Full Field Set for Kentucky Jockey Club

Annual Report / NYRA Photo

With a full field of 14 signed on, it is hard to fault anyone who views Saturday's GII Kentucky Jockey Club as an important juvenile precursor to the GI Kentucky Derby to be run in Louisville just over five months from now. Godolphin Racing went to $600,000 to acquire Annual Report (Harlan's Holiday) at the Fasig-Tipton Florida sale in March and the investment has paid off nicely to this date, as the colt enters Saturday's tilt with an undefeated docket. The bay easily won a lucrative 5 1/2-panel dash at Parx Racing Sept. 20 and came right back to score in Belmont's GII Futurity S. over six furlongs Oct. 17. Annual Report perhaps signaled his readiness for this first try at a route distance with a bullet four-panel move in :47.67 at Belmont Nov. 22. “The two turns shouldn't be a problem, but you never know until you try it out,” explained McLaughlin. “The post is more of a concern than the distance. We're breaking from the 11-hole in a very competitive full field of 14, which should be tough.”John C. Oxley's Airoforce (Colonel John) enters as arguably the most accomplished runner on paper, having captured Keeneland's GIII Bourbon S. over a grassy 1 1/16 miles Oct. 4 prior to recently reporting home second in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Oct. 30. The gray adds blinkers for this first try over the main track and figures to make use of his tactical speed in the hands of Julien Leparoux. These two graded stakes winners will face challenges from a number of up-and-comers, including Winchell Thoroughbreds and Three Chimneys Farm's unbeaten Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}). Hailing from the Steve Asmussen barn, the chestnut graduated at first asking going one mile here Sept. 11 and subsequently annexed an allowance test over this same trip at Keeneland Oct. 17. According to his connections, Gun Runner still has significant room for improvement with more maturity. “Gun Runner is real playful and he's still got a lot of little boy in him,” said Scott Blasi, assistant to Asmussen. “Gun Runner is still in that stage where he likes to nip and play and jack around with the pony, but he's going to overcome that. As you get more races in him, he'll get over that.” He will be joined in the gate by the first and second-place finishers from this venue's Nov. 1 Street Sense S., Mo Tom (Uncle Mo) and Tom's Ready (More Than Ready). The former returns to the barn of Tom Amoss after a stint under the care of Chris Richard and retains the services of Corey Lanerie, who has enjoyed a successful Churchill Downs meet. Meanwhile, Tom's Ready was gaining ground late in the Street Sense but could not quite catch the winner. The dark bay has shown versatility in his brief career, having won his seven-panel debut in wire-to-wire fashion here Sept. 26. Michael Lund Petersen's Mor Spirit (Eskendereya) ships in from the West Coast for trainer Bob Baffert off an authoritative one-mile maiden score at Santa Anita Oct. 23. Stamina should not be a concern for the $650,000 Fasig-Tipton March acquisition after logging two consecutive six-furlong workouts in Arcadia in advance of this first against winners.

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