Two Breeders' Cup notables back in juvenile stakes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The respective runners-up in each of the premier Breeders’ Cup races for 2-year-olds will return to action Saturday at Churchill Downs when Knicks Go runs in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club and Restless Rider goes in the Grade 2 Golden Rod.

Knicks Go was second to Game Winner in the Nov. 2 BC Juvenile, while Restless Rider was second to Jaywalk earlier in the day in the BC Juvenile Fillies. Their collective presence in the 1 1/16-mile co-features should make for yet another terrific Stars of Tomorrow all-2-year-old card on closing weekend of the 21-day fall meet.

Knicks Go drew post 13 in a field of 14 colts and geldings in the KJC. Restless Rider got post 5 in a field of eight fillies in the Golden Rod.

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Trainer Ben Colebrook had considered a lighter spot for Knicks Go – the Dec. 8 Maryland Juvenile Futurity for Maryland-breds at Laurel Park – before opting instead for the $200,000 KJC.

“I only thought if he recovered from the Breeders’ Cup well enough would we go,” said Colebrook. “It is back quick, but his energy level is back to where it was before the Breeders’ Cup. This fits a reasonable schedule for him and it’s an important race in itself.”

Both the KJC and Golden Rod are qualifying-points events (10 to the winner) toward the 2019 Kentucky Derby and Oaks. Both are part of a new multi-track wager called the Fleur de Lis pick four, a 50-cent minimum bet that also will incorporate two races from another Churchill Downs Inc. track, Fair Grounds, which is hosting the bet.

First post for a 12-race Saturday card is 1 p.m. Eastern, with the Golden Rod going as race 9 (4:57) and the KJC as race 11 (5:56). Rain is in the forecast.

Sunday is closing day of the fall meet. Live action on the circuit shifts Wednesday to Turfway Park in northern Kentucky, where racing will be conducted until late March.

Copper Bullet finally returns

Some three weeks after he was supposed to make his long-awaited return to action, Copper Bullet will do so in the second race Friday when facing six others in an $82,000 second-level allowance at seven furlongs.

Copper Bullet was scratched from a similar race on Nov. 1 when the track came up a sea of slop. The colt has not raced since winning the Grade 2 Saratoga Special in August 2017, an effort good enough to make him a separate wagering interest (he closed at 45-1) last November in the first pool toward the 2018 Kentucky Derby.

Trained by Steve Asmussen, Copper Bullet initially was sidelined with a shin problem that resurfaced after he returned to serious training last winter at Fair Grounds, where he had 10 workouts prior to more time off.

“He’s put in some beautiful work,” said Asmussen. “He’s solid as can be now.”

◗ Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark, the founder of Churchill, named the Clark Handicap after himself during the track’s inaugural season of 1875. Six other Churchill stakes also are now named after a person: the Stephen Foster, Pocahontas, Pat Day Mile, Matt Winn, Lukas Classic, and William Walker.