Mystik Dan (on the rail) in the 2024 Kentucky Derby won by a nose over Sierra Leone. (Jenny Doyle/Past The Wire)
In Churchill Downs Grade III, $275,000 Blame Stakes
All-Stakes Sequence for the 20-cent Derby City 6 Jackpot, Late Pick 5, Late Pick 4
Darren Rogers/Churchill Downs
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kentucky Derby 150 winner Mystik Dan is set to make his return to the races at Churchill Downs when he takes on nine rivals entered in next Saturday’s sixth running of the $275,000 Blame Stakes (Grade III), the featured event on Stephen Foster Preview Day.
Run at 1 1/8 miles, the Blame Stakes serves as the local prep for the $1 million Stephen Foster (Grade I) on June 28.
Stephen Foster Preview Day’s stakes action also includes the $275,000 Aristides (GIII) (Race 6); $275,000 Arlington (GIII) (Race 9); $275,000 Regret (GIII) (Race 11); $275,000 Shawnee (GIII) (Race 8); and $275,000 Audubon (Listed) (Race 7). First post is 12:45 p.m. (all times Eastern) with the Blame set as Race 10 at 5:27 p.m.
Mystik Dan thrilled fans in last year’s Kentucky Derby when he skimmed the rail to narrowly defeat Sierra Leone and Forever Young. The son of Goldencents hasn’t returned to the winner’s circle in five races since but recently recorded a game runner-up finish to Saudi Crown in the $200,000 Lake Ouachita Stakes at Oaklawn on May 3.
Owned by 4 G Racing, Valley View Farm, Lance Gasaway and Daniel Hamby III, Mystik Dan will be reunited with jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. and break from post No. 4 in the 10-horse Blame.
Another talented horse entered is Gary and Mary West’s Most Wanted. Recently the runner-up to Fierceness in the Alysheba (GII), Most Wanted won the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby (GIII) and finished second in the $600,000 Clark (GII) as a 3-year-old. The Brad Cox trainee will break from post 7 under jockey Florent Geroux.
Other graded stakes-winning contenders in the Blame include Calumet Farm’s Tennessee Lamb; Hillwood Stable’s Post Time; Lawrence Roman and David Jacobson’s Banishing; Centennial Farms’ Antiquarian; and Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor, Derrick Smith, Westerberg and Brook T. Smith’s Hall of Fame.
With the stakes comprising the final six races of the day, there will be an all-stakes sequence for the 20-cent Derby City 6 Jackpot, Late Pick 5 and Late Pick 4.
Dominant Doubledogdare Winner Gin Gin Headlines $275,000 Shawnee
Calumet Farm’s dominant Doubledogdare (Grade III) winner Gin Gin headlines a field of seven fillies and mares entered in the sixth running of the $275,000 Shawnee Stakes (GIII), part of a six-pack of stakes next Saturday at Churchill Downs on Stephen Foster Preview Day.
Carded as Race 8 of 4:23 p.m., the 1 1/16-mile Shawnee serves as the local prep for the $500,000 Fasig-Tipton Fleur de Lis (Grade II) on June 28. Saturday’s program will get underway at 12:45 p.m.
Trained by Brendan Walsh, Gin Gin scored an impressive 5 ¼-length victory last month in the $350,000 Doubledogdare at Keeneland at odds of 38-1. The 4-year-old daughter of Hightail has a consistent record of 10-3-2-2 with earnings of $461,596. The homebred filly will break from post No. 7 with Jose Ortiz aboard.
Other notable entrants include Gerald Bruno Jr., Carl Deville, Chasey Deville Pomier and Jerry Caroom’s 2024 Louisiana Horse of the Year Free Like a Girl; Gold Standard Racing Stable’s millionaire Hoosier Philly; and Michael McMillan’s Apple Blossom (GI) third-place finisher Where’s My Ring.
Speedy 12-Time Winner Skelly Set For Grade III, $275,000 Aristides
Red Lane Thoroughbreds’ 12-time winning sprinter Skelly tops a field of seven horses entered in next Saturday’s 37thrunning of the $275,000 Aristides Stakes (Grade III) at Churchill Downs, one of six stakes events that comprises Stephen Foster Preview Day.
Contested at six furlongs, the Aristides serves as the local prep for the $250,000 Kelly’s Landing (GIII) on June 28. The Aristides is carded as Race 6 at 3:18 p.m. on Saturday’s 11-race program, which begins at 12:45 p.m.
Skelly, who finished a close second in last year’s Aristides to Closethegame Sugar, returns off a dominant 10 ½-length victory in the $200,000 Lake Hamilton Stakes at Oaklawn under regular rider Ricardo Santana Jr. The 6-year-old gelded son of Practical Joke has banked more than $1.9 million in earnings and is a two-time winner of the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (GIII) in 2023-24. The Steve Asmussen trainee will break from post No. 6 with Santana in the saddle.
Another talented sprinter entered in the race is WinStar Farm and BBN Racing’s Grade II winner World Record. Trained by Rodolphe Brisset, World Record dominated last year’s $200,000 Amsterdam Stakes (GII) at Saratoga by 6 ¾ lengths. Following a third-place finish in the $300,000 Steel Valley Sprint to end his 3-year-old campaign, World Record made his 4-year-old debut earlier this month at Churchill Downs, dominating a six-furlong allowance contest by 2 ½ lengths in a sharp 1:07.84. Jockey Flavien Prat has the call in the Aristides from post 7.
The Aristides Stakes is a Breeders’ Cup Dirt Dozen Bonus Series race for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Sprint to be held Saturday, Nov. 1 at Del Mar. The nominated winner will receive a credit of $30,000 toward entry fees into the Breeders’ Cup Sprint with the second and third place finishers receiving a $15,000 and $7,500 credit, respectively.
Kentucky Cup Classic Winner Mercante Faces Opening Verse Winner Brilliant Berti In Grade III, $275,000 Arlington Stakes
Carl Pollard’s talented homebred Mercante, a narrow runner-up to Spirit of St Louis in the Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic (Grade I) earlier this month, returns to Churchill Downs next Saturday to face an accomplished field of nine turf specialists, including Klein Racing’s Opening Verse winner Brilliant Berti, in the 89th running of the $275,000 Arlington Stakes (GIII).
Run at 1 1/16 miles on turf, the Arlington is one of six stakes on the Stephen Foster Preview Day card. First post is 12:45 p.m. (all times Eastern), with the Arlington set as Race 9 at 4:55 p.m.
The race serves as the local prep for the $500,000 Wise Dan (GII) on Saturday, June 28.
Trained by Brian Knippenberg, Mercante pulled off a 13-1 upset in the $300,000 Kentucky Cup Classic (GIII) in late March at Turfway Park. The 5-year-old son of Gun Runner returned six weeks later in the $1 million Old Forester Bourbon Turf Classic where he contested the pace throughout the 1 1/8-mile race before finishing three-quarters of a length behind Spirit of St Louis. Mercante will be ridden by Joe Ramos from post No. 8.
Brilliant Berti, trained by Cherie DeVaux, has a perfect record over the Churchill Downs turf course from four starts. The homebred son of Noble Mission (GB) scored a gutsy half-length victory in last month’s $350,000 Opening Verse Stakes that improved his overall record to 9-6-1-0 with $1.8 million in earnings. Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. will retain the mount and break from post 9.
Other contenders include L and N Racing and Clark Brewster’s multiple stakes-winning Virginia-bred Gigante; HRH Sultan Bin Mishal Al Saud’s Commonwealth Turf (GIII) winner Lagynos; and Jordan Wycoff’s impressive allowance winner Call Protection.
Field for the Arlington Stakes
Multiple Grade II Runner-Up Lush Lips (Gb) Seeks First Graded Stakes Score In Grade III, $275,000 Regret
Talented 3-year-old filly Lush Lips (GB) will seek her first graded stakes victory when she faces 10 fellow 3-year-old fillies in next Saturday’s 56th running of the $275,000 Regret Stakes (Grade III), part of a six-pack of stakes on Stephen Foster Preview Day at Churchill Downs.
The Regret, run at 1 1/8 miles on turf, is carded as the finale on the 11-race program with a post time of 5:58 p.m. (all times Eastern). First post is 12:45 p.m. with stakes action scheduled to begin in Race 6 at 3:18 p.m.
Owned in partnership by Medallion Racing, Steve Weston, Stewart Hoffman, Mrs. Paul Shanahan and Mrs. M. V. Magnier, Lush Lips has recorded back-to-back runner-up efforts to Nitrogen in the $200,000 Florida Oaks (GIII) and $600,000 Edgewood (GII). Trained by Brendan Walsh, the daughter of Ten Sovereigns (IRE) made her North American debut last fall as a 2-year-old and followed with a dominant seven-length maiden special weight win on Nov. 23. She then captured her 3-year-old debut in a first-level allowance on Jan. 10 at Gulfstream Park. She will be ridden by Flavien Prat from post No. 7.
Stakes Winner Charlie’s To Blame Returns To Turf In $275,000 Audubon
Charlie’s to Blame, winner of the Kitten’s Joy Stakes this winter at Gulfstream Park, will return to the turf and face seven fellow 3-year-olds entered in the sixth running of the $275,000 Audubon Stakes (Listed), one of six stakes contests next Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Run at 1 1/8 miles, the Audubon Stakes field will go to post in Race 7 at 3:53 p.m. (all times Eastern). The first of 11 races on Stephen Foster Preview Day will get underway at 12:45 p.m.
Owned by BG Stables, Roadrunner Racing, SAF Racing, West Coast Stables, Barbara Evenson and Jeffrey Lambert, Charlie’s to Blame has been away from the races since finishing a disappointing ninth in the $777,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks (GIII) on March 22 over the Tapeta surface at Turfway Park. Prior to the Jeff Ruby Steaks, the speedy son of Blame scored a gutsy gate-to-wire victory on Feb. 1 in the Kitten’s Joy Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Charlie’s to Blame will be ridden by Ben Curits from post No. 5.
The Audubon field also includes recent allowance winners Early Adopter (GB) and Tomasello along with Transylvania Stakes (GIII) runner-up Scipio.
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