Keeneland Barn Notes — Friday, Sept. 26

By Amy Owens —-

FRIDAY, SEPT. 26

Keeneland’s 17-day Fall Meet opens Friday, Oct. 3 and runs through Saturday, Oct. 25.
First race is at 1 p.m. ET. No racing Mondays and Tuesdays.

*************************

FALL STARS WEEKEND FIELDS TAKING SHAPE

Headed by reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, fields are taking shape for Fall Stars Weekend on the Oct. 3-5 opening weekend of Keeneland’s Fall Meet. The three days of racing feature 11 stakes worth $6.3 million. Eight stakes are part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, which awards the winners fees-paid entries into races at the 42nd World Championships at Del Mar Oct. 31-Nov. 1.

Trained by Kenny McPeek, Thorpedo Anna is expected to be the marquee name in the entry box Tuesday for the 70th running of the $650,000 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) for fillies and mares going 1⅛ miles on the main track on Sunday, Oct. 5. The Juddmonte Spinster is a “Win and You’re In” races for the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1).

Thorpedo Anna races for the partnership of Hill ‘n’ Dale Equine Holdings, Magdalena Racing, Mark Edwards and Judy Hicks.

Also expected for the Juddmonte Spinster is Alabama (G1) Presented by Keeneland Sales winner Nitrogen for owner D.J. Stable and trainer Mark Casse.

Fall Stars Weekend kicks off next Friday with three “Win and You’re In” races headlined by the 74th running of the $650,000 Darley Alcibiades (G1) for 2-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles on the main track. Topping the list of probable entrants is Spendthrift Farm’s Tommy Jo, winner of the Spinaway (G1) for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Also on Friday are the 173rd running of the $400,000 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G2) for 3-year-olds and up sprinting 6 furlongs on the main track and the 35th running of the $400,000 Jessamine (G2) Presented by Keeneland Sales for 2-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

Atlantic Six Racing’s two-time Grade 1 winner Book’em Danno, trained by Derek Ryan, heads the probable starters for the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix. Repole Stable’s undefeated Time to Dream, trained by Todd Pletcher, headlines the likely Jessamine Presented by Keeneland Sales starters.

Entries for Friday’s 10-race program will be taken Monday.

On Tuesday, entries will be taken for the 11-race program on Saturday, Oct. 4 that features five stakes, three of them Grade 1s.

Headlining the program is the 40th running of the $1.25 million Coolmore Turf Mile (G1), which is expected to attract Sam Sangster’s Diego Velazquez (IRE), winner of the Aga Khan Studs Prix Jacques Le Marois (G1) in Deauville in France for trainer Aidan O’Brien.

The female counterpart to the Coolmore Turf Mile is the 28th running of the $800,000 First Lady (G1) for fillies and mares going a mile on the turf. Trainer Chad Brown, who has saddled the First Lady winner the past seven years, might have two runners this year in Juddmonte’s Segesta and Klaravich Stables’ Dynamic Pricing (IRE).

Saturday’s third Grade 1 race is the 112th running of the $650,000 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) for 2-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the main track. Expected to top the entries is Spendthrift Farm’s undefeated Ted Noffey, daylight winner of the Spendthrift Farm Hopeful (G1) for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Also on the program are the 45th running of the $400,000 Thoroughbred Club of America (G2) for fillies and mares going 6 furlongs on the main track and the 29th running of the $400,000 Woodford (G2) Presented by FanDuel for 3-year-olds and up at 5½ furlongs on the grass.

Stonestreet Stables and Peter Leidel’s Zeitlos is expected to run in the Thoroughbred Club of America with the chance to join Excitable Lady (1982-83) as a repeat winner in the race.

Among the expected entrants for the Woodford Presented by FanDuel is Patricia’s Hope’s Nobals, winner of the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1). Larry Rivelli trains Nobals.

Entries also will be taken Tuesday for the 10-race program on Sunday, Oct. 5. In addition to the Juddmonte Spinster, other stakes that afternoon are the 35th running of the $400,000 Castle & Key Bourbon (G2) for 2-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the turf and the eighth running of the $300,000 Indian Summer (L) Presented by Keeneland Select for 2-year-olds at 5½ furlongs on the turf.

Repole Stable’s Final Score, winner of the With Anticipation (G3) at Saratoga, is expected to headline the Castle & Key Bourbon. Todd Pletcher trains Final Score.

Leland Ackerley Racing’s Obliteration, graded stakes-placed on the dirt and runner-up in the Kentucky Downs Juvenile Sprint (L) for trainer Steve Asmussen, looms as a major possible player for the Indian Summer Presented by Keeneland Select.

FRIDAY WORK TAB

Trainer Cherie DeVaux sent a trio of $2 million earners out for half-mile works over a fast track on a foggy Friday morning at Keeneland.

Five-time graded stakes winner Vahva, who is pointing to the Oct. 4 Thoroughbred Club of America (G2), breezed a half-mile in :49. Vahva has a win and two seconds in three Keeneland starts with the victory coming in the 2023 Lexus Raven Run (G2).

Vahva races for Belladonna Racing, Lynne Hudson, Edward J. Hudson Jr., West Point Thoroughbreds, Twin Brook Stables, W.S. Farish, LBD Stable, Runnels Racing and Manganaro Bloodstock.

Klein Racing’s Brilliant Berti, winner of last fall’s Bryan Station (G3) in his lone Keeneland start, covered the half-mile in :47.80 in preparation for the Oct. 4 Coolmore Turf Mile (G1).

Lael Stables’ She Feels Pretty, a five-time Grade 1 winner who posted a 6-length victory in last fall’s Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1) Presented by Dixiana here, worked a best-of-31 half-mile in :47. She is a candidate for the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) to be run at Del Mar on Nov. 1.

BBN Racing’s Mackinac worked a half-mile in :48.40 for trainer Rusty Arnold in preparation for next Friday’s opening-day Jessamine (G2) Presented by Keeneland Sales.

Also working toward a possible Breeders’ Cup start was WinStar Farm’s Mullikin. Third in the Cygames Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) last year at Del Mar, Mullikin worked a half-mile in company in :48.40. It was Mullikin’s first work since a seventh-place finish in the Forego (G1) Aug. 23 at Saratoga.

PROSPECTIVE FIELDS FOR FALL STARS STAKES

According to Keeneland Stakes Coordinator Allison De Luca, here are the prospective fields for the stakes on Fall Stars Weekend:

Friday, Oct. 3 races. Entries taken Monday, Sept. 29

*$650,000 DARLEY ALCIBIADES (G1) — Go to Girl (trainer Kenny McPeek), Percy’s Bar (Ben Colebrook), The Grumpy Rabbit (McPeek), Taken by the Wind (McPeek), Tommy Jo (Todd Pletcher).

*$400,000 STOLL KEENON OGDEN PHOENIX (G2) — Book’em Danno (Derek Ryan), Nakatomi (Wesley Ward), Silver Slugger (Juan Avila), Skelly (Steve Asmussen), Whatchatalkinabout (Ward), World Record (Rodolphe Brisset). Possible: Here Mi Song (Billy Stinson).

*$400,000 JESSAMINE (G2) PRESENTED BY KEENELAND SALES – Aggressive Lime (Brad Cox), Beach Ballad (Mike Maker), Carolyncaroline (Lindsay Schultz), Diablo Shiraz (John Ennis), Dyna (Kevin Attard), Ground Support (Kelsey Danner), Imaginationthelady (Brendan Walsh), Infinite Sky (Cox), Mackinac (Rusty Arnold), Rose Room (Mike Stidham), Snappy Comeback (Jose D’Angelo), Soloist (McPeek), Time to Dream (Pletcher), To a Flame (Arnold). Possibles: Believe in Magic (Bill Morey), Miss Call (Kenny McPeek).

Saturday, Oct. 4 races. Entries taken Tuesday, Sept. 30

*$1,250,000 COOLMORE TURF MILE (G1) — Beach Gold (Patrick Biancone), Brilliant Berti (Cherie DeVaux), Diego Velazquez (IRE) (Aidan O’Brien), Donegal Momentum (Tom Morley), Howard Wolowitz (D’Angelo), Jonquil (GB) (Andrew Balding), Mountain Bear (IRE) (Ward), Program Trading (GB) (Chad Brown), Quatrocento (Fausto Gutierrez), Rhetorical (Will Walden), Woodshauna (FR) (Francis-Henri Graffard).

$800,000 FIRST LADY (G1) — Be Your Best (IRE) (Saffie Joseph), Choisya (GB) (Simon Crisford), Deep Satin (DeVaux), Dynamic Pricing (IRE) (Brown), Great Generation (IRE) (Marco Botti), Heredia (GB) (Graham Motion), Raqiya (IRE) (Pletcher), Segesta (Brown), Simmering (GB) (Ollie Sangster). Possible: Special Wan (IRE) (Walsh).

*$650,000 CLAIBORNE BREEDERS’ FUTURITY (G1) — Big Dom (Tom Amoss), Blackout Time (McPeek), Ewing (Mark Casse), Spice Runner (Asmussen), Ted Noffey (Pletcher), Vost (Walden). Possible: Rancho Santa Fe (Cox).

*$400,000 THOROUGHBRED CLUB OF AMERICA (G2) — Long Neck Paula (Ward), Vahva (DeVaux), Praying (Robbie Medina), Zeitlos (Asmussen). Possible: Positano Sunset (Ian Wilkes).

$400,000 WOODFORD (G2) PRESENTED BY FANDUEL — Arrest Me Red (Ward), Charcoal (Tracey Wismer), Governor Sam (George Weaver), Joe Shiesty (Eric Foster), Nobals (Larry Rivelli). Possible: Script (Arnold).

Sunday, Oct. 5 races. Entries taken Tuesday, Sept. 30

*$650,000 JUDDMONTE SPINSTER (G1) — Leslie’s Rose (Pletcher), Nitrogen (Casse), Thorpedo Anna (McPeek). Possible: Alpine Princess (Cox).

*$400,000 CASTLE & KEY BOURBON (G2) — Blinging It Back (Casse), Casa Cielo (Keith Desormeaux), Dr. Agne (DeVaux), Final Score (Pletcher), Gordon Pass (Walden), J J Grey (McPeek), Password (Brisset), Vintur (Casse).

$300,000 INDIAN SUMMER (L) PRESENTED BY KEENELAND SELECT – Bobrovsky (Dale Romans), Obliteration (Asmussen), Royal Testament (Weaver), Twilight Delight (Daniel Leitch).

*Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series races.