Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
East vs. West in Clark Handicap
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Diversify and Hoppertunity have been confirmed as starters for the Clark Handicap, giving the Grade 1 race an East vs. West component to mix in with a solid cast of locals.
Entries for the $500,000 Clark, to be run next Friday for the 143rd time at Churchill Downs, will be taken Sunday, one day after weight assignments were to be released. The Clark is one of six graded stakes to be run here Thanksgiving weekend.
Diversify, who skipped the Breeders’ Cup Classic after winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont, was confirmed Friday by trainer Rick Violette. Joining Diversify in shipping in with New York form will be Good Samaritan, whose victory in the Jim Dandy in his dirt debut was followed by a fifth in the Travers and a fourth in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Good Samaritan, trained by Bill Mott, actually has trained in recent weeks at Payson Park in Florida.
Meanwhile, the Californiabased Hoppertunity, who won the 2014 Clark as a 3-year-old for Bob Baffert, will seek to become the first horse to win the 1 1/8-mile race in nonconsecutive years. Three others have won it twice, but all in back-to-back runnings: Hodge (1915-16), Bold Favorite (1968-69), and Bob’s Dusty (1977-78).
The local contingent for the Clark is led by The Player, winner of the Grade 2 Fayette at Keeneland last month, and Honorable Duty, whose string of outstanding efforts was broken when he finished far back in the slop as the Fayette favorite.
Ahead of nasty weather that was forecast for this weekend in the Louisville area, The Player and Honorable Duty were sent through their final
pre-race breezes here Friday over a fast track, both at five furlongs. The Player went five furlongs in 1:00 with regular rider Calvin Borel up, while Honorable Duty went in 1:02.
Here is a quick look at the other closing-week stakes: Grade 2, $200,000 Falls
City (Thursday): This 1 1/8-mile race might have the shortest field of all the weekend stakes, with Faithfully, Blue Prize, Money’soncharlotte, and Motown Lady among the fillies and mares expected. Grade 3, $100,000 River
City (Thursday): Shining Copper and Kasaqui are among the top names expected for this 1 1/8-mile turf race for 3-year-olds and up. Grade 2, $200,000 Mrs. Revere (Friday): Wayne Catalano is leaning toward Farrell making her grass debut against Daddys Lil Darling and Lovely Bernadette in what is expected to be a sizable field of 3-year-old fillies for this 1 1/16-mile turf race.
Grade 2, $200,000 Kentucky Jockey Club (Saturday): Quip and Reride, both unbeaten in two starts, are among a large field of 2-year-olds likely for this
1 1/16-mile race, along with Enticed, Givemeaminit, Lone Sailor, and Gotta Go. Grade 2, $200,000 Golden
Rod (Saturday): Monomoy Girl, unbeaten in three starts, all for Brad Cox, figures to be favored in a big field of 2-yearold fillies headed for this 1 1/16-mile twin to the KJC.
Both Saturday stakes are part of a 12-race Stars of Tomorrow card restricted to 2-year-olds. There are no stakes on closing day, Nov. 26.
Big plans for Divisidero
Divisidero, the millionaire turf specialist owned by the Gunpowder Farms of Tom Keithley, has been turned out for an unspecified period but will rejoin trainer Buff Bradley’s stable at Fair Grounds over the winter to prepare for a 2018 campaign as a 6-yearold.
Keithley said the main goals for Divisidero will be two races at Churchill: the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic in May and the Breeders’ Cup Mile in November.
“He’s run so well over the Churchill course, we want to try to make those races,” Keithley said. Divisidero has won three graded stakes on the Churchill turf, including the last two renewals of the Woodford Reserve.
Maker near 2,000 wins
Mike Maker is on pace to hit the 2,000-win milestone before the month is out – if not sooner. Maker began Friday with 1,995 winners in a career that began in earnest in 2003, after he resigned from his longtime position as assistant to D. Wayne Lukas. Through next Wednesday, Maker has 13 entries at Churchill and 12 more scattered among other tracks, including Aqueduct and Gulfstream West.
◗ When Cicatrix won by 7 1/4 lengths in her career debut Thursday, it was a rarity for trainer Ian Wilkes, who now has won with just 16 of 469 first-time starters (3 percent). Cicatrix, a 2-year-old filly by the hot young sire Violence, earned a 72 Beyer Speed Figure from the six-furlong race.
◗ Polar River, winner of the United Arab Emirates Oaks and runner-up to Lani in the UAE Derby in March 2016, finished fifth by nearly 16 lengths in her North American debut here Thursday, a one-mile allowance on dirt. The 4-year-old filly is now trained by Brendan Walsh after going off form early this year for former trainer Doug Watson.
◗ Horses and Hope, the statewide initiative to increase awareness and raise funds for breast cancer research, again will visit Churchill on Sunday with a variety of activities, including every starter in race 5 carrying pink saddle-towels. Horses and Hope began touring Kentucky racetracks in 2008.