Keeneland Barn Notes — April 19

By Amy Owens —-

THURSDAY, APRIL 19

Keeneland’s 16-day Spring Meet runs through Friday, April 27, with racing
Wednesday through Sunday. Post time for the first race each day is 1:05 p.m ET.
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• ITSINTHEPOST (FR) BACK TO DEFEND TITLE IN DIXIANA ELKHORN
• DELACOUR HOPES TO DOUBLE UP IN STAKES FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
• STEVENS RETURNS TO KEENELAND WINNER’S CIRCLE
• KEENELAND FALL MEET STAKES PART OF BREEDERS’ CUP CHALLENGE
• GALLOPING OUT
• PROSPECTIVE FIELD FOR CLOSING-DAY BEWITCH
• SPRING MEET SPECIAL EVENTS
• SPRING MEET LEADERS

ITSINTHEPOST (FR) BACK TO DEFEND TITLE IN DIXIANA ELKHORN

Trainer Jeff Mullins had three things on a mid-April checklist last year when he ventured from his home base at Santa Anita: Ship Itsinthepost (FR) to Keeneland, win the Dixiana Elkhorn (G2) and then head south to Ocala, Florida, for a horse sale.

He is a third of the way to checking all the boxes again this year as Itsinthepost arrived at Keeneland Tuesday to defend his title in Saturday’s 1½-mile turf marathon.

“He’s doing good,” Mullins said as he watched Itsinthepost jog once around and then gallop a little more than twice around Keeneland’s five-eighths mile all-weather training track.

Itsinthepost comes into the Dixiana Elkhorn on a three-race win streak all in Grade 2 races at Santa Anita: the San Gabriel, San Marcos and San Luis Rey, the latter at the Dixiana Elkhorn distance.

In all, Itsinthepost has won six Grade 2s with all coming in the past 13 months.

“He probably should have had another two but was unlucky in those,” Mullins said, referring to races in which Itsinthepost was beaten less than two lengths. “There are not that many mile-and-a-half races that are Grade 1 and in California after a mile, they are only Grade 2.”

In his most recent Grade 1 race, Itsinthepost finished seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

“He got a 100 Beyer (Speed Figure) in the Breeders’ Cup,” Mullins said of the race at Del Mar that marked his ninth start of 2017. “This year (for the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs), we may have to get a ‘Win and You’re In’. We’ll see.”

No rain is in the immediate forecast, so Itsinthepost should have the firm turf he is used to in California. Course condition made no difference last year when Itsinthepost won as the favorite.

“It was yielding last year. It had rained for like a day and half before the race last year and I was worried the race would come off the turf,” Mullins said. “But people told me the race would stay on (the turf). At home, they would have taken it right off.”

Win or lose Saturday, the final part of the checklist is in play.

“We are flying out (to the sale) Saturday night,” Mullins said, noting that Itsinthepost would return to California on Wednesday.

DELACOUR HOPES TO DOUBLE UP IN STAKES FRIDAY AND SATURDAY

Trainer Arnaud Delacour brought a small string of horses to Keeneland, where this week he will hold a strong hand in two stakes with WinStar Stablemates Racing’s Well Humored in Friday’s Hilliard Lyons Doubledogdare (G3) and Guy Pariente’s Canessar (FR) in Saturday’s Dixiana Elkhorn (G2).

Well Humored comes into the Hilliard Lyons Doubledogdare off a three-month layoff following a victory in the Wayward Lass at Tampa Bay Downs. Jose Ortiz will be aboard for the first time Friday.

“There were no races for her really,” Delacour said of the layoff. “I didn’t want to cut her back to a one-turn race. That didn’t make any sense.”

Well Humored has only raced four times, one of those coming in an allowance victory here last fall over a sloppy track.

“She came around late and then she got very sick as a 3-year-old,” Delacour said. “We gave her plenty of time.”

Canessar comes into Saturday’s race off a six-month layoff.

“I thought he ran a little flat in his last race (in the Sycamore-G3 at Keeneland last October),” Delacour said of Canessar’s third-place finish. “He had a run a lot in France (before coming to the U.S. in August).”

Ricardo Santana Jr. will be aboard for the first time Saturday in Canessar’s comeback race.

“He hasn’t missed a beat (since his vacation),” Delacour said. “I know it is a tough spot, but you have to get started sometime.”

STEVENS RETURNS TO KEENELAND WINNER’S CIRCLE

Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens wasted little time rediscovering the Keeneland Winner’s Circle Wednesday afternoon when he rode Pray Hard to a 3¼-length victory in the opening race for trainer Doug O’Neill.

Stevens, 55, who has ridden here sparingly in recent years, collected his most recent Keeneland victory before Wednesday on Kobe’s Back in the 2015 Commonwealth (G3).

“I am going to be in Kentucky through Churchill and then go to Saratoga,” said Stevens, who comes to Kentucky off a 26-win meet at Oaklawn Park.

A three-time Kentucky Derby winner, Stevens does not have a mount as of yet for this year’s running, “but I’ve got one for the Oaks (G1)s in Sassy Sienna for Brad Cox,” Stevens said in reference to the Fantasy (G3) winner. Stevens has won the Kentucky Oaks twice with Tiffany Lass in 1986 and Silverbulletday in 1999.

KEENELAND FALL MEET STAKES PART OF BREEDERS’ CUP CHALLENGE

Seven races during Keeneland’s 2018 Fall Meet are part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series: Win and You’re In presented by America’s Best Racing. The series, which covers races in 12 countries, consists of 82 qualifying stakes race into corresponding Breeders’ Cup races.

Keeneland’s races in the series are the Oct. 5 Darley Alcibiades (G1), which offers an automatic berth to the 14 Hands Winery Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) and Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G2) (TwinSpires Sprint-G1); Oct. 6 Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) (Mile-G1), Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) (Sentient Jet Juvenile-G1), First Lady (G1) (Filly and Mare Turf-G1) and Thoroughbred Club of America (G2) (Filly and Mare Sprint-G1); Oct. 7 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) (Distaff-G1) and Dixiana Bourbon (G2) (Juvenile Turf-G1); and Oct. 10 JPMorgan Chase Jessamine (G2) (Juvenile Fillies Turf-G1).

The Oct. 5-7 races at Keeneland are featured during Fall Stars Weekend on the opening three days of the 17-day Fall Meet from Oct. 5-27.

NBC will present live coverage of the Shadwell Turf Mile and Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity on Oct. 6 and the Juddmonte Spinster and Dixiana Bourbon the following day
Click here for the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series schedule.

GALLOPING OUT
Keeneland racing analyst Tom Leach interviewed trainer Will VanMeter about Someday Soon in Friday’s Hilliard Lyons Doubledogdare (G3).

PROSPECTIVE FIELD FOR CLOSING-DAY BEWITCH
$150,000 Bewitch (G3) (Entries taken Sunday; race Friday, April 27) – Probable: Daddys Lil Darling (trainer Kenny McPeek), Daring Duchess (Mike Maker), Ickymasho (GB) (Roger Attfield), Mom’s On Strike (Joe Sharp). Possible: Proud Reunion (Tom Proctor).

SPRING MEET SPECIAL EVENTS
The Keeneland Library is paying tribute to Pierre Bellocq, the internationally celebrated artist better known as “Peb,” with the exhibit “Artistry of Peb: Fifty Years of Features” and a virtual exhibit on Keeneland.com titled “The Artistry of Peb.” “Artistry of Peb” showcases 18 of Bellocq’s features from The Morning Telegraph and Daily Racing Form spanning the mid-1950s to the mid-2000s. This work solidified Peb’s renown as an artistic commentator of the Thoroughbred racing industry. The Keeneland Library is free and open to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.
Official Keeneland Tours – Keeneland offers a selection of guided tours, including Behind-the-Scenes Racing Tours and a Backstretch Tour and Day at the Races. On Saturdays during Sunrise Trackside, free guided tours begin every 20 minutes from the Paddock and Walking Ring from 7:30-10 a.m.
Friday, April 20
The Keeneland Shop’s Milliners Corner presents Dorfman Pacific adjacent to the Walking Ring.
Tailgating on The Hill. Keeneland’s popular tailgate lot, located adjacent to the Keene Barn & Entertainment Center, features local food trucks, a jumbo television screen, wireless wagering and wagering terminals, race-day programs, The Keeneland Shop kiosk and free shuttles to the track. BETologists will be available to answer fans’ questions.
Friday Pick 4 Presented by TVG. A $200,000-guaranteed pool will be offered on the final four races of the day, including the Hilliard Lyons Doubledogdare (G3).
Saturday, April 21
Sunrise Trackside Racehorses and the people who work with them begin the day well before sunrise. See what they’re up to Saturday mornings during Sunrise Trackside, a free family-friendly event. Breakfast With the Works features breakfast for purchase and trackside commentary (7-8:30 a.m.) while horses train on the main track, and is accompanied by children’s activities in the Kids Club Corner (7-9 a.m.); guided walking tours (7:30-10 a.m.); Paddock demonstration (9 a.m.) with Central Kentucky Riding for Hope; and a Q&A session with jockey Adam Beschizza in the Paddock (12:05 pm.).

The Keeneland Shop’s Milliners Corner presents Dorfman Pacific adjacent to the Walking Ring.
Tailgating on The Hill. Keeneland’s popular tailgate lot, located adjacent to the Keene Barn & Entertainment Center, features local food trucks, a jumbo television screen, wireless wagering and wagering terminals, race-day programs, The Keeneland Shop kiosk and free shuttles to the track. One of Central Kentucky’s favorite bluegrass bands will perform from 12-4 p.m. BETologists will be available to answer fans’ questions.

$300,000 All-Stakes Pick 4 Presented by TVG. Features races 7-10, including the Dixiana Elkhorn (G2)
Sunday, April 22
The Keeneland Shop’s Milliners Corner presents Dorfman Pacific adjacent to the Walking Ring.
Military Day at the Races Presented by Marathon. Keeneland recognizes the men and women who serve our country. All active-duty, reserve, veterans and military families will receive free general admission and access to reserved Grandstand seating with military I.D. Military families will join us in the North Terrace from noon to 4 p.m. for free food and children’s activities. Keeneland will have a setup in the Paddock area for patrons to write letters to deployed service members.  

SPRING MEET LEADERS
Through April 18 (9 days of 16-day season)
Jockey Starts Wins 2nd 3rd Purses

Corey Lanerie 48 9 6 3 $509,712
Florent Geroux 43 8 9 3 $641,762
Jose Ortiz 56 8 8 9 $1,145,916
Joel Rosario 33 7 9 9 $482,456
Brian J. Hernandez Jr. 43 7 5 6 $559,171
Javier Castellano 14 5 3 1 $479,768
Luis Saez 33 5 2 4 $342,734
Gabriel Saez 23 5 1 3 $213,014

Trainer Starts Wins 2nd 3rd Purses

Chad Brown 17 9 3 2 $1,398,530
Wesley Ward 21 7 5 2 $415,640
Brad Cox 15 6 1 1 $524,824
Bret Calhoun 10 5 0 2 $384,340
Kenny McPeek 24 3 6 2 $332,996
Charlie LoPresti 10 3 3 1 $168,838
Tom Amoss 12 3 2 2 $74,380
Larry Jones 7 3 1 1 $98,200

Owners Wins

G. Watts Humphrey Jr.* 3
Peter M. Brant* 2
Calumet Farm (Brad Kelley) 2
Cobra Cooper Racing (Ted Cooper) 2
Mark Detampel 2
Michael Dubb* 2
Tom Durant 2
e Five Racing Thoroughbreds (Robert J. Edwards Jr.)* 2
Charles E. Fipke 2

*Includes partnerships.
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