Batten Down and Hades have faced some of the best of this 3-year-old crop. Both find, perhaps, a softer spot as they and some other stakes-seasoned sophomores meet in the $300,000 Bourbon Flight Stakes going 1 3/16 miles on Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Batten Down, the morning-line favorite for Bill Mott and regular rider Junior Alvarado, is dangerous when he gets an unfettered lead – something he very well could get based on the past performances of the rest of this field of six. The Juddmonte homebred, by Tapit and out of champion Close Hatches – making him a full brother to graded stakes winners Tacitus and Scylla – took some time to come to hand, as many from this family do. His breakout performance was locally at Churchill Downs, as he led throughout and dominated a 1 1/4-mile maiden special weight by 8 3/4 lengths this spring.
From there, Batten Down led throughout to win the Grade 3 Ohio Derby at 1 1/8 miles. He was a fine third in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy at Saratoga, behind Eclipse Award champion juvenile Fierceness and classic-placed Grade 1 winner Sierra Leone. He then led early in the Grade 1 Travers, chased by Belmont Stakes winner Dornoch, before weakening to finish fifth behind Fierceness, Kentucky Oaks winner Thorpedo Anna, Sierra Leone, and Dornoch.
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“Those are the best 3-year-olds, and I don’t think he ran bad,” Alvarado, who has ridden Batten Down in his past five starts and also regularly breezes the colt in the morning, told New York publicity after the race. “I think he’ll eventually mature even more and be more competitive in this group. Hopefully, he puts it all together and we gain some lengths with him.”
Batten Down certainly faces easier here and is coming off a sharp half-mile work.
Hades flashed talent winning the Grade 3 Holy Bull early this year over eventual Grade 1 winner Domestic Product and a not-at-his-best Fierceness. He is looking for his first win since for Joe Orseno. Hades was fifth in the Florida Derby after being bumped at the start, then seventh in the Grade 3 Lexington. Given a brief freshening after the chase for Kentucky Derby points, he was third in the Pegasus at Monmouth; second in the Grade 3 Dwyer at Aqueduct to Domestic Product; and, most recently, third, beaten half a length, in the Petramalo Mile at Colonial Downs. Fellow Bourbon Flight entrant Real Macho, a stakes winner at Gulfstream in his prior start, also is emerging from the Petramalo, where he finished fourth.
Mugatu is another familiar name in this race, as he was a classics hopeful earlier this year and finished eighth in the Preakness Stakes. He still owns only a maiden win, although he was second in the Bald Eagle Derby at Laurel two starts back.
Multiple stakes-placed Next Level, third in the Grade 3 Matt Winn at Churchill Downs earlier this year, and local allowance winner Elephants Ear complete the field.
Harrods Creek
Valentine Candy, who is looking for his sixth career stakes win, and unbeaten Illuminare, stepping into stakes company for the first time, meet in the $300,000 Harrods Creek for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs.
Valentine Candy has won five career stakes, four of those coming at Oaklawn Park over the winter and spring, for Steve Asmussen. In his most recent outings, he was a fine second in the Grade 2 Amsterdam at Saratoga – Jefferson Street, also in the Harrods Creek field, was second – before coming back to win the Robert Hilton Memorial at this seven-furlong distance, around two turns, on Aug. 23 at Charles Town.
“He’s doing good,” Asmussen said. “Looking for his sixth stakes win, already, as a 3-year-old, what a nice horse. What a cool horse.”
Valentine Candy earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 102 in the Hilton Memorial. He and Jefferson Street – who earned the same figure in a Saratoga allowance win in June – own the top numbers in this field.
The lightly raced Illuminare will have to take a step forward from a speed figure standpoint for Todd Pletcher, but he has won both his starts going seven furlongs at Saratoga, besting a next-out winner each time. He is well drawn in post 6 in this field of seven to stay in the clear as things develop.
Seneca
In a large field of 13 fillies for the Seneca Overnight, Chatalas and Miss Justify are both cutting back to what seems a preferred distance and are facing easier company after exiting adventurous trips in the top-flight Alabama Stakes for some of the cream of this division going 1 1/4 miles.
Chatalas won the Grade 2 Chandelier Stakes last year and the Grade 3 Indiana Oaks in July – besting several from this field – both at this 1 1/16-mile distance. She then led early in the Alabama, but shied from the crop late and eventually weakened to sixth.
Miss Justify won a pair of races at a mile, including the Wilton Stakes out of the Wilson Chute at Saratoga. She then had a poor start in the Alabama and tracked the pace before finishing a creditable fourth.
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