Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Morales may capture meet’s jockey title as apprentice
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – This may really happen. A 20-yearold with only a little more than a year of experience is poised to become the leading jockey at the Churchill Downs fall meet, which would mark just the second time an apprentice has pulled such a feat at this ancient track.
Technically, Edgar Morales is no longer an apprentice, having lost his weight allowance following racing here last Friday (14 of 21 days). So an asterisk might have to accompany the asterisk that will denote Morales as just the second “bugboy,” following Julien Leparoux at the 2006 spring meet, to officially win a Churchill riding title. That is assuming Morales can hold on during the final five-day stretch, which begins Wednesday.
Through Sunday, Morales holds a 17-14 lead over Brian Hernandez Jr. atop the standings, with four other riders tied at third with 11 wins each. Obviously there is plenty of action still to go, with 56 races through meet’s end, so any such calculation might be a bit presumptuous. Morales is named to ride 29 of the 34 races to be run here Wednesday through Friday.
“Hopefully I’ve got him on a lot of good ones,” said Julio Espinoza, agent for Morales.
Hernandez is named in 24 races the next three days.
Stewart leads Churchill trainers
Dallas Stewart was an integral part of the D. Wayne Lukas operation when Lukas was winning training titles left and right in Kentucky in the late 1980’s and 90’s, so being the leading trainer at the Churchill Downs fall meet wouldn’t necessarily be a big deal to Stewart.
“It would be great, but we’ll just show up every day and do our job,” Stewart said. “The main thing is to develop horses, get them in the right spots, and hopefully win races.”
Trainers with larger stables such as Steve Asmussen and Brad Cox might overtake Stewart by meet’s end. Into the final five days, Stewart had won eight races, while Asmussen and Cox were part of a four-way tie for second with six wins apiece.
Surely of greater importance is that Stewart has the solid favorite and topweight in defending winner Seeking the Soul for the Grade 1 Clark Handicap on Friday. The 5-year-old horse will have Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez aboard when he faces seven others in the 1 1/8-mile race. Stewart and Velazquez teamed together to win the 2017 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar with Unbridled Forever.
Seeking the Soul will break from post 3 when he faces what is not one of the stronger lineups in recent years for the Clark, which will assemble this way from the rail out:
Prime Attraction, 120, Kent Desormeaux; Hence, 118, Ricardo Santana Jr.; Seeking the Soul, 123, Velazquez; Hawaakom, 116, Joe Rocco Jr.; Leofric, 121, Florent Geroux; Bravazo, 118, Joel Rosario; Storm Advisory, 114, Albin Jimenez; Sightforsoreeyes, 115, Tyler Gaffalione.
The Clark will be run under the lights as the 11th of 12 races. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern, with the Clark going at 5:56. The Friday secondary feature, the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere (race 10, 5:27) for 3-year-old turf fillies, drew a field of 12 headed by the Chad Brown-trained Stella di Camelot.
Knicks Go likely for KJC
He won’t be anything close to the boxcar odds of his last two races this time. Knicks Go likely will be favored Saturday in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes when he returns a little more than three weeks after a gritty runner-up finish behind Game Winner in the Nov. 2 BC Juvenile at Churchill.
Trainer Ben Colebrook said Monday he was likely to enter Knicks Go in the KJC after initially thinking of waiting for the Dec. 8 Maryland Juvenile Futurity at Laurel Park. Entries for all Saturday races, including the KJC, were to be drawn Wednesday.
Knicks Go was 70-1 in winning the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland last month, then 40-1 in the BC Juvenile. The gray colt was 2 1/4 lengths behind Game Winner and another length clear of third-place finisher Signalman, who also is expected for the 1 1/16-mile KJC.
The KJC and its twin sister, the Grade 2 Golden Rod, will anchor a 12-race Stars of Tomorrow program exclusively for 2-year-olds. The card will end at about 6:30, or 30 minutes before the rivalry football game between Kentucky and Louisville at nearby Cardinal Stadium.
Mr. Misunderstood on hiatus
Having ended his 4-yearold season with a half-length triumph Saturday over his Brad Cox stablemate Big Changes in the River City Handicap on the Churchill turf, Mr. Misunderstood now will get some time off.
Cox, who earned his 1,000th career win Sunday at Fair Grounds, said the Grade 1 Old Forester Turf Classic next May will be the early-season target for Mr. Misunderstood.
Wednesday feature on turf
After cancelling all but two turf races here last week because of soggy grounds, Churchill officials are hoping the Wednesday feature will be run on turf as scheduled. An oversubscribed field of 3-yearolds and up is scheduled to go a mile for a first-level condition and a $78,500 purse in the ninth of 10 races. First post is 1 p.m. Eastern.
The nominal feature is part of a 20-cent Single 6 sequence (races 5-10), offering a jackpot carryover of $181,423.