LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kenny McPeek is Derby dreaming with Maximum Promise – but not Saturday’s Kentucky Derby. The colt will run earlier on the Saturday card at Churchill Downs in the Grade 1, $1 million American Turf, with his eyes on a classic across the Atlantic.
“If he runs well in the American Turf, the intention is to take him to Epsom and run him in the English Derby,” McPeek said. “I think he’s going to want a mile and a half, and he’d be going into that race a horse that’s fit and ready to go.”
Churchill is in a partnership started last year with Ascot Racecourse and The Jockey Club of Great Britain wherein the American Turf winner receives an entry and travel stipend to compete in the Group 1 English Derby on June 7 and/or the Group 1 St James’s Palace on June 17 at Royal Ascot.
The American Turf was upgraded to a Grade 1 this year by the American Graded Stakes Committee, and Churchill subsequently raised its purse to $1 million from $600,000. The race has attracted an overflow field of 18 3-year-olds; 14 may run.
Churchill had hoped to attract some international runners, with trainers perhaps running their top prospects in Sunday’s English 2000 Guineas, and others in the American Turf. Just one horse has shipped over from England. New Century, who is scheduled to remain in North America, is now with trainer Brendan Walsh after Qatar Racing and trainer Andrew Balding parted ways. New Century had a productive fall in North America, winning the Grade 1 Summer at Woodbine and finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. He was fifth in the Group 3 Craven on April 16 at Newmarket in his final start for Balding.
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“It does compete a bit with the English Guineas,” said Gary Palmisano Jr., vice president of racing for Churchill Downs Inc. “We’ve talked to some of the European trainers, and I think it’s tough for them to commit to come over for it. But once it’s established and once it gets going, I think it could be a key staple on their calendars, too.”
Maximum Promise has made his last two starts on Tapeta at Turfway Park, finishing third in both the John Battaglia Memorial and Grade 3 Jeff Ruby.
“Really excited to get him on the grass, I think he’ll love it,” McPeek said. “He’s got five English Derby winners in his female family.”
Several American Turf entrants will be rematched. In the Kitten’s Joy on Feb. 1 at Gulfstream Park, Charlie’s to Blame eked out a front-running win on a firm course, holding off Maui Strong and Test Score. In the Grade 3 Transylvania on April 7 at Keeneland, it was Test Score’s turn to win, with Scipio second and Maui Strong third. The Keeneland turf was officially rated good after historic rains the prior week in Kentucky. Rain this week may leave some cut in the Churchill turf on Saturday.
“This course seems to dry out incredibly well, but I think any cut in the ground only helps him,” trainer Graham Motion said of Test Score. “I thought Gulfstream just played really fast for him.”
A relatively fresh Test Score has thrived since the Transylvania.
“He hasn’t missed a beat since he ran at Keeneland,” Motion said. “I felt like if he ran well at Keeneland, there was no reason we couldn’t run back at Churchill, giving him a month. We waited for [the Transylvania] – we passed up quite a few races to get there.”
Mi Bago, a four-time stakes winner on turf, led early in the Transylvania before fading to 10th.
“He likes really hard turf,” trainer Mark Casse said. “If I feel like the turf is too soft, we may scratch and go somewhere else because he needs it hard, he likes it hard.”
Iron Man Cal and Zulu Kingdom bring consistency. Iron Man Cal, a Grade 3 winner by disqualification, rallied to be second by a neck in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Zulu Kingdom has won 4 of 5 starts, including a pair of graded stakes in New York; his only miss came when he finished a troubled seventh in the BC Juvenile Turf.
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