Locally based horses with an eye toward bigger prizes will compete in a pair of $50,000 stakes for 3-year-olds at Turfway Park Feb. 2.
The one-mile 96Rock Stakes attracted a field of 12 sophomores and has been carded as race nine on a 10-race Saturday program. The 6 1/2-furlong Cincinnati Trophy Stakes for 3-year-old fillies lured nine runners and is scheduled as race seven.
Owner Sherri Greenhill and trainer Jeff Greenhill have two colts entered in the 96Rock, including Mac the Man, an impressive winner of the Turfway Prevue Stakes for 3-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs Jan. 5.
Mac the Man, a Kentucky-bred colt by El Corredor, is 2-for-2 at Turfway but never has raced around two turns. The other Greenhill entrant, Silver Tongued, an Ohio-bred colt by Flatter , won the state-bred Juvenile Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on dirt at Thistledown last fall and made up some ground after a slow start to finish fifth in the Turfway Prevue in his first start on Polytrack.
"Both of them are training well," Jeff Greenhill said Jan. 30. "Somebody asked about them, and I said, 'I don't know which one I like (better).' Silver Tongued loves a route, and Mac the Man is always drawing off late. It looks like he'd like the two turns.
"They both have unanswered questions. If both run well, I guess one of them has to go on a van. But I'll figure that out after Saturday."
The Greenhill colts will carry high weight of 122 pounds, as will Indiana Charlie, an Indiana-bred stakes winner.
Five of the 96Rock entrants exit a one-mile allowance test for 3-year-olds Jan. 12: I Do Believe (first), Smoke Em Charlie (second), Count On Silver (third), Special Sun (fourth), and Gefest (sixth). I Do Believe is now 2-for-2 at Turfway and won his two-turn debut with style, while Special Sun had a bad start from a poor post and was running very well at the end.
In the Cincinnati Trophy, Kenneth and Sarah Ramsey's Smittenwithkitten, a Mike Maker-trained maiden who last raced at Gulfstream Park Jan. 17, figures to draw plenty of attention given her connections. The Kitten's Joy Kentucky homebred filly hasn't been closer than two lengths in her five starts but has kept good company.
Of the locals Our Jenny B, who just missed in a one-mile allowance race last time out, and Majestique, sixth in that event after a very wide trip, both cut back in distance and should have a say in the outcome.
The lone stakes winner in the field, Julmae, carries high weight of 122 pounds. The Proud Citizen filly won the Showtime Deb at Hawthorne Park for Illinois-breds last fall and has been training well at Fairmount Park.
The next round of preps are scheduled for March 2 at Turfway, when the $75,000 Battaglia Memorial Stakes for 3-year-olds and $50,000 Valdale Stakes for 3-year-old fillies will be run. They lead up to the March 23 program featuring the $500,000 Spiral Stakes for 3-year-olds and $100,000 Bourbonette Stakes for 3-year-old fillies (both gr. III), and the Team Valor-sponsored Rushaway Stakes, a $75,000 event for 3-year-olds.
$50,000 96Rock Stakes (Race 9, approximate post 5:11 p.m. EST), 3YOS, One Mile (All-weather)
PP., Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Count On Silver (KY), R Morales, 118, J R Dyer
2. Silver Tongued (OH), R M Hernandez, 122, J L Greenhill
3. Smoke Em Charlie (OH), L J Martinez Jr., 118, D L Kinder
4. Takin the Sloroad (KY), T L Pompell, 118, G S Bush
5. Gefest (KY), B Creed, 118, J Corrigan
6. Yougotthatgoinforu (PA), E Flores, 118, J M Rogers
7. Indiana Charlie (IN), A T Tamburello, 122, W E Hall
8. Mac the Man (KY), N Arroyo Jr., 122, J L Greenhill
9. Special Sun (KY), E Zuniga, 118, W J Denzik Jr.
10. I Do Believe (KY), S J Sellers, 118, M J Maker
11. Mellow Fellow (KY), E Paucar, 118, T Richardson
12. Bye Bye Bernie (KY), R A Prescott, 118, K J Breen
$50,000 Cincinnati Trophy Stakes (Race 7, approximate post 4:10 p.m. EST), 3YO Fillies, 6 1/2 Furlongs (All-weather)
PP., Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer
1. Majestique (KY), P W Ouzts, 118, S S Lyster
2. Julmae (IL), A T Tamburello, 122, J C Wainwright
3. Dancing Years (KY), R A Prescott, 118, B Waltz
4. Smittenwithkitten (KY), S J Sellers, 118, M J Maker
5. Allanah (KY), N Arroyo Jr., 118, K Gorder
6. Brook's Secret (KY), I Cruz, 118, T C Short
7. Stormy Exchange (KY), L J Martinez Jr., 118, D L Kinder
8. Liturgy (KY), B Creed, 118, D R Grego
9. Our Jenny B (KY), A Jimenez, 118, L Hoagland