Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes attracts 12
The Spiral Stakes picked up its final contender in All Squared Away, trained by Peter Miller.
All Squared Away bounced back from a seventh-place finish in the El Camino Real Derby (G3) to beat older horses in his next start, a 1 1/16-mile starter allowance at Santa Anita. Miller had been considering the Spiral Stakes, and that effort, a previous win over Golden Gate’s all-weather surface, and the tendency of the Spiral Stakes to uncover blossoming stars convinced him to ship the gelding from California to Kentucky. Only one question remained: would the horse tell him he was ready?
“He has tactical speed, and we know he likes the synthetics,” said Miller. “It looks like a wide-open race, and we fit by all the sheet numbers. And it has that big purse. But first I wanted to get on him myself to see if he was ready. I galloped him myself yesterday and he was full of energy and strength.”
All Squared Away is expected to arrive at Turfway around 6 p.m. Thursday.
The field for the Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes will include: Russian Greek, Red Jack, Heavy Breathing, Went the Day Well, Holiday Promise, All Squared Away, Ill Conceived, Coach Royal, Tizanexpense, Mr. Prankster, Stealcase, and Handsome Mike.
The Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes is the 10th of 12 races on Saturday’s card. First post is 1:10 p.m. Post time for the Spiral Stakes is 5:45 p.m.
Both the Spiral Stakes and the Grade 3 Bourbonette Oaks will be carried live on NBC Sports Network as part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby series.
{Check out the top Kentucky Derby 2012 contenders}