Jennie Rees/Kentucky Downs
The biggest day in Kentucky Downs' 31 racing seasons will be staged this coming Saturday with potentially five $1 million stakes among the six graded stakes being offered. Only the Breeders' Cup has more seven-figure purses in a single day in America, with five on its Championship Friday and nine on Championship Saturday.
The $1 million FanDuel Turf Sprint and $1 million Kentucky Turf Cup, both Grade 2 stakes, are “Win And You're In” Breeders' Cup Challenge races, meaning their winners get a fees-paid berth in the corresponding Breeders' Cup event Nov. 4-5 at Keeneland Race Course.
Inclement weather this past Saturday forced Kentucky Downs to move the $1 million WinStar Mint Million (G3) to the Sept. 10 card. Also on that day, the $750,000 Kentucky Downs Ladies Turf (G3) and $600,000 The Mint Ladies Sprint (G3) will see their purses increased to $1 million under an incentive Kentucky Downs offered if a Grade 1 winner starts in either stakes.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, both races will receive the purse hike, which breaks down into a $550,000 base purse and another $450,000 in Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Funds for which only registered Kentucky-bred horses compete. That, however, is the vast majority of horses running in Kentucky.
Trainer Al Stall confirmed that Dalika, who became a Grade 1 winner by taking the Aug. 13 Beverly D. at Churchill Downs, will start in the Ladies Turf, a one-mile race in which she finished second by a half-length last year to Princess Grace, who also returns. As a German-bred, Dalika is not eligible for the Kentucky-bred money, but the $550,000 base purse still be the largest purse for which she's competed.
Trainer Wesley Ward is running two-time European Group 1 winner Campanelle (an Irish-bred) in the Ladies Sprint. Her presence aids Stall and owner Paul Varga of Louisville as well, as they have 2021 winner In Good Spirits coming back into that 6 1/2-furlong stakes.
In fact, before Ward's intention was announced, Stall fleetingly thought about running Dalika against her stablemate, to ensure both ran for more money. “That was only a little 10-percent chance, bar-room talk,” Stall quipped later.
While Stall and Varga had a big day last year with both mares with a win and a second, the trainer thinks they have a shot to top that. In her last start, In Good Spirits set the pace before finishing fourth in Saratoga's De La Rose Stakes.
“Dalika has been in Kentucky for a while and has done well ever since the Beverly D,” Stall said. “She's tough and she's ready to go again. Spirits got a lot of out the De La Rose, a two-turn mile on the inner turf. We feel that race will make her good and fit and dialed in for 6 1/2 furlongs.”
Dalika beat Princess Grace by a half-length in the 1 1/8-mile Beverly D. Princess Grace's trainer, Mike Stidham, said he believes the distance that day worked in Dalika's favorite but that the mile distance works in Princess Grace's favor.
Stall doesn't disagree, while saying, “I think Dalika might be a tad sharper this year than last year. She was at the end of 18 straight races last year and now she's only had three after a really good, solid vacation. She might be a hair better. She needs to be a hair better. Princess Grace likes the mile; I see where Mike's coming from.”
Of taking on Campanelle with In Good Spirits, Stall said, “I'm hoping the 6 1/2 with some undulation softens her up a little bit. But Campanelle is a monster of a horse, for sure. She's had a great career.”
Stall hopes to be in a third stakes Saturday with Evan Sing in the $600,000 Franklin-Simpson (G2) for 3-year-olds running 6 1/2 furlongs. Norman Cheng's homebred gelding would be making his stakes debut, coming into the race off of a last-to-first victory in a July 28 turf sprint allowance race at Saratoga. Second that day was the 4-year-old Thin White Duke, who won Friday's $150,000 Lucky Coin Stakes at Saratoga and who is strongly being considered to wheel right back in Saturday's FanDuel Turf Sprint. Evan Sing also finished a good second in a Churchill Downs mile allowance to Stitched, who will be one of the Franklin-Simpson's favorites.
Entries will be taken and post positions drawn Monday for Saturday's blockbuster card, which will include coverage by NBC Sports airing CNBC. FanDuel TV (formerly TVG) also will have extensive coverage and show every race live.
The post Kentucky Downs To Offer Five $1-Million Stakes Saturday; G1 Winners Campanelle, Dalika Trigger Two Purse Increases appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
