Blues Street paves the way in River City

Allie's Event came from last and circled the turn five wide to take second by

1 1/4 lengths over Gleam of Hope, who held third by a half-length over

Tajaaweed. Bergerac followed the top four under the wire, with Cherokee Lord,

Zimmer and Plutonium completed the order of finish.

"(Tajaaweed) had a rough trip," trainer Dan Peitz said of charge. "He was

covered up and every time it looked like he had a spot to run someone would run

up on the outside of him. We were probably running for second money, though. The

winner was pretty impressive. I think with a better trip we could have been

second."

"You either get racing luck or you don't," Jesus Castanon said. "I had him

(Tajaaweed) covered up and thought I had a good shot at the five-sixteenths

pole. He gave me a little kick, but he needed to give me more."

Blues Street began his racing career with trainer Todd Pletcher, racking up

wins in a pair of Grade 3s last year, the Fair Grounds Handicap and Mervin Muniz

Jr. Memorial Handicap, as well as the 2009 Memorial Day Handicap. The dark bay

runner has placed in a trio of black-type events, including a nose second to

open this season in the Grade 3 Fort Lauderdale Stakes, but was switched to

Kenneally following a last-of-11 placing in the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch Handicap

in late August at Saratoga.

Blues Street was given a brief freshening following that race and returned to

be second by a neck against allowance rivals at Keeneland on October 7. The son

of Street Cry earned his first win for his new trainer in this spot and now

sports a 30-10-7-3 mark to go along with $647,383 in lifetime earnings.

"He's a seven-year-old, he's going to be eight. So he doesn't need to race

very often," Kenneally responded when asked about the breaks between starts.

"When we ran him opening day at Keeneland, the plan was to give him six weeks

and run him back in this race. The timing is ideal -- I think six weeks is

perfect for a horse like him. He gives everything when he runs, so there's no

real need to run him so often. But he doesn't really have any issues. He's just

an older horse that needs time, and to run his best race he needs to be fresh."

Bred in Kentucky by Harriet Finkelstein, Blues Street passed through the

auction ring twice, bringing $85,000 as a Keeneland September yearling and

RNAing for $77,000 at the Midlantic Two-Year-Olds in Training Sale. He is out of

the Capote mare Capote Blues, making him a full brother to Grade 3-placed Beale

Street and a half-sibling to a Zenzational weanling colt.

Blues Street's second dam is Grade 1 heroine Stormy Blues, a daughter of Cure

the Blues who produced a three-quarters brother to the River City winner in

Storm Street, a multiple champion in Trinidad.