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Be part of the action as we cover the Triple Crown starting with the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes. See the best of the best horses battle it out in the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships.
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On Saturday, the 14th Kentucky Cup Day of Champions at Turfway Park features five stakes worth $825,000 that will likely impact an equal number of Breeders’ Cup races next month at Monmouth Park.
But the headliner is the $350,000 Kentucky Cup Classic, which has served as a key prep for a half-dozen horses that hit the board in the Breeders’ Cup Classic from ‘98 through ‘06. However, five Kentucky Cup Classic winners had to settle for second or third-place money.
Ironically, Cat Thief, third in the ‘99 Kentucky Cup Classic, won the big one. I was at Gulfstream Park eight years ago when Pat Day guided the son of Storm Cat to victory despite a bumpy ride to the finish line 1 ¼ lengths in front in the 16th Breeders’ Cup Classic. The winner, eighth choice among the 14 entries, returned a generous $41.20.
The main attraction in this year’s Kentucky Cup Classic is Kentucky Derby champion Street Sense. Carl Nafzger finally made it official after considering several races, including the 89th running of the Jockey Gold Cup at Belmont on Sunday.
Nafzger decided he’d rather ship the son of Street Cry the shorter distance between Churchill Downs and Turfway instead of to Belmont. And, the trainer added, he preferred Street Sense going 1 1/8 miles instead of 1 ¼ miles.
Street Sense has been breezing well at the Louisville track. On Sept. 16, he went four furlongs in 48 3/5. Four days later, he traveled five furlongs in 1:00 3/5.
Working the Travers winner twice in four days isn’t unusual for his stable, Nafzger told Brisnet.com. “I always do that when I want a good work in and sharpen him up. We just wanted a good work and he worked like clockwork…”
His main opposition in a likely small field is Hard Spin, winner of the King’s Bishop at seven furlongs on the Travers undercard. However, the son of Danzig has finished behind Street Sense twice in dirt routes — the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.
At Delaware Park on Sunday, Larry Jones’ trainee breezed five furlongs in 1:01 2/5. Hard Spun captured the Lane’s End at Turfway six months ago in his only outing on a synthetic surface.
Meanwhile, Street Sense hasn’t won in two tries, finishing second and third on Keeneland’s Polytrack as a juvenile and a sophomore. But both preps preceded victories in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and this year’s Run for the Roses Derby.
Remember that Street Sense has never finished out of the money in 11 starts, going 6-3-2 and earning more than $4 million.
On Sunday at Belmont Park, there are four stakes worth more than $2.3 million that will send even more hopefuls to the Breeders’ Cup.
The feature attraction is the $750,000 Gold Cup that will pit two of trainer Todd Pletcher’s best: Lawyer Ron, the nation’s top older handicap horse with back-to-back triumphs in Saratoga’s Whitney and Woodward, and Curlin, victorious in the Preakness Stakes while hitting the board in the other two legs of the Triple Crown.
Among those hoping to pull an upset are Political Force, winner of the Suburban who later ran fifth in the Woodward; Sun King, second in the Woodward; and Brother Bobby, runner-up in the Oaklawn Handicap and the Iselin Breeders’ Cup Stakes.
Greg Melikov has been handicapping and writing about horses for decades. His articles and columns appear in print and on the Internet around the world. Greg is a retired newspaperman who became a racing fan at 13 when he saw 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation, his favorite horse, whip 20 older horses at old Arlington Park.
Greg Melikov has been handicapping and writing about horses for decades. His articles and columns appear in print and on the Internet around the world. Greg is a retired newspaperman who became a racing fan at 13 when he saw 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation, his favorite horse, whip 20 older horses at old Arlington Park.
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