Golden Ticket confirmed for Clark
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The prospective field for the 139th running of the Grade 1, $500,000 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs now includes another Grade 1 winner following trainer Kenny McPeek's decision to run Golden Ticket in the November 29 race. The four-year-old son of Speightstown joins Game On Dude, winner of the Santa Anita Handicap, Hollywood Gold Cup and Pacific Classic this season, as well as three-year-old Will Take Charge, a nose runner-up in the Breeders' Cup Classic and hero of the Travers and Pennsylvania Derby, among the Grade 1 winners being pointed to the 1 1/8-mile "Black Friday" race for three-year-olds and up. Golden Ticket finished in a dead-heat for first with Alpha in the 2012 Travers at Saratoga and has run very well against Grade 1 competition this year. His best outings of 2013 include a runner-up finish to Goldencents in the recent Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and a second to Fort Larned in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs. McPeek had been weighing options for Golden Ticket that included a possible run in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile one day later at Aqueduct before he settled on staying home at Churchill Downs for a Clark bid. "A couple of his better speed figures are here at Churchill, plus he doesn't have to ship," McPeek said. "That race in New York looked like it was coming up pretty deep with a big field. The Clark looks like it will have a shorter field."
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The 2013 campaign for Golden Ticket has been strong. He has
compiled a record of 3-2-1 in eight races with earnings of $442,988. His career
slate stands at 5-6-3 in 20 starts with $1,091,323 in lifetime earnings.
In other Clark news, trainer D. Wayne
Lukas said the final pre-Clark Handicap work for Will Take
Charge has been moved up to Friday because of concerns about a soggy weather
forecast for Louisville, Kentucky, over the weekend.
Lukas indicated Will Take Charge is most likely to work in his
first set when the track opens at 6 a.m. (EST), but would not rule
out waiting until after the midsession break for the grooming of the track. The
latter option would put the work at around 8:20 or 8:30 a.m.
"He's really having a good week," Lukas remarked. "It's not one
of those works that we're looking for anything more than just to open his lungs
a little bit."
With the addition of Golden Ticket to the Clark, the roster
of known probable starters for the race includes Grade 2 hero Bourbon Courage,
Grade 3 scorer Easter Gift, Grade 1 runner-up Finnegans Wake, Game
On Dude, Golden Ticket, multiple Grade 2 star Prayer for Relief and Will Take Charge.
Grade 3-placed Jaguar Paw, who captured his first stakes score win in the June
14 Three Coins Up two back, is considered possible off a three-month break.
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