Fancy Liquor

Fancy Liquor--who had employed a front-running or pressing style in each of his five prior starts--benefitted from a heady ride by red-hot Florent Geroux to pick up the pieces after a hot pace materialized. Unhurried early from his outside draw, the dark bay sat fifth in the early going as a trio of rivals zipped away to duel through hot splits of :23.04, :46.48 and 1:11.23. Favored Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) shook free of his pace foes heading for home, but he was softened up for the stretch drive,...

Cannon Thoroughbreds homebred Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) seeks his third consecutive victory as he returns to Churchill Downs for the $500,000 GII American Turf S. Saturday. A winner of last December's GIII Cecil B. DeMille S. Dec. 1 at Del Mar, the bay returned to winning ways three starts later in the War Chant S. going a sixteenth shorter here May 23. He was last seen annexing the GIII La Jolla H. back in San Diego Aug. 9 over champion juvenile and GI Kentucky Derby entrant Storm the Court...

OXO Equine's $1.8-million Keeneland September yearling Vintage Print (Curlin) returns to Lexington for Sunday's GIII Kentucky Utilities Transylvania S. The Chad Brown trainee didn't show much in a pair of main-track efforts in New York last fall, but looked like a different horse when trying turf to graduate at Gulfstream Feb. 22. The son of GISW Molly Morgan (Ghostzapper) ran down speedy Mike Maker pupil Fancy Liquor (Lookin At Lucky) to clear his first-level allowance condition at Churchill June 11. Another Transylvania pair who made up a Churchill exacta last...