Two Emmys set for another memorable performance in Sycamore
LEXINGTON, Ky. – An encore will be impossible, at least in intensity. Two Emmys returns to action Friday at Keeneland after eliciting powerful feelings of euphoria to despondence, all of them amid a backdrop never to be experienced again.
In his last start nearly 10 weeks ago, Two Emmys won the Grade 1 Mr. D., a race formerly known as the Arlington Million, the signature event at Arlington Park, the suburban Chicago track since shuttered by parent company Churchill Downs Inc. Left alone on the lead with James Graham aboard, the 5-year-old gelding posted a 27-1 upset, one that can never be replicated given its unique set of circumstances.
“It was pretty surreal,” said Graham, a former Arlington riding champion who has a return call Friday on Two Emmys in the Grade 3, $150,000 Sycamore Stakes on the Keeneland turf. “Great for us, but sad at the same time for a whole lot of people with Arlington about to close.”
Given a short breather by the father-son training team of Hugh and Mac Robertson, Two Emmys has since geared back up for a fall-winter campaign his connections hope will produce more rare memories. The Kentucky-bred son of English Channel has been assigned the outside post as the apparent lone speed in a field of 12 older horses in the 1 1/2-mile Sycamore, which will be run around three turns as the eighth of 10 races.
In his three rides on Two Emmys, Graham has won twice – a January 2020 turf allowance at Fair Grounds and the Mr. D. on Aug. 14 – while also finishing second on him at 24-1 behind the highly accomplished Colonel Liam in the Grade 2 Mervin Muniz in March.
“He’s a pretty cool horse,” Graham said. “He’s not the biggest of creatures, but he’s fast and he’s classy. I’m not exactly sure why he runs so well for me – he just does.”
Graham again might be able to walk the proverbial dog on Two Emmys as he did at Arlington, given the startling lack of opposing speed signed on. Ry’s the Guy (post 4, Chris Landeros) or Yamato (post 5, Joe Talamo) might be able to keep him honest, but otherwise Two Emmys may find himself loping along on a relaxed pace trying to give Graham a fourth Sycamore triumph, following Transduction Gold (2007), Najjaar (2013), and Red Knight (2020).
If Two Emmys does come back to the field, the resulting scramble could boil down to any of a handful of stretch-runners. Spooky Channel (post 6) now gets Julien Leparoux after winning the Remington Green on Sept. 26 in Oklahoma with Graham aboard, while the uncoupled Mike Maker duo of Glynn County (post 1, Tyler Gaffalione) and Ajourneytofreedom (post 2, Corey Lanerie) also enter in decent form. Three more drawn farther outside also bear close scrutiny, those being Bama Breeze (post 9, Brian Hernandez Jr.), Another Mystery (post 10, Adam Beschizza), and Kentucky Ghost (post 11, Rafael Bejarano).
This is the 27th running of the Sycamore, named for the ancient sycamore tree that looms majestically over the Keeneland walking ring. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern, with the Sycamore set for 4:44. Cloudy skies and a high of 57 are in the local forecast.