Derby, Oaks points up for grabs at Turfway

A dearth of competing stakes this weekend will allow Turfway Park to grab more of the spotlight, primarily for their featured Kentucky Derby (G1) and Kentucky Oaks (G1) preps.

First up on Friday night is the $175,000 Cincinnati Trophy for three-year-old fillies over one mile. The respective top five finishers will receive Kentucky Oaks qualifying points of 20-10-6-4-2, and a handful or so of the 11 entries are likely to attract most of the betting interest.  

Stretching out from a win in the six-furlong Gowell S. is Map of the Moon, who enters the Cincinnati Trophy undefeated from three starts. Coco Connect was unsuccessful in her two-turn debut in the Golden Rod (G2) in November, but is 2-for-2 this winter at Turfway, including a half-length tally in the Valdale S.

Dame Laura, a Godolphin homebred trained by Brendan Walsh, crushed allowance foes by 5 3/4 lengths and is likely to vie for favoritism. Resist, meanwhile, exits a photo-finish score in a track-and-distance allowance, with Lovely Grey and Rip Current behind her.

A pair of colts with significant turf credentials have the class to compete in the $175,000 John Battaglia Memorial on Saturday night. The 1 1/16-mile affair will award Kentucky Derby qualifying points of 20-10-6-4-2 to the top five finishers.

Attfield was last seen taking the Central Park S. at Aqueduct in early November for his second victory in three starts. Two Out Hero also enters with a 2-for-3 mark, having landed the Soaring Free S. on turf at Woodbine after a 12-length debut score over the Toronto track's Tapeta course. Two Out Hero last saw action in mid-September, finishing one-length third in the Summer (G1).

Street Beast, though, is the probable favorite after leading gate-to-wire in the Leonatus S. at Turfway last month. It was the first start on Tapeta for the son of Street Sense, whose peak effort last season was a seven-length romp in the Juvenile Mile at Kentucky Downs. Fulleffort, the beaten Leonatus favorite who finished second by a length, is back for a rematch.

Aces Honor has won his past two starts, both on grass, including the Texas Turf Mile at Sam Houston. Stop the Car drops in class following a seventh-place run in the Lecomte (G3) but is untested on a synthetic surface.