Keeneland Daily Notebook

KEENELAND DAILY NOTEBOOK

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2005

by Brian P. Turner

A field of seven went to the gate for Wednesday's 8TH race, an allowance

event for three-year-olds and up going eight furlongs over Keeneland's lawn.

AMERICA ALIVE (American Chance) took a drop out of stakes company to compete

here and headed to the post as the betting public's overwhelming favorite. Once

the gates opened, the four-year-old colt was content to lay at the back of the

pack through opening fractions of :24 2/5 and :48 1/5. Gradually, he began to

move up before settling down for his run through the stretch. What appeared to

be an easy victory for the colt on paper though proved to be anything but as he

was forced to give everything he had, hitting the finish line a head in front.

Scooter Roach (Mi Cielo), under a nice ride by Gary Stevens, fought the top

choice all the way to the wire but was forced to settle for second, 1 3/4

lengths clear of long shot Wayuphi (Alphabet Soup) in third.

There were five sprints contested on the main track today and horses on or

near the pace won all of them. As for the two main track routes, one was won by

a horse closely stalking the pace while the other was won by a deep closer. In

addition to the 8TH race, one additional turf route was also won by a runner

closing from off the pace.

Rafael Bejarano picked up a win on the day and still has command of the top

spot in the jockey standings with 24. Robby Albarado booted home three winners

Wednesday, including two for trainer Neil Howard, and now has 16 for the meet.

Shaun Bridgmohan picked up three winners on the day, two in tandem with Steve

Asmussen, and has a firm hold on the third spot with 13 winners to date.

As for the trainers, Asmussen's two winners moved him into the top spot in

the standings with eight winners thus far. Nick Zito remains in second with

seven. Howard's two winners on the day catapulted him in to the third spot with

five.

Horses to Watch

5TH - PACE YOURSELF (Kris S.) has now reeled off two wins in a row on the

lawn after taking the victory in this 12 furlong allowance event. The chestnut

was content to lay just off the pace early through opening fractions of :25 4/5

and :50 3/5 before gradually moving into contention and taking over in the

stretch drive on his way to a dominating 5 3/4 length victory against a very

respectable group of allowance runners.

6TH - TIZTIMETOKINECT (Tiznow) ran evenly in his career debut but really came

to life in this maiden special event as she guided the field through early

fractions of :22 1/5 and :45 before absolutely exploding through the stretch

drive on her way to a commanding 19 1/4 length victory.

Tomorrow's Outlook - Thursday, October 27

An evenly matched field of 10 is scheduled to go to the post for Thursday's

featured Jessamine S. for two-year-old fillies going 1 1/16 miles on the grass.

BEAU DARE (Military) will take her fair share of the betting public's money as

she is coming off a gate to wire victory in the Kentucky Cup Juvenile Fillies S.

at Turfway Park. Though that victory came on the main track, the bay broke her

maiden on the grass and has a solid pedigree for the lawn.

Standing in her way will be the Todd Pletcher trained DYNA'S DESTINY (Dynaformer),

who exits an impressive maiden score at the Meadowlands where she stalked the

pace before recording a devastating 10 3/4-length victory. It took the bay three

starts to break her maiden but she definitely appears to be on the right track

and looms a solid threat here. Pletcher will also be sending out READY TO TALK

(More Than Ready), who missed by a nose against allowance company here on

October 12. More Than Ready has proven to be a bit of a surprise as a turf sire

with his progeny winning 20 percent of their starts on the lawn.

PERILOUS PURSUIT (Lemon Drop Kid) has looked good in both of her starts on

the grass, including a troubled third place finish against stakes-company.

Jockey Jose Santos will be making the trip in from New York for the ride.

Thursday's forecast call for mostly cloudy skies and a high in the 50s.

Thursday's Best Plays

1ST - HOPPLE (Mercer Mill) appears to be a standout in this maiden claiming

event. The bay will be taking a bit of a class drop as the connections try to

get her into the winner's circle and her BRIS Speed ratings tower over any of

the field who has a start to their credit. A look at Hopple's BRIS Pace ratings

indicate that she should be able to have things her own way on or near the lead

with plenty left in the tank for the run to the finish line. Trainer Jeff

Thornbury wins 17 percent of the time in the "Down One Class" trainer category

and he has two wins to show from five starts for the meet. Talented young jockey

James Graham has been enlisted for the ride and has combined with Thornbury for

a 30 percent win rate over the last 60 days.

2ND - STAR OF WHITNEY (Bernstein) will be making her first start for trainer

Tom Amoss after being claimed out of her last start. Amoss is an impressive 32

percent in the "1st After Claim" trainer category and also wins 32 percent of

his starts when bringing a horse back at the same level at which it made its

previous start. Star Of Whitney's best BRIS Speed ratings top this field and she

also holds the advantage in BRIS Prime Power and in BRIS Class rating.