Conquest Tsunami risks perfect mark in Breeders' Futurity; Eight in TCA

Conquest Tsunami will put his unbeaten four-for-four record on the line in

Saturday's

Breeders' Futurity during

Keeneland's opening

Fall Stars Weekend

against 11 fellow juveniles, but more than a perfect mark, Grade 1 credit and a

$500,000 purse is up for grabs.

The 1 1/16-mile contest is a "Win & You're In" race for the upcoming

Breeders' Cup Juvenile

at Santa Anita Park,

guaranteeing the winner a starting spot in the gate for that champion-making

contest.

Conquest Tsunami debuted at Keeneland over the spring, breaking his maiden by

6 1/4 lengths, but will be facing a different surface this time around.

The Lexington, Kentucky, venue removed the synthetic Polytrack that had been

in place since 2006 and installed a new track composed of sand, silt and clay

native to the state. Conversion of the main track, which also features a unique

drainage system to collect and discharge water away from the track, began May 19

and construction was completed on schedule in mid-August.

Bold Conquest doesn't own a perfect record like his rival, but the Steve

Asmussen charge has valuable experience over both dirt and distance. He broke

his maiden second out at

Saratoga while going 6 1/2 furlongs, then stretched out to just miss by a

neck in the 1 1/16-mile Iroquois at

Churchill Downs on

September 6. The Curlin chestnut had Rosie Napravnik aboard for his maiden score

and gets the popular rider back in the irons for this contest.

Hashtag Bourbon finished third in the Iroquois after a nice 4 1/2-length

victory in the

Mountaineer Juvenile. The Kellyn Gorder-trained son of Super Saver actually

broke his maiden in that stakes event before finding himself blocked in the

Iroquois next out. He still reputed himself well, and gets a jockey switch to

Julien Leparoux on Saturday.

Tough Customer and Carpe Diem are both first-out maiden winners who romped in

their initial wins. The former got the job done by 5 1/2 lengths under the Twin

Spires for Wayne Catalano while the latter was a 2 1/2-length scorer at Saratoga

for Todd Pletcher. Either one could take the next step up in this spot.

Like Conquest Tsunami, Ike Walker will be trying dirt and distance for the

first time in this spot. The Mike Stidham pupil took his maiden at

Arlington in his

second try by 7 1/4 lengths before running fifth in the Arlington-Washington

Futurity last out. Robby Albarado has the call.

Dual champion female sprinter Groupie Doll used the TCA as a stepping-stone

to her Filly & Mare Sprint wins in 2012-13, capturing the TCA two years ago

before finishing third 12 months ago, and her retirement leaves the door open

for a new Eclipse Award winner to be crowned.

Stonetastic is throwing her hat in the championship ring following

back-to-back romping wins over the summer. The Kelly Breen sophomore took an

optional claimer at

Monmouth Park by 6 3/4 lengths on July 27 in just her second start of the

season. She wheeled back a month later to add an 8 1/2-length wire job in

Saratoga's Prioress to her resume, earning a career-best and field-tying top 105

BRIS Speed rating in the process.

Paco Lopez was in the irons for both those scores and has piloting duties

once again on the Mizzen Mast filly.

R Free Roll is the only other runner in the TCA with a 105 BRIS Speed figure,

but the Rockport Harbor four-year-old earned that number last November when

taking a Calder stakes. She's competed six times this season and has won her

last three, including the Honorable Miss Handicap at Saratoga most recently on

July 28. Mike Smith will be aboard the Kirk Ziadie charge for the first time.