Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Wilkes facing 0-for-43 slump
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Ian Wilkes has been in racing long enough to know its ups and downs. The 55-year-old native of Australia has experienced the pinnacle of the sport, having won the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2012 with Fort Larned, so he’s accepting a recent slump for what it is – one of the inevitable cycles a tenured trainer must endure.
“When things go good, they’re good,” Wilkes said. “And when they’re not, well, that’s the way it goes. We all go through it.”
Wilkes starts this final week at Keeneland winless in 43 starts at a meet that began Oct. 2. Last weekend typified his frustrations – Four Graces came out of her seventh-place finish Saturday in the Raven Run with a knee injury, and stretch runs from his last two starters Sunday fell just shy of halting the skein. Alongside his win goose-egg are six seconds and 10 thirds.
“I really can’t complain because the horses are running good,” Wilkes said. “Hopefully, a lot of them will be able to come back and win next time.”
Four Graces, a romping winner of the Grade 3 Dogwood in June and Grade 3 Beaumont in July, remains at Keeneland, awaiting further evaluation for a small knee chip, Wilkes said early Monday.
“We’re waiting to hear how we should proceed,” he said.
His last two runners Sunday loomed boldly in midstretch, only to miss. With Dignity appeared to be gaining quickly on the top two in the Dowager – Blame Debbie and Always Shopping – only to spin her wheels late, while Seminole Beach ran out of real estate in the finale when finishing second to fellow first-timer Sound the Charge by a diminishing head.
“These things keep you humble,” Wilkes said. “It’s a humbling game, for sure.”
Besides winning a BC Classic, Wilkes also played a key role in a couple of Kentucky Derby victories with Unbridled (1990) and Street Sense (2007) as a close associate of Carl Nafzger, the semi-retired Hall of Fame trainer.
Allowances top Wednesday card
With the stakes schedule already exhausted, allowances will serve as the daily features for the final four-day stretch of the 17-day Keeneland fall meet.
Starting the week are a pair of filly-and-mare allowances serving as co-features of an eight-race Wednesday card that begins at the usual 1:05 p.m. Eastern.
Race 6 is a $73,000, secondlevel turf route in which Pass the Plate (post 2, Julien Leparoux) takes a rare drop out of stakes company as the likely favorite for Silverton Hill and trainer Paul McGee.
Race 7 is a $71,000, firstlevel race at the Beard Course distance of seven furlongs and 184 feet. Impeccable Style (post 1, Ricardo Santana Jr.) should take plenty of beating as a last-out runner-up in the Indiana Oaks behind the eventual Kentucky Oaks winner, Shedaresthedevil.
Dennis’ Moment nears return
Trainer Dale Romans has been poring over the Churchill condition book for a race for Dennis’ Moment, the starcrossed colt who went to the sidelines following a last-place finish in the Feb. 29 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park. Dennis’ Moment breezed five furlongs Saturday in 1:00.20 in his fourth work on the comeback trail.
“We basically started all over with him,” Romans said. “He’s back with the right attitude. Wherever we run him, he’s going to run big.”
Dennis’ Moment won two of his first three starts in such a flashy manner that he was an odds-on favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita last November. He nearly fell at the start, costing himself all chance, and had only the poor Fountain of Youth effort after that. He’s still eligible for a second-level allowance condition.
Cox, Maker battle for title
By sending out three winners Sunday, Brad Cox assumed the lead atop the Keeneland trainer standings in what might well be a down-to-the-wire battle with Mike Maker.
Cox leads 11-10 into the final week. He has entries in seven races through Friday, while Maker has eight entries (in six races) during that same span. Entries for Saturday, closing day, will be drawn Wednesday. Churchill Downs starts its fall meet Sunday.
Among jockeys, Tyler Gaffalione starts the week with an 18-12 lead over Florent Geroux.
Rematch in Mrs. Revere
Each of first three finishers in the Grade 3 Valley View here Friday are likely to run back in the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere on the Churchill turf. Stunning Sky, trained by Maker, won the race with a late rush over Princess Grace, with How Ironic was up for third.
The Nov. 14 Mrs. Revere is one of the last graded turf races of the year restricted to 3-yearold fillies.
◗ Juan Cano, the longtime Angel Montano assistant who took over the stable when Montano died Oct. 1 at age 80, had his first winner when Money for Mischief was up late in the Saturday finale. Cano, 35, is a native of Guatemala. Money for Mischief was his fifth starter.