Vekoma was an elite Thoroughbred racehorse as a 2- and 3-year-old, capable of winning a graded stakes in each campaign and earning his way into the 2019 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve. In 2020, however, the Candy Ride colt has emerged as an Eclipse Award-caliber athlete.
Tag: Racing
2020 Blue Grass Stakes Cheat Sheet
The 2020 Road to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve continues its unprecedented summer tour with a stop this Saturday at a historic, picturesque locale that’s usually reserved for early spring – Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Ky.
Grade 1 Winner Wicked Whisper Seeking Oaks Points In Keeneland’s Beaumont
JoAnn and Alex Lieblong's Wicked Whisper, winner of last fall's Frizette (G1) at Belmont Park, will make her 2020 debut Friday when she headlines a field of six 3-year-old fillies in the 35th running of the $100,000 Beaumont (G3) Presented by Keeneland Select.
The race, to be run over the Beard Course of 7 furlongs, 184 feet, offers 34 points on the Road to the Sept. 4 Kentucky Oaks (G1) on a 20-8-4-2 scale to the top four finishers. The Beaumont Presented by Keeneland Select will go as the seventh race on Friday's nine-race program with a 4:24 p.m. post time.
Trained by Steve Asmussen and to be ridden by Joel Rosario, Wicked Whisper has not raced since finishing fifth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Santa Anita. She will break from post position four.
Looming as one of the main threats to Wicked Whisper is Whitham Thoroughbreds' Four Graces. Winner of the Dogwood (G3) last month at Churchill Downs, Four Graces has won three of four career starts for trainer Ian Wilkes. Julien Leparoux has the mount Friday and will exit post position three.
Invading from California is Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and Madaket Stables' Speech. Trained by Michael McCarthy, Speech finished second in the Santa Anita Oaks (G2) and prior to that was beaten a neck in an allowance test at Oaklawn Park by runaway Acorn (G1) winner Gamine. Javier Castellano has the mount on Speech and will break from post two.
The field for the Beaumont Presented by Keeneland Select, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Slam Dunk (Luis Saez, 118 pounds), Speech (Castellano, 118), Four Graces (Leparoux, 118), Wicked Whisper (Rosario, 123), Sconsin (James Graham, 118), Turtle Trax (Brian Hernandez Jr., 118).
The post Grade 1 Winner Wicked Whisper Seeking Oaks Points In Keeneland’s Beaumont appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
Shoemaker Top Three Show Up For Rematch In Friday’s Maker’s Mark Mile
Peter Brant's Raging Bull (FR), winner of the Shoemaker Mile (G1) in his most recent start, headlines a field of 10 entered Tuesday for Friday's 32nd running of the $300,000 Maker's Mark Mile (G1) to be contested over the Keeneland turf course.
The Maker's Mark Mile, the first of four Grade 1 races during the five-day Summer Meet that begins Wednesday, is scheduled as the eighth race on Friday's nine-race program with a 4:57 p.m. ET post time. First post is 1:05 p.m.
Trained by Chad Brown, Raging Bull returns to Keeneland, where he finished fourth in last year's Maker's Mark Mile. A two-time Grade 1 winner, Raging Bull will be ridden by Joel Rosario and break from post position four.
Brown also trains Without Parole (GB), who finished third in the Shoemaker Mile. Owned by John Gunther and his daughter Tanya Gunther, Without Parole finished third in last year's TVG Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) in his U.S. debut. In 2018, Without Parole won the Group 1 St. James's Palace at Royal Ascot in England.
Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount on Without Parole and break from post position eight.
Also in the field is the horse that split the Brown duo in the Shoemaker: Next Shares.
Trained by part owner Richard Baltas, Next Shares counts the 2018 Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) at Keeneland among his three graded stakes victories. An earner of more than $1.7 million, Next Shares will break from post nine and be ridden by John Velazquez.
Another horse returning to the Keeneland turf is Gary Barber's War of Will.
Trained by Mark Casse, War of Will finished fourth in the 2018 Dixiana Bourbon (G3) and also trained at Keeneland before embarking on a Triple Crown campaign that included a victory in the Preakness (G1).
War of Will finished sixth in the Shoemaker Mile in his 2020 debut that served as his first grass start since 2018. Tyler Gaffalione has the mount Friday and will break from post position 10.
The field for the Maker's Mark Mile, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Hembree (Javier Castellano, 118 pounds), High Crime (Luis Saez, 118), Parlor (Florent Geroux, 118), Raging Bull (FR) (Rosario, 123), English Bee (James Graham, 118), Everfast (Ricardo Santana Jr., 118), Emmaus (IRE) (Brian Hernandez Jr., 118), Without Parole (GB) (Ortiz, 118), Next Shares (John Velazquez, 120) and War of Will (Gafflione, 118).
The post Shoemaker Top Three Show Up For Rematch In Friday’s Maker’s Mark Mile appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.
