Probable Entries For Lane’s End Stakes At Turfway Park March 22

Posted on Monday, March 17th, 2008

With entries to be drawn Wednesday, the probable entries for the $500,000 Lane’s End Stakes (gr. II) Saturday, March 22, at Turfway Park is beginning to clear. According to Stakes Coordinator Randy Wehrman, currently on the list for the 1 1/8-mile Lane’s End Stakes are:

Turfway Park’s Lane’s End Stakes is one of the 2008 Kentucky Derby prep races. Included in Saturday’s undercard is the $200,000 Rushaway Stakes, also a prep for the Kentucky Derby.

Additionally, trainer Grant Hofmans is considering Halo’s King for the Lane’s End Stakes but may send him in the 1 1/16-mile Rushaway Stakes on the undercard instead.

Of Cannonball, horse trainer Wesley Ward today said, “He’s doing great. He had a good workout last Sunday. We’ll be leaving here [Florida] on Wednesday and hopefully we can make [owner Ken] Ramsey some money on Saturday.”

When asked if he thought a start on Polytrack would turn around Cannonball’s streak of three straight third-place finishes on turf, Ward replied, “We just have to get away from those [Todd] Pletcher horses. He’s been breathing fire every time I’ve led him over for those races and those horses seem to have brought the extinguishers. Unfortunately, it looks like we’ll be facing another Pletcher horse this weekend.”

In his two most recent races, Cannonball finished third behind Todd Pletcher’s Why Tonto in the Hallandale Beach Stakes on February 16 and Pletcher’s Cowboy Cal in the Tropical Park Derby on January 1.

Todd Pletcher, the Eclipse Award-winning trainer the last four years, won the Lane’s End in 2001 with Balto Star and in 2005 with Flower Alley. Both of his runners headed for this years Lane’s End have strong ties to Turfway Park, either in past performances or bloodlines.

Chitoz was second, beaten only a neck, in last year’s Kentucky Cup Juvenile at Turfway Park. His only 2008 outing to date found him fourth in a second-level allowance race over the turf at Gulfstream Park on February 20.

“Chitoz obviously ran well last year at Turfway over the Polytrack,” said Todd Pletcher. “With a race under his belt this year, we’re hoping to see an improved effort on Saturday.”

Todd Pletcher’s other Lane’s End Stakes charge, Duke of de Buqe, is a New York-bred who has never raced anywhere but Aqueduct. He has two wins from four starts, all in dirt races restricted to New York-breds. The son of Dixie Union is, however, out of the Devil’s Bag mare Miss Livi, which makes Duke of de Buqe a half brother to Balto Star.

“Duke of de Buqe is a horse we always thought would like the turf, and since he’s a half to Balto Star, who could run on both dirt and turf, we think Duke of de Buqe will handle the Turfway Polytrack well. The Lane’s End is a good option for him.”

Trainer Dale Romans reports that his Lane’s End Stakes contender, Halo Najib, is all set for the race following a bullet five-furlong workout in :58 4/5 on Sunday at Turfway Park. Halo Najib left his Florida base for Kentucky a week ago.

Romans said the deciding factor in bringing the Halo’s Image colt to the Lane’s End was his undefeated record on synthetic surfaces. He broke his maiden at first asking last October over Keeneland’s Polytrack and two starts ago won the Ocala Breeders’ Sale Championship over the Ocala Training Center’s synthetic surface.

Adriano’s ninth-place finish from post 12 in the Fountain of Youth Stakes was not exactly what Graham Motion was expecting, but the British-born trainer will give Adriano, a son of A.P. Indy out of a Mr. Prospector mare, another chance in the Lane’s End Stakes.

After a 6 3/4-length grass score in one of the most visually impressive performances of the current Gulfstream Park meeting, Adriano moved from allowance ranks to the February 24 Fountain of Youth for his first try on dirt. His bad luck started at the post position draw, where he drew the outside stall, and got worse from there, with first-turn trouble contributing to the lackluster finish behind Cool Coal Man.

“He had a tough post, and I’m not sure he handled dirt as well as he handled grass,” said Motion. “We were kind of experimenting with him. But I think he should handle the Polytrack and deserves one more shot at the big time.”

Adriano’s lone Polytrack effort resulted in a solid fourth-place finish last year in the Grade I Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. “He ran respectably that day,” Motion said. “It was a big step up for him, after just breaking his maiden at Delaware.”

Motion is also eager to give Adriano another try at the Lane’s End distance. “I think that as the distances get longer it will only help him.”

Racecar Rhapsody is owned in partnership by Jerry Carroll, who owned Turfway Park from 1986 to 1999, when it was sold to a partnership that included its current owners, Keeneland Association and Harrah’s Entertainment. Carroll’s Lane’s End hopeful was most recently fourth, beaten just 1 3/4 lengths, in the Delta Jackpot in December.

www.turfwaypark.com

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"Probable Entries For Lane’s End Stakes At Turfway Park March 22" was posted on Monday, March 17th, 2008 at 9:06 pm and is filed under Horse Racing Industry, Horses, Race Tracks News, Stakes Races, Turfway Park, USA Horse Racing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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