Admission Office has one coming to him

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Admission Office ran 11th in his latest race, easily the worst finish in his career, but that’s quite misleading.

In fact, trainer Brian Lynch is maintaining such strong faith in the 4-year-old colt that he’s hoping the results of the River City on Saturday at Churchill Downs will earn Admission Office admission into the $7 million Pegasus World Cup Turf in January.

“When it was time for him to run, there really wasn’t anywhere to go,” said Lynch of Admission Office’s trip in the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile.

Admission Office, ridden by Jose Ortiz, finished only 3 1/4 lengths behind the Shadwell winner, Bowies Hero, illustrating just how tightly packed the field was in that Oct. 5 race at Keeneland. In his seven prior races, Admission Office had closed stoutly every time, winning three of those and never finishing worse than third.

Admission Office trailed his 13 opponents to the top of the stretch in the Shadwell.

“He didn’t break all that sharp,” said Lynch. “Jose took a shot and stayed on the rail, hoping the heavens would open up, and it never did.”

Ortiz, based in New York, will be back Saturday to ride Admission Office from post 9 in a field of 10 older horses in the 42nd running of the Grade 3, $175,000 River City. An 11-race card starts at 1 p.m. Eastern, with the River City going as race 10 under the lights at 5:36 p.m.

Ortiz “wants to stick with” Admission Office, said Lynch, in the belief that 2020 could be a breakthrough season. The 1 1/8-mile River City can provide a head start.

“There’s more distance this time and not a lot of speed,” said Lynch, who won the 2015 River City with Heart to Heart. “Hopefully he breaks a little sharper and lays a little closer and this will be a step forward.”

Admission Office, an Amerman Racing homebred by Point of Entry, will carry 121 pounds, and so will all the others. This is the first time the River City is being run under allowance conditions following 41 years as a handicap. Churchill has eliminated handicap conditions for all its stakes, including the Grade 1 Clark, which will be run for the 145th time on Nov. 29.

Among the opposition Saturday are Mr. Misunderstood, the 2018 River City winner seeking his first victory this year, and the Mike Maker trio of Cullum Road, Space Mountain, and Bemma’s Boy.

Mr. Misunderstood (post 4, Florent Geroux), a multiple graded winner of $813,879, strongly hinted he’s ready to return to top form in his last start, the Remington Green Sept. 29, when he made a big move prior to finishing second to Space Mountain.

Space Mountain (post 6, Ricardo Santana Jr.) has started once in the interim, finishing eighth in the 1 1/2-mile Sycamore last month at Keeneland, and therefore will be cutting back in distance Saturday.

Bemma’s Boy (post 7, Julien Leparoux) is something of a “now” horse for Maker, having won off impressively at Keeneland in his last start.

Rounding out the lineup are Emmaus, Blue Sky Kowboy, My Bariley, Get Western, and Lascaux. Get Western, a twoback winner of the Old Friends at Kentucky Downs, can be expected to set the pace.

A daytime high of 45 is in the Saturday forecast.

EMILY SHIELDS Admission Office runs Saturday in the River City, and a good race might send him to the Pegasus World Cup Turf.