Keeneland, Race 6 Wednesday, October 9, 2024
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By The 2YO EdgeMan
KEE6:100924 – One and 1/16th Miles on the Dirt. 14 dudes are entered, but only 12 will start – 11 colts and one gelding. Six have started once, four have been out on two previous occasions, one has three races under his belt, and one experienced fella has already raced four times.
#7 – Freaky (8/1) – Spendthrift Farm’s fantastic Into Mischief (ALL = 17.8%; Dirt = 18.3%) is the sire behind this colt is from a Ghostzapper (BM = 11.8) mare. Mom was four-for-19 on the track with a win in her fourth try at age two and she brought home $271K. She’s tossed one other foal of racing age and that 3YO Tapit filly did score last year as a juvenile in her second start. Eclipse Thoroughbreds plunked down $850K on this dude last year as a yearling (18/69). Trainer Todd Pletcher has sent him out for one race – a 6f dirt affair at SAR back in August. He didn’t break well from his inside post that day, but moved up, then tired down the lane. TAP kept him in upstate NY and has worked him four times since his race up there. His first drill back was over a half mile and done in 47.74 seconds, earning him a bullet (1/17). Irad will ride for the first time.
#8 – Kinetic Control (8/5 ML fav) – Dale Romans (M = 3/17, 17.7% will sling the saddle on this Not This Time (ALL = 20.6%; Dirt = 23.3%) colt for the third time. His mama (by Medaglia d’Oro – BM = 14.2) scored twice in her 17 starts and banked $169K, including a win at age two in her fifth try. She’s thrown four other foals of racing age, half of them won as babies. Today’s runner brought $120K as a yearling (46/62). This guy has been out twice, once at ELP and once at CD. He started a tad late in both races, but moved up nicely and finished as runner-up in both – last time Handsome Pants beat him by only 1 ½ lengths and he was a starter in the recent Breeders’ Futurity at KEE. Dale has been able to give him one, solid, breeze of 4f since his race and he goes right back to Corey Lanerie for the third time to guide him.
#9 – Cooper (4/1) – A homebred from Godolphin, this colt’s stallion is Nyquist (ALL = 18.3%; 21.3%). Apiary, by Bernardini (BM = 12.6%), was winless in three tries and has produced three other foals of racing age – one of which scored as a two-year-old. HOF Bill Mott (M = 2/13, 2+ starts, 15.4%; 1/7, 14.3%)is this dude’s teacher and he’s sent him out for two previous afternoon spins. He showed very little in his first at SAR, but improved last out on 9/14/24 at CD going today’s distance on today’s surface. In that one, he started slowly, was at the back of the pack, but made a nice move to end third, just more than five lengths back in the same race that #8 last ran. Bill gave him a nice, half-mile drill over at CD after his race, before shipping him down I-64 to Keeneland. Jose will be in the saddle for the first time today.
Final Analysis – #8 will be tough, but I can’t take him at the likely short odds that he’ll be dismissed at. #7 certainly stands to improve off his debut, but my pick is #9 Cooper. He made up bunches of ground in his last run and I think he would have been a serious contender had he started better. I look for him to move forward today and with a better beginning, I think he’ll be right there at the end.
KEE has a similar race scheduled for tomorrow (Thursday), but that one will feature the gals. I’ll do my best to cover it, but we have a major hurricane bearing down on us. I hope everyone stays safe! Take care of yourself and your loved ones.
