Lukas Classic, Ack Ack offer Breeders’ Cup potential

Saturday’s graded stakes at Churchill Downs, the $500,000 Lukas Classic (G2) and $400,000 Ack Ack (G3), are eligible to yield contenders for the Breeders’ Cup. 

The Ack Ack figures to have Dirt Mile (G1) implications, with half of the field – Bishops Bay, Owen Almighty, Nu What’s New, and Coal Battle – currently listed as candidates for the Oct. 31 prize at Keeneland.

The 1 1/8-mile Lukas Classic features the versatile $3.2 million-earner Banishing along with Original Sin, who could have Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) ambitions.

The stakes action kicks off with the $300,000 Bourbon Flight S. for three-year-olds, pitting comebacker Plutarch against a small but select field. 

Lukas Classic (G2) – Race 10, 5:29 p.m. ET

Banishing scored his signature win in last year’s Charles Town Classic (G2), and in his next start, finished third in the Lukas Classic. The David Jacobson veteran followed the same itinerary this summer, only he was runner-up in his title defense at Charles Town. 

Original Sin comes off a rallying second to Knightsbridge in the Pacific Classic (G1) at Del Mar. Calumet Farm’s lightly-raced homebred brings a progressive profile for Brendan Walsh, having captured the Blame (G3) at this track and trip in his May 30 stakes debut. 

Tiztastic and Chunk of Gold, the one-two from the 2025 Louisiana Derby (G2) and alumni of the Kentucky Derby (G1), have had contrasting fortunes since. 

The admirably consistent Chunk of Gold keeps adding to his resume, romping in the West Virginia Derby (G3) over McAfee, finishing a close third to Magnitude in last fall’s course-and-distance Clark (G2), and just missing in the Philip H. Iselin (G3) to Bishops Bay. Like Banishing, Chunk of Gold was originally entered in the Sept. 18 Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), but swerved Forever Young at Belmont Park and came here instead. 

Tiztastic reverted to turf unsuccessfully last season, but the Steve Asmussen pupil has shown more back on the dirt of late. An allowance winner at this track and trip May 9, he was third in the Suburban (G2) and fifth in the ultra-deep Whitney (G1) at Saratoga. Other than the Derby, Tiztastic has historically run well beneath the Twin Spires, with placings in the 2024 Street Sense (G3) and Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) as a juvenile.

If Juddmonte’s homebred Dragoon Guard hasn’t built upon his multiple Grade 3-winning sophomore campaign, his 7-2-3-1 local mark is cause for hope. Frequent stakes bridesmaid This Is Uscar, most recently runner-up to Owen Almighty at Ellis Park, aims for a breakthrough on the step up in trip. Multiple Grade 3-placed McAfee, a half-brother to Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna, might be turning the corner since switching to George Weaver. 

Ack Ack (G3) – Race 9, 4:58 p.m. ET

While the Ack Ack’s one-turn mile sports a different configuration from the two-turn version at Keeneland, clues should still be forthcoming about Breeders’ Cup viability.

Bishops Bay is effective in either scenario for Brad Cox, and the $2.6 million-earner boasts a gaudy formline as the fourth-placer to Forever Young and Nysos in this year’s Saudi Cup (G1). Note that the Saudi Cup third, Tumbarumba, won this race last season. Bishops Bay recently traded decisions with East Avenue at Monmouth Park. East Avenue denied Bishops Bay in his Salvator Mile (G3) title defense, but tired to fourth in the Iselin, when Bishops Bay edged Chunk of Gold. 

Nu What’s New is also proven around both set-ups, defeating East Avenue in the March 28 Oaklawn Mile (G3) and wiring the June 28 Hanshin (G3) at this track and trip over Owen Almighty. 

But Owen Almighty was rounding his way back into form at that time. His latest victory in the R.A. “Cowboy” Jones in near track-record time at Ellis Park suggests that he could turn the tables on Saturday. Coal Battle likewise competed in both races, finishing fourth in the Hanshin and third at Ellis.

Arrowthegreat, last year’s Longacres Mile winner, invades for Dan Blacker. The California shipper just returned from a year-long layoff to capture a Del Mar allowance. Prince of Power cuts back from a fourth in the Charles Town Classic, and Macho Music returns to the scene of his 13-1 upset of the 2025 Pat Day Mile (G2) on Derby Day. 

Bourbon Flight S. – Race 8, 4:26 p.m. ET

Sidelined since earning his first stakes victory in the Feb. 7 Robert B. Lewis (G3) at Santa Anita, Plutarch is set to reappear in the Bourbon Flight. The Bob Baffert sophomore was supposed to launch his comeback in the Aug. 9 Ellis Park Derby, only to be scratched by the veterinarian. The blueblood son of Into Mischief and champion Stellar Wind always shaped as the type to improve with maturity, but he will be tested in this spot. 

Bill Mott’s smart Saratoga allowance winner Stimulate, a son of Tapit and the high-class racemare Elate, looks poised for this entrance into stakes company. Stablemate Steel, a fellow Tapit colt, wasn’t ready when ninth in the Wood Memorial (G2), but he warrants another chance after an Ellis allowance score. 

Amsterdam (G2) victor Local Knowledge would be a serious threat if he can handle the 1 1/16-mile distance. Todd Pletcher experiments with two turns in the wake of his distant third in the H. Allen Jerkens (G1). Secretariat (G2) runner-up Infiltrate, who won an off-the-turf allowance here last November, returns to the main track after disappointing at Kentucky Downs. Blackout Time has yet to follow up on his second to champion Ted Noffey in last year’s Breeders’ Futurity (G1), but he can claim a course-and-distance allowance romp and a close third in the St. Louis Derby last out.