There were two seven-figure races for older runners going a route of ground last Saturday at Kentucky Downs. The marathon race was won by a German-based runner, Flatten the Curve. Later on the card, the $2 million Ladies Turf was won by the Brendan Walsh-trained Special Wan. The Kentucky Downs card this Saturday includes six stakes, all with purses of $2 million or more, and two longer than 1 1/4 miles. Walsh will saddle the German-bred Spanish Eyes, who came to his barn early this year, in the Grade 3, $2 million Ladies Marathon Invitational going 1 5/16 miles. The purse includes $1 million from the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund, which only Kentucky-breds are eligible to earn, but a seven-figure pot is still up for grabs for this international cast. Along with Spanish Eyes and four Kentucky-breds, the field includes runners born in Argentina, England, France, Ireland, and South Africa. The 4-year-old Spanish Eyes made five starts in Germany last year for trainer Andreas Wohler. Although her only career win came in her 1 1/8-mile debut, she was second by a length over good ground in the Group 1 German Oaks at 11 furlongs. Kentucky is expecting much needed rain on Thursday and Saturday after a very dry August, and although it would take a true deluge to change conditions dramatically, Spanish Eyes has shown she can cope with cut in the ground. Spanish Eyes made her first start for Walsh, and her first start in more than seven months, in a 1 1/8-mile allowance in May at Churchill Downs. She lacked room to rally while finishing fourth. She has taken a step forward, from a figure standpoint and from Walsh’s estimation, in each start since. :: Kentucky Downs Package Available Now - Get All Access PPs and more for just $20! After a slow start, the filly was second by a head in the Grade 3 Robert G. Dick Memorial at 1 3/8 miles. She then faced her strongest field yet in the Grade 2 Beverly D, going 1 3/16 miles at Colonial Downs. Her rivals got away from her a bit, but with better than 10 lengths to make up approaching the quarter pole, Spanish Eyes rallied to be second by 1 1/2 lengths. After that effort, Walsh said, “A little further and I think we’re probably in business. She could go a little further.” Spanish Eyes gets that added distance Saturday. Beach Bomb, a Group 1 winner in her native South Africa, came to Graham Motion last year and has settled into good form this season, with her best performances coming in longer races. Earlier this year in Florida, she won the Grade 3 The Very One at 1 3/8 miles and the Grade 3 Orchid at 1 1/2 miles. Both were front-running efforts, making her a potential target for closers like Spanish Eyes. When sent to New York, Beach Bomb ran creditably against some of the best in the land. She finished second in the Grade 2 Sheepshead Bay to Bellezza, the recent winner of the Grade 2 Flower Bowl, and then was a hard-fought second by a half-length to divisional leader She Feels Pretty in the Grade 1 New York. Off that effort, Beach Bomb may have bounced when she flattened out to be fifth in the Beverly D. The 1 5/16-mile Ladies Marathon will start shortly before the tight first turn at Kentucky Downs. After a long straightaway down the backstretch, with an incline toward the end, the field bears right while coming downhill into a sweeping left-handed far turn. There is then a gradual incline in the stretch, which can sometimes take the punch out of a late-runner such as Spanish Eyes. Only two fillies in this field, Stellify and Miwa, have a win on this course, and the presence of Stellify, a front-runner who would provide company to Beach Bomb, conversely benefits Spanish Eyes. Stellify has won three straight races, including an allowance going 1 1/2 miles on Aug. 28 at Kentucky Downs. She is wheeling back in nine days, as is Miwa, who won an allowance that day at this 1 5/16-mile trip. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.