Four Graces joins stakes company in Dogwood; Bobby’s Wicked One tops Aristides
Churchill Downs’ stakes previews by the track’s publicity department (Coady photo above of Four Graces winning a Churchill Downs allowance race)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Wednesday, June 3, 2020) – Whitham Thoroughbreds’ Four Graces, an impressive winner of a first-level allowance event three weeks ago beneath the Twin Spires, will attempt her first try at stakes competition as she tops eight 3-year-old fillies that were entered in Saturday’s 45th running of the $100,000 Dogwood presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade III).
The seven-furlong Dogwood, carded as Race 10 of 11 at 5:50 p.m. on Saturday, is a designated prep race on the Road to the Longines Kentucky Oaks and will award the Top 4 finishers 20-8-4-2 points. The co-featured event on the card is the $100,000 Aristides presented by Woodford Reserve (Listed), which goes as Race 8. First post is 1 p.m. (all times Eastern)
Four Graces, a daughter of Majesticperfection, debuted as a 7-1 winner at Gulfstream Park in March. The half-sister to multiple graded stakes winner McCraken finished fourth in her second start at Gulfstream but quickly rebounded with an emphatic 1 ¾-length score on May 16 at Churchill Downs under Julien Leparoux.
“She’s an extremely talented filly,” trainer Ian Wilkes said. “With her family we had high hopes she’d turn out well on the racetrack and when she won on debut we thought we could have something special.”
Leparoux will ride Four Graces from post position No. 2.
Chief among Four Graces rivals that entered the Dogwood is Hronis Racing’s Edgeway, a winner in two of her three starts including a 1 ½-length score in a first-level allowance at Oaklawn Park. Also entered were Three Chimney Farm LLC’s Magic Dance, the winner of last year’s Debutante and third-place finisher in the Adirondack (GII), and Rafael Lopez’s Maryland-based Wide Country Stakes winner Naughty Thoughts.
The complete field for the Dogwood (with jockey and trainer): Clivetty (Martin Garcia, Don Chatlos); Four Graces (Leparoux, Wilkes); Bayerness (Florent Geroux, Cherie DeVaux); Ain’t No Elmers (Adam Beschizza, Bret Calhoun); Magic Dance (Santana, Asmussen); Lady Glamour (Rafael Bejarano, Larry Demeritte); Naughty Thoughts (Tyler Gaffalione, Jonathan Maldonado); and Edgeway (Tyler Baze, John Sadler).
The early National Weather Service forecast for Saturday in Louisville calls for mostly sunny skies with a high near 91 degrees and a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2 p.m.
Racing from Churchill Downs on Saturday will air on FS2 from 2:30-3 p.m. and FS1 from 3-8 p.m. as part of FOX Sports’ “America’s Day at the Races” coverage. It also will be broadcast on MSG+ from 1-7 p.m. and FOX Sports Ohiofrom 3-7 p.m.
For complimentary Brisnet past performances, visit www.churchilldowns.com/handicapping.
BOBBY’S WICKED ONE HEADS $100,000 ARISTIDES
Autumn Hill Farms Racing Stables Bobby’s Wicked One leads a compact but competitive cast of six sprinters that were entered in Saturday’s 32nd running of the $100,000 Aristides presented by Woodford Reserve (Listed) at Churchill Downs.
Bobby’s Wicked One winning Keeneland’s Grade 3 Commonwealth in 2019. Coady Photography
The six-furlong Aristides is carded as Race 8 of 11 with a post time of 4:46 p.m. Saturday’s program at Churchill Downs also will feature the $100,000 Dogwood presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade III), which is a prep race on the Road to the Longines Kentucky Oaks. First post is 1 p.m.
Bobby’s Wicked One, a 5-year-old son of Speightstown, has earned $545,423 with six victories through 16 starts including stakes scores in the $250,000 Commonwealth (GIII) at Keeneland, $100,000 Thanksgiving Handicap and $100,000 Duncan F. Kenner at Fair Grounds. Trained by Al Stall Jr., Bobby’s Wicked One will enter the Aristides following a disappointing 11th-place effort in the $350,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (GIII) at Oaklawn.
“We are still puzzled by his last race,” Stall said. “We know he is a much better horse than that. It’s still puzzling he ran as poorly as he did but sometimes horses don’t like the surface at Oaklawn.”
Miguel Mena will have the mount on Bobby’s Wicked One, who drew post position No. 4.
Chief among Bobby’s Wicked One’s rivals that entered the Aristides is Phoenix Thoroughbred and Three Chimneys Farm’s three-time winner Volatile. The gray 4-year-old son of Violence sports a 107 Brisnet Speed Rating in his last race, a 7 ½-length allowance win at Oaklawn. Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, the speedy Volatile will be ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr. from post No. 6.
The Aristides field from the rail out (with jockey and trainer): Manny Wah (Corey Lanerie, Wayne Catalano); Honest Mischief (Tyler Gaffalione, Chad Brown); Heartwood (David Cohen, James Chapman); Bobby’s Wicked One (Mena, Stall); Seven Nation Army (Joe Talamo, Ron Moquett); and Volatile (Santana, Asmussen).
Honest Mischief, the winner of the City of Laurel Stakes last November, was supplemented to the race for $2,000.
