Apart, winner of the Super Derby (gr. II) in his most recent start, heads a field of six for the $100,000 Ack Ack Handicap (gr. III) to be run Nov. 5 as a warm-up for day one of the Breeders’ Cup World Championship at Churchill Downs.
The Ack Ack, at 1 1/16 miles on the main track, will go as the fourth event on a 10-race card that includes six Breeders’ Cup races. The Ack Ack is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. EDT.
Trained by Al Stall Jr., Adele Dilschneider’s homebred 3-year-old Apart broke his maiden at Churchill Downs in his second start May 16 but failed in a pair of subsequent allowance races as the favorite at the Louisville track. A late summer break was followed by a victory in the Prelude at Louisiana Downs, the track’s main prep for the Super Derby, which he won impressively by 1 1/2 lengths. The Kentucky-bred Flatter colt brings a two-race winning streak into the Ack Ack.
Apart, who will break from post 1, will carry 117 pounds and be ridden for the first time by Garrett Gomez.
The 2-1 morning line favorite shares the top weight in the race with Amerman Racing Stable’s defending Ack Ack winner Demarcation, who is the 5-2 second choice.
Trained by Paul McGee, Demarcation was fifth in Churchill Downs’ Stephen Foster Handicap (gr. I) in his most recent start over the track. The 6-year-old Gulch gelding is coming off a distant second-place finish to Jardim in the Michael G. Schaefer Mile over a sloppy track at Hoosier Park Oct. 2. Calvin Borel has the mount on Demarcation, who will break from post 4.
Another major player in the Ack Ack is Jackson Bend, third-place finisher in the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) when he finished less than a length behind the victorious Lookin At Lucky .
Robert LaPenta and Fred Brei’s 3-year-old son of Hear No Evil was runner-up in the Wood Memorial (gr. I) and 12th behind Super Saver in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). In his last two starts, the Nick Zito trainee was a beaten favorite in the Pegasus (gr. III) when fifth at Monmouth Park, and the Star of Cozzene at Belmont Park, where he finished sixth. He is pegged at 3-1 in the Ack Ack and will be ridden by Javier Castellano.
Also at 3-1 on the morning line is Colizeo, who won the 1 1/16-mile Star of Cozzene by three lengths for trainer Todd Pletcher Oct. 2. Alain and Gerard Wertheimer's 3-year-old Distorted Humor colt scored his first stakes victory in the Northern Dancer (gr. III) at Churchill in June.
$100,000 Ack Ack Handicap (gr. III, Race 4, 3:30 p.m.), 3 & Up, 1 1/16 Miles
PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer, ML Odds
1. Apart (KY), G K Gomez, 117, A M Stall, Jr., 2/1
2. Stream Cat (KY), J Graham, 113, L Bealmear, 15/1
3. Silver Edition (KY), M E Smith, 114, D W Lukas, 15/1
4. Demarcation (KY), C H Borel, 117, P J McGee, 5/2
5. Colizeo (KY), R A Dominguez, 115, T A Pletcher, 3/1
6. Jackson Bend (FL), J Castellano, 115, N P Zito, 3/1