Stonecrest Farm's 7-year-old Perfect Drift will make his season debut in a 1 1/8-mile allowance race over the turf Thursday at Keeneland. The gelding has 11 wins in 35 starts and more than $4.2 million in earnings in a career that includes third-place finishes in the 2002 Kentucky Derby (gr. I) and 2005 Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I). Perfect Drift kicked off his 2005 campaign in similar fashion with a win in a one-mile turf race at Keeneland."He's doing very well," said trainer Murray Johnson, who is based at the Trackside training center in Louisville. "We did this last year with him, ran him on the turf at Keeneland. Last year the race we wanted at Keeneland didn't fill, so we had to wait a week. So this year, we're running a week earlier. It's just a prep, though.
"We're planning on going in the Woodford Reserve (gr. IT May 6 at Churchill Downs) after this. We're staying on the turf, because it's softer on his feet. He's a big horse, so the turf will help get him fit. Hopefully, things will go well with it. We've gotten a terrible trip the last couple of times we've tried (the Woodford Reserve).""We have the Breeders' Cup in mind," Johnson added. "It's at home this year (Churchill Downs). He's always run pretty well there. We'll plan on going to the Stephen Foster (gr. I), Saratoga, and Del Mar again. That plan has worked well for us in the past. If it's not broke, why try and fix it."