Keeneland Barn Notes — Wednesday, April 5

By Amy Owens —-

Keeneland’s 15-day Spring Meet opens Friday and runs through Friday, April 28.

First post is at 1 p.m. ET except April 8 when the first race is at 12:30 p.m.

Keeneland is closed for racing Easter Sunday, April 9 as well as Mondays and Tuesdays.

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CHAMPION GOODNIGHT OLIVE HEADS FIELD OF FIVE FOR SATURDAY’S GRADE 1 MADISON
DEEP FIELD OF NINE ENTERED FOR APPALACHIAN PRESENTED BY JAPAN RACING ASSOCIATION
BREEDERS’ CUP WINNER CARAVEL TOPS FIELD OF 12 FOR SHAKERTOWN
NAKATOMI PUTS PERFECT KEENELAND MARK ON THE LINE IN COMMONWEALTH
KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER RICH STRIKE WORKS TOWARD POSSIBLE BEN ALI START
SPRING MEET OPENING WEEKEND SPECIAL EVENTS
ATTENTION MEDIA: KEENELAND’S PHOTOSHELTER PROVIDES SPRING MEET DIGITAL ASSETS FOR EDITORIAL USE

CHAMPION GOODNIGHT OLIVE HEADS FIELD OF FIVE
FOR SATURDAY’S GRADE 1 MADISON

First Row Partners and Team Hanley’s champion Goodnight Olive headlines a field of five fillies and mares entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 22nd running of the $600,000 Madison (G1) going 7 furlongs on the main track.

The Madison will go as the seventh race on Saturday’s 11-race program that begins at 12:30 p.m. ET. Post time for the Madison is 4 p.m.

Trained by Chad Brown, Goodnight Olive capped off an Eclipse Award-winning campaign here last fall when she won the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint (G1) to clinch divisional honors as the champion female sprinter.

A winner of her past six starts, Goodnight Olive will be partnered Saturday by regular rider Irad Ortiz Jr. and break from post position two.

Another Madison entrant riding a long win streak is Rodney Lundock’s Maryquitecontrary.

Trained by Shug McGaughey, Maryquitecontrary has won her past five starts with the most recent coming in the Inside Information (G2) at Gulfstream Park on Jan. 28. Luca Panici has the mount and will break from post position five.

The field for the Madison, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Cocktail Moments (Brian Hernandez Jr., 123 pounds), Goodnight Olive (Ortiz Jr., 123), Society (Florent Geroux, 123), Yuugiri (Ricardo Santana Jr., 123), Maryquitecontrary (Panici, 123).

DEEP FIELD OF NINE ENTERED FOR APPALACHIAN
PRESENTED BY JAPAN RACING ASSOCIATION

Emory Hamilton’s homebred Pleasant Passage, runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1) here last fall, heads a deep field of nine 3-year-old fillies entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 35th running of the $400,000 Appalachian (G2) Presented by Japan Racing Association (G2) going a mile on the turf.

The Appalachian will go as the afternoon’s sixth race with a 3:25 p.m. ET post time.

Trained by Shug McGaughey, Pleasant Passage won her first two starts with the latter being the Miss Grillo (G2) before her Breeders’ Cup run. Tyler Gaffalione has the mount and will break from post position seven on Pleasant Passage, who is making her 2023 debut.

Finishing third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf was Cairo Consort, who brings a recency edge over Pleasant Passage into the Appalachian.

Now owned by Repole Stable and Town and Country Racing and trained by Todd Pletcher, Cairo Consort won the Ginger Brew (L) and Sweetest Chant (G3) at Gulfstream Park this winter and most recently was third in the Herecomesthebride (G3). Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount and will break from post position three.

Pletcher also will send out Don Alberto Stable’s Alpha Bella. Second in both the Sweetest Chant and the Florida Oaks (G3), Alpha Bella will be ridden by Joel Rosario and break from post position five.

The field for the Appalachian, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Beautifulnavigator (IRE) (James Graham, 118 pounds), Papilio (IRE) (Javier Castellano, 118), Cairo Consort (Ortiz Jr., 118), Heavenly Sunday (Florent Geroux, 118), Alpha Bella (Rosario, 118), Be Your Best (IRE) (Luis Saez, 118), Pleasant Passage (Gaffalione, 120), Sabalenka (Ricardo Santana Jr., 118), Well Into (Vincent Cheminaud, 118).

BREEDERS’ CUP WINNER CARAVEL TOPS FIELD OF 12 FOR SHAKERTOWN

Qatar Racing Limited, Marc Detampel and Madaket Stables’ Caravel, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) here last fall to close her 2022 campaign, headlines a field of 12 3-year-olds and up plus one also-eligible entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 27th running of the $350,000 Shakertown (G2) going 5½ furlongs on the turf.

The Shakertown will go as the afternoon’s eighth race with a 4:35 p.m. ET post time.

Trained by Brad Cox, Caravel also won the Franklin (G3) here last fall prior to the Breeders’ Cup in her first Keeneland start. Tyler Gaffalione has the mount and will break from post position eight.

Also set to make a 2023 debut is Lael Stables’ Arrest Me Red.

Trained by Wesley Ward, Arrest Me Red finished eighth behind Caravel in the Breeders’ Cup to close his 2022 campaign. Winner of the Twin Spires Turf Sprint presented by Sysco (G2) last spring at Churchill Downs, Arrest Me Red will break from post 12 and be ridden by Joel Rosario.

The field for the Shakertown, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Johnny Unleashed (Gerardo Corrales, 122 pounds), Mark of the Z (E.T. Baird, 122), Artemus Citylimits (Irad Ortiz Jr., 122), Bakers Bay (Joe Talamo, 122), Mister Mmmmm (Corey Lanerie, 122), All in Sync (Brian Hernandez Jr., 122), Noble Emotion (Luis Saez, 122), Caravel (Gaffalione, 121), Bad Beat Brian (Chris Emigh, 122), Oceanic (Edgar Morales, 122), Stitched (Florent Geroux, 122), Arrest Me Red (Rosario, 122). Also-eligible: Nobody Listens (Joseph Ramos, 122).

NAKATOMI PUTS PERFECT KEENELAND MARK
ON THE LINE IN COMMONWEALTH

Marc Detampel, Qatar Racing and Bottle Rocket Stable’s Nakatomi, who is undefeated in three Keeneland starts, heads a field of 10 4-year-olds and up entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 36th running of the $300,000 Commonwealth (G3) going 7 furlongs on the main track.

The Commonwealth will go as the afternoon’s fifth race with a 2:50 p.m. ET post time.

Trained by Wesley Ward, Nakatomi broke his maiden at first asking here in the spring of 2021 and followed that up with a win in the 2021 Bowman Mill and then a score in an allowance race on last year’s Breeders’ Cup program.

Third in the Tom Fool (G3) in his most recent start, Nakatomi will be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione and break from post two.

Invading from California is Gary Barber’s Get Her Number for trainer Peter Miller.

Winner of the American Pharoah (G1) in 2020 as a 2-year-old, Get Her Number has two runner-up finishes in Grade 1 events and most recently was third as the favorite in the San Carlos (G3) at Santa Anita. Joel Rosario has the mount and will break from post position three.

The field for the Commonwealth, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Hoist the Gold (Brian Hernandez Jr., 118 pounds), Nakatomi (Gaffalione, 118), Get Her Number (Rosario, 118), Heart Rhythm (Rafael Bejarano, 118), Legionnaire (Javier Castellano, 118), Spankster (David Cabrera, 118), Run Classic (Rey Gutierrez, 118), Pro Oxidant (Corey Lanerie, 118), Here Mi Song (Alex Achard, 118), Long Range Toddy (Junior Alvarado, 118).

KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER RICH STRIKE WORKS
TOWARD POSSIBLE BEN ALI START

RED TR-Racing’s 2022 Kentucky Derby (G1) Presented by Woodford Reserve winner Rich Strike continued his preparation for his return to the races by working 5 furlongs in 1:01.20 over a fast track early Wednesday morning with Carlos Enriquez aboard at Keeneland.

“I thought he worked good and finished strong,” trainer Eric Reed said. “We are looking here (for the $300,000 Ben Ali-G3 going 1 3/16 miles on April 22) or Oaklawn (for the $1 million Oaklawn Handicap-G2 going 1 1/8 miles the same day). We want to get the first one out of the way and then the ($1 million) Stephen Foster (G1 on July 1). We’ll see how they come up.”

Rich Strike had a two-month break after completing his 2022 campaign in the Clark (G1) Presented by Norton Healthcare at Churchill Downs and returned to the work tab at Reed’s Mercury Equine Center in Lexington on Jan. 21. Rich Strike had two works at Mercury and five at Turfway Park prior to his Wednesday morning drill here.

Reed initially had looked at the Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Park on March 25 as the return spot for Rich Strike, “but he nicked a quarter (hoof area), and we didn’t want to take chance that he might hit himself coming out of the gate.”

Reed has outlined a lighter schedule for Rich Strike in 2023 with the goal to get to the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Santa Anita on Nov. 4. Rich Strike finished fourth behind champion Flightline in last year’s Classic, which was run at Keeneland.

“After the Foster, we are looking at either the Whitney (G1) or the Pacific Classic (G1) then back to Churchill for the Lukas Classic (G2) then the Breeders’ Cup,” said Reed, who plans to give Rich Strike another work here toward the end of next week.

SPRING MEET OPENING WEEKEND SPECIAL EVENT

Year-round

Official Keeneland Tours. Visit keeneland.com/tours for availability and to purchase.

Through August

Located on Keeneland’s campus, Keeneland Library features the free exhibit The Heart of the Turf: Racing’s Black Pioneers through August. The Library is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. To reach the Library, enter Keeneland at Gate 1 (Man o’ War Blvd.) on Keeneland Blvd. and take the first right on Entertainment Ct. The Library is to the left of the Keene Barn and Entertainment Center.

Friday, April 7

Jockey Autograph Signing. Fans will meet active and retired Keeneland riders and Hall of Famers in an event that benefits the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF). Signing takes place outside the Walking Ring from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Friday, April 7 and Saturday, April 8

The Hill. No ticket or reservation is required for Keeneland’s official tailgating area, located adjacent to the Keene Barn & Entertainment Center and accessible via Gate 4. Amenities, available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., include a jumbo TV, wagering, live music presented by The Burl, food trucks and complimentary shuttles to the track. Keeneland partner RevelXP will offer tailgate packages for groups of any size. Visit Keeneland.com/tailgating.

Saturday, April 8

Sunrise Trackside. This free Saturday morning program is geared toward families and offers a unique view of Thoroughbreds during training hours. Children’s activities, located on the first floor of the Grandstand from 8-10 a.m., include a visit with Keeneland’s mascot, Buckles, along with face painting, games and more. Fans can enjoy coffee and donuts at the Starting Gate concession stand while watching horses train. Mini tours will be available at the Welcome Stand in the Paddock. A meet and greet with a horse will take place in the Walking Ring from 8:30-9 a.m.

Easter Sunday, April 9

Keeneland is closed for racing.