Colonial Turf Cup Preview

by Patricia Woo | Jun 15 2009

The excitement of the Triple Crown may be over, but the horse racing world is already gearing up for the Breeders' Cup World Championship. Top horses from North America and around the world are beginning to prepare for this prestigious year-end meet, and this Saturday's $500,000 Gr. 2 Colonial Turf Cup is an important prep for the Breeders' Cup Turf event. Held at Colonial Downs in New Kent County, Va., the Colonial Turf Cup is a 1 3/16-mile turf test for 3-year-olds and is the first leg of the "Grand Slam of Grass," a four-race series that will culminate in the Breeders' Cup Turf. Forty-nine horses have been nominated for the Colonial Turf Cup; among those are Take the Points, Sleepless Knight and Orthodox.

After finishing dead last in the Preakness Stakes on May 16, Take the Points is being pointed to his first grass race on the basis of his pedigree, according to trainer Todd Pletcher. "Even the Score had some success on the turf and he's out of a Fred Astaire mare, so [trying grass] has kind of been in the back of our minds." This 3-year-old colt, who is co-owned by Don Lucarelli and Jack Wolf, has only ever raced on dirt and synthetic tracks and has a 4-1-1-0 record so far in 2009; his graded stakes in-the-money finishes include a runner-up showing in the Gr. 3 Sham Stakes in February and a fourth-place finish in the Gr. 1 Santa Anita Derby in April. A change in surface could be exactly what Take the Points needs to hit the wire first.

On the other hand, Sleepless Knight has won on turf twice in three races so far this year but he will be facing his first graded stakes competition in the Colonial Turf Cup, should he start. This Kentucky-bred son of War Chant is owned by George and Lori Hall and is coming off a two-race win streak, including the 1 1/16-mile Lamplighter Stakes in May at Monmouth Park. Trained by Kelly Breen, Sleepless Knight has $66,650 in career earnings and all of his starts have been on grass.

Another intriguing potential starter is Orthodox, a 3-year-old Kentucky-bred colt trained by John Glenney. The son of Pulpit made headlines in the $150,000 Gr. 3 American Turf Stakes on May 1 at Churchill Downs as a 45-1 longshot winner, shocking onlookers with his determined stretch run where he withstood a challenge by Battle of Hastings to claim top prize and graded stakes earnings of $101,422. However, his next start in the Arlington Classic Stakes on May 23 was less than ideal - a stumble out of the gate culminated in an eighth place finish. Orthodox will need a clean break to take advantage of his front-running style; he has already shown he has the potential to win a graded stakes race.

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