Keeneland Barn Notes — Wednesday, April 19

By Amy Owens —-

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19

Keeneland’s 15-day Spring Meet runs through Friday, April 28. First post is 1 p.m. ET.

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DEFENDING CHAMPION CHANNEL MAKER HEADLINES FIELD OF 10 FOR SATURDAY’S ELKHORN
BEN ALI ATTRACTS EVENLY MATCHED FIELD OF SEVEN
PROSPECTIVE FIELD FOR CLOSING-DAY BEWITCH
PAUL HALLORAN CAPTURES KEENELAND’S GRADE ONE GAMBLE
SPRING MEET LEADERS
SPRING MEET WEEK 3 SPECIAL EVENTS

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DEFENDING CHAMPION CHANNEL MAKER HEADLINES FIELD OF 10
FOR SATURDAY’S ELKHORN

Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, R. A. Hill Stable and Reeves Thoroughbred Racing’s defending champion Channel Maker, who won the 2020 Eclipse Award as North America’s champion turf male, headlines a field of 10 4-year-olds and up entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 38th running of the $350,000 Elkhorn (G2) going 1½ miles on the turf.

The Elkhorn will go as the eighth race on Saturday’s 10-race program with a 4:44 p.m. ET post time. First post is 1 p.m.

Trained by Bill Mott, Channel Maker will attempt to become the fourth horse to win the Elkhorn in consecutive years. The others were Musketier (GER) in 2010 and 2011, Kim Loves Bucky in 2002 and 2003 and the Mott-trained African Dancer in 1998 and 1999.

Seventh in the W.L. McKnight (G3) in his 2023 debut, Channel Maker will be ridden Saturday by John Velazquez and break from post position one.

Trinity Farm’s Red Knight, who won the W.L. McKnight in his most recent start, will be one of two entries in the Elkhorn for four-time race winner Mike Maker.

Red Knight, who won the 2020 Sycamore (G3) here in the fall of 2020, will be ridden by Gerardo Corrales and break from post five.

Maker, who won the Elkhorn with Dark Cove (2013), Da Big Hoss (2016), Bigger Picture (2019) and Zulu Alpha (2020), also will send out Michael Hui’s Value Engineering.

Winner of the Mac Diarmida (G2) in his most recent start after a runner-up finish in the McKnight, Value Engineering will break from post two under Tyler Gaffalione.

The field for the Elkhorn, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Channel Maker (Velazquez, 118 pounds), Value Engineering (Gaffalione, 120), Rising Empire (Florent Geroux, 118), Another Mystery (Jareth Loveberry, 118), Red Knight (Corrales, 120), Shawdyshawdyshawdy (Adam Beschizza, 118), Howe Street (Flavien Prat, 118), Highest Honors (Irad Ortiz Jr., 118), Verstappen (Declan Cannon, 118), Tiz the Bomb (Brian Hernandez Jr., 118).

BEN ALI ATTRACTS EVENLY MATCHED FIELD OF SEVEN

Lucky Seven Stable’s Rattle N Roll, emphatic winner of the 2021 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland, headlines an evenly matched field of seven 4-year-olds and up entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 92nd running of the $300,000 Ben Ali (G3) going 1 3/16 miles on the main track.

The Ben Ali will go as the ninth race on Saturday’s 10-race program with a 5:16 p.m. ET post time. First post is 1 p.m.

Trained by Kenny McPeek, Rattle N Roll won three stakes 2022 highlighted by a score in the Oklahoma Derby (G3). In his 2023 debut, Rattle N Roll was fourth in the New Orleans Classic (G2) at Fair Grounds on March 25.

Brian Hernandez Jr. has the mount and will break from post position five.

Another entrant with graded stakes success at Keeneland is Peachtree Stable’s Tawny Port.

Winner of the Stonestreet Lexington (G3) last spring, Tawny Port also won the Ohio Derby (G3) last June and enters the Ben Ali off a fifth-place finish in the Essex (G3) on March 18 at Oaklawn Park. Trained by Brad Cox, Tawny Port will be ridden by Flavien Prat and break from post seven.

Arriving Monday at Keeneland from South Florida was Daniel Alonso’s multiple Grade 3 winner Skippylongstocking. Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., Skippylongstocking enters the Ben Ali off a 3¼-length victory in the Challenger (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs on March 11.

Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount and will break from post position four.

The field for the Ben Ali, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Pioneer of Medina (Tyler Gaffalione, 118 pounds), Trademark (Rafael Bejarano, 118), Call Me Fast (Julien Leparoux, 118), Skippylongstocking (Ortiz Jr., 118), Rattle N Roll (Hernandez Jr., 118), Happy American (James Graham, 118), Tawny Port (Prat, 118).

PROSPECTIVE FIELD FOR CLOSING-DAY BEWITCH

Here are the prospective entries for the $300,00 Bewitch (G3) on the April 28 closing day of the Keeneland Spring Meet compiled by Stakes Coordinator Baley Hare:

$300,000 Bewitch (G3) – Possible: Broadway Boogie (trainer James Toner), Temple City Terror (Brendan Walsh).

Entries will be taken Sunday.

PAUL HALLORAN CAPTURES KEENELAND’S GRADE ONE GAMBLE

Paul Halloran of Lynn, Massachusetts, topped a record field of 292 players and took down first prize of $73,000 in the Grade One Gamble, Keeneland’s signature handicapping contest held Saturday, April 15. Halloran crushed the late daily double with a $10,000 wager on odds-on favorite In Italian (GB) in the Jenny Wiley (G1) and 5-2 favorite Tarabi in the last race to yield winnings of $59,900 and a final bankroll of $60,105.

The Grade One Gamble attracted players from across the U.S. and Canada, who participated at Keeneland and on XpressBet, TVG, 4NJBets, NYRABets and HPI. The buy-in of $3,500 included $2,500 in live bankroll bet on Keeneland’s Saturday card.

Halloran writes for The Saratoga Special, which is produced during the meet at Saratoga Race Course in New York, and his journey to Lexington was primarily to work on a book project about Cody Dorman, namesake of 2022 Big Ass Fans Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) winner Cody’s Wish. After visiting with the Dorman family, Halloran went to Keeneland with a friend, Howard Kravets, cohost of the HHH Racing Podcast. Halloran decided the morning of the Grade One Gamble to enter the contest.

Drew Coatney of Columbus, Ohio, followed his massive win in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge at Keeneland with a second-place showing in the Grade One Gamble. Coatney wagered his entire bankroll on the final race and caught a $10,000 win payoff on Tarabi that yielded $37,300.

Halloran and Coatney, along with third-place finisher Michael Somich, Marshall Gramm (fourth), Brent Kelly (fifth) and Paul Matties (sixth), each won $10,000 berths in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Betting Challenge at Santa Anita and berths in the 2024 NTRA National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas. In addition, the next four winners – Rockwood Edwards, Joseph Carnavale, George Chute and Augie Quirch – will join the top six in Las Vegas for the NHC.