Willcox Inn faces eight in Fayette

With one major success over Polytrack on his record this season, Willcox Inn

will seek another in Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000

Fayette,

a nine-furlong test for older horses that brings the curtain down at the

Keeneland fall meet.

A five-year-old by Harlan's Holiday, Willcox Inn earned his first stakes win

in nearly two years when running down Gallant Eagle by a nose in the August 31

Washington Park Handicap at Arlington. That effort over Polytrack did not leave

him out of place when the October 5 Shadwell Turf Mile was moved to Keeneland's

main track, but the Mike Stidham trainee lagged far behind early and could only

rally for third behind the front-running Silver Max and reigning Horse of the

Year Wise Dan.

While the extra sixteenth of the Fayette should suit Willcox Inn, the hole in

his armor is that he's winless in three starts over the Keeneland surface. Not

facing that problem is local allowance winner Villandry, who makes his stakes

debut in the Fayette following a solid third in a seven-furlong allowance

earlier this month. It was the first start in more than 10 months for the

gelding trained by Charlies LoPresti, who saddled the half-brothers Successful

Dan and Wise Dan to Fayette wins in 2010-11.

"He got in a lot of trouble in that race and probably should have won," said

LoPresti, who also saddles multiple turf allowance winner Set the Sail in the

Fayette.

Nikki's Sandcastle ran one of the best races of his career when a clear

second in the 2012 Fayette, and will try to make amends for that defeat on

Saturday. The six-year-old has had a light campaign of four starts this term for

veteran horseman David Kassen, who trained Cad to a dead-heat win in the 1983

Fayette.