Mr. Z, Tom's Ready set to take on Runhappy in Ack Ack

Champion Sprinter Runhappy isn’t the only horse entering the $100,000 Ack Ack Handicap Presented by TwinSpires.com (Grade III) off of a long layoff. Calumet Farm’s Mr. Z comes into the one-mile event with more time off than the Eclipse Award winner having not made a start since last year’s Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GI) on Nov. 27, where he was a well-beaten eighth behind Effinex.           

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who won the 1994 Ack Ack with Lost Pan, gave the 4-year-old son of Malibu Moon some extended time off after an aggressive 3-year-old campaign, which included three face-offs against Triple Crown winner American Pharoah.

“We just gave him the time off and brought him back to the farm,” Lukas said. “We turned him out and wanted him to have a real good 4-year-old campaign. No surgeries or anything like that. He was clean.”

Lukas noted how tough it can be to come back after such a long layoff.

“It probably sets up for the other four because both of us are coming off layoffs,” Lukas said. “A race of that caliber that’s as tough as it is with this much competition is not going to be easy to come from a long layoff but he’s going to have to get it done. This is a good distance for him. I really like the distance.”

TOM’S READY OPTS TO STAY AT CHURCHILL FOR ACK ACK – Trainer Dallas Stewart was either going to ship graded stakes winner Tom’s Ready to Belmont Park for the $350,000 Kelso Handicap (Grade III) on Oct. 8 or run him out of his own stall for Saturday’s $100,000 Ack Ack Presented by TwinSpires.com (GIII). He’s opted for the latter.

“The horse has been working real well here,” Stewart said. “He’s focused up here and he’s ready to go. I know there’s a champion (Runhappy) in there we’ve got to beat, but we’ve got to beat everybody. I’m happy with the way he’s training here and how he’s doing. He’s focused up and ready to go.”

Stewart is not letting the presence of reigning Champion Sprinter Runhappy concern him.

“I’m just worried about my horse, not worried about anything else,” Stewart said. “We just got to be ready and if we outrun him, we outrun him. You can’t handicap everybody, because you’ll just end up handicapping yourself right out of the race.”

Tom’s Ready, who also finished 12th in this year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) behind Nyquist, will be going for his second graded stakes victory. Two starts ago he won the Woody Stephens (GII) at Belmont Park on June 11.

The Ack Ack field (with jockey and morning line odds): Iron Fist (Robby Albarado; 4-1), The Truth Or Else (Ricardo Santana, Jr.; 10-1), Tom’s Ready (Brian Hernandez, Jr.; 8-1), Mr. Z (Calvin Borel; 12-1), Runhappy (Edgar Prado; 1-2), Schivarelli (Corey Lanerie; 8-1).

Source: Churchill Downs