Rhetorical targeting Maker's Mark Mile to start 2026
?q=100)
Rhetorical stamped himself as a world-class turf miler winning the Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland in October, and after validating that performance with a fine fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Mile, he probably will launch his 2026 campaign right back at Keeneland.
Trainer Will Walden said Rhetorical had exited the Breeders’ Cup Mile in good condition but that the gelding, pending final discussions with his owners, will get a winter break and be aimed at the Grade 1 Maker’s Mark Mile in April.
“That was kind of the tentative plan going in,” Walden said Monday. “We’d probably train up to it. He’s a horse that does enough in the morning to where you’d be comfortable with that.”
After earning a career-best 101 Beyer Speed Figure at Keeneland, Rhetorical regressed only marginally to a 99 in the BC Mile, and that with a ground-losing trip from post 11. To avoid being caught behind a flat horse into the second turn, Irad Ortiz Jr. made an early move with Rhetorical to go from fourth to second around the bend, challenging for and ultimately making the lead while running the race’s fastest third quarter-mile, 23.81 seconds. His in-race exertions caught up to Rhetorical in the final half-furlong, but so did the gelding’s relative inexperience.
The Grade 1 Turf Mile marked Rhetorical’s graded stakes debut. In four of his five starts he had faced New York-breds, and his lone stakes try had come in statebred-restricted competition.
“We asked a lot of this horse,” Walden said. “He had been running against allowance horses and New York-breds up until a few weeks ago, and that was a big effort in the Coolmore. He’s a Grade 1-caliber horse. Next year’s campaign will focus on getting him back to Breeders’ Cup.”
Bango eyes another win
A mere three racing days after running the Bet On Sunshine Stakes, a dirt-sprint for older horses, Churchill Downs managed to fill a high-end allowance race in the same division. Thursday’s featured eighth race, carded for six furlongs on dirt, has a basic third-level allowance condition, a $100,000 claiming option, and attracted a field of seven.
Among them, drawn widest, is the horse with the most wins in recorded Churchill history, Bango, who in September 2024 won for the 12th time at Churchill, where he has made 26 starts.
Win No. 12, however, has not been followed by much good: Eight-year-old Bango has gone winless in three starts since his record-breaker and most recently saw action on May 25, finishing eighth in the St. Matthews Stakes. Bango has fired fresh before for trainer Greg Foley, and, with just a moderate bounce-back toward his better form, isn’t out of his depth with this group.
For instance: The morning line lists rail-drawn Harrodsburg as the 2-1 favorite despite a fading fourth-place finish at this level during the Keeneland meet last month. Harrodsburg has been an excellent $50,000 claim for owners Rod and Bud Hatfield and trainer Michael Tomlinson, but his form always has swung from pole to pole, and the gelding could still be in a down cycle.
Owner-trainer David Jacobson entered two, and while Alder at 3-1 is the lower price on the morning line, he’s a turf horse, and 5-1 Happy American is the pick to win. Happy American hasn’t raced since May but was running then like a horse who needed a break, and at his best can swoop with one big run from last to first under Irad Ortiz Jr.
A previous version of this article mistakenly referred to Bango as a gelding. He is an entire horse.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.