Keeneland Barn Notes – Sunday, April 14

By Amy Owens —-

SUNDAY, APRIL 14

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BARN NOTES WILL NOT BE PRODUCED MONDAY, APRIL 15.
THEY WILL RESUME TUESDAY, APRIL 16.

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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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· BLUE PRIZE (ARG) FACES EIGHT IN 2019 DEBUT IN HILLIARD LYONS-BAIRD DOUBLEDOGDARE

· RUSHING FALL GIVES CASTELLANO SIXTH STAKES VICTORY OF MEET

· STONESTREET LEXINGTON TOP THREE HEADING TO CHURCHILL DOWNS

· BOURBON RESOLUTION DOING WELL FOLLOWING BEN ALI VICTORY

· “ALL GOOD” WITH GIANT’S CAUSEWAY WINNER MORTICIA

· GALLOPING OUT

· WEEKEND HANDICAPPING CONTESTS TAKE PLACE AT KEENELAND

· UPCOMING STAKES PROBABLES

· SPRING MEET SPECIAL EVENTS

BLUE PRIZE (ARG) FACES EIGHT IN 2019 DEBUT
IN HILLIARD LYONS-BAIRD DOUBLEDOGDARE

Merriebelle Stable’s Blue Prize (ARG), winner of last fall’s Juddmonte Spinster (G1) here, headlines a field of nine fillies and mares entered Sunday for Friday’s 25th running of the $100,000 Hilliard Lyons-Baird Doubledogdare (G3).

The 1 1/16-mile main track test will go as the ninth race with a 5:30 p.m. ET post time on the 10-race card that begins at 1:05 p.m.

Trained by Ignacio Correas IV, Blue Prize will be making her first start since she finishing fourth, 1½ lengths behind champion Monomoy Girl, in last November’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Churchill Downs.

A multiple graded stakes winner, Blue Prize will be ridden by Joe Bravo and break from post position two.

The field for the Hilliard Lyons-Baird Doubledogdare, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Jala Jala (MEX) (Luis Saez, 118 pounds), Blue Prize (ARG) (Bravo, 123), Electric Forest (Jose Ortiz, 118), Promise of Spring (Corey Lanerie, 118), Moonlit Garden (Joel Rosario, 118), La Force (GER) (Drayden Van Dyke, 118), Go Google Yourself (Brian Hernandez Jr., 118), Golden Award (Tyler Gaffalione, 118) and Eqho (Rodney Prescott, 118).

RUSHING FALL GIVES CASTELLANO SIXTH STAKES VICTORY OF MEET

E Five Racing Thoroughbreds’ Rushing Fall and rider Javier Castellano added to their Keeneland accolades Saturday when they won the 31st running of the $350,000 Coolmore Jenny Wiley (G1) by a length.

The victory was the fourth here for Rushing Fall, who made her local debut with an eye-catching stretch run to win the JPMorgan Chase Jessamine (G3) as a 2-year-old in 2017. Last year, she opened her campaign with a victory in the Appalachian (G2) Presented by Japan Racing Association and closed the year with a front-running score in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Presented by Lane’s End (G1).

Baldo Hernandez, assistant to trainer Chad Brown, said Sunday morning that the $400,000 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile (G2) on May 4 is a possibility for Rushing Fall’s next start.

Castellano, who has been aboard Rushing Fall in all eight of her starts, posted his sixth stakes victory of the meet. The others: Palisades Turf Sprint with Bulletin, Kentucky Utilities Transylvania (G3) with Avie’s Flatter, Madison (G1) with Spiced Perfection, Toyota Blue Grass (G2) with Vekoma and Maker’s 46 Mile (G1) with Delta Prince.

Castellano is the 2019 Spring Meet’s leading rider with 14 wins.

IN A CORRECTION TO YESTERDAY’S BARN NOTES:

The record for stakes wins in a single Keeneland race meet is held by Pat Day, who won seven stakes during the 1998 Fall Meet. Castellano’s six stakes wins this meet do not equal the single-meet record as reported yesterday. Keeneland apologizes for the error.

STONESTREET LEXINGTON TOP THREE HEADING TO CHURCHILL DOWNS

The top three finishers from Saturday’s $200,000 Stonestreet Lexington (G3) are either at Churchill Downs or soon will be, according to their connections.

Rupp Racing’s Owendale, who notched his first stakes victory with a 1¾-length triumph, might head back to Churchill Monday to join trainer Brad Cox’s string there, according to Tessa Bisha, who runs Cox’s barn at Keeneland.

“He was one of the first 2-year-olds we got here last year about this time,” Bisha said of Owendale, who had five works here last spring before going to Ellis Park to begin his racing career. “He has always had the talent, and I think the big thing yesterday is the rider (Florent Geroux, who was aboard for the first time) let him settle.”

The victory earned Owendale 20 points toward qualifying for the $3 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), a total that is good for 29th on the leaderboard. The Derby is limited to the top 20 point earners and invitees that pass the entry box.

Via text, Cox said the Preakness (G1) is a possibility for Owendale.

Peter Redekop’s Anothertwistafate picked up eight Derby points with his runner-up effort to boost his Derby points total to 38, good for 23rd on the final leaderboard.

“He ate up good and cooled out fine, and that’s the main thing,” trainer Blaine Wright said Sunday morning.

“He will spend a couple more days here and then go to Churchill maybe Tuesday or Wednesday,” Wright continued. “We planned to go to Churchill no matter what, so now we will take a wait-and-see approach.”

Anothertwistafate raced on the inside and was boxed in from the half-mile pole to the quarter pole.

“He did not have the best of trips,” Wright said of his first Keeneland starter. “I don’t think he likes being inside. The rider (Javier Castellano) tried to tip him out at the head of the stretch, but the leader drifted out and he had to go back inside.”

Should Anothertwistafate run in the Derby, he would represent the second starter for Redekop, whose Cause to Believe finished 13th behind Barbaro in 2006.

“If he doesn’t get in (the Derby), we still have the Preakness,” Wright said of Anothertwistafate, who gained an automatic berth into the May 18 race by winning the El Camino Real Derby (L) at Golden Gate Fields on Feb. 16. “He has done a lot of shipping, and I think the best thing now would be to get to one place and settle in.”

Silverton Hill’s Sueno finished another 1¼ lengths back in third and picked up four Derby points to increase his total to 32, a figure that ranks 24th on the leaderboard.

“He got back to Churchill last night, and he came out of the race great,” said Julie Clark, assistant to trainer Keith Desormeaux. “Now we will keep our fingers crossed.”

Two years ago at this time, another Desormeaux runner, Sonneteer, was basically in the same position as Sueno. He was 26th in points after finishing fourth in the Arkansas Derby (G1). A week before the Kentucky Derby, he was 22nd when he shipped to Churchill from Southern California.

“We had some other horses we were bringing, and we felt there was a good chance he would get in,” Clark said of Sonneteer. “It would not have made sense to stay in California if he could have gotten in.”

BOURBON RESOLUTION DOING WELL FOLLOWING BEN ALI VICTORY

Bourbon Lane Stable’s Bourbon Resolution was doing well Sunday morning at Keeneland following his 4½-length victory in the $200,000 Ben Ali (G3) on Saturday, according to Nicola Ward, who oversees trainer Ian Wilkes’ Keeneland string.

The Ben Ali marked the 4-year-old’s first stakes victory and gave Wilkes his second Keeneland stakes triumph. He is the third Keeneland stakes winner for jockey Chris Landeros.

Wilkes said via text Sunday that the $400,000 Alysheba (G2) at Churchill Downs going 1 1/16 miles on May 3 is a possibility for Bourbon Resolution’s next start.

“ALL GOOD” WITH GIANT’S CAUSEWAY WINNER MORTICIA

Trainer Rusty Arnold reported that things were “all good” with G. Watts Humphrey Jr.’s Morticia Sunday morning following her neck victory in the $100,000 Giant’s Causeway (L) Saturday afternoon.

Out of the top three only twice in 19 career starts on the grass, Morticia picked up her second Keeneland stakes victory. She won the 2017 Buffalo Trace Franklin County (G3) at 3.

Arnold, who along with Humphrey bred Morticia, said the 5-year-old daughter of Twirling Candy probably would head next to Belmont Park in June.

GALLOPING OUT

Trainer Josie Carroll said Kentucky Utilities Transylvania (G3) winner Avie’s Flatter likely will start next in the $400,000 American Turf (G2) going 1 1/16 miles on May 4 at Churchill Downs. Owned by Ivan Dalos, Avie’s Flatter is scheduled to work here on the turf Tuesday, according to Carroll.

WEEKEND HANDICAPPING CONTESTS TAKE PLACE AT KEENELAND

Keeneland is hosting some of Thoroughbred racing’s most talented horseplayers this weekend at two handicapping contests.

Yesterday’s Keeneland $400 Spring Challenge drew a record 283 entries. The contest was decided in the 11th race when 9-2 choice Miltontown charged down the stretch to win the 6-furlong race by 1½ lengths.

Contest winner Pat Stich of Chicago had $820 to win on Miltontown, and he cashed for a final bankroll of $6,556. Stich outlasted Wyatt Rosette of Oklahoma City, who had $1,100 on the winner and recorded a final bankroll of $6,484.40.

For his performance, Stich received a fully paid berth to the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge (BCBC) at Santa Anita, worth $10,000, along with $4,500 in prize money. Rosette received a fully paid berth to the 2020 NTRA National Horseplayers Championship (NHC) in Las Vegas and $2,500 in prize money.

Joining Wyatt in Las Vegas are the third- through sixth-place finishers in the Spring Challenge: Doug Bredar, Michael Murphy, Bill Shurman and Ken Kasowicz.

Handicapping contest action continues today with the Grade One Gamble, which has a $3,000 buy-in and as many as six spots in the BCBC and 10 spots in the NHC up for grabs.

UPCOMING STAKES PROBABLES

$250,000 DIXIANA ELKHORN (G2) (Entries taken Wednesday, April 17: race Saturday, April 20) – Canessar (FR) (Arnaud Delacour), Hunter O’Riley (James Toner), Leitone (CHI) (George Weaver), Tiz a Slam (Roger Attfield), Vettori Kin (BRZ) (Kenny McPeek) and Zulu Alpha (Mike Maker).

$150,000 BEWITCH (G3) (Entries taken Tuesday, April 23; race Friday, April 26) – Get Explicit (trainer Barbara Minshall), Ickymasho (GB) (Roger Attfield).

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. 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.

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 receive free general admission and access to reserved Grandstand seating with military ID. From noon to 4 p.m., the Military Family Zone in the first floor North Grandstand will offer free food from City Barbeque, live music and more. In honor of Month of the Military Child, Keeneland will have activities for children throughout the day. Horses in race 4 will have camouflage saddle towels. Immediately following the Winner’s Circle presentation, a 40’ X 60’ American flag will be unfurled on Keeneland’s main track.

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.

The Keeneland Shop Milliners Corner with Forme Millinery and Trunk Show with Maui Ji