Chad Brown has three chances, one of them a very strong chance, to win the Coolmore Turf Mile at Keeneland for the first time.
Brown always wins the First Lady Stakes on the same card as the Turf Mile, but fewer male turf milers have passed through his barn than females, and this race, a Grade 1 worth a record $1.25 million, has eluded him.
Brown entered one-third of a nine-runner field, Running Bee and Spirit of St Louis joining likely favorite Carl Spackler.
Two European shippers, Mountain Bear from Ireland and Kikkuli from England, spice up a modest race that reflects the current state of the North American turf mile division.
Noises Off is a longshot, Cash Equity’s career peak last out came at European-style Kentucky Downs, leaving More Than Looks and Talk Radio the leading American challengers to Carl Spackler.
Carl Spackler leads the turf mile division stabled east of California, where Johannes rules the roost. An Ireland-bred 4-year-old by Lope de Vega who campaigns for e Five Racing Thoroughbreds, Carl Spackler showed high-level talent from the jump, finishing a close second behind Far Bridge, a Breeders’ Cup Turf contender, in his debut two winters ago at Gulfstream Park. A case of colic that required surgery cut short his 3-year-old campaign, and after winning his comeback race, the Opening Verse at Churchill Downs in May, Carl Spackler finished a tame fifth in the Poker Stakes.
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It’s his two races since, a half-length score over Talk of the Nation in the Kelso, and even more so his 3 1/2-length victory in the Grade 1 Fourstardave, that have elevated Carl Spackler’s status.
“He’s consistently improved over time,” Brown said. “He’s well traveled now. I’m very proud of him, the way he’s fulfilled his potential up to the Grade 1 level. I think there’s a little more there. He hasn’t been overused.”
One could strongly argue that Carl Spackler benefited from golden trips his last two starts, where he sat just off a slow pace, collared the leader, and got first run on closers. Yet it’s the ability to establish favorable position and quicken off it that makes Carl Spackler dangerous. He breaks Saturday from post 9 under regular rider Tyler Gaffalione, and in a race lacking real speed should get a trip like the last two.
“He’s pretty versatile. He makes those good trips for himself,” Brown said.
A leading New York-bred, Spirit of St Louis has a chance to show his worth in higher-level competition while making his first start outside New York. Running Bee has two wins in two Keeneland turf starts and finished fast winning the Bernard Baruch on Sept. 1.
While Brown seeks his first Turf Mile, trainer Todd Pletcher tries for his third in a row, having won the 2022 renewal with Annapolis and last year’s race with a sparkling rally from Up to the Mark. Talk Radio falls more into the Annapolis level but as a forward-running, hard-trying 4-year-old should benefit from the race flow.
“That’s what we’re hoping for,” said Pletcher. “He’s run some really good races this year without quite getting the job done.”
More Than Looks on raw ability rivals Carl Spackler but runs in an entirely different manner, sitting near the back of the field before unleashing a serious turn of foot. Belatedly making his 2024 debut in the Fourstardave, More Than Looks came home faster than Carl Spackler but didn’t come close to reaching him. His connections have designs on a return trip to the Breeders’ Cup Mile – Saturday’s race is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series – but face the prospect of another paceless race Saturday.
On official ratings, Kikkuli holds a slight edge on his fellow 3-year-old Mountain Bear, and he also possesses more tactical speed than Mountain Bear, who came from last to finish second in the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Mountain Bear stuck somewhat closer to the leaders in the Group 2 Solonaway last month at Leopardstown, where he was a creditable third, but Kikkuli beat him by about two lengths when they met at Royal Ascot in the Jersey Stakes.
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Kikkuli’s connections hope it’s no coincidence that the seven-furlong Jersey, which Kikkuli lost by a nose in a career-best showing, came over the firmest course Kikkuli has encountered. A strong run over faster ground at Keeneland could launch the Juddmonte Farms homebred into the Breeders’ Cup Mile.
While fourth in his most recent race, the Group 2 Hungerford over a straight seven furlongs, Kikkuli was part of a blanket finish and quickly galloped out ahead of the three who beat him.
That said, neither he nor anyone else – save, perhaps, More than Looks – has reached Carl Spackler’s level. Another sweet trip, and Brown has his first Turf Mile.
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