Trio of allowances on Sunday card

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A four-day race week will conclude with another solid card, as three of the 10 Sunday races are allowances (races 4,7,9). The richest of those is the seventh, a $64,000 turf sprint for 3-year-olds in which Smart Remark could emerge as the one to beat.

First post Sunday is 12:45 p.m. Eastern, with a semi-depleted Single 6 being offered on races 5-10. Churchill officials got permission this week from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to divert $300,000 of the Single 6 jackpot to a mandatory payout Saturday night, which would still leave about $400,000 going forward (the jackpot stood at $684,595 into Friday action).

In all, 12 allowances were to be run from 38 overall races here this week (Thursday to Sunday), not to mention the two Downs After Dark stakes Saturday (Aristides and Mighty Beau).

◗ Monomoy Girl and McCraken were among the big-name horses scheduled to have their final pre-race breezes here Sunday prior to leaving for their Grade 1 engagements on the Belmont Stakes undercard. Monomoy Girl, winner of the Kentucky Oaks, will be favored in the Acorn, while McCraken is a major contender in the Metropolitan Mile.

◗ Mike Lauer, who has been based primarily in Kentucky for most of his 45-year training career, was closing in on the 1,000-win milestone as this week wound down. Into Friday action, Lauer had 994 wins to his credit.