In Kentucky Downs‘ temporary affiliation with the Breeders’ Cup Problem Collection, a winner of both of its Win & You are In races has but to go on to seize the corresponding race within the World Championships, however one take a look at the purses being supplied on the Franklin, Ky., monitor means that pattern will not final lengthy.
And a take a look at this 12 months’s Ainsworth Turf Dash Stakes (G2T) particularly suggests this could possibly be the 12 months. All eyes will flip to Kentucky’s European-style monitor Sept. 7 because it hosts the weekend’s solely two home problem races: the Turf Dash, which awards a fees-paid spot within the Breeders’ Cup Turf Dash (G1T); and the Kentucky Turf Cup Stakes (G2T), which awards a fees-paid spot within the Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1T).
This 12 months each of those Kentucky Downs races will supply $2 million purses (for Kentucky Thoroughbred Improvement Fund horses) with vital cash additionally accessible for non-Kentucky-breds.
Each races additionally will welcome again previous winners, though these horses are listed at double-digit odds on the morning line. Gear Jockey , who captured the Turf Dash at Kentucky Downs final 12 months and in 2021, is listed at 30-1 because the son of Twirling Sweet might be making his 7-year-old debut Saturday. He has not raced since an off-the-board end in final 12 months’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Dash, which adopted his slender victory within the Turf Dash at Kentucky Downs at 23-1 odds.
The Kentucky Turf Cup entries embrace Get Smokin , who loved a transparent benefit at each level of name on this race final 12 months because the son of Get Stormy registered a 1 3/4-length win. Listed at 12-1, Get Smokin will enter off a slender victory within the United Nations Stakes (G2T) July 20 at Monmouth Park. Get Smokin didn’t race in final 12 months’s Breeders’ Cup Turf as his win at Kentucky Downs marked the ultimate begin of his 6-year-old season.
The Turf Dash at Kentucky Downs has been a Problem Collection race since 2019 with Gear Jockey ending eleventh within the Breeders’ Cup Turf Dash final 12 months and sixth off his 2021 win. Completely Boss completed tenth within the 2019 Breeders’ Cup after his Problem Collection win, and Imprimis adopted his 2020 win at Kentucky Downs with a Thirteenth-place end within the World Championships.
The Kentucky Turf Cup has been a Problem race since 2021. In that point Purple Knight has been the one winner to go on to the Breeders’ Cup Turf. He completed eleventh in that race in 2022.
There are some hurdles for horses who win, or run properly, at Kentucky Downs to then go on to win the corresponding Breeders’ Cup race. The Turf Dash at Kentucky Downs is contested at six furlongs round an extended flip with a barely uphill end via an extended stretch. The six-furlong distance is longer than the gap at which the Breeders’ Cup Turf Dash usually is contested. For example, this 12 months at Del Mar it is going to be run at 5 furlongs.
Whereas we have famous the variations within the Kentucky Downs course in contrast with different tracks in the USA, the gap of the Kentucky Turf Cup does match the 1 1/2-mile distance of the Breeders’ Cup Turf. The most important hurdle for winners of this Problem race is the uptick in competitors within the Breeders’ Cup Turf the place high European-based runners have flocked. Within the three years that the Kentucky Turf Cup has been a Problem race, the Breeders’ Cup Turf has been received by European-based runners.
Regardless of these hurdles, this could possibly be the 12 months a Kentucky Downs Problem race delivers. With back-to-back graded stakes wins in turf sprints to start out the season, together with a 3 1/2-length rating within the Jaipur Stakes (G1T) June 8 at Saratoga Race Course, Cogburn has pushed to the entrance of this division within the U.S. He is the 6-5 morning-line favourite Saturday from put up 4. Because the son of Not This Time already has proven a capability to win at each 5 furlongs and 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf, if he had been so as to add a win Saturday he would probably be favored come November. He completed fifth on this race final 12 months.
The sector additionally contains Nobals , winner of final 12 months’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Dash.
The favourite within the Kentucky Turf Cup is Arlington Million Stakes (G1T) runner-up Integration . That area contains one worldwide runner in group 3 winner Chief Little Rock who’s 4-1 for coach Aidan O’Brien.
Chief Little Rock wins the Gallinule Stakes at Curragh
