Carotari, Smokin’ Jay meet again

Carotari and Smokin’ Jay were one-two as both made their season debuts in the Jim McKay Turf Sprint three weeks ago at Pimlico. They get a rematch Saturday at Churchill Downs in the $160,000 Mighty Beau Stakes.

The five-furlong Mighty Beau goes as race 10 on an 11-race card under the twin spires. First post is 12:45 p.m.; the last race is set for 5:58 p.m., a little less than an hour before the Belmont Stakes is simulcast from New York.

Carotari won two stakes and placed in three others in 2021 – including a third in the Mighty Beau – for Brian Lynch. He capped that season with a front-running victory in the Janus Stakes in December at Gulfstream Park, besting Group 1-winning divisional stalwart Extravagant Kid by 1 3/4 lengths. However, a quarter crack derailed plans for additional winter or earlyspring starts for Carotari.

Returning to action in the McKay, Carotari again showed his speed, zipping through fractions of 21.90 seconds and 44.69 on a firm Pimlico turf course. Not wilting under pressure, he led Smokin’ Jay home by 1 1/2 lengths, finishing the five furlongs in 56.52.

“Looking forward to what the rest of the year has to offer with this guy,” Lynch said.

Carotari is likely to have plenty of company on the front end as he looks to get into a racing rhythm. Just Might is ideally drawn in post 2 in the field of nine. Longshots Oceanic and Creative Credit, both stepping up to stakes company, also are likely to provide pace pressure from more outside posts.

Just Might is the defending winner of the Mighty Beau, part of a strong campaign in which he won seven stakes, more than any other horse in North America, for Michelle Lovell. He is looking to rebound off a pair of unplaced efforts in graded stakes, most recently finishing seventh in the Grade 2 Twin Spires Turf Sprint on the Kentucky Oaks undercard.

A pace duel up front would help Smokin’ Jay’s rally in the stretch. A stakes winner last year at Belmont for Kelsey Danner, the colt was beaten just a head by Extravagant Kid as both chased home Carotari in the Janus. He then closed from fifth, and widest of all, for second in the McKay.

Carotari and Smokin’ Jay will have different riders Saturday, as Luis Saez and Jose Ortiz, who, respectively, were aboard the two last time are riding Saturday at Belmont. Florent Geroux, who rode Carotari to a frontrunning allowance win last fall at Keeneland, reunites with the gelding, while Adam Beschizza has the call on Smokin’ Jay.

The Mighty Beau is the penultimate leg of the Derby City 6. The jackpot wager, which has not had a solo winning ticket since Kentucky Derby Day, had a carryover of $281,226 into racing Thursday and will have a mandatory payout Sunday.