Wise Dan the clear star in classy Shadwell field
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Besides 22 races and nearly $7 million, Wise Dan also has won the collective heart of racing fans. The popularity of the 7-year-old gelding goes no deeper than right here in the Bluegrass State, where on Saturday, he will be the center of attention against seven other older horses in the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile, the richest race in the 78-year history of Keeneland Race Course.
An on-track crowd of more than 30,000 is expected to see Wise Dan make his final preparation for the Breeders’ Cup Mile as the odds-on favorite in the 29th Shadwell, a Grade 1 race that has undergone a purse increase to become the first seven-figure contest at Keeneland. The Shadwell is the ninth of 10 races and the last of five straight graded stakes on a blockbuster program that starts at 1:05 p.m. Eastern.
A cold front is forecasted to keep Saturday temperatures in the 50s, and the possible Friday rain might leave some saturation in the sand-based turf course, but Charlie LoPresti, who trains Wise Dan for owner-breeder Morton Fink, is not fazed. After all, Wise Dan has won 14 of 15 career turf starts and 13 of his last 14 starts overall and is the reigning two-time Horse of the Year in North America.
“He’s an amazing horse,” LoPresti said. “He’s run over all kinds of turf courses – hard, good, bogs, in a rainstorm, whatever. All I know is he’s really on his game right now. We’re very excited about the opportunity to run him here again.”
Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez will be aboard Wise Dan when breaking from post 6. The opposition includes Silver Max (post 4, Robby Albarado), who upset Wise Dan last year in the Shadwell when moved to Polytrack, and three horses who already have finished second to Wise Dan this year: Optimizer (post 2, Alan Garcia), Kaigun (post 5, Patrick Husbands), and Seek Again (post 8, Joel Rosario). All eight starters carry level weights of 126 pounds.
The Shadwell (post, 5:45) will be preceded by the Grade 3 Woodford (race 5), Grade 2 Thoroughbred Club of America (race 6), Grade 1 First Lady (race 7), and Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (race 8). There will be two late pick four wagers (races 6-9 and 7-10), and races 6-10 will comprise the pick five.
The Saturday card is the second of the three-day Fall Stars Weekend that traditionally opens the Keeneland fall meet. The Grade 1 Juddmonte Spinster and Grade 3 Bourbon close out the opening-weekend stakes schedule Sunday.
The Saturday crowd will include thousands of dark-clad fans who will spend their evening at nearby Commonwealth Stadium watching the South Carolina-Kentucky football game (kickoff is 7:30 p.m.). Kentucky has called for a “blackout.”
Key contenders
Wise Dan (Last 3 Beyers: 104-96-101)
* Skeptics are saying his “barely getting by” 2014 efforts mean he isn’t the same horse he was during his Horse of the Year campaigns and that his mid-May emergency colic surgery might have robbed him of a step or two. The strong caliber of the opposition in this race should provide a fair gauge of the validity of such claims.
“He loves this new track, and he’s getting a lot out of his gallops,” LoPresti said of Wise Dan’s training since returning to Keeneland after his Bernard Baruch Handicap victory. “The way he got around there [Monday] was very encouraging. I’ve got him about as good as I can get him.”
Seek Again (Last 3 Beyers: 101-98-96)
* Juddmonte Farms homebred might well have bounced off his gutsy Woodford Reserve loss to Wise Dan, finishing third as the favorite in the Manhattan, but he righted the ship when digging deep to take the Fourstardave nine weeks later.
* Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott shows above-average percentages and returns on investment in most categories that apply to this particular race, including a 20 percent strike rate in 179 graded stakes starts since Jan. 1, 2013.
:: BREEDERS’ CUP 2014: See DRF’s top contenders
Kaigun (Last 3 Beyers: 101-103-97)
* Useful 4-year-old gelding made a quantum leap by finishing second to Wise Dan at 37-1 in the Grade 1 Maker’s 46 Mile here in the spring, and he’s done little to suggest that effort was a fluke with his five strong subsequent outings.
Silver Max (Last 3 Beyers: 82-97-91)
* Speedy 5-year-old can stake a proud claim to being the only horse to defeat Wise Dan in more than two years, although he’s thrown in the occasional subpar race in the interim. Trainer Dale Romans has been focused on this rematch for months and has done all he can to ensure Silver Max is at his best.