Shadwell Turf Mile topped by The Pizza Man
In his last start, The Pizza Man proved his place among the best grass horses in the nation with a popular win in the Grade 1 Arlington Million. There will be little time to rest on his pepperoni, though, as his connections have mapped out an extremely ambitious schedule for the six-year-old gelding over the next few months, beginning with Saturday’s appointment in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland. If the Roger Brueggemann trained son of English Channel is to win his second consecutive million dollar race, it will come at the expense of a deep and talented field of middle distance turf specialists.
As a Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” event the Shadwell Turf Mile guarantees the winner entry into the Breeders’ Cup Mile, most of the field will be looking at that $2 million race as the end goal on October 31, but The Pizza Man will have even bigger anchovies to fry. Undefeated in three starts in 2015, ranging in distance from 1 1/16 miles to 1 1/2 miles, the career winner of 15-of-22 on the grass will instead point to the $3 Million Breeders’ Cup Turf at 12 furlongs, with a likely trip to the rich Japan Cup after that, culminating his season.
Big plans to be sure, but the consistent and versatile grass runner surely will need to call on all his class to come out on top on Saturday. The Midwest Thoroughbreds’ star will be once again ridden by Florent Geroux and will break from post position 10, as the likely favorite. Chief among his competition in the rich mile could be the Bill Mott trained Tourist.
A four-year-old son of Tiznow, Tourist returned from a long layoff, after a promising sophomore season, to dazzle the Kentucky Downs crowd in the recent More Than Ready Mile. An also-ran in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile, the winner of 4-of-6 on the turf could be now ready and able to move to the top of this division for his owner, WinStar Farm. Jose Lezcano will be in the saddle.
While Tourist is a definite up and comer, three others in the field have already found themselves in the winner’s circle after a Grade 1 race. In the spring’s big turf mile at Keeneland, it was Jack Milton who unleashed a powerful late run to win going away. It must be noted that in his victory in the Maker’s 46 Mile, the Todd Pletcher trainee was right at home on the rain dampened turf course at Keeneland. With the rainy week here in Kentucky expected to continue, he could find very similar conditions on Saturday.
The winner of the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby back in 2013, Juddmonte Farms’ Seek Again will be in search of his first victory this year. Also trained by Bill Mott, the five-year-old veteran may be 0-for-3 in 2015, but he has been knocking on the door with three solid performances in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, the Shoemaker Mile, and most recently, the Fourstardave at Saratoga.
You will remember Bobby’s Kitten as the Chad Brown colt who came from the clouds to win last year’s Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita. That big win was at 6½ furlongs, but the son of Kitten’s Joy is already a proven commodity at a mile. He also should have gotten plenty out of the recent Play the King Stakes at Woodbine, in which he faded down the stretch in his first start of the season. Mike Smith picks up the mount on Bobby’s Kitten.
The list of serious contenders for The Pizza Man does not stop there. Grand Arch was a very good runner-up to Wise Dan in this race last year, and won the Fourstardave in his last start. King Kreesa and Heart to Heart both have a high turn of early speed and have won numerous stakes races. Led by Dutch Connection, a trio of Europeans come in with solid overseas credentials, which also includes War Envoy and Kelinni. Stakes winners Grand Tito and Skyring round out the impressive field set for the 9th race, and at 5:45 pm.
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