Turfway Park Fall Championship

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

Saturday’s Turfway Park Fall Championship (G3) is the lone graded event of
the Turfway meet and attracted a well-matched field of 10 horses, many of whom
have aspirations for the Breeders’ Cup Marathon (G3) at Churchill Downs. SLIGOVITZ (Sligo Bay [Ire]) figures to show speed from the start of the 1
1/2-mile event, and we’ll predict a wire-to-wire victory from the five-year-old.

Trained by Sean Smullen, Sligovitz didn’t fire in the grassy With Approval S.
last time, but he’s much better on synthetic tracks and finished a good third
behind subsequent Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) winner Furthest Land (Smart
Strike) in last year’s Kentucky Cup Classic (G2) at Turfway. The five-year-old
shows a sharp recent work in preparation and could offer some value (8-1 morning
line) with James Lopez.

PICK SIX (Dynaformer) is a proven turf runner, finishing second in the Mervin
Muniz Jr. Memorial H. (G2) in late March, and ran well on Santa Anita’s
Pro Ride when recording a fourth, beaten only three parts of a length by
Richard’s Kid (Lemon Drop Kid), in the San Antonio H. (G2) earlier this season.
The Ernest Oare trainee figures to be overlooked in the wagering (15-1 morning
line), but his recent form isn’t bad and we give him a chance to run well here
if he handles the Polytrack. We’ll use him in second at a price.

Brazilian Group 3 winner ODDS ON (Brz) (Roi Normand) turned in a decent
effort when making his U.S. debut in a Saratoga dirt allowance last time,
finishing third behind Convocation (Pulpit), and figures to appreciate the added
ground here. The Paulo Lobo trainee has turned in three nice works since his
last start and adds blinkers for his synthetic debut. We imagine he’ll be forwardly placed under John McKee and expect to see him move forward off an
encouraging effort last time.

COOLCULLEN TIMES (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar [Ire]) is cross-entered to
Saturday’s Kentucky Cup Turf S. (G3), but we’ll use the four-year-old in the
exotics if he opts for this spot. The gelding will enter on the upswing for
Graham Motion, finishing a good third in the John’s Call S. at Saratoga last
time, and owns very respectable BRIS numbers. LIGNON’S HERO (Brz) (Crimson Tide)
captured his U.S. debut two back at Churchill Downs and offered a decent run to
finish sixth, beaten three lengths, in the John’s Call last time. The Brazilian
Group 3 winner will make his third start off the layoff here and merits
consideration for the bottom of the exotics.

Grade 2 winner ELDAAFER (A.P. Indy) is a 1 1/2-mile specialist, but he’s
unplaced in three attempts on all-weather tracks. We’ll let him beat us. ATONED
(Repent) hasn’t been a serious factor in his last two outings and is unproven on
synthetics. We can’t recommend his chances. FORMULAFORSUCCESS (Broken Vow) hasn’t shown enough in his recent starts for
us to recommend his chances. SMARTEN DESTINY (Smart Strike) could add to the
pace, but we’ll be surprised to see the recent claimer around at the end.
FALLING KNIFE (Cozzene) doesn’t look fast enough to make an impact.