Undrafted stretches out for return in More Than Ready Mile
Undrafted will be making his first start since a historic victory in the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot when stretching out to a mile Saturday in the $300,000 More Than Ready Mile at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Ky.
Trainer Wesley Ward said he had considered waiting a week to run Undrafted instead in the $300,000 Kentucky Downs Turf Dash, “but he’s just doing so good right now, and we’ve really been wanting to see how he can handle a little more ground again.”
Instead, Ward said he will use the Turf Dash for Green Mask, who will be scratched from an original field of 10 older horses in the More Than Ready Mile.
Owned by star NFL receiver Wes Welker, Undrafted was 14-1 when he captured the six-furlong Diamond Jubilee on June 20. After a short break, the 5-year-old gelding went back into training at Keeneland for Ward, whose far-flung stable is represented in six of the 10 races Saturday at turf-only Kentucky Downs.
“It’s a meet I always look forward to,” said Ward, who has won or tied for the Kentucky Downs training title four times, including last year, when he won the title outright with seven winners.
Joel Rosario will be in from New York to pick up the mount on Undrafted, who will break from post 4. Although he has developed into a top-class turf-sprint specialist, Undrafted competed earlier in his career around two turns, including an easy allowance victory on the Churchill Downs turf.
Besides Undrafted, the More Than Ready Mile drew a terrific field that includes Tourist, Departing, and Regally Ready.
Tourist, trained by Bill Mott, will be making his first start since the Breeders’ Cup Mile last fall. The 4-year-old colt is co-owned by breeder WinStar Farm, the title sponsor of the More Than Ready Mile. Mott has worked him 13 times since early May, all at Saratoga.
Departing, a winner in 8 of 18 starts, was no factor in the Grade 1 Vanderbilt in his last start but now returns to grass, over which he won the Grade 2 Firecracker on closing weekend of the Churchill spring meet.
Regally Ready, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in 2011, was an even-money winner of the More Than Ready Mile last September while running his career bankroll to nearly $1.7 million.
The More Than Ready Mile goes as race 9 (post 5:32 p.m. Central) and is the last of three straight stakes on opening day of the five-day meet. The other two stakes are seven-furlong races for 2-year-olds.
Juvenile (race 8)
Ken McPeek will send out the lukewarm morning-line favorite One Legend in a well-matched field of 10 colts. One Legend improved substantially in his second career start, winning a two-turn maiden race over the Ellis Park turf.
Other considerations include John Q. Public, making his grass debut for D. Wayne Lukas after being an also-ran in the Sanford and Saratoga Special; At the Ready, a sharp winner at 16-1 on the Gulfstream Park turf in his only start; Cajun Schill, another Florida shipper with a Gulfstream turf victory; and Good Intent, getting first Lasix and making his first start for Brendan Walsh after winning his career debut in England in July.
Juvenile Fillies (race 7)
A couple of alliterative last-out winners in New York, Simple Surprise and Seaside Schiller, are the program favorites in a full, contentious field of fillies.
Simple Surprise, a Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred trained by Steve Asmussen, won an ungraded stakes over the Saratoga turf Aug. 19 after making her career debut in the Churchill slop two months earlier.
Seaside Schiller ships in from Fairhill for Michael Matz after a steady series of workouts following a July 16 win on the Belmont turf in her only career start.
In all, 16 are entered, though only as many as 12 can start.