WEEKEND STAKES: WHERE TO WATCH brought to you by KBC Horse Supplies
Friday, November 20th, 2009
Gone Astray will be a short-priced favorite to win his third consecutive graded stakes Saturday when he takes on five 3-year-olds in the Grade 3 Discovery Handicap at Aqueduct Saturday, one of four graded races across the country this weekend—all on Saturday.
One of those opponents is Haynesfield, a three-time stakes winner over the Aqueduct inner track last winter who has won one of two restricted New York-bred stakes since returning to the races this fall for trainer Steve Asmussen.
Gone Astray, carrying the Phipps Stable silks, is coming off victories in the Pennsylvania and Ohio Derbies—both Grade 2 events. The late-maturing son of Dixie Union had only won two of his previous 10 starts for trainer Shug McGaughey, He carries top weight of 122 pounds, conceding from four to seven pounds to his rivals.
Post time for the nine-furlong Discovery is 3:44 p.m., and the race will be shown on both HRTV and TVG (all times Eastern).
The Grade 3 Kennedy Road at Woodbine has attracted a field of 10 going six furlongs on the all-weather Polytrack surface. Jungle Wave is the morning-line favorite, but don’t overlook Field Commission, who closed with a rush last out to win the Nearctic Stakes on the Woodbine turf. Earlier this year, the Danny Vella-trained son of Service Stripe earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 105 while winning the Grade 3 Vigil on Woodbine’s Polytrack. Another contender is the very accomplished El Brujo, who’s won six of 13 for trainer Malcom Pierce and won the Grade 3 Perryville on Keeneland’s Polytrack in his last out.
The Kennedy Road will be shown on TVG at 4:23 p.m.
A field of nine graded stakes veteran fillies and mares go postward in Churchill Downs’ Cardinal Handicap Saturday, a Grade 3 going nine furlongs on turf. Acoma is the 121-pound high weight and morning line favorite on the strength of her four previous graded stakes wins and seven of 13 lifetime victories. Saturday is Calvin Borel bobblehead day, though, and Borel is a very live mount for trainer Graham Motion, Leamington. She comes off a dismal effort on a boggy turf course in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl Handicap at Belmont Park but should find Saturday’s firm turf much more to her liking.
The Cardinal can be seen on HRTV at 4:37 p.m.
Saturday’s final graded stakes is the Grade 3 Hollywood Prevue, a prep for the Hollywood Futurity. Bob Baffert, enjoying an exceptional year, has two of the race’s leading contenders in Indian Firewater and Maceo. A field of eight juveniles has been entered for the seven furlong race, which goes at 7:05 p.m. It will be shown on TVG.
