Three Grade 1 Races Highlight Saturday at Keeneland

By Amy Owens —-

Three Grade 1 Races Highlight Saturday at Keeneland

Six Grade 1 Winners in Overflow Field for Shadwell Turf Mile
Gouverneur Morris Heads Field of 10 for Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity
Rushing Fall, Vasilika Showdown Set in First Lady

LEXINGTON, KY (Oct. 2, 2019) – Six Grade or Group 1 winners, including Suedois (FR) and Next Shares, the past two victors of the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile, are among the 14 horses and two also-eligibles entered Wednesday morning for Saturday’s 34th running of the prestigious race.

The $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile serves as the centerpiece of a blockbuster 11-race program Saturday that features five graded stakes, three of which are Grade 1s. First post time is 1:05 p.m. ET.

Other Grade 1 races are the 106th running of the $500,000 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity for 2-year-olds and the 22nd running of the $400,000 First Lady Presented by UK HealthCare for fillies and mares. All three races are Breeders’ Cup Challenge races with the winners earning fees-paid berths into their respective Breeders’ Cup races Nov. 1-2 at Santa Anita.

The Shadwell Turf Mile, scheduled as the 10th race with a 6:15 p.m. post time, is a Win and You’re In race for the $2 million TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1).

Multiple group winner Suedois arrived here Sunday and enters the Shadwell Turf Mile off a fourth-place finish Sept. 14 in the 1-mile Clipper Logistics Boomerang Solonaway (G2) at Leopardstown in Ireland. Trained by David O’Meara, Suedois will be ridden by Jamie Spencer and break from post position 12.

Next Shares, who romped to a 3¼-length victory last year at 23-1 odds, finished seventh in the Tourist Mile at Kentucky Downs on Aug. 31 in his first start in nearly four months. Trained by Richard Baltas, Next Shares will be ridden by Corey Lanerie and break from post position one.

Other Grade/Group 1 winners in the field are Bowies Hero (2018 Frank Kilroe Mile), Divisidero (2016 and 2017 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic), Robin of Navan (FR) (2015 Criterium de Saint-Cloud in France) and Valid Point (2019 Secretariat).

The field for the Shadwell Turf Mile, with riders and weights from the inside, is: Next Shares (Lanerie, 126 pounds), Van Beethoven (Wayne Lordan, 123), Bandua (Adam Beschizza, 126), Valid Point (Javier Castellano, 123), Bowies Hero (Flavien Prat, 126), Admission Office (Jose Ortiz, 126), Diamond Oops (Julien Leparoux, 126), Vintager (GB) (James Doyle, 126), First Premio (Miguel Mena, 126), Robin of Navan (Florent Geroux, 126), March to the Arch (Tyler Gaffalione, 126), Suedois (FR) (Spencer, 126), Divisidero (Julian Pimentel, 126), Real Story (Joe Bravo, 126). Also-eligibles: Get Western (Brian Hernandez Jr., 126), Emaraaty (GB) (Joel Rosario, 126).

Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity

Team Valor International and WinStar Farm’s Gouverneur Morris, a 9-length winner in the slop at 3-5 odds in his debut at Saratoga on Sept. 2, heads a field of 10 2-year-olds entered for the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity to be run at 1 1/16 miles on the main track.

The Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity, a Win and You’re In race for the $2 million TVG Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) to be run at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita on Nov. 1, is scheduled as Saturday’s ninth race with a 5:39 p.m. post time.

Trained by two-time race winner Todd Pletcher, Gouverneur Morris will be ridden by Javier Castellano and break from post position 10.

Also figuring to draw support is Anderson Stables’ By Your Side. Winner of his first two starts that included a 3-length triumph in the Sanford (G3) at Saratoga, By Your Side finished fifth in the slop in the Hopeful (G1) in his most recent start.

Trained by Eddie Kenneally, By Your Side will break from post position two and be ridden by Corey Lanerie.

The field for the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity, with riders from the rail, is: Tap It to Win (Tyler Gaffalione), By Your Side (Lanerie), Life On the Road (Shaun Bridgmohan), King Theo (Flavien Prat), Enforceable (Florent Geroux), Maxfield (Jose Ortiz), American Butterfly (Miguel Mena), Ajaaweed (Joel Rosario), January Won (Brian Hernandez Jr.), Gouverneur Morris (Castellano). All starters will carry 121 pounds.

First Lady Presented by UK HealthCare

Rushing Fall, winner of four graded stakes in as many attempts at Keeneland, and eight-time graded stakes winner Vasilika, head a field of 14 fillies and mares entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 22nd running of the $400,000 First Lady Presented by UK HealthCare to be run at a mile on the Keeneland turf course.

Scheduled as the eighth race with a 5:04 p.m. post time, the stakes is a Win and You’re race for the $2 million Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) to be run Nov. 2 at Santa Anita at a distance of 1¼ miles.

Owned by e Five Racing Thoroughbreds and trained by Chad Brown, Rushing Fall captured the JPMorgan Chase Jessamine (G3) as a 2-year-old here in 2017 and last year won the Appalachian (G2) Presented by Japan Racing Association and the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Presented by Lane’s End (G1). This spring she won the Coolmore Jenny Wiley (G1).

Rushing Fall is tied with Take Charge Lady for the second most stakes wins at Keeneland. Wise Dan won a record seven stakes here.

Regular rider Javier Castellano has the mount and will break from post position 11.

Vasilika, fresh off a nose victory over First Lady Presented by UK HealthCare rival Juliet Foxtrot (GB) in the John C. Mabee (G2) at Del Mar, has two Grade 1 victories on her resume for trainer and part-owner Jerry Hollendorfer. The victory in the John C. Mabee was her fifth Grade 2 triumph.

Flavien Prat comes in from California to ride Vasilika, who will break from post position six.

The field for the First Lady, with riders from the rail, is: Conquest Hardcandy (James Graham, 124 pounds), Awesometank (GB) (James Doyle, 124), Juliet Foxtrot (GB) (Florent Geroux, 124), Uni (GB) (Joel Rosario, 124), Marina’s Legacy (Jesus Castanon, 124), Vasilika (Prat, 124), Indian Blessing (GB) (Jamie Spencer, 124), Mitchell Road (Julien Leparoux, 124), Simply Breathless (GB) (Brian Hernandez Jr., 124), Storm the Hill (Adam Beschizza, 124), Rushing Fall (Castellano, 124), Ms Bad Behavior (Jose Ortiz, 124), Just Wonderful (Wayne Lordan, 121), Hanalei Moon (Tyler Gaffalione, 124).
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NBC will cover four Breeders’ Cup Challenge races on Fall Stars Weekend at Keeneland as part of its 2019 “Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In, presented by America’s Best Racing.”

On Saturday, from 5:30-6:30 p.m., the Shadwell Turf Mile and Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity will air live on NBCSN.
On Sunday, NBC will broadcast the Juddmonte Spinster (G1) and Dixiana Bourbon (G3) live from 4:30-6 p.m.
Entries for the Juddmonte Spinster, Dixiana Bourbon and Indian Summer will be drawn Thursday.

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For more than 80 years, the Keeneland Association has devoted itself to the health and vibrancy of the Thoroughbred industry. The world’s largest Thoroughbred auction house, Keeneland conducts four sales a year, in January, April, September and November, and its sales graduates dominate racing across the globe at every level. In April and October, Keeneland offers some of the highest caliber and richest Thoroughbred racing in the world. Keeneland hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships in 2015 and will hold the event again in 2020. Uniquely structured, Keeneland is a privately held company with a not-for-profit mission that returns its earnings to the industry and the community in the form of higher purses and millions of dollars donated in support of horse industry initiatives and charitable contributions for education, research and health and human services throughout Central Kentucky. Keeneland also maintains the Keeneland Library, a world-renowned public research institution with the mission of preserving information about the Thoroughbred industry. To learn more, visit Keeneland.com.