Kathballu attempts to upset Finley'sluckycharm in Chicago Handicap
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Photo:
Coady Photography
Five D Thoroughbreds’ 5-year-old chestnut mare Kathballu will attempt to upset heavily-favored Finley’sluckycharm in Saturday’s $100,000 Chicago Handicap (Grade III) at Churchill Downs.
Kathballu was beaten two lengths by Finley’sluckycharm in the April 29 Roxelana but has been on the sidelines since.
“I really love the way she’s been training,” trainer Kenny McPeek’s Churchill Downs-based assistant Jeff Hiles said. “Anything is really possible with her.”
Several of the fillies and mares in the seven-furlong Chicago Handicap, including the Roxelana’s top two finishers (Finley’sluckycharm and Athena), used the May 27 Winning Colors (GIII) as a prep for this start. McPeek, however, opted to train Kathballu up to the Chicago Handicap.
“I think the timing works out perfectly,” Hiles said. “We thought the distance between the two races would suit her best; that’s why we gave her the month off.”
The daughter of Bluegrass Cat has done some of her best running locally at Churchill Downs, recording three victories and two third-place finishes through 10 starts.
The Chicago Handicap field from the rail out (with jockeys, assigned weights, and morning line odds): Pleasant Tales (Miguel Mena, 115, 15-1); Athena (Joe Rocco Jr., 117, 15-1); Kathballu (Florent Geroux, 117, 8-1); Mines and Magic (Robby Albarado, 117, 15-1); Ivy Bell (Shaun Bridgmohan, 116, 30-1); Improv (Declan Cannon, 116, 20-1); Mayla (Gabriel Saez, 118, 10-1); Finley’sluckycharm (Brian Hernandez Jr., 124, 4-5); Sweetgrass (Chris Landeros, 117, 10-1); She Mabee Wild (Jon Court, 117, 30-1); Covey Trace (Jack Gilligan, 117, 30-1); Put Da Blame On Me (James Graham, 114, 15-1); and Stageplay (Corey Lanerie, 115, 15-1).
G. Watts Humphrey Jr.’s Improv is expected to scratch, according to assistant trainer Jack Bohannon.
The Chicago Handicap will go as Race 10 at approximately 5:21 p.m. (all times Eastern) on an 11-race card that begins at 12:45 p.m. The program also has two allowance races and a trio of maiden special weights, including a five-furlong sprint for 2-year-old fillies.
Located some 330 miles from its northern namesake, this will mark the first year that the Chicago Handicap will be staged at Churchill Downs. Its first 27 runnings were contested at Arlington Park, the Louisville track’s Churchill Downs Incorporated sister track in Arlington Heights, Ill. Had Churchill Downs Racetrack and its horsemen not stepped up to host the Chicago Handicap, the popular Midwest graded stakes race for fillies and mares would have gone on hiatus in 2017.
Source: Churchill Downs
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