Static Fire looks tough in return to dirt

LEXINGTON, Ky. – The only time Static Fire raced on dirt, she whistled. That front-running score in late May at Churchill Downs coincided with the only time she competed in allowance company, and also with the only time she raced on the bleeder medication Lasix.

Thursday at Keeneland, Static Fire will be back on the main track when getting Lasix and returning to the allowance ranks. You can probably tell where this is headed.

“Hopefully, it’ll all add up to a big performance from her,” said her trainer, Brian Lynch. “There should be no excuses.”

Indeed, after breaking from the outside post with Julien Leparoux aboard, Static Fire might not get a glimpse of her five rivals, at least in the stretch run of the Thursday feature, a $120,000, second-level allowance going six furlongs. It’s the eighth of 10 races, and the first of back-to-back allowances, on a program that starts at 1 p.m. Eastern.

:: Bet Keeneland with confidence! Get DRF PPs, Picks, Betting Strategies, and more.

Static Fire, owned by the Silverton Hill Farm of Tommy and Bonnie Hamilton, exits a pair of rugged turf-sprint stakes at Saratoga when likely to appreciate the class relief she’ll be getting Thursday. There’s other speed in opposition, including Promises to Dance and the Iowa shipper Diva Treva, but Static Fire could leverage her favorable post into a steady run, assuming she can replicate the 86 Beyer Speed Figure she earned in winning this spring at Churchill.

The feature will be followed by two highly competitive races.

Race 9 is a $110,000, first-level allowance that drew an oversubscribed and nearly inscrutable lineup of fillies and mares going a mile on the turf. Fast as Flight, a Lynch trainee, figures among a core of lukewarm favorites in a wide-open race that also has Candy Light, Toeris, Jubilee Bridge, and Blissful as logical contenders.

Race 10 is a $44,000 starter allowance featuring the 24th start of the year for Beverly Park, the winningest horse in North America in 2022. Owned and trained by Norman “Lynn” Cash, the 5-year-old horse already has won 11 races this year, or three more than the next horse on the list, Parx Racing-based Exit Right (8 for 11).

Beverly Park, by Munnings, “has an amazing constitution,” Cash said. “He’s built like a tank.”

All listed purses include substantial bonuses reserved for registered Kentucky-breds.

Mostly sunny skies and a high of 67 are in the Thursday forecast.

After Thursday, graded stakes will anchor each of the three remaining cards this week – the Grade 3 Sycamore on Friday, the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup on Saturday, and the Grade 3 Franklin County on Sunday.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.