Edited Keeneland Press Release — Westerberg Limited, Mrs. John Magnier, Jonathan Poulin, Derrick Smith and Michael Tabor’s Kimari will attempt to become the first repeat winner of the $500,000 Madison (G1) on Saturday when she faces nine other fillies and mares in the 7-furlong main track test.
One of two Grade 1 stakes on Saturday’s 11-race program, the Madison will go as the afternoon’s seventh race with a 3:55 p.m. ET post time. First post Saturday is 12:30 p.m.
Trained by Wesley Ward who also won the Madison in 2014 with Judy the Beauty, Kimari returned from a four-month layoff following a seventh-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G1) at Del Mar by winning a 6½-furlong allowance test at Gulfstream as the 1-20 favorite by 5¼ lengths.
Tyler Gaffalione has the mount Saturday and will break from post position six.
Back to challenge Kimari is Lothenbach Stable’s Bell’s the One, who finished three-quarters of a length back in a dead-heat for second in last year’s race.
A two-time Grade 2 winner at Keeneland in her career in which she has earned more than $1.5 million, Bell’s the One will be making her first start since winning the Dream Supreme (L) at Churchill Downs last November. Trained by Neil Pessin, Bell’s the One will break from post position five under regular rider Corey Lanerie.
The field for the Madison, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Cilla (Brian Hernandez Jr., 123 pounds), Center Aisle (Luis Saez, 123), Lady Rocket (Irad Ortiz Jr., 123), Just One Time (Flavien Prat, 123), Bell’s the One (Lanerie, 123), Kimari (Gaffalione, 123), Four Graces (Julien Leparoux, 123), Club Car (Colby Hernandez, 123), Kalypso (Gerardo Corrales, 123) and Tiz Splendid News (Kazuski Kimura, 123).
UNDEFEATED SPENDARELLA LEADS FIELD OF EIGHT
Gainesway Stable’s homebred Spendarella, winner of the Herecomesthebride (G3) in her most recent start, headlines a field of eight 3-year-old fillies for Saturday’s 34th running of the $400,000 Appalachian (G2) Presented by Japan Racing Association going a mile over the turf.
The Appalachian will go as Saturday afternoon’s sixth race with a 3:20 p.m. ET post time.
Trained by two-time Appalachian winner Graham Motion, Spendarella did not make her racing debut until Feb. 2 at Gulfstream and followed that with the wire-to-wire win as the favorite in the Herecomesthebride going a mile.
Tyler Gaffalione has the mount Saturday and will break from post position three.
Two other Grade 3 winners also are in the field: Michael Dubb, Madaket Stables and Robert LaPenta’s Dolce Zel (FR) and Dubb and Madaket’s Ouraika (FR).
Trained by three-time Appalachian winner Chad Brown, Dolce Zel comes into Saturday’s race off a victory in the Florida Oaks (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs on March 12. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount and will leave from post position four.
Ouraika, also trained by Motion, opened her 2022 campaign with a West Coast trip to Santa Anita where she won the Sweet Life (G3) on Feb. 12. Ouraika will exit post seven and be ridden by Florent Geroux.
The field for the Appalachian Presented by Japan Racing Association, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Glenall (IRE), Julien Leparoux, 118 pounds), An Agent Mistake (Rafael Bejarano, 118), Spendarella (Gaffalione, 118), Dolce Zel (FR) (Ortiz Jr., 118), Skims (GB) (Flavien Prat, 118), Trobairitz (Jareth Loveberry, 118), Ouraika (FR) (Geroux, 118) and Kneesnhips (James Graham, 118).
GOLDEN PAL FACES 10 FOES IN 2022 DEBUT IN SHAKERTOWN
Two-time Breeders’ Cup winner Golden Pal will make his 2022 debut Saturday when he headlines a field of 11 in the 26th running of the $350,000 Shakertown (G2) going 5½ furlongs on the grass.
The Shakertown will go as the eighth race on Saturday’s 11-race program with a 4:30 p.m. (ET) post time.
Trained by Wesley Ward, who won the 2016 Shakertown with Undrafted and the 2018 and 2021 runnings with Bound for Nowhere, Golden Pal is undefeated in two Keeneland starts, having won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G2) in 2020 and last year winning the Woodford (G2) before going on to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (G2) at Del Mar.
Irad Ortiz Jr. will have the mount on Golden Pal and break from post position 10.
The field for the Shakertown, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Chess Master (Jesus Castanon, 122 pounds), Natural Power (IRE) (Corey Lanerie, 122), Barraza (Julien Leparoux, 124), Diamond Oops (Florent Geroux, 122), Gear Jockey (Brian Hernandez Jr., 124), The Lir Jet (IRE) (Tyler Gaffalione, 124), Cowan (Rafael Bejarano, 122), Johnny Unleashed (Gerardo Corrales, 122), Filo Di Arianna (BRZ) (Luis Saez, 122), Golden Pal (Ortiz Jr., 126) and Just Might (Colby Hernandez, 122).
NASHVILLE TOPS FIELD OF 11 SPRINTERS FOR COMMONWEALTH
CHC, Inc. and WinStar Farm’s Nashville tops a field of 11 entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 35th running of the $300,000 Commonwealth (G3) for 4-year-olds and up going 7 furlongs on the main track.
The Commonwealth will be the first of five graded stakes on Saturday’s 11-race program, going as the fifth race with a 2:45 p.m. ET post time. First post Saturday is 12:30 p.m.
Trained by Steve Asmussen, Nashville owns the Keeneland track record for 6 furlongs of 1:07.89 that was established in the Perryville on the undercard of the 2020 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. A wire-to-wire winner in his most recent start at Fair Grounds, Nashville will be ridden by Luis Saez and break from post position five.
The field for the Commonwealth, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Manny Wah (Florent Geroux, 118 pounds), Long Range Toddy (Paco Lopez, 118), Sir Alfred James (John McKee, 118), Three Technique (Rafael Bejarano, 118), Nashville (Saez, 118), Surveillance (James Graham, 118), South Bend (Flavien Prat, 118), Endorsed (Ricardo Santana Jr., 118), Atoka (Luis Contreras, 118), Prevalence (Tyler Gaffalione, 118) and O Besos (Irad Ortiz Jr., 118).
