Three turf allowances top card
LEXINGTON, Ky. – It’s a Keeneland tradition as entrenched as burgoo and bread pudding.
In the second half of any given meet, with a front-loaded stakes schedule mostly spent, allowances usually serve as feature races, particularly on weekdays. And no one around here really seems to mind, as long as the weather is tolerable and the beer is cold.
A nine-race Thursday card, the 11th of 16 here this spring, starts at 1:05 p.m. Eastern and proceeds to serve as a prime example – three of the offerings are turf allowances with purses ranging from $81,000 to $83,000, and they’re all interesting races. Here’s a quick rundown of each:
Race 3
This 1 1/2-mile race with just six fillies and mares eligible for a second-level condition is somewhat difficult to decipher for one main reason – the three-turn distance is a great unknown, with the entire field lacking appreciable experience in such marathon events.
With that, Nantucket Red and Finesse Bere are logical favorites, given the company they’ve kept, with perhaps Nantucket Red getting an edge when wheeling back following a respectable effort behind Environs in an April 5 allowance going a mile.
Room to Finish, never worse than second in six career starts, steps outside the Louisiana-bred ranks as a possible contender.
Race 5
The familiar melting-pot effect so closely identified with Keeneland is in play here, with five of the eight 3-year-old fillies in this one-mile race having made their respective last starts at different tracks.
Gallovie, a English-bred in from California for Richard Baltas, looks like she could improve substantially over her lone stateside start, a February down-the-hill race at Santa Anita. Her jockey, Florent Geroux, has been especially effective in upper-level races at this meet, with one stakes (the Lexington) and five allowances among his nine wins.
Other logical players for this “other than” condition include Ebullient, Desert Ride, Moravia, and Be Nimble.
Race 8
An oversubscribed lineup of older horses scurrying 5 1/2 furlongs could get its winner from most anywhere, with Get Western among those deserving high consideration despite making his first start in seven months.
Trained by Charlie LoPresti of Wise Dan fame, Get Western earned an 80 Beyer Speed Figure in three straight starts when coming to hand in longer races last year and shows an encouraging work pattern toward this eagerly awaited comeback. He’s one of a handful who fits well for this “other than” condition, along with Fooch, Iona Mobe, Milk Chocolate, and King of Candy.
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