Lukes Alley to Stretch Out in Pan Am

Melnyk Racing Stable's Lukes Alley (Flower Alley), impressive winner of his most recent start in the GI Gulfstream Park Turf H. over nine furlongs Feb. 6, will stretch out in distance for the GIII Pan American S. Apr. 2, according to Phil Hronec, the owner's longtime farm manager.

“We are going to try to make the Breeders' Cup with him,” Hronec said, adding that some consideration was given to a start in the G1 Dubai Turf. “His best distance is really a mile and an eighth to a mile and a quarter, but they don't have that at Santa Anita this year, so you either go a mile or a mile and a half. Those will be our two options if he stays healthy and if he's good enough.”

Sparingly raced throughout his career, the Ontario-bred earned his first graded success in the GIII Durham Cup S. over the Woodbine Poly in 2014 and added that track's GII Autumn S. en route to a Sovereign Award as Canada's champion older horse. Off the radar for the next 10 months, the bay was back to something approaching his best when runner-up in defense of his titles in both those races, shipped to Florida and was a bang-up second fellow Sovereign Award winner Heart to Heart (English Channel) in the GII Fort Lauderdale S. over the Gulfstream turf course Jan. 9. Lukes Alley's effort in the Gulfstream Park Turf was full of merit, as Shining Copper (Aragorn {Ire}) was allowed a soft time of things on the engine, but Lukes Alley knuckled down and grabbed the front-runner on the line.

Given the entire's apparent affinity for the Gulfstream turf, the decision to make another appearance at the championship meet was a fairly straight-forward one, even if there are some question marks.

“This gives us a chance to see if he'll go that far, because we really don't know, but he is by Flower Alley and he's out of an A.P. Indy and it's one of those things where you never know until you try,” Hronec reasoned. “You may as well try him at Gulfstream where you know he likes the course. If he can get a mile and a half, then the [Breeders' Cup Turf] will be our objective. If not, we may decide to go for the Mile, or we may elect to skip it altogether.”

Given the 6-year-old's current form, Hronec and Melnyk are inclined to strike while the iron's hot and are looking at the GI Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on the GI Kentucky Derby undercard May 7 beyond the Pan Am.

“He's always been a nice horse–he's had some injuries through his career, but now he's gotten older and most of his injuries seem to be behind him now,” Hronec commented. “He's stronger and more mature and he's a horse that's always enjoyed running. We gave a horse called Speightstown a lot of time and that paid off really well.

He added, “When the horses are doing well, they really need to run. You don't have to train them as hard between races if you do run them, and the timing wouldn't be bad to come back at Churchill, that's plenty of time between races.”

Remarkably, Lukes Alley was the first Grade I winner for Melnyk's operation since Pool Land (Silver Deputy) won the Ruffian H. a decade ago.

“Someone told me that and I said, 'You have to be kidding,' because I thought we'd had another one or two in between,” Hronec remarked. “It was very gratifying, it was a really great feeling. [Trainer] Josie [Carroll] has worked very, very hard and she's always loved this horse. To see him get up and win that race was super. Mr. Melnyk was just ecstatic.”

And are there possibly more Grade I photos in the future?

“I think he will, he just needs to stay healthy,” Hronec enthused.