lukas Classic

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Everything was going just great for the colt named Quip. The millionaire 4-year-old was coasting on the lead into the far turn of the Aug. 17 Pacific Classic at Del Mar, seemingly validating his status as the 3-1 second choice in the Grade 1 race.

Then it all came apart. Quip had no giddy-up and beat a steady fade to the wire, finishing 29 lengths back in ninth place after jockey Florent Geroux, knowing he was badly beaten, eased the colt inside the eighth pole.

“We have no idea why he stopped like that,” Rudy Brisset, who trains Quip for a partnership led by WinStar Farm, said this week. “No clue.”

Duly regrouped, Quip will return to action Saturday night under the Churchill Downs lights as one of the favorites in the richest race of the September meet, the $250,000 Lukas Classic at 1 1/8 miles. It’s one of two Grade 3 races on the Downs After Dark card, along with the $150,000 Ack Ack going a one-turn mile.

Quip has breezed four times this month at Brisset’s main base at Keeneland since the Pacific Classic.

“We went over him very closely,” said Brisset. “We can’t find any excuse. We are putting a line through his last race and looking forward, although we have no plans for him beyond this race. He is going to have to show us a better effort than he gave in California.”

Quip, with Geroux back riding, will have Silver Dust, Pioneer Spirit, and the Mexican standout Kukulkan among his chief opposition in the Lukas Classic. A field of at least eight is expected.

The Ack Ack will have the California shipper Air Strike among its top contenders. A third stakes, the $125,000 Jefferson Cup for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the turf, will be part of an 11-race card that starts at 6 p.m. Eastern. The last race goes at 11:10 p.m.