Zulu Alpha, Arklow meet for a ninth time in closing-day Elkhorn Stakes

Just as racing fans were getting into their Keeneland groove at home or at friends’ or the local gin mill, the meet is already at its end.

Yep, just like that, the curtain comes down Sunday on a makeshift five-day meet that achieved a primary purpose by salvaging a good chunk of a stakes schedule shoved aside by the coronavirus crisis in April. The additional time, in fact, might have actually helped a race such as the Grade 2 Elkhorn, the closing-day feature at the Lexington, Ky., track.

Zulu Alpha and Arklow, two of the leading long-distance turf horses on the continent, will be renewing a fierce rivalry in the $175,000 Elkhorn, a 1 1/2-mile turf race carded as the last of nine Sunday races. Zulu Alpha most certainly would not have been in the Elkhorn if it had been held as originally scheduled, but here he is, with owner Michael Hui and trainer Mike Maker working backward from the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland.

Hui conceded that one reason he and Maker chose the Elkhorn over the Grade 1 Manhattan at Belmont Park was so that he [Hui] could more easily go see the horse compete in person. (Owners have been permitted raceday access during this fan-free meet.)

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“The horse also won’t have to leave Kentucky through the Breeders’ Cup,” said Hui, since the next likely race for Zulu Alpha is the Sept. 12 Kentucky Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs.

Zulu Alpha and Arklow already have clashed eight times, and remarkably enough, they’re tied 4-4 in regard to which horse has finished ahead of the other. Their first meeting came in the 2018 Mervin Muniz at Fair Grounds, where Arklow fared better when second, and their latest came in the 2020 Pegasus World Cup Turf at Gulfstream Park, where Zulu Alpha continued his steady ascent toward the top of the divisional ranks with an 11-1 triumph.

Since that January meeting, Zulu Alpha won the Mac Diarmida and finished second in the Pan American, while Arklow most recently was a close second to Admission Office in the Louisville last month at Churchill Downs.

“He should move up off that race,” said Brad Cox, who trains 6-year-old Arklow for Donegal Racing and partners.

Eleven other older horses will go three turns with Zulu Alpha (post 5, Tyler Gaffalione) and Arklow (post 10, Florent Geroux) in this 35th running of the Elkhorn. The uncoupled Graham Motion pair of Nakamura and He’s No Lemon are among the most logical in the unlikely event the favorites don’t come through, while outsiders such as Apreciado, Oscar Dominguez, and Henley’s Joy also have some merit.

First post Sunday is 1:05 p.m. Eastern. The card ends with a terrific pick three – the Grade 3 Transylvania goes as race 7, and a stakes-caliber allowance sprint featuring Whitmore and Mr. Money goes as race 8.

After Sunday, the Kentucky circuit goes dark for four days before three-day weekends resume Friday at Ellis Park.