Tag: Triple Crown

Michael McLaughlin's $300,000 Iroquois Stakes (Grade 3) winner Curly Jack headlines a field of nine 2-year-old colts that were entered in Saturday's 96th running of the $400,000 Kentucky Jockey Club (G2), a “Prep Season” race on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

The Kentucky Jockey Club, run at 1 1/16 miles, will award the Top 5 finishers points on a 10-4-3-2-1 scale towards a spot in the starting gate for the $3 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1).

First post Saturday is 1 p.m. and the 12-race program features all 2-year-old races as part of “Stars of Tomorrow II.” The Kentucky Jockey Club will go as Race 11 at 5:56 p.m. (all times Eastern). The card also will include the $400,000 Golden Rod (G2), $200,000 Ed Brown and $200,000 Fern Creek.

Curly Jack began his march on the Road to the Kentucky Derby when he scored a 10-1 upset win in the Sept. 17 Iroquois. The son of Good Magic made his debut at Churchill Downs on June 2 where he drew away to a four-length maiden special weight victory under jockey Colby Hernandez. In his first stakes try, Curly Jack finished fifth, beaten 5 ¾ lengths, in the $175,000 Sanford (G3) at Saratoga. The Tom Amoss trainee returned in the $125,000 Ellis Park Juvenile where he was narrowly defeated by Top Recruit. In his last start, Curly Jack attempted Grade 1 glory in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) but finished fifth. Jockey Edgar Morales will be in the irons for the Kentucky Jockey Club and the duo will break from the rail.

Another stakes winner that was entered in the Kentucky Jockey Club is Gatsas Stables, R.A. Hill Stable and Steven Schoenfeld's $120,000 Awad winner Freedom Trail. Trained by John Terranova, who won the 2014 Kentucky Jockey Club with El Kabeir, Freedom Trail has raced exclusively on the turf in his first two starts. He broke his maiden on Sept. 25 during the Belmont meeting at Aqueduct and returned for a three-quarters of a length score in the 1 1/16-mile Awad. The son of Collected will be ridden by Florent Geroux from post No. 6.

Trainer Kenny McPeek has won two of the last four runnings of the Kentucky Jockey Club with Signalman (2018) and Smile Happy (2021). The veteran conditioner entered two colts in this year's contest: Fern Circle Stables and Magdalena Racing's maiden special weight winner Denington and Dixiana Farms' Street Sense (G3) runner-up Hayes Strike. Denington will be ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr. from post 3 while Hayes Strike will break from post 7 with Rafael Bejarano.

Other top horses entered the Kentucky Jockey Club include Albaugh Family Stables and Castleton Lyons 5 ¼-length maiden special weight winner Cyclone Mischief and Gold Square's debut winner Instant Coffee.

Here is the complete field for the Kentucky Jockey Club from the rail out (with jockey and trainer):

1. Curly Jack (Morales, Amoss);
2. Western Ghent (Mickaelle Michel, D. Wayne Lukas);
3. Denington (Hernandez, McPeek);
4. Gigante (Corey Lanerie, Steve Asmussen);
5. Red Route One (Tyler Gaffalione, Steve Asmussen);
6. Freedom Trail (Geroux, Terranova);
7. Hayes Strike (Bejarano, McPeek);
8. Instant Coffee (Luis Saez, Cox); and
9. Cyclone Mischief (Joe Talamo, Dale Romans).

Inaugurated in 2005, Churchill Downs' Stars of Tomorrow programs have helped launch the careers of numerous graded stakes winners, including more than 50 Grade 1 winners led by Horse of the Year champions Gun Runner (2017) and Rachel Alexandra (2009); Kentucky Derby winners Super Saver (2010) and Mandaloun (2021); and Longines Kentucky Oaks winners Rachel Alexandra (2009), Believe You Can (2012), Monomoy Girl (2018) and Secret Oath (2022).

All of Saturday's action at Churchill Downs will air on FanDuel TV.

Wagering is available for the Stars of Tomorrow II program on www.twinspires.com, the official wagering provider of Churchill Downs Incorporated and the Kentucky Derby.

The post Curly Jack Returns To Churchill Downs For Saturday’s Kentucky Jockey Club appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Grade 1 Florida Derby winner White Abarrio, Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby winner Classic Causeway and Grade 3 Lexington Stakes winner Tawny Port – all exiting off-the-board finishes behind Rich Strike in the Kentucky Derby – head a line-up of eight 3-year-olds scheduled to go postward in Saturday's $500,000 Ohio Derby, a Grade 3 race going nine furlongs at JACK Thistledown in North Randall, Ohio.

The Ohio Derby, which dates back to 1876 when it was run at defunct Chester Park in Cincinnati, is one of four stakes on the program that also includes the $250,000 Lady Jacqueline Stakes for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up. Multiple graded stakes winners Army Wife and Crazy Beautiful head up a field of 10 in that race. The Lady Jacqueline goes as the 10th race at 4:48 p.m. ET.

White Abarrio, trained by Saffie Joseph Jr. for C2 Racing Stable and La Milagrosa Stable, returned to his South Florida base following a 16th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby. Prior to his Florida Derby win, the Race Day colt won the G3 Holy Bull Stakes on Feb. 5. He's had a steady string of breezes at Gulfstream since the Kentucky Derby.

White Abarrio, winner of four of six starts, will be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione, who also rides Army Wife in the Lady Jacqueline.

Irad Ortiz Jr. comes in from New York to ride Tawny Port, who finished seventh in the Kentucky Derby for trainer Brad Cox and Peachtree Stable. The Pioneerof the Nile colt raced three times in five weeks, starting with a second-place finish in the G3 Jeff Ruby Steaks on the synthetic surface at Turfway Park on April 2. Two weeks later, Tawny Port rallied in the stretch to win the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland, then three weeks after that ran in the Kentucky Derby. Winner of three races in six starts, Tawny Port has been training at Churchill Downs.

Cox won the 2019 Ohio Derby with Owendale.

Kentucky West Racing and Clarke Cooper's Classic Causeway will be making his first start for trainer Kenny McPeek after being transferred from Brian Lynch following an 11th-place Kentucky Derby finish.  Lynch had been reluctant to run the Giant's Causeway colt at Churchill Downs after running a dull 11th in the Florida Derby. Prior to that, Classic Causeway rang up back-to-back front-running victories at Tampa Bay Downs in the G3 Sam F. Davis and the Tampa Bay Derby. Brian Hernandez Jr. rides Classic Causeway, who breaks from the outside eight post.

McPeek, who won the 2003 Ohio Derby with Wild and Wicked, has had Classic Causeway training at Churchill Downs.

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas also has one victory in the Ohio Derby, with Mr. Z in 2015, and he brings Ethereal Road from Churchill Downs to Thistledown for owner Aaron Sones. The Quality Road colt, to be ridden by Rafael Bejarano, comes off a 4 3/4-length score in the Sir Barton Stakes at Pimlico on the Preakness undercard on May 21. Prior to that, Ethereal Road finished fourth in the Lexington, seventh in the G1 Blue Grass Stakes and second in the G2 Rebel. He was entered in the Kentucky Derby but scratched, allowing Rich Strike to draw in from the also eligible list.

Post time for the Ohio Derby is 5:35 p.m. and it's the final race on an 11-race card that begins at noon ET. All starters carry 126 pounds.

The field for the Ohio Derby, with jockey and morning line, follows.

1-Barese, Kendrick Carmouch, 9-2

2-Brigadier General, Reylu Gutierrez, 12-1

3-Droppin G's, Malcolm Franklin, 8-1

4-Ethereal Road, Rafael Bejarano, 4-1

5-White Abarrio, Tyler Gaffalione, 7-2

6-Pineapple Man, T.D. Houghton, 10-1

7-Tawny Port, Irad Ortiz Jr., 3-1

8-Classic Causeway, Brian Hernandez Jr., 6-1

The post White Abarrio, Tawny Port Among Eight Entered For Ohio Derby appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post