Turfway Park Lane's End Stakes Odds & Top Contenders
by Patricia Woo | Mar 22 2010
As the 2010 Kentucky Derby draws nearer, trainers and owners are looking to races with rich purses - like Turfway Park's $500,000 Gr. 2 Lane's End Stakes held on Saturday, March 27 – for their Derby prospects in the hope of earning enough graded stakes to instantly become Derby-eligible. With $300,000 on the line for the winning horse, the 1 1/8 mile Lane's End Stakes has drawn contenders like El Camino Real Derby hero Connemara, Kettle River and Vow to Wager.
Trained by Todd Pletcher, Connemara is coming into the Lane's End Stakes off a hard-fought victory in the $150,000 Gr. 3 El Camino Real Derby on Feb. 20 at Golden Gate Fields. A Giant's Causeway colt, Connemara had to swing four-wide and fend off Haimish Hy to earn his first win of the year – showing excellent progress from his debut race as a 3-year-old, the $100,000 California Derby in January, a race that he lost despite having ample opportunity to seize victory. With only $90,000 in graded stakes earnings, Connemara will need to take another big step forward in the Lane's End to qualify for the Kentucky Derby in May.
Kettle River is a promising 3-year-old trained by Eoin Harty also looking to boost his graded stakes earnings. Despite being one of the favorites in his last race, the 1 1/8 mile $150,000 Gr. 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park on March 6, this son of Congaree failed to fire in the stretch run and faded to eighth. He did win his first race of the year, a 1 1/16 mile allowance race at Santa Anita Park, on Jan. 16 but will be stretching out again for the Lane's End Stakes.
Credited with his first stakes victory on Feb. 27 in the John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park after a disqualification, the then 23-1 longshot Vow to Wager returns to the site of his victory looking for a much cleaner ride and enough graded stakes to earn a berth to the Kentucky Derby. Trained by Dale Romans, this Broken Vow colt won his first race of the year at Turfway on Jan. 31 going 1 mile. And should experienced Turfway jockey and regular rider John McKee again get the call for the Lane's End Stakes, Vow to Wager could again factor into the top finishers.
Others expected for the Lane's End Stakes: Doubles Partner, another of Pletcher's trainees; Outlaw Man, who finished fourth in the Sham Stakes for trainer Kenneth McPeek; and Quiet All American, one of Vow to Wager's stablemates who is coming off a win in the OBS Championship on Feb. 15 at Ocala Training Center.
