Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Gary Barber's $250,000 Summer Stakes (Grade 1) winner Gretzky the Great is primed for his 3-year-old debut as the 3-1 favorite in Friday's $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park.
For the first time this year, the John Battaglia Memorial joined the Road to the Kentucky Derby Prep Season and will award the Top 4 finishers points on a 10-4-2-1 scale. The 1 1/16-mile event run over the Tapeta surface is carded as Race 5 with a post time of 8:16 p.m. (all times Eastern). The race attracted a full field of 12 3-year-olds with one also-eligible entrant. First post on Friday's program is 6 p.m.
The John Battaglia Memorial is named after Turfway Park's former General Manager and father of Churchill Downs longtime oddsmaker Mike Battaglia. The race annually serves as a steppingstone to the $250,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3), which will be run for the 50th time this year at the Florence, Ky. track on Saturday, March 27.
Gretzky the Great, trained by Mark Casse, previously ran sixth in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1) and was defeated 6 ¼ lengths by Fire at Will – one of the top interests in Saturday's $300,000 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. Prior to his sixth-place effort Gretzky the Great had a trio of victories including his 3 ¼-length score in the Sept. 20 Summer run at one-mile on the turf. The Nyquist colt has one prior start on the Tapeta surface where he broke his maiden by 4 ¼ lengths. Gerardo Corrales will have the mount from the rail.
In total, the race attracted six Triple Crown nominees including Robert LaPenta's recent three-length maiden winner Kinetic Sky, who is slated in invade Turfway for trainer Brad Cox from his Fair Grounds base. The son of Runhappy will be ridden by Deshawn Parker from post No. 5.
Another horse likely to garner attention is Sandin Syndicate Stable's $100,000 Ellis Park Juvenile winner Pico d'Oro. Trained by Bill Morey, Pico d'Oro will stretch out to 1 1/16 miles for the first time. In his last start, the son of Curlin finished third in the $97,000 Jimmy Winkfield at Aqueduct. John McKee will ride Pico d'Oro from post 6.
The complete field for the John Battaglia Memorial from the rail out (with jockey, trainer and morning line odds): Gretzky the Great (Corrales, Casse, 3-1); The Predicament (Rafael Hernandez, Tim Hamm, 20-1); Twirling Mamba (Albin Jiminez, John Ortiz, 10-1); Like the King (Rafael Bejarano, Wesley Ward, 7-2); Kinetic Sky (Parker, Cox, 9-2); Pico d'Oro (McKee, Morey, 8-1); Hard Rye Guy (Chris Landeros, Ian Wilkes, 15-1); Hush of a Storm (Santiago Gonzales, Morey, 10-1); Fort Moultrie (Rodney Prescott, Reeve McGaughey, 20-1); Notable Exception (Declan Cannon, Jack Sisterson, 30-1); Catman (Manny Esquivel, Mike Maker, 15-1); Warrior in Chief (Robby Albarado, Kenny McPeek, 8-1). Also-eligible: Bakwena (Prescott, Darrin Miller, 20-1).
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