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Fort Larned headed to Whitney off Foster win
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| Fort Larned shone bright under the lights at Churchill Downs
(Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography) |
After a fantastic night of racing beneath the Twin Spires,
the equine stars of Stephen Foster Handicap Night at Churchill Downs were
reported by their connections to be in good order.
With one of the top performances of the year, Janis
Whitham's homebred Fort Larned scored a 6 1/4-length victory in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap and trainer Ian Wilkes
said he came out of the race well.
"He looks good this morning," Wilkes said. "I'm very proud
of him. It was what we were hoping to see."
Wilkes said Fort Larned now will be pointed to the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney
Handicap at Saratoga on August 3.
"The Whitney will be next and we'll just take it one race
at a time," the horseman remarked. "The ultimate goal is getting back to the Breeders' Cup
Classic."
Fort Larned was followed in order by Golden Ticket, Ron the
Greek, Successful Dan, Pool Play and Take Charge Indy.
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"We're thrilled with how Golden Ticket ran," said Phil
Bauer, assistant to trainer Kenny McPeek. "There's no shame in running behind
the Breeders' Cup Classic winner. Golden Ticket gives you everything he has
every time and he proved he's a classy horse. We don't have any plans for his
next race yet."
Speaking by telephone from his barn at Belmont Park on
Sunday, Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, the all-time leader in wins (672) and
stakes victories (87) at Churchill Downs, said Ron the Greek was "fine" after
finishing third in the Stephen Foster.
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| Fort Larned now has a title defense run in the Whitney ahead
(Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography) |
"Everything's fine," Mott stated. "The Whitney is a
possibility for Ron the Greek."
Ron the Greek will remain at Churchill Downs for another
couple of days before vanning to New York on Tuesday.
Successful Dan returned to trainer Charlie LoPresti's barn
at Keeneland on Saturday night following his fourth-place finish in the Stephen
Foster.
"He looks to be fine," LoPresti noted. "Julien said he was
bobbling the whole way and couldn't get a hold of the racetrack. Hats off to Fort
Larned, though. I don't think there's a horse in the country that could have
beaten him last night.
"I'm just going to see how (Successful Dan) comes out of it
and give him a few days before we decide what to do."
Pool Play raced in last in the field of six throughout most
of the race and eventually finished fifth.
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"He came out of it fine," said Norman Casse, assistant to
his father, Mark. "He was just too far back. We don't have any plans for him
yet."
Rounding out the field of six was Take Charge Indy, who was
the 9-5 favorite.
"He appears to have come back good," trainer Pat Byrne
said. "No one was going to beat the winner. We tip our hats to Fort Larned.
We'll discuss a plan with Mr. Sandford and Elliott Walden of WinStar and figure
out what's best for him. We're not in any hurry to run him back."
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| Funny Proposition gave notice she could be a force to reckoned with this season
(Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography) |
Funny Proposition, Code West and Kitten's Dumplings also shined bright on the
Downs After Dark racing program that attracted 23,509 fans to Churchill Downs and
an evening
event record $8,390,130 in wagers (up 5.4 percent from 2012's previous mark of
$7,960,789).
Funny Proposition took an early lead in the
Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Handicap and then kicked away in
the stretch to upset dual champion Royal Delta, who finished second as the
1-5 favorite.
"She looks great," Casse said. "I'm very happy with how she
looks this morning. I had confidence in her last night, but we were running
against Royal Delta, so we had our reservations. We're going to enjoy this
moment before we come up with a plan."
Royal Delta exited her runner-up effort "fine," according
to Mott.
"I have no excuses," he said. "I suppose the (Grade 1,
$750,000) Delaware
Handicap (on July 20) might be next for Royal Delta."
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Royal Delta also will remain at Churchill Downs until
Tuesday, when she departs with stablemate Ron the Greek.
Code West defeated Uncaptured by a
head in the Grade 3 Matt Winn. Trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Code West is
scheduled to fly back to Southern California on Monday morning.
Uncaptured, the reigning Canadian Horse of the Year, exited his
runner-up performance "very well," according to Casse.
"He looks like he's back in top form," Casse said. "He'll
be an exciting horse to have the rest of the year. We've got a couple of options
for him. He's a Canadian-bred, so we could go to the (C$500,000) Prince of Wales (at Fort
Erie on July 30). We'll also look at the (Grade 2, $750,000) West Virginia Derby (at Mountaineer on
August 3) and the (Grade 1, $1 million) Haskell (at Monmouth Park on July 28)."
Kitten's Dumplings notched
an easy victory in the Grade 3 Regret and came out of the race in good order,
according to trainer Mike Maker. No plans have been made for her next start; however, Maker
mentioned a possible long-term goal being the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup
at Keeneland.
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