'Nature of the beast'; 9 graded winners in Churchill allowance
Nine graded stakes winners -- six of those horses having won multiple graded stakes -- will clash in a loaded allowance optional claiming affair on Saturday over the Churchill Downs turf.
An overflow field of 12 with two also-eligibles and a main track-only participant have signed on for Race 5 at 1 1/16 miles.
Prominent among them are Mr. Misunderstood, Hembree, Caribou Club, Doctor Mounty, Just Howard and Made You Look. That's the group with more than one victory in graded company. Meanwhile, other graded winners include A Thread of Blue, Spooky Channel and English Bee.
Post time for the stakes-quality affair, carrying a $150,000 purse, is 3:04 p.m. ET.
With few options available for the division -- there is, after all, no turf at Oaklawn Park -- this race sizes up as one of the deepest allowance races in recent memory.
"It's just the nature of the beast right now," said Staton Flurry, owner of Mr. Misunderstood. "Everybody is looking for a place to run. Churchill has got the good money right now. You just run them where they can."
A 6-year-old gelding by Archarcharch, Mr. Misunderstood has earned $918,204 for Flurry Racing Stables while winning 13 times in 27 career starts for trainer Brad Cox.
Mr. Misunderstood, who will depart from post No. 9, has also won five times in six starts at Churchill Downs, including back-to-back editions of the River City (G3) in 2018 and 2019.
Flurry would like to see his top all-time earner go for a three-peat this November.
"That is definitely on the bucket list for this year," Flurry said. "He does have an affinity for the turf course at Churchill Downs, and hopefully he'll put on a good show."
A Thread of Blue, who drew post No. 7, brings in unique credentials as the field's only million-dollar earner. Previously trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, the 4-year-old Hard Spun colt now races from the John Servis barn.
While back class is aplenty in Saturday's fifth race, rail-drawing Spooky Channel is the only contender to have won a graded stakes in 2020, as he took the W.L. KcKnight (G3) at Gulfstream Park in January.