Snapper Sinclair can regain winning form in turf sprint

Graded stakes performer Snapper Sinclair makes his first start since March in a $71,000 turf sprint allowance that serves as the nominal feature on Wednesday’s eight-race card at Keeneland.

Full fields are again the norm on a day when sunshine is forecast after several days of wet weather in the Lexington, Ky., area.

Snapper Sinclair could anchor a big day for trainer Steve Asmussen in Wednesday’s 5 1/2-furlong sixth race. He will be returning to turf and cutting back to a sprint, an enterprise he found success with last year. The colt won twice from four starts as a juvenile last year, including a victory in the Fasig-Tipton Turf Showcase Juvenile Stakes going seven furlongs on the Kentucky Downs course. He finished 12th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar.

This year, the son of versatile sire City Zip moved to dirt, finishing third in the Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds and second, beaten just a nose by eventual Preakness runner-up Bravazo, in the Grade 2 Risen Star Stakes there. But his bid to appear in the classics ended when he was fifth in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on March 24, his most recent outing.

:: CLOCKER REPORT: Access daily workout analysis for the fall meet at Keeneland

Ricardo Santana Jr., who was Snapper Sinclair’s regular rider as a juvenile, will be back on Wednesday.

Linburgh’s Kitten comes into this race off an allowance victory at Kentucky Downs. Savage Battle and Tommyton won optional-claiming events last out at Arlington and Indiana, respectively.

◗ Asmussen also has logical contenders in the day’s two races for juveniles, including a newcomer to his barn in Midnight Karma. The filly, a 12-length debut winner at Delaware Park, takes the next step in Wednesday’s seventh race, a $69,000 optional-claiming race for 2-year-old fillies.

Midnight Karma was saddled by Greg Compton for her debut race, but has since been transferred to the Asmussen barn by owners Michael and Troy Langford.

Asmussen will also have the well-bred debut starter War Film in the day’s other race for juveniles, the third race, a $67,000 maiden special weight at a mile on the turf. The son of rising young stallion Declaration of War is out of Grade 1 winner Film Maker, the dam of Grade 3-placed Film Shot and stakes-placed Film Making.

◗ Graded stakes winner One Mean Man, who hasn’t found the win column since December 2016, will run for a $40,000 tag in the fifth race, a claiming event with a purse of $38,000.

One Mean Man, a 5-year-old Mizzen Mast horse co-bred by trainer Bernie Flint, scored his biggest win in the Grade 3 American Derby in 2016. He also won the Mystic Lake Derby, Jefferson Cup, Woodchopper Stakes, and Keith Gee Memorial that season. He has placed in six other stakes.