Stall Believes Lukas Classic Right Spot for Departing
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Photo:
Eclipse Sportswire
Adele Dilschneider and Claiborne Farm’s Departing looks to add another stakes victory to his résumé in Saturday’s third running of the $175,000 Lukas Classic (formerly known as the Homecoming Classic), a 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds and up at Churchill Downs.
The 5-year-old homebred son of War Front is the winner of five stakes races, including four graded stakes events: the Texas Heritage Stakes, Illinois Derby (GIII), West Virginia Derby (GII) and Super Derby (GII) at age 3 and the Firecracker (GII) on turf at Churchill Downs this summer.
Trainer Al Stall Jr. believes that the Lukas Classic is the right spot for Departing to capture yet another stakes race.
“We’re just trying to find a spot for him where he can be the most competitive,” Stall said. “The Firecracker turned out to be not that strong of a race so that’s why we tried the heavy hitters up in New York and then we came back here and ran at Kentucky Downs. It looks like [eventual winner] Tourist looks like a serious Breeders’ Cup Mile contender.”
Following his Firecracker victory, Departing made two starts, both off-the-board efforts in the A.G. Vanderbilt (GI) at Saratoga and the More Than Ready at Kentucky Downs where he finished seventh and fourth, respectively. Stall admits that these may not have been the best races for his horse.
“We’ve been kind of making some of the wrong moves with him this year,” Stall said. “We’ve been zigging and we should be zagging so we just wanted to run here at our home track, and there aren’t any turf races here so this made the most sense. He’s a consistent horse on a daily basis, so we’re fine there. He’s coming into the race just fine.”
Departing was second in last year’s Lukas Classic behind Jake Ballis and Rashard Lewis’s Cigar Street. Brian Hernandez Jr. takes over the riding duties from Robby Albarado, who will pilot Geothermal.
ULANBATOR SEEKS SECOND STRAIGHT STAKES WIN IN LUKAS CLASSIC
Mary Ann Charlston’s Ulanbator, who scored his first stakes victory last time out in the Michael G. Schaefer Mile on July 18 at Indiana Downs, will attempt to land his second straight stakes win in Saturday’s $175,000 Lukas Classic.
A winner in three of seven starts this year, trainer Ian Wilkes believes he has the 4-year-old colt ready for a return to competition after a 70-day break.
“He’s doing real well,” Wilkes said. “We gave him a little break because he had been going all year. I would have run him earlier but there was no good spot for him to run so we’ve kind of had to train him up to this race.”
A start in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) at Keeneland on Oct 31 would be out of the question, according to Wilkes, even if the horse does win on Saturday.
“At the moment he’s a good Grade III horse,” he said. “He’s a nice honest horse and he’s getting better, but for right now I don’t think he belongs with American Pharoah or Beholder or any of those guys. He isn’t up for that right now.”
Jockey Julien Leparoux, who guided Ulanbator to a victory last time out, has the mount for Saturday’s race.
The Lukas Classic field from the rail out (with jockey and morning line odds): Hesinfront (Corey Lanerie, 15-1), Abraham (Joe Rocco Jr., 12-1), Ulanbator (Julien Leparoux, 7-2), Departing (Brian Hernandez Jr., 7-2), Irish You Well (Channing Hill, 5-1), Mylute (Florent Geroux, 2-1), Smack Smack (Shane Laviolette, 10-1) and Geothermal (Robby Albarado, 8-1).
Source: Churchill Downs
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