Wide-open non-Breeders' Cup stakes, pick five, kick off Friday festivities
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Any other day, these might all be headliners. But when contrasted against the Breeders’ Cup, an early lineup of supporting events Friday at Keeneland will have to serve as mere preludes.
Still, it’s a very interesting set of lead-in races. Prior to the five Future Stars Friday events that end a 10-race card starting at 11:30 a.m. Eastern, there will be five straight stakes comprising a pick five (races 1-5) of its own. Race 5 is the Grade 2 Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (formerly the BC Marathon), culminating a sequence that starts with four ungraded races with six-figure purses.
Here’s a quick rundown of those first four preliminaries:
$125,000 Nyquist (race 1, 11:30 a.m.)
A melting pot of 2-year-olds going 6 1/2 furlongs should be incentive enough to get everybody’s advance-deposit wagering accounts revved up. A field of nine has a collective record of 11 for 18, so clearly there’s been a whole lot of winning going on among these babies.
Quick Tempo, with Jose Ortiz to ride, is a 5-2 morning-line favorite after earning a field-high 87 Beyer Speed Figure in a last-out allowance romp at Parx for Chris Davis, but there’s plenty more to choose from. Chad Brown, who’ll have the most starters among trainers here this weekend (17), gets started with Highly Motivated, who figures among the top choices here off a sharp maiden victory at Belmont Park.
Among the others are Saffa’s Day, a romping debut winner at the Keeneland fall meet; Awesome Gerry, 2 for 2 in South Florida for Saffie Joseph Jr.; and Upstriker, turning back in distance after fading to fourth as the pacesetter in the Breeders’ Futurity.
“We like how he’s coming into this race,” said Ron Moquett, trainer of Upstriker. “It’s a nice field of horses, but we’ll take our chances with this colt.”
$125,000 Songbird (race 2, 12:05)
The filly counterpart to the Nyquist drew an even bigger and deeper lineup going the same 6 1/2-furlong distance. Brown and jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. team with the 4-1 program choice The Grass Is Blue, a two-time winner in as many starts, including an allowance triumph here opening weekend in a promising first try following a private purchase.
California Lily, trained by Mark Casse, has the highest Beyer (83), but that’s from a maiden romp over the Woodbine synthetic. The daughter of California Chrome will have Tyler Gaffalione aboard when breaking from the far outside post as the 9-2 co-second choice with Joy’s Rocket, a speedy filly turning back from the one-mile Frizette for Steve Asmussen.
Fringe players include the quartet of Off We Go, Thinking, Farsighted, and Guana Cay, all of them maiden winners last month at Keeneland, and a trio of capable-looking turf-to-dirt fillies, those being Lady Edith, Mona Stella, and Taylor’s Tourist. Indeed, pick-five players seem to be faced with some difficult decisions in this leg.
In all, 15 are entered, with only 14 allowed to start. Scratch time for all Friday races is 8 a.m. Eastern on raceday.
$150,000 Bryan Station (race 3, 12:40)
Here’s another race that should have most players scratching their heads. An overflow field of 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the turf has Fancy Liquor as a very lukewarm (4-1) morning-line favorite off his victory in the Grade 2 American Turf on Kentucky Derby Day, but there’s a cast of challengers to make this one a real puzzler.
Trained by Mike Maker for local connections, Fancy Liquor has done little wrong in a six-race career – including in the American Turf, when jockey Florent Geroux shrewdly kept him off a hot early pace in a stark departure from his five prior front-running efforts. Similarly clever tactics might be required to win right back, given the depth of the competition.
Don Juan Kitten, now with Maker after winning the James Murphy for Danny Gargan on Preakness Day at Pimlico, is among the opposition, as is the just-miss runner-up from that race, Bye Bye Melvin. The respective two-three finishers in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby, No Word and Mo Ready, also seem legitimate, as do several more who figure at longer odds, such as Taishan, Pixelate, Reconvene, and Fighting Seabee.
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Throw in unknown quantities such as Enforceable, making a rare turf foray after finishing seventh in the Kentucky Derby, and the Aidan O’Brien-trained Order of Australia, who gets first-time Lasix, and this could find many pick five bettors using deep spreads.
$150,000 McConnell Springs (race 4, 1:15)
A step or two down – and a furlong shorter – than the BC Filly and Mare Sprint on Saturday, this six-furlong race drew yet what appears to be a very well-matched field of nine, with Amy’s Challenge likely to show the way in a lineup curiously devoid of obvious early speed.
“We’ve run her against some real nice fillies before,” said Mac Robertson, trainer of Amy’s Challenge, whose $557,273 bankroll is tops here. “What we’ve done lately is try to get her in spots where she’s more than competitive. This looks like it may’ve come up a good spot.”
If Amy’s Challenge can’t hold, any of the four outside-drawn runners are among those eligible to get past. That group consists of Unique Factor, Unholy Alliance, Wildwood’s Beauty, and Royal Charlotte, all of whom have shown themselves capable at this level.