Keeneland Barn Notes – Wednesday, April 10

By Amy Owens —-

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10
Keeneland’s 16-day Spring Meet runs through Friday, April 26. First post is 1:05 p.m. ET.
Keeneland is closed Easter Sunday, April 21.
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• ANOTHERTWISTAFATE, SUENO CHASE KENTUCKY DERBY POINTS IN STONESTREET LEXINGTON
• FLAMEAWAY RETURNS TO KEENELAND IN BEN ALI
• MORTICIA TOPS FIELD OF 11 IN GIANT’S CAUSEWAY
• ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY BRINGS ANOTHERTWISTAFATE TO KEENELAND
• DELTA PRINCE CAN GIVE JERKENS SECOND MAKER’S MILE VICTORY
• UPCOMING STAKES PROBABLES
• SPRING MEET SPECIAL EVENTS
• SPRING MEET LEADERS

ANOTHERTWISTAFATE, SUENO CHASE KENTUCKY DERBY POINTS
IN STONESTREET LEXINGTON

Peter Redekop’s Anothertwistafate and Silverton Hill’s Sueno, both looking to acquire qualifying points toward the $3 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), head a field of 10 3-year-olds entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 38th running of the $200,000 Stonestreet Lexington (G3).

Run at 1 1/16 miles on the main track, the Stonestreet Lexington will be run as the ninth race on Saturday’s 11-race program with a 5:34 p.m. ET post time. First post time Saturday is 1:05 p.m.

A total of 34 points toward the Derby are available on a 20-8-4-2 basis to the top four finishers. The Stonestreet Lexington and Saturday’s Arkansas Derby (G1) are the final races on the road to the Derby and the current cut line is 37.5. The Derby is limited to the top 20 point earners and invitees that pass the entry box.

Runner-up in the Sunland Park Derby (G3) in his most recent start, Anothertwistafate stands 23rd in points with 30.
Trained by Blaine Wright, Anothertwistafate will break from post position four and be ridden by Javier Castellano.

Sueno is trained by Keith Desormeaux, who won this race last year with My Boy Jack. Sueno, who has accumulated his 28 points (25th) with runner-up finishes in the Sham (G3) and Southwest (G3) and a third-place finish in the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2), will be ridden by Corey Lanerie and break from post position three.

No other entrant has accumulated enough points to earn a Derby spot even with a victory Saturday.

Also in the field and returning to the scene of his biggest victory is KRA Stud Farm’s Knicks Go. Trained by Ben Colebrook, Knicks Go won last fall’s Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) before going on to a runner-up finish in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).

Seventh in the Gotham (G3) in his most recent start, Knicks Go will break from post position seven and be ridden by Albin Jimenez.

The field for the Stonestreet Lexington, with riders and weights from the rail, is: Shang (Irad Ortiz Jr., 120 pounds), Hawaiian Noises (John Velazquez, 118), Sueno (Lanerie, 118), Anothertwistafate (Castellano, 120), Harvey Wallbanger (Brian Hernandez Jr., 123), Chase the Ghost (Miguel Mena, 118), Knicks Go (Jimenez, 123), Owendale (Florent Geroux, 118), Zenden (Tyler Gaffalione, 118) and Roiland (James Graham, 118).

FLAMEAWAY RETURNS TO KEENELAND IN BEN ALI

John Oxley’s Flameaway, second to Good Magic in last year’s Toyota Blue Grass (G2), will make his Keeneland return Saturday when he headlines a field of 11 4-year-olds and up for the 89th running of the $200,000 Ben Ali (G3) at 1 1/8 miles on the main track.

The Ben Ali will be run as the seventh race on Saturday’s 11-race program with a 4:24 p.m. ET post time. First post time Saturday is 1:05 p.m.

Trained by Mark Casse, Flameaway returned from a six-month layoff to run third in the Mineshaft (G3) at Fair Grounds on Feb. 16 and then in his most recent start won the Challenger at Tampa Bay Downs on March 9.

Irad Ortiz Jr. will have the mount on Flameaway and will break from post position four.

Also expected to attract attention is Zayat Stables, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith’s Solomini.
Trained by Bob Baffert, the six-time graded stakes-placed Solomini invades from Santa Anita, where he won his most recent start last month. Solomini will be ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr. and break from post position six.

The field for the Ben Ali, with riders and weights from the rail, is: Just Whistle (Tyler Gaffalione, 118 pounds), Krewe Chief (Gabriel Saez, 118), Third Day (Javier Castellano, 118), Flameaway (Ortiz Jr., 118), Hence (Corey Lanerie, 118), Solomini (Hernandez Jr., 118), Noble Commander (Florent Geroux, 118), Bonus Points (John Velazquez, 118), Bourbon Resolution (Chris Landeros, 118), Nun the Less (Rodney Prescott, 118) and First Mondays (Julien Leparoux, 118).

MORTICIA TOPS FIELD OF 11 IN GIANT’S CAUSEWAY

G. Watts Humphrey Jr.’s Morticia tops a field of 11 fillies and mares entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 23rd running of the $100,000 Giant’s Causeway (L) at 5 ½ furlongs on the turf.

The Giant’s Causeway will be run as the eighth race on Saturday’s 11-race program with a 4:57 p.m. ET post time. First post time Saturday is 1:05 p.m.

Trained by Rusty Arnold, Morticia is a six-time stakes winner and in 2017 won the Buffalo Trace Franklin County (G3) here. She finished third in last year’s Giant’s Causeway.

Second in the Captiva Island at Gulfstream on March 9 in her most recent start, Morticia will be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. and break from post position eight.

The field for the Giant’s Causeway, with riders and weights from the inside, is: A Little Bit Me (Tyler Gaffalione, 121 pounds), Seeknthegiantpearl (Euclyn Prentice Jr., 121), Mrs. Ramona G. (Florent Geroux, 123), Surrender Now (John Velazquez, 121), Student Body (Miguel Mena, 123), La Dame Blanche (Corey Lanerie, 121), Factorofwon (Javier Castellano, 121), Morticia (Ortiz Jr., 121), Luvin Bullies (Chris Landeros, 121), Excessivespending (Julien Leparoux, 121) and Straitouttapopcorn (James Graham, 121).

ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY BRINGS ANOTHERTWISTAFATE
TO KEENELAND

Nobody said getting to the Kentucky Derby was easy, and the road traveled for Peter Redekop’s Anothertwistafate already has hit one minor speed bump.

After finishing second in the Sunland Park Derby (G3) on March 24, Anothertwistafate was scheduled to return to his home base at Golden Gate Fields in Northern California.

“We decided the next day to stay because of the quarantine at Golden Gate (for equine herpesvirus-1), and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise,” trainer Blaine Wright said. “The weather was good there (at Sunland), and he worked well (:46.80 for a half-mile) the day before we left last week.”

With the runner-up finish at Sunland, Anothertwistafate added 20 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to bring his total to 30, a figure that ranks 23rd on the leaderboard. The Derby is limited to the top 20 point earners and invitees that pass the entry box.

Two qualifying races remain and both are Saturday: the Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn Park and the Stonestreet Lexington (G3) at Keeneland. Anothertwistafate was entered Wednesday in the Stonestreet Lexington with Javier Castellano to ride the Scat Daddy colt for the first time. The race has 34 Derby points available on a 20-8-4-2 distribution to the top four finishers. The current cut line is 37.5 points.

“After Saturday, we’ll find out,” the 44-year-old Wright said of his plans for the final leg of the Derby journey. “I don’t know if I would work him in between (the Stonestreet Lexington and the Kentucky Derby). It depends on how he comes out of this. His races have been spaced out and he is carrying good flesh.”

A native of Washington, Wright never has started a horse at Keeneland.

“I have been to the races here once on a weekday,” said Wright, who also has stakes winner Anyportinastorm here. “I may run (Anyportinastorm) here or wait for an allowance race at Churchill.”

Although Wright is new to the races here, part of his team is not.

Anothertwistafate’s groom, Pascual Garcia, formerly worked for trainer Greg Gilchrist and was the groom for 2005 champion sprinter Lost in the Fog.

Garcia was at Keeneland with Gilchrist in 2008 when Indyanne won the Thoroughbred Club of America (G3) in which she set a stakes record that still stands.

DELTA PRINCE CAN GIVE JERKENS SECOND MAKER’S MILE VICTORY

Stronach Stable’s Delta Prince, a 6-year-old son of Street Cry (IRE) who is a half-brother to champion Royal Delta, could give trainer James Jerkens a second victory in the Spring Meet’s prestigious 1-mile turf race when he starts in Friday’s $300,000 Maker’s 46 Mile (G1).

In 2005, Artie Schiller won the Maker’s for Jerkens and came within a nose of repeating the following year when he was edged by Miesque’s Approval.

Jerkens’ most recent starter at Keeneland was Effinex, runner-up to American Pharoah in the 2015 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). He is not overly concerned about the prospects of a less than firm turf course Friday for Delta Prince’s run in the Maker’s 46 Mile because of the chance of heavy rain that morning.

“It looks like he tries hard no matter what the surface,” Jerkens said of Delta Prince, who has compiled a 9-4-2-2 record on the turf in his career. “The ground was soft in the Fourstardave (G1) and the Pegasus (World Cup Turf Invitational [G1]) and he ran well.”
 
GALLOPING OUT

Trainer Josie Carroll, who saddled Avie’s Flatter to win last Friday’s Kentucky Utilities Transylvania (G3), was voted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
“It is pretty exciting and overwhelming,” Carroll said Wednesday morning. “Pretty cool.”
The induction will take place Aug. 7. …
Trainer Danny Gargan, who has a string of 24 horses here, was on hand Wednesday morning after watching Tax secure a spot in the $3 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) with his runner-up finish in Saturday’s Wood Memorial (G2) at Aqueduct.
“He is an exciting horse and he came out of the Wood great,” said Gargan, who claimed Tax from a victory here last fall for the ownership of R.A. Hill Stable, Reeves Thoroughbred Racing, Hugh Lynch and Corms Racing Stable.
“He would not come here,” Gargan added. “He would go straight to Churchill and I haven’t decided whether he’ll have one or two works (before the Derby). I will keep him in New York (for now), but I have some horses to ship next week and I will work that out in the next few days.”

UPCOMING STAKES PROBABLES

$100,000 HILLIARD LYONS-BAIRD DOUBLEDOGDARE (G3) (Entries taken Sunday, April 14; race Friday, April 19) – Blue Prize (ARG) (trainer Ignacio Correas IV), Electric Forest (Chad Brown) and Moonlit Garden (Chris Davis).
$250,000 DIXIANA ELKHORN (G2) (Entries taken Wednesday, April 17: race Saturday, April 20) – Vettori Kin (BRZ) (Kenny McPeek) and Zulu Alpha (Mike Maker).

SPRING MEET SPECIAL EVENTS

Celebrating its 80th anniversary, the Keeneland Library is one of the world’s largest repositories of information related to the Thoroughbred. In its exhibit “Herbert Haseltine: The Gold Standard,” visitors will see two prominent works from the latter period of the acclaimed sculptor of the early 20th century: “The Thoroughbred Horse” and “Portrait of the Racehorse Tom Fool.” The exhibit “From the Vault: Jockeys” features 26 images dating from the late 1800s to the mid-20th century from the Library’s archive of more than 1 million negatives and photographic prints. Varied memorabilia from Hall of Fame jockeys Eddie Arcaro, Ted Atkinson and Bill Shoemaker accompany the photographs. The Library is open weekdays at no charge from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Official Keeneland Tours – Keeneland offers a selection of year-round, guided racing and sales tours, including Behind-the-Scenes Racing Tours, Owner’s Experience Tours and Backstretch Tours with a Day at the Races. Behind-the-Scenes Sales Tours will be offered April 8-9. On Saturdays during Sunrise Trackside, free guided tours begin every 20 minutes from the welcome stand near the Paddock and Walking Ring from 7:30-10 a.m.

Friday, April 12

Maker’s Mark Bottle Signing – Sales of commemorative Maker’s Mark bottles have raised millions of dollars to benefit deserving causes in Central Kentucky. Fans can have their 2019 commemorative bottle signed at the Keeneland Entertainment Center beginning at 7 a.m. All tickets for the bottle signing have been distributed. One ticket entitles the holder to have two 2019 Maker’s Mark commemorative bottles signed. At Wagering Central, The Keeneland Shop will offer patrons the opportunity to dip their purchases into the iconic Maker’s Mark red wax to commemorate Maker’s 46 Mile (G1) race day.

The Hill – Fans who like to tailgate will enjoy the festive atmosphere of The Hill, where they can watch races on a jumbo TV and place wagers. The Hill also features food trucks, The Keeneland Shop kiosk and complimentary shuttles to the track. Live music is presented by The Burl, a popular live music venue in Lexington, from noon to 4 p.m. Two Maker’s Mark events will be held: Maker’s Wanted Experience, including items from leather craftsmen Clayton & Crume and complimentary tea featuring Kentucky Straight Ice, and American Field, a curated marketplace of unique brands and items.

$200,000 Friday Pick Four Presented by TVG. Includes races 7-10. Race 7 is the inaugural Limestone Turf Sprint (4:24 p.m. post time). Race 9 is the Maker’s 46 Mile (G1) (5:30 p.m. post).
The Keeneland Shop Milliners Corner with Forme Millinery (April 12-14) and Trunk Show with Maui Jim (April 12-14).

Saturday, April 13

Sunrise Trackside – The day begins early for racehorses. Keeneland invites you and your family to experience their mornings with Breakfast With the Works, which features breakfast for purchase and trackside commentary (7-8:30 a.m.) while horses train on the main track. The event includes children’s activities in the Kids Club Corner (7:30-9:30 a.m.); guided Keeneland tours that depart from the welcome stand near the Paddock (7:30-10 a.m.) and Paddock demonstration from the Kentucky Horseshoeing School (9-9:30 a.m). Parking and admission to the morning events are free.

Jockey Q&A in the Walking Ring (12:05 p.m.).

The Hill – Fans who like to tailgate will enjoy the festive atmosphere of The Hill, where they can watch races on a jumbo TV and place wagers. The Hill also features food trucks, The Keeneland Shop kiosk and complimentary shuttles to the track. Live music is presented by The Burl, a popular live music venue in Lexington from noon to 4 p.m.

$300,000 Guaranteed All-Stakes Pick Four Presented by TVG. Includes races 7-10: Ben Ali (G3), Giant’s Causeway (L), Stonestreet Lexington (G3) and Coolmore Jenny Wiley (G1).
NYRA Cross Country Wager features the Stonestreet Lexington and Coolmore Jenny Wiley from Keeneland; Oaklawn Handicap (G2) and Arkansas Derby (G1) from Oaklawn Park; and one stakes from Aqueduct.
$400 Spring Challenge – This handicapping tournament has a $400 buy-in with a live bankroll of $250 and $150 prize fund fee.

Sunday, April 14

Military Day at the Races Presented by Marathon – Keeneland recognizes the men and women who serve our country. All active and reserve military and their families will receive free general admission and access to reserved Grandstand seating with military I.D. Military families are invited to enjoy free food and children’s activities in the North Terrace from noon to 4 p.m.
Grade One Gamble – This nationally prominent event has a $3,000 buy-in and as many as six spots in the Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge and 10 spots in the NTRA National Horseplayers Championship up for grabs.
 
SPRING MEET LEADERS

Through April 7 (4 days of 16-day season)
Jockey Starts Wins 2nd 3rd Purses

Javier Castellano 17 9 2 2 $1,267,372
Florent Geroux 27 4 3 2 $249,957
Paco Lopez 11 3 2 0 $544,495
Brian Hernandez Jr. 26 3 4 3 $423,744
Joel Rosario 6 3 2 0 $149,095

Trainer Starts Wins 2nd 3rd Purses

Chad Brown 10 3 2 2 $215,829
Brad Cox 5 3 0 0 $151,800
Todd Pletcher 5 2 2 0 $142,823
Wesley Ward 12 2 1 3 $237,676
Rodolphe Brisset 7 2 2 1 $128,066
Brian Lynch 4 2 0 0 $98,635

Owner Wins

Juddmonte Farms (Khalid Abdullah) 2
LNJ Foxwoods (Larry, Nanci and Jaime Roth) 2
WinStar Farm (Kenny Troutt), China Horse Club
(Ah Khing Tao) and SF Racing (Gavin Murphy) 2

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