Ellis Park readies for stakes-laden Kentucky Downs Preview Day
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When the Kentucky HBPA approved the transfer of purse money from the Kentucky Downs account to Ellis Park, a major consideration was to get the Henderson track's purses up to where more horsemen would stay put in the commonwealth during the summer -- or at least take fewer horses to New York, Chicago, New Jersey and even Indiana.
This year, $400,000 of the $2.9 million moved from Kentucky Downs to Ellis Park went toward funding a quartet of $100,000 turf stakes at Ellis Park that will serve launching pad to Kentucky Downs' lucrative stakes. Entries will be taken Thursday, but it's safe to say that many of the horses running at Kentucky Downs Preview Day, as Sunday's stakes-laden card is called, would otherwise have made a start out of state.
For instance, trainer Lon Wiggins is running Angaston in the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint as a stepping stone to Kentucky Downs' $300,000 Franklin-Simpson against fellow 3-year-olds (rather than the $500,000, Grade 3 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint against older horses). And if Angaston doesn’t run well, he’s got the option of the $100,000 starter-allowance race Kentucky Downs is staging as a prep for the Claiming Crown turf sprint stakes in late fall at Gulfstream Park.
“That’s our main goal,” Wiggins said of the Franklin-Simpson, adding of a prep, “The only other stakes out there is one at Saratoga (the $100,000 Quick Call for 3-year-olds). We didn’t want to ship all that way, and we didn’t know how he’d come back after that. If it wasn’t for this race at Ellis, we would have shipped to Saratoga, no doubt. He probably would have been one of the top three choices in that race. But this is the reason we stayed. We have to run against older horses, but he ran well against Will Call and older horses in his last race,” when second by a head in Churchill Downs allowance race.
Trainer Brendan Walsh plans to run Dubara in the Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf and Extravagant Kid in the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint. Both will run for $75,000 because they aren’t Kentucky-bred and not eligible for the $25,000 Kentucky-bred supplement that contributes to the $100,000 purse. But to Walsh, it’s still good enough money to run the Florida-bred Extravagant Kid and British-bred Dubara at Ellis.
“Otherwise we’d have had to ship somewhere,” he said. “It’s great they’re doing all this. You don’t have the people going to Saratoga that you had six, seven years ago. People are staying here. The money is better at Ellis, the racing is of a much-higher standard. It’s nice that they have a prep weekend for Kentucky Downs. People don’t have to go here, there and everywhere. You can prep them here.”
Kentucky Downs management will be well-represented at Ellis Park, including giving out some of the stakes trophies. Stakes coordinator Rick Albright will be accepting nominations (which are free) to Kentucky Downs' stakes. Kentucky Downs analyst Caton Bredar will be a guest paddock commentator for the Aug. 3 Ellis card.
Forrest Kaelin Memorial race on Kentucky Downs Preview Day
Forrest Kaelin, the dean of Kentucky trainers and who spent almost 70 years in the sport as a jockey and trainer, passed away July 26 at age 83. His best horse in recent years was 15-time winner (nine in stakes) Good Lord, who resides at Old Friends at Kentucky Downs thoroughbred retirement facility. Good Lord won Ellis Park's Don Bernhardt three times from 2012-2014 and also captured the 2012 Kentucky Downs Turf Dash (now known as the Turf Sprint). This year Ellis Park renamed the Bernhardt the Good Lord Stakes. Ellis Park is honoring Kaelin this Sunday, Aug. 3, as part of the Kentucky Downs Preview Day, with the fourth race the Forrest Kaelin Memorial. His friends and colleagues at the track are encouraged to join in the winner's circle photo. In addition, Betty Kaelin, Forrest's wife of 62 years, will present the trophy for the $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint -- designed as a stepping stone to the Kentucky Downs stakes Good Lord won six years ago. Betty was to present the trophy for the July 22 Good Lord but was unable to leave her husband.
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