Field coming together for Lane's End

Turf War (outside), who disappointed as the favorite in the Southwest, could try to regroup in the Lane's End (Jeff Coady Photo) On St. Patrick's Day, 10 three-year-olds were considered probable for Saturday's $500,000 Lane's End S. (G2) at Turfway Park. Entries for the 37th running of the Lane's End, which has evolved into an important stepping stone to the Kentucky Derby (G1), will be taken on Wednesday. According to Turfway Park Stakes Coordinator Randy Wehrman, the current list (in alphabetical order) consists of ADRIANO (A.P. Indy), CANNONBALL (Catienus), CHITOZ (Forest Wildcat), DUKE OF DE BUQE (Dixie Union), EL ALEMAN (Point Given), HALO NAJIB (Halo's Image), MACHO AGAIN (Macho Uno), MEDJOOL (Monarchos), RACECAR RHAPSODY (Tale of the Cat), and TURF WAR (Dixie Union). In addition, trainer Grant Hofmans is considering HALO'S KING (Halo's Image) for the Lane's End, but may send him to the $100,000 Rushaway S. instead. The 1 1/16-mile Rushaway is one of four other stakes races on the undercard. Chitoz and Duke of de Buqe likely will represent Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher, who won the Lane's End in 2001 with Balto Star and in 2005 with Flower Alley. Both Chitoz and Duke of de Buqe have strong ties to Turfway, either in past performances or bloodlines.

Chitoz was second, beaten only a neck, in last year's Kentucky Cup Juvenile

S. (G3)

at Turfway. In his seasonal debut, the bay colt finished fourth as the favorite in a second-level

allowance race on the turf at Gulfstream Park.

"Chitoz obviously ran well last year at Turfway over the Polytrack,"

Pletcher said. "With a race under his belt this year, we're hoping to see an

improved effort on Saturday."

Pletcher's other Lane's End charge, Duke of de Buqe,

has never raced anywhere but Aqueduct. He has two wins from four starts,

all in dirt races restricted to New York-breds. The bay gelding,

however, is out of the Devil's Bag mare Miss Livi, which makes him

a half-brother to Balto Star.

"Duke of de Buqe is a horse we always thought would like the turf, and since

he's a half to Balto Star, who could run on both dirt and turf, we think

Duke of de Buqe will handle the Turfway Polytrack well," Pletcher said. "The Lane's End is a

good option for him."

Trainer Dale Romans reports that his Lane's End contender, Halo Najib, is

all set for the 1 1/8-mile race following a bullet five-furlong workout in :58 4/5 on

Sunday at Turfway Park. Halo Najib left his Florida base for Kentucky a week

ago.

Romans said the deciding factor in bringing the chestnut to the

Lane's End was his undefeated record on synthetic surfaces. He broke his

maiden at first asking last October over Keeneland's Polytrack and two

starts ago won the O.B.S. Championship S. over the Ocala

Training Center's synthetic surface.

Adriano's ninth-place finish from post 12 in the Fountain of Youth S. (G2) on

February 24 at Gulfstream Park

was not exactly what Graham Motion was expecting, but the British-born trainer

will give Adriano another chance in the Lane's End.

After a 6 3/4-length grass score in one of the most visually impressive

performances of the current Gulfstream meeting, Adriano moved from allowance

ranks to the Fountain of Youth for his first try on dirt. His

bad luck started at the post position draw, where he drew the outside stall,

and got worse from there, with first-turn trouble contributing to the lackluster

finish behind Cool Coal Man (Mineshaft).

"He had a tough post, and I'm not sure he handled dirt as well as he handled

grass," Motion said. "We were kind of experimenting with him. But I think he

should handle the Polytrack and deserves one more shot at the big time."

Adriano's lone Polytrack effort resulted in a solid fourth-place finish in the Breeders' Futurity

(G1) last October at Keeneland. "He ran respectably

that day," Motion said. "It was a big step up for him, after just breaking

his maiden at Delaware."

Motion is also eager to give Adriano another try at the Lane's End distance.

"I think that as the distances get longer it will only help him," he said.

Racecar Rhapsody is owned in partnership by Jerry Carroll, who owned Turfway

Park from 1986 to 1999. After breaking his maiden over Keeneland's

Polytrack last October, Racecar Rhapsody finished a close third in the Kentucky Jockey Club

S. (G2) at Churchill Downs and concluded his juvenile season with a fourth-place

effort in the Delta Jackpot S. (G3) at Delta Downs. The Kenny McPeek charge has

been training forwardly at Gulfstream for his return to action.

The Lane's End will be the last of 12 races on Saturday.

Gates open at 10 a.m. (EDT). First post is 1:10 p.m.