Three allowance races top card

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Three straight allowances on the back end of a nine-race Thursday card should be enough to keep Keeneland horseplayers plenty entertained and sufficiently warm. All three will be run over a distance of ground with six-figure purses that have become the norm on a circuit enriched by revenue streams from slots-like machines.

Race 6 is a $130,000 third-level race that drew six older horses going 1 1/16 miles on the main track. Races 7 and 8, worth as much as $120,000 and governed by a second-level condition, both drew full fields of 12. The seventh is for fillies and mares going about 1 1/16 miles on the turf, and the eighth is restricted to 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the dirt.

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

First post Thursday is 1 p.m. Eastern. Sunny skies and a high temperature of just 57 are in the local forecast.

Upcoming Keeneland stakes are the Grade 2 Raven Run and Perryville on Saturday and the Grade 3 Dowager on Sunday. The 17-day meet runs through Oct. 29.

Race 6

Meister, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Ian Wilkes, suddenly came to peak form in late summer, knocking out his first two allowance conditions at Churchill Downs, and he looks like the one to beat in this short field. Julien Leparoux rides from post 3.

Major Fed, looking to break a seven-race winless streak, is among the top threats. Before the drought, the 5-year-old Ghostzapper horse won two of three well-spaced starts following his 10th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby of September 2020.

Race 7

This one is about as wide open as they get, although Champagne Lady, with benefit of a solid runner-up finish last month at Kentucky Downs following an 80-day layoff, sure seems a prime contender for trainer Shug McGaughey. Champagne Lady retains Tyler Gaffalione, who was tied with Luis Saez for leading jockey (eight wins each) through the first eight cards of this meet.

Bipartisanship, Flown, Justify My Love, and 3-year-old Sister Lou Ann also figure to take their share of tote action.

Race 8

Actuator, winner of the Indiana Derby in July, stretches back out from a failed effort in the Grade 1 Allen Jerkens going seven furlongs and faces the likes of Saint Tapit and stakes winners Ethereal Road and Major General in what seems an above-par field for the level.

Actuator, based at Churchill for trainer Michael McCarthy, has breezed twice this month since being regrouped in the Jerkens aftermath. James Graham has the call.

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