Three Grade 1 Races Highlight Fall Stars Saturday at Keeneland

By Amy Owens —-

Heart to Heart Heads Deep Field for $1 Million Shadwell Turf Mile
Hopeful Winner Mind Control Tops Field of 14 for Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity
Brown-Trained Trio Looms Large in Field of 10 for First Lady

LEXINGTON, KY. (Oct. 3, 2018) – Terry Hamilton’s Heart to Heart, seeking to become the third horse to complete a Keeneland Maker’s 46 Mile (G1) and Shadwell Turf Mile (G1) double in the same year, headlines a field of 14 and two also-eligibles entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 33rd running of the $1 million Shadwell Turf Mile.

The Shadwell Turf Mile is the centerpiece of an 11-race program Saturday beginning at 12:40 p.m. ET that features five graded stakes worth $2.35 million. The Shadwell Turf Mile and three other stakes are Breeders’ Cup Challenge races for this year’s World Championships Nov. 2-3 at Churchill Downs.

The other Grade 1 races are the 105th running of the $500,000 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity for 2-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the main track, which drew a field of 14, and the 21st running of the $400,000 First Lady for fillies and mares going a mile on the turf that attracted a field of 10.

The Shadwell Turf Mile, scheduled as the afternoon’s 10th race with a 5:49 p.m. post time, is a Win and You’re In race for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1) on Nov. 3.

Trained by Brian Lynch, Heart to Heart will attempt to join Miss Temple City (2016) and Wise Dan (2014) as horses who swept Keeneland’s premier mile turf tests in the same year.

An 11-time graded stakes winner including his Grade 1 score in this year’s Gulfstream Park Turf, Heart to Heart comes into Saturday’s race off a sixth-place finish in the Fourstardave (G1) at Saratoga in August.

Second in the Shadwell Turf Mile last year, Heart to Heart will be ridden by Julien Leparoux and break from post position five.

Complicating Heart to Heart’s task Saturday is the presence of three other Grade 1 winners: Almanaar (GB), Divisidero and Voodoo Song.

Shadwell Stable’s Almanaar, winner of last year’s Gulfstream Park Turf, comes into Saturday’s race off a runner-up effort in the Arlington Million (G1). Trained by Chad Brown, Almanaar will break from post position 11 and be ridden by Javier Castellano.

Gunpowder Farms’ Divisidero, a two-time winner of the Grade 1 Turf Classic at Churchill Downs, was fourth in this race last year. Now trained by Kelly Rubley, Divisidero was fifth in the Woodbine Mile (G1) in his most recent start and will be ridden by Jevian Toledo out of post position two.

Barry Schwartz’s Voodoo Song, winner of the Fourstardave, will be making his Keeneland debut for trainer Linda Rice. Fifth in the Bernard Baruch (G2) in his most recent start, Voodoo Song will be ridden by Jose Lezcano and break from post position 10

The field for the Shadwell Turf Mile, with riders and weights from the inside, is: Next Shares (Tyler Gaffalione, 126 pounds), Divisidero (Toledo, 126), Great Wide Open (IRE) (James Graham, 126), Imperative (Albin Jimenez, 126), Heart to Heart (Leparoux, 126), Synchrony (Corey Lanerie, 126), Qurbaan (Mike Smith, 126), Multiplier (Brian Hernandez Jr., 126), Analyze It (John Velazquez, 123), Voodoo Song (Lezcano, 126), Almanaar (GB) (Castellano, 126), Mr. Misunderstood (Florent Geroux, 126), Big Score (Ricardo Santana Jr., 126) and Bound for Nowhere (Julio Garcia, 126). Also-eligible: Zulu Alpha (Luis Saez, 126) and Holiday Stone (Feargal Lynch, 126)
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Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity

Red Oak Stable and Madaket Stables’ Mind Control, winner of the Hopeful (G1) at Saratoga in his most recent start, is the marquee name among 14 juveniles entered in the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity.

The Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity, scheduled as the afternoon’s ninth race with a 5:14 p.m. post time, is a Win and You’re In race for the $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) on Nov. 2.

Trained by Greg Sacco, Mind Control broke his maiden at second asking at Monmouth prior to his Hopeful victory.

Mind Control will be ridden by John Velazquez and break from post position 13.

Also coming out of the Hopeful are Starlight Racing’s Sombeyay, John Oxley’s Dream Maker and Calumet Farm’s Derby Date.

Trained by two-time Breeders’ Futurity winner Todd Pletcher, Sombeyay won the Sanford (G3) at Saratoga before running fourth in the Hopeful. Luis Saez has the mount on Sombeyay, who will break from post position two.

Mark Casse, who trained 2016 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity winner Classic Empire, conditions Dream Maker, who was fifth in the Hopeful. Julien Leparoux has the mount and will break from post position five.

Derby Date, who was eighth in the Hopeful, is trained by six-time Breeders’ Futurity winner D. Wayne Lukas. Gabriel Saez has the mount Saturday and will break from post position 12.

The field for the Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity, with riders from the rail, is: Signalman (Brian Hernandez Jr.), Sombeyay (Luis Saez), Fluminense (Ricardo Santana Jr.), Unionizer (Florent Geroux), Dream Maker (Leparoux), Everfast (Jack Gilligan), Knicks Go (Albin Jimenez), Tobacco Road (Corey Lanerie), Moonster (Tyler Gaffalione), Mr. Ankeny (Robby Albarado), Borracho (James Graham), Derby Date (Gabriel Saez), Mind Control (Velazquez) and Standard Deviation (Javier Castellano). All starters carry 121 pounds.

First Lady

Trainer Chad Brown, who won four graded stakes during Keeneland’s Spring Meet, has a powerhouse trio of runners in the field of 10 for the First Lady.

The First Lady, scheduled as the afternoon’s eighth race with a 4:40 p.m. post time, is a Win and You’re In race for the $2 million Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) on Nov. 3.

The Brown contingent all competed in the Ballston Spa (G2) at Saratoga on Aug. 25 with Peter Brant’s Quidura (GB) winning by 1¾ lengths while A Raving Beauty (GER) was fourth and Off Limits (IRE) ran fifth.

A multiple graded stakes winner, Quidura won the Valley View (G3) at Keeneland in 2016 and in 2017 finished third in the Jenny Wiley (G1) here. Javier Castellano will have the mount and break from post position three.

A Raving Beauty, winner of the Just a Game (G1) in June at Belmont, will be making her Keeneland debut. John Velazquez has the mount on A Raving Beauty and will exit post position two.

Off Limits, third in the Jenny Wiley here this spring, won the Matriarch (G1) to close her 2017 campaign. She will be ridden Saturday by Julien Leparoux and leave from post position 10.

Adding international spice to the First Lady is the presence of two European group winners:

Godolphin’s Crown Walk (GB) and Mr. P.K. Siu’s Indian Blessing (GB).
Trained by Henri-Alex Pantall, Crown Walk finished second in the Prix Rothschild (G1) at Deauville on July 29 in her most recent start. Mike Smith has the mount on Crown Walk out of post position four.
Indian Blessing, who was third to Quidura in the Ballston Spa, returns to North America for trainer Ed Walker. She will be ridden by Feargal Lynch from post position five.

The field for the First Lady, with riders and weights from the inside, is: Insta Erma (Tyler Gaffalione 124 pounds), A Raving Beauty (GER) (Velazquez, 124), Quidura (GB) (Castellano, 124), Crown Walk (GB) (Smith, 121), Indian Blessing (GB) (Lynch, 124), One Liz (Mitchell Murrill, 124), Dona Bruja (ARG) (Declan Cannon, 124), Valadorna (Florent Geroux, 124), La Sardane (FR) (Luis Saez, 124) and Off Limits (IRE) (Leparoux, 124).
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The First Lady, Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity and Shadwell Turf Mile will air on NBC from 4:30-6 p.m. ET.

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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 private, for-profit corporation 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. To learn more, visit Keeneland.com.