Strong overnight races set table for holiday weekend
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Churchill Downs opens a five-day holiday week of racing with competitive allowance-level events on both Thursday and Friday that feature several stakes performers. Churchill will then run its usual Saturday and Sunday cards, followed by a Memorial Day program on Monday. Two stakes for fillies and mares will highlight this span.
Three solid events on card
The eighth race on the Thursday card serves as the nominal feature among three allowance-level events. With a purse of $134,000, the allowance/optional-claiming event for older horses going nine furlongs on dirt has drawn Grade 1-placed runners, including Commandperformance, making his first start for a new barn. The colt was second to Jack Christopher in the Grade 1 Champagne in 2021 while still a maiden. He ultimately broke his maiden last year at Monmouth Park and won an allowance there, beating next-out winners in both two-turn races for Todd Pletcher.
Fifth in an allowance/optional at Aqueduct in his lone start of 2023, Commandperformance went through the ring at the Keeneland April horses of all ages sale, and was a $115,000 purchase. He makes his first start for Carl Moore Management and Brad Grady, and trainer Joe Sharp.
Last year’s Preakness third-place finisher Creative Minister and Grade 3-placed stakes winner Cooke Creek were a close second and third, respectively, in a Keeneland allowance/optional race last month. The winner, Time for Trouble, was seventh in the Grade 3 Louisville on the Churchill turf last Saturday.
The seventh race, a $127,000 allowance for fillies and mares, could hinge on an early tangle between Beauxs Artes and Cancel This, drawn in posts 2 and 3, respectively. Both had strong last-out efforts at Churchill while running on the pace.
Cancel This will be making her first start since November for Dale Romans. Last November, she set the pace in a seven-furlong allowance on a sloppy track, ultimately finishing second. Beauxs Artes made her most recent start on May 4 for Eddie Kenneally, running on the lead in a 7 1/2-furlong allowance before being overtaken and finishing third.
Both runners shorten up slightly to 6 1/2 furlongs here. Luis Saez was aboard both in their most recent outings. He remains with Beauxs Artes, while Martin Garcia picks up the mount on Cancel This.
Dawny, drawn outside under Gabriel Saez for Larry Jones, has a win and three seconds in four career starts, all going six furlongs at Oaklawn Park this season. She gets a touch more ground to work with, and pace up front could benefit her.
The fifth race, a one-mile turf allowance/optional-claiming race with a purse of $134,000, has an international flavor. Legal Attack, a 5-year-old who was Group 3-placed in France early in his career, made his first U.S. start in March at Turfway Park for trainer Ed Vaughn. It was also his first start since June 2021. He turned in a strong effort, finishing in a dead heat for the win going six furlongs on Tapeta.
Editorial Comment, a Group 2 winner in Argentina, came to the U.S. and made three starts last year. He has been transferred to Ignacio Correas IV, and is coming off a bullet work on Keeneland’s Polytrack training track to prepare for his 2023 debut.
Strong Friday matchup
The Friday feature, a $148,000 allowance/optional turf sprint, has conditions that have allowed a matchup of accomplished Kentucky-based runners Bound for Nowhere and Just Might, both looking for their first win of the year.
The 9-year-old Bound for Nowhere, a three-time graded stakes winner who has earned more than $1.2 million, seemingly has not slowed at all for Wesley Ward. The lightly raced horse won twice and was second once from three starts last year. In his first outing of 2023, he was second in a Keeneland allowance.
Just Might is approaching millionaire status for Michelle Lovell, with earnings of $994,775. The nine-time stakes winner has not won since taking the off-the-turf Mighty Beau last June at Churchill. He finished 10th in the Grade 2 Turf Sprint on the Kentucky Derby undercard.
Bad Beat Brian was second by a head to divisional leader Caravel in the Grade 2 Shakertown before finishing sixth in the Turf Sprint. The main field of six also includes stakes winners Smokin’ Jay and Surveillance.
Two stakes on tap
The $225,000 Keertana Overnight Stakes, for fillies and mares going 1 1/2 miles on the turf, is set for Saturday. I’m So Sorry, Implosion, Lovely Princess, Miss Yearwood, Quality Star, Sinfiltre, Talbeyah, and Viburnum are probable entrants, according to Churchill assistant racing secretary and stakes coordinator Dan Bork.
The Memorial Day feature is the Grade 3, $225,000 Winning Colors Stakes for female sprinters. In recent years, the race was a showcase for the rivalry of Churchill-based sprinters Bell’s the One, who won in 2020, and Sconsin, who won the last two editions. Both are now retired.
Bork lists Coppelia, Last Leaf, Marissa’s Lady, Sharp Hero, and Spirit Wind as probables.
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