December 29, 2023
TORONTO — By Matthew Lomon
Down-The-Hill Duo
Two Woodbine regulars are taking their talents to Santa Anita for one of the more unique events on the North American Thoroughbred racing calendar.
This Saturday, Lucky Score (5-1) and Olympic Runner (8-1) will try their hand against 10 other hopefuls in the $200,000 Joe Hernandez Stakes (G2T). Contested over Santa Anita’s hillside turf course, the 6 ½ furlong event presents an exotic, yet visually spectacular challenge.
Both Lucky Score and Olympic Runner will have their work cut out for them, but the pair with 54 races between them are no strangers to big-time turf wins. The former captured the Highlander (G2T) in July, while the latter took the King Edward (G2T) in August of 2021.
Keeneland Kinship
Graded stakes winner O’Connor (CHI) returns to the friendly confines of Keeneland this Saturday with the chance to add another graded score to his already impressive resume.
Lining up against 10 competitors in the $150,000 Harlan’s Holiday Stakes (G3), the Chilean-bred will try to recreate the magic he found last time out in the Hagyard Fayette (G2) on Oct. 28. Then, the 6-year-old held on to score his first ever graded victory by a head over Il Miracolo.
Early indications, at least according to oddsmakers which list O’Connor as the 5-2 opening line choice, are that the Tyler Gaffalione mount has a leg up on the competition.
No Rest Necessary
Greeley and Ben is wasting no time chasing another victory.
On Dec. 23, the 9-year-old took home the Dave’s Friend at Laurel Park by 1 ½ lengths. Now, exactly one week later, the ageless wonder will go for career win number 26 in Saturday’s running of the $150,000 Gravesend at Aqueduct.
If that wasn’t enough, the veteran campaigner with $981,138 in career earnings can also secure a spot in the exclusive millionaire club. For a horse that doesn’t require any added motivation to dominate, that sure sounds like a whole lot of incentive to end 2023 with a bang.
Entering the field of five at 9-2, Greeley and Ben is still the second-longest shot on the board. Then again, he closed at 6-1 in the Dave’s Friend last week.
Keep on Truckin’
Turf specialist Oakhurst appears primed and ready for a breakout performance in the 1 1/8-mile test that is the Robert J. Frankel Stakes (G3T) at Santa Anita.
The $100,000 affair, featuring six fillies and mares ages 3-and-up, will be the Phil D’Amato protégé’s sixth and final race of a 2023 campaign that stands up much better to the eye test than the numbers game.
Despite an unspectacular 1-0-0 record through five starts this season, Oakhurst has run quite well at a longer distance. On Sept. 9, the 4-year-old missed out on third place by ¾ of a length in the 1 1/8-mile John C. Mabee Stakes (G2T) at Del Mar.
With top rider Flavien Prat now calling the shots, perhaps Oakhurst, at 5-2, is finally ready to make the jump to graded stakes winner.
Sophomore Standout
Florida’s own Extendo has gotten off to a strong start going 5-0-1 through 10 career starts. That said, the youngster has yet to find success at the stakes level, running to uninspiring fifth and seventh place finishes in the Roar and My Frenchman Stakes, respectively.
This Sunday’s $100,000 Janus Stakes at Gulfstream represents the sophomore standout’s next chance at stakes glory, but he will have to do so as the second-youngest competitor in the five-furlong sprint’s field of 10.
Pitted against hopefuls including Yes I Am Free, a 7-year-old gelding with 31 starts and 12 wins to his name, the task will be daunting but not impossible. Why? Because all five of Extendo’s career victories have come at either the five or 5 1/2-furlong distance.
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