Vote No must overcome rail, other speed in Prevue

Turf stakes winner Vote No’s credentials have made him the morning-line favorite for Saturday night’s $125,000 Turfway Prevue Stakes at Turfway Park.

The Prevue is the track’s first stakes of the year for 3-year-olds, with this stakes series having impact on the division in recent years. The 6 1/2-furlong Prevue is not formally considered part of the track’s Kentucky Derby prep series – the one-mile, $125,000 Leonatus on Jan. 20, the $150,000 John Battaglia Memorial (Derby points awarded 20-10-6-4-2) at 1 1/16 miles on March 2, and the Grade 3, $700,000 Jeff Ruby (100-50-25-15-10) at 1 1/8 miles on March 23. However, Saturday’s race could provide a springboard for sophomores building toward stretching out. Last year, Scoobie Quando won the Prevue, then went on to finish second in the Battaglia Memorial.

Vote No, trained by Billy Morey, won his debut in August, going 5 1/2 furlongs on Presque Isle’s Tapeta before moving on to face solid competition in turf stakes. He won the Juvenile Sprint at Kentucky Downs, going the 6 1/2 furlongs of the Prevue, although it likely felt slightly longer on that undulating course. Runner-up Hedwig was a next-out allowance winner at Del Mar.

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Vote No stretched out to 1 1/16 miles for the Grade 2 Bourbon at Keeneland and finished a solid third, beaten a length. Winner Can Group went on to finish a decent fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, while runner-up Noted won the Pulpit Stakes last month at Gulfstream.

Vote No, who has been working steadily at Turfway as he prepares to cut back to a preferred distance off the bench, will break from the rail in a field of seven, and Gerardo Corrales will have decisions to make as soon as the gate opens. There is plenty of speed in this field, including in the two posts just outside the favorite. Multiple minor Maryland dirt stakes winner Sweet Soddy J, cross-entered in Saturday’s Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, is drawn in post 2, while runaway maiden winner Joe Shiesty has landed in post 3. Quarrymen and Ceepeegee also have shown good early foot in previous races, as has Let’s Go Mark, in the outside post.

Vote No has run his best races sitting just off the pace and then pouncing. Attempting to wait off the pace in the Prevue could leave the gelding with traffic to work through in the sprint, if other horses gun for the lead and cross over in front of him. Alternatively, Corrales could choose to call on his mount early to secure position.

Joe Shiesty is the second choice on the morning line on the strength of a dominant Turfway maiden win in his third career start for Eric Foster. Finding competition that suited him in an auction-restricted maiden special weight, the gelding rambled home by 12 3/4 lengths while geared down. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 86, the best in this field, and will be dangerous on the lead if his form holds against stronger competition.

Let’s Go Mark posted an 80 Beyer in an allowance/optional-claiming win Dec. 20 at Turfway. He set a pressured pace before holding sway by a length over Quarrymen and Tagliatelle, both in Saturday’s field.

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