Seeking the Soul to take another run at Churchill's Clark

Trainer Dallas Stewart hopes $3.4 million earner Seeking the Soul will cap his 6-year-old campaign with a victory in the premier race of the Fall Meet at Churchill Downs, the Grade 1, $600,000 Clark on Friday, Nov. 29.

“We’re not just looking at the Clark. We want to run,” said a confident Stewart. “We’re back home, and that’s where we like it.”

Seeking the Soul is the definition of a “horse for course” at Churchill Downs, where he has recorded four victories, two seconds and four thirds in 11 appearances, including a win in the 2017 Clark and a third-place effort in last year’s event. 

The son of Fipke’s prized stallion Perfect Soul spent the majority of the last three months in California, where he finished seventh in Del Mar's Pacific Classic (GI), fourth in Santa Anita Park's Awesome Again (G1) and sixth in last Saturday's Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Seeking the Soul, whose most-recent victory also came at Churchill Downs in last June's Stephen Foster (G2), will attempt to become only the fourth horse in 145 years to win the Clark multiple times and the first horse to win the race in non-consecutive years. Horses with multiple wins in the Clark: Hodge (1915-16), Bold Favorite (1968-69) and Bob’s Dusty (1977-78).

Nominations for the 1 1/8-mile Clark close Saturday, Nov. 16. Other horses mentioned thus far for the traditional day-after-Thanksgiving feature include 3-year-olds Maximum Security and Roadster, as well as Keeneland's Fayette Stakes (G2) winner Tom's d'Etat.