A pair of horses who earned graded stakes wins as juveniles will try to add to their resumes June 14 at Churchill Downs when Tapiture and Rise Up meet in the $100,000 Matt Winn Stakes (gr. III).
Winchell Thoroughbreds homebred Tapiture enters Saturday night's 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds off an off-the-board finish in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) on May 3 at the Louisville track. The Steve Asmussen trainee could add to the strong season of his sire Tapit , North America's leading sire by earnings who picked up a classic victory June 7 with Belmont Stakes (gr. I) winner Tonalist .
Tapiture already boasts a graded stakes win at Churchill as he closed out the 2013 season with an easy victory in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (gr. II). He opened this season with a victory in the Southwest Stakes (gr. III) at Oaklawn Park before finishing second in the Rebel (gr. II) and fourth in the Arkansas Derby (gr. I) there. Rosie Napravnik rides from post 2; Tapiture carries high weight of 123 pounds in the field of seven.
Awaiting Tapiture will be last year's Delta Jackpot Stakes (gr. III) winner Rise Up, who secured his first victory on the season for trainer Tom Amoss when he ran away from seven other 3-year-olds to post a 10 3/4-length score in the Robert Hilton Memorial Stakes Presented by Budweiser April 19 at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races.
Leandro Goncalves, aboard for that win, retains the mount on Andrena and Paul Van Doren's Rockport Harbor colt from the 3 hole as part of a 120-pound assignment. Rise Up boasts earnings of $873,433, most of all entered.
$100,000 Matt Winn Stakes (gr. III, race 6, approximate post time 8:30 p.m. EST) 3YO, 1 1/16 miles
PP, Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Rankhasprivileges (KY), R. Albarado, 118, K. McPeek
2. Tapiture (KY), R. Napravnik, 123, S. Asmussen
3. Rise Up (KY), L. Goncalves, 120, T. Amoss
4. Conquest Titan (KY), S. Bridgmohan, 118, M. Casse
5. Almost Famous (KY), C. Borel, 118, P. Byrne
6. The Admiral (KY), M. Mena, 118, B. Baffert
7. Ulanbator (KY), J. Leparoux, 118, I. Wilkes