By Christie DeBernardis
Champion World Approval (Northern Afleet) looks to return to his winning ways in Saturday's GII Wise Dan S. at Churchill Downs after finishing a disappointing fifth as the heavy favorite in the GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile at Santa Anita last time Mar. 10. The gray closed out 2017 with a trio of top level successes, culminating in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile, and was awarded the Eclipse as the year's top turf male. The homebred kicked off this term with a one-length success in the GIII Tampa Bay S. prior to his head scratching effort in California and was entered in the GII Dixie S. on the GI Preakness S. undercard, but was scratched when heavy rains forced the race off the turf. Hall of Fame John Velazquez, in the irons for the Mark Casse runner's last three scores, gets back aboard for this one.
Divisidero (Kitten's Joy) is a perfect three-for-three over this course, capturing the 2015 GII American Turf S. and the 2016 and 2017 renewals of the GI Woodford Reserve Turf Classic while under the care of trainer Buff Bradley. Transferred to Kelly Rubley this season, the 6-year-old was also scratched out of the Dixie due to track conditions and ran in the GII Monmouth S. May 26 instead, closing well to finish second, beaten just 3/4 of a length by Money Multiplier (Lookin at Lucky).
The speedy Shining Copper (Aragorn {Ire}) is the likely pacesetter in this affair. Winner of the nine-panel GIII River City H. over this course Nov. 23, the chestnut followed up with a head success in the GII Fort Laurderdale S. at Gulfstream Jan. 13, after which he was sent to the Caribbean, where he finished a half-length second to stablemate Sir Dudley Digges (Gio Ponti) in the Barbados Gold Cup Mar. 3. He was last seen fading to ninth after setting the pace in the Turf Classic here May 5.
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