Jefferson Cup

The Jefferson Cup S. (G2) begins the stakes action on “Stephen Foster Super
Saturday,” and the nine furlong grass test for three-year-olds is a competitive
affair. A case can be made for every one of the entrants, but we’re going to
give a slight nod to BRILLIANT (War Chant), who makes his stakes debut after
back-to-back victories on the turf.

Brilliant is two-for-two going one mile on the Churchill Downs turf course.
In both starts, the Neil Howard trainee settled into a comfortable midfield
position before closing strongly in the lane. The dark bay has earned improving
BRIS Late Pace figures of 97 and 106, and Speed figures of 93 and 99,
respectively, and figures to relish the nine-furlong distance. Earlier this
week, Howard said, “What encourages me about him is that the colt’s demeanor and
temperament is really exactly what you look for. I guess the best way to say it
is that if he turns out to be a pretty serious horse on the grass, it wouldn’t
shock me.”

STORM TREASURE (Storm Boot) will make his first start on the turf in the
Jefferson. The Steve Asmussen trainee closed from far back for runner-up honors
in the Blue Grass S. (G1), then passed eight horses en route to an 11th-place
finish in the Kentucky Derby (G1). He has worked five times since then on the
Churchill Downs grass course, and reportedly has handled the surface well. Storm
Treasure gets some class and weight relief in this spot, and is a dangerous
contender.

YATE’S BLACK CAT (Black Minnaloushe) has crossed the finish line in front on
three occasions, but has been disqualified twice and only has one victory to his credit, a solid one-length
score over this course and distance against allowance foes in his last start.
The Dale Romans charge owns a strong late kick and will be hard to keep off the
board.

The Todd Pletcher-trained TAHOE WARRIOR (Carson City) and MERCURIUS (Lemon
Drop Kid) must be respected. Tahoe Warrior is the likely pacesetter and could be
hard to catch. He set the pace before fading to fifth in the American Turf S.
(G3) after leading the whole way and holding on gamely for third in the
Forerunner S. at Keeneland. Mercurius likes to come running in the lane and
exits a good runner-up effort to Yate’s Black Cat. The uncoupled Pletcher
runners compliment each other’s running styles and could factor for a share.

ACT OF GOD (Black Minnaloushe), who is still a maiden after five starts,
always seems to be close by at the finish. The Fred Seitz trainee just missed in
his last start on June 11 and adds first-time Lasix. At 20-1 on the morning line, he is a
good one to use in the exotics. OBI WAN KENOBI (Skywalker) won two straight on
the grass and then was no match for Brilliant in his latest. Despite his 6-3-1-0
record, we’re going to leave him off our tickets because we are unsure of his
quality (ran for $75,000 claiming three back).