HENDERSON, Ky. (Thursday, July 6) — The first stakes of Ellis Park’s young meet offers phenomenal betting opportunities with an overflow field of 14 fillies and mares entered for Saturday’s $50,000 Ellis Park Turf Stakes.
The 3-1 favorite is Calumet Farm’s Susie Bee, a triple stakes-winner and $280,863-earner for trainer Mike Maker who in her last start captured Gulfstream Park’s $75,000 Christmas Past on May 27. With Saturday’s 1 1/16-mile grass stakes, the 5-year-old mare will have competed at nine racetracks with Alonso Quinonez her 16th different jockey in 23 races. She’s also trying to win consecutive races for the first time.
“She’s been somewhat of an iron horse,†Maker said. “We’ve run her everywhere they run races, and she’s competed well. For whatever reason, early summer seems to be when she runs her best.â€
The 4-1 second choice is Inveniam Viam, a $20,000 claim in New Orleans this past winter by 2016 Ellis leading owner Chester Thomas’ Allied Racing Stable. She is 3 for 3 since, romping in an allowance race for Louisiana-breds, then annexing allowance victories against open company at the Fair Grounds and Churchill Downs. Inveniam Viam was eligible for those races because her prior victories had all been against Louisiana-breds or in claiming races. For her career, the daughter of Half Ours is 8-5-3 in 23 starts, earning $217,889.
“It’s a solid race,†said trainer Brad Cox, who won the stakes last year with Sweet Acclaim. “She’s been good to us since we claimed her. It’s a big field, a competitive race. It would be big if she could at least be third for ‘black type’ (sales catalogue) purposes. When we claimed her, we thought we could run her back in the same spot we took her out of, and the purse was really good. We claimed her for $20,000 and the purse was $40,000. We thought we’d claim her and see if she could move forward a little bit. She responded the first time against Louisiana-breds, and then against open company.â€
Lake Turkana comes in off two allowance victories at Belterra, the track formerly known as River Downs in Cincinnati. Corby, who has four seconds in her last five starts, makes her stakes debut for trainer Brendan Walsh. Factory of Faith gets a class break, having been fifth and sixth in Grade 1 stakes in two starts since being claimed for $62,500 by Loooch Racing.
Improv, who drew post 12 and narrowly lost Churchill Downs’ Grade 3 Matron in her last start, is expected to be scratched in favor of a stakes next week at Indiana Grand. Amaze Me Grace and Rattataptap need defections in order to draw in off the also-eligible list, with the field limited to 12.
Heading into Friday’s live racing card, Corey Lanerie leads the jockey standings six wins to four for Brian Hernandez Jr. Steve Asmussen and Brad Cox top all trainers with four victories apiece, one more than Buff Bradley. Calumet Farm and Mongo Racing lead all owners with two wins apiece.
Photo: Susie Bee, with Tyler Gaffalione, won Gulfstream Park’s $75,000 Christmas Past Stakes on May 27 by three-quarters of a length over Inside Out. Leslie Martin/Coglianese Photography
