A unique course prompts peculiar preparation for Maycocks Bay
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The connections of the 5-year-old gelding Maycocks Bay have been preparing their charge for a $500,000 overnight stakes opportunity by taking him out into a field.
Maycocks Bay has been stabled in the Michael Stidham string at the Fair Hill training center, which in addition to standard-oval training has some trails and a large grassy swath where horses can train European style. What occasions such unusual race preparation? An unusual racecourse.
Kentucky Downs, like no other track in North America, opens its brief, lucrative seven-day race meet on Saturday. The $500,000 Tight Spot, the race for Maycocks Bay, is one of three stakes on the card, along with the $750,000 Juvenile Sprint and the Grade 1, $1.75 million Ladies Sprint.
With the Mint Gaming Hall whirring along, Kentucky Downs has been giving this kind of money away for several years, but it still kind of boggles the mind. During those seven days (Aug. 29, Aug. 30, Sept. 3, Sept. 5-7, and Sept. 9), the rural track near the Tennessee border intends to pay out more than $37 million in purses, including nearly $26 million in stakes. No wonder Kentucky Downs has averaged an extremely healthy 10.8 starters per race the last two seasons.
Field size should hold firm, but other changes are afoot, including a major one: The minimum wager on win, place, and show bets has been raised to $5. Several tracks have adopted exotic wagers with minimums higher than $2, but Kentucky Downs is the first track to raise the base on straight bets.
There are other new bets with high minimums: a $3 late pick three, a $5 late double, and a $5 base exacta wager on each card’s final race. Takeout on the pick three, pick four, and pick five has been lowered from 20 percent to 15 percent. The rest of the wagering menu remains unchanged, with a takeout rate of 19.5 percent on exactas and 20 percent on all other gimmicks.
By now, bettors are generally familiar with the European-style course layout, short and long bends, undulations, and a long homestretch with an uphill finish and a dogleg. Who better to handle such conditions than European horses?
Overseas participation, already on the rise last year, continues increasing. More than a dozen European shippers are expected to start, including 2025 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Ethical Diamond, who goes in the $2 million Kentucky Downs Turf Cup on Sept. 5. Several Europeans are intended for the $3 million Nashville Derby on the same card, including Glacius, winner of the Saratoga Derby.
As for Maycocks Bay, he’s an aggressive front-runner who can pull too hard in racing and training, but out in that field, he’s been gentle as a lamb, said Stidham, who sports a fine 7-for-27 Kentucky Downs win mark the last five years.
The one-mile Tight Spot runs through Lagynos, who won the $500,000 Tapit Stakes on opening weekend of last year’s meet, then finished second in the Mint Millions. Lagynos already has put together a grand season. He has five stakes wins, four in graded company, and was a solid fifth Aug. 8 in the Grade 1 Fourstardave. Lagynos breaks from the fence under new jockey Julien Leparoux.
“It’s 21 days back, but that concerns me less than the rail,” trainer Steve Asmussen said.
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Lagynos typically prefers making his move on the outside, and if he gets there and the pace is fair, he should win as the favorite.
Juvenile Sprint
Trainer Wesley Ward said Thursday that he’s leaning toward scratching Waggley, the morning-line favorite for the $750,000 Juvenile Sprint, to run her Sunday against fillies. That does not mean Ward can’t win the 6 1/2-furlong Juvenile Sprint. He still has Just a Holiday for the race, and despite the fact that the colt’s a two-race maiden, Ward is singing his praises.
“I always thought a lot of him but didn’t think he’d be early because he’s such a big guy,” Ward said.
Just a Holiday debuted on Saratoga dirt, broke poorly, ate dirt, and got beat by 23 3/4 lengths. Switched to turf, he showed his speed – too much speed, Ward believes – and was run down late in a grass sprint.
“He went way too fast early and paid the price late,” Ward said. “I’m really, really happy with this colt.”
Just a Holiday drew on the far outside with several other pace players inside him. Admiral’s Order went wire to wire winning his debut at Ellis Park in a race carded for turf but rained onto dirt. Trainer Ben Colebrook hopes to see him a little off the pace Saturday.
“I hope to be stalking. He has speed, but I hope he has a target,” Colebrook said.
Grand Yaupon, another potential pace player, took the worst of things at the draw and breaks from the rail. He makes his turf debut in his fourth start, and Asmussen said he’s unsure of the colt’s grass ability.
Turf is also an unknown for Pinpoint, a wire-to-wire dirt maiden winner last out at Saratoga, where Vissino ran second last out in the Sanford Stakes.
Good to Be King cuts back from a two-turn mile at Ellis Park and should be running late, as might be Mid American, an eye-catching turf sprint maiden winner at Ellis.
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