Coach Mike Maker is loaded into the $300,000 Kentucky Cup Classic Stake held March 25 at Race Park with five of the 12 entries in the body of the course for the 1 1/8 mile listed stake on the main all-weather track. He even has a sixth entry, Richiesgotgame on the list are also eligible.
He will sit still Atlantic Ocean who has been assigned a top weight class of 124 pounds in a race for children 4 years of age and older;
Ocean Atlantique, the 6-year-old son of American Pharoah raced by Kirk Wycoff’s Three Diamonds Ranch, reaching the Kentucky Cup in excellent form. He’s won his first two starts of the year at Turfway Park and most recently won the 1 1/16-mile Dust Commander Share at 5 1/4 and won the Engine Speed Figure. version 123 for the performance.
A highly rated 2-year-old, the Ocean Atlantique sold for €1.1 million (US$1,235,850) to top the 2019 Arqana Breeze Up Sale in Deauville. He won the bet at Deauville and finished second in the Prix la Force (G3) at ParisLongchamp but was eventually offered for sale at Fasig-Tipton’s Racehorse Sale in July 2021, where Wycoff bought him. it for $180,000. Since running for Three Diamonds, gelding has earned $196,836.
Ocean Atlantique will start from lesson 8 with Walter Rodriguez, who guided him to victory in Dust Commander.
Mike Maker will also take on Nice Guys Stables’ king cause , assigned 120 pounds for the race, who would pass 10th under Gerardo Corrales. 8 year old son of creative cause won last year’s Kentucky Cup Classic in a three-quarter length tie.
Since that race, King Cause has won the Knickerbocker Stakes (G3T) at Aqueduct race track. He got to the Kentucky Cup early in the Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational Stakes (G1T), in which he led in speed in second place by a mile and then dropped to sixth in that span.
Other starters from Maker’s warehouse include Jeff Drown and Don Rachel’s Founder 5 years old start Riddle; Paradise Farm and David Staudacher’s Leblon , a 5-year-old spayed Broken Vow; and, 2nd place winner of Skychai Racing and Sand Dollar Stable favorite wine 6 year old son of Looking Lucky . All three of these starters won at Turfway Park in late December or January and were set at £120.
Maker said circumstances contributed to his depth in Saturday’s race, with Founders and Leblon both returning on Saturday after claimants optionally entered the race. This winter race has been canceled due to weather. Other items match the conditions.
Leblon is having the best start to this year of these three teams. He won at 1 1/16 mile at Turfway on January 7 and finished third in the one-mile subsidized option race on January 27. He has two wins, a second and third at Turfway and won by 1 1/16 mile 8 miles but that was in 2020 when he got his first win. He’ll exit post 4 with Umberto Rispoli on board.
Fancy Liquor won its 2023 debut on January 4 in an optional claimant and then finished fifth in Dust Commander. The horse has been lightly raced since it was 3, when it won the American Turf Stakes (G2T) and placed four other bets on its way to nearly $500,000 in 2020. It has the third highest ESF at Turfway in the field is at 110. Fancy Liquor is in 6th and will be driven by Joseph Talamo.
“Ocean Atlantique had a nice winter there, winning Commander Dust, so that’s understandable,” Maker said. “King Cause won it last year. He’s a no-brainer. And Fancy Liquor is in the same position with limited running opportunities.”
After mostly racing in New York with other coaches, Founder came to Maker last November. He won his first start with the coach on December 28 at Turfway in the one-mile subsidy race, his first win since July 2021. Next, he finished fifth in the January 25 stipend option race also at one mile. He never won at 1 1/8 mile, finished 10th in the only start of the trip, but he finished 4th at 1 1/2 mile and 1 3/8 mile. He will leave the 2nd place and be ridden by Joseph Ramos.
Entering the Kentucky Cup with a four-win streak at Honeysuckle are Frank Taylor, BlackRidge Stables, Deters Company, James Keogh, and Michael McCabe’s Literature a 5-year-old child castrated by Traveler , who was recently brought in to coach Will Walden. Wentru has won seven furlongs to 1 1/2 miles on artificial turf and artificial turf since September 3. His previous start was a landslide victory in the 12 furlong Valedictory Stakes (G3). in a deadly hot game with many bets classified as winners Who is the star? . Gelding will carry 120 pounds and racer Jack Gilligan. They will break from lesson 3.
