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Saturday is Kentucky Cup Day at Turfway Park and with three graded stakes on the schedule it should be a great card to watch and wager on.  The three stakes races are the Distaff for fillies and mares, the Sprint, and the Classic.  The Classic is the feature of the day on the card as goes as race 13.  The 16 race schedule includes 10 races from Turfway and 6 from Kentucky Downs.

The favorite of the Classic is going to be the three-year-old Hold Me Back.  Hold Me Back comes off a second place finish in the Travers to Belmont winner Summer Bird.  Hold Me Back returns to the site of his best career victory in the Grade 2 Lanes End.  He should be a short price and will be running late under jockey Julien Leparoux.

The exotics may be the best way to make some money in the Classic and there are a couple of horses that fit the bill.  Sligovitz ships in from Woodbine for top trainer Roger Attfield and has never finished out of the money in eight starts on synthetics.  Sligovitz should be in front of Hold Me Back turning for home.  The horse that will be sitting the trip will be Dubious Miss.  Dubious Miss will either be in front on a soft pace or positioned just behind Godolphin Gray and Timeless Fashion.  Timeless Fashion has never been worse than third at Turfway including three wins and two seconds.

The other two stakes races are great races as well.  The first stakes race on the day is the Grade 3 Distaff featuring last year’s winner Bear Now.  Bear Now bounced back to form in her last following a short layoff after being defeated by 18 lengths in May.  Bear Now does her best racing on the pace, but there should be plenty of pace in this race.  Indescribable will benefit from a pace duel and returns to her preferred surface after three bad races on the turf.  She is four for nine on synthetics with three third place finishes.

The middle stakes race, the Sprint, may be the most wide open race of the three.  Guam Typhoon may start favored, but is cutting back from 9 furlongs to 6.  He is, however, three for three this year around one turn and has been second and third in his two stakes races.  Hamazing Destiny has promised more than shown since being privately purchased after winning his maiden by over 10 lengths.  He is sure to take some money.

The Sprint is a graded stakes, but only two have finished in the money in graded stakes races.  Those two, however, have not done it in a sprint.  Turfiste was third in the Grade 3 American Turf on turf at Churchill Downs and His Greatness was third in the Grade 2 Illinois Derby at Hawthorne on traditional dirt.  An interesting long shot may be Brass Bay coming in from Presque Isle Downs.

Kentucky Cup day will be a great day for horse racing and it may produce a couple of starters for the Breeders’ Cup.  Check out the wagering schedule for a possible pick-4 including all three of the stakes.

Turfway Park is a great track to play pick-4’s at because if one favorite doesn’t win then it can pay very well.  If two favorites run out then you can go to the IRS window.  Wednesday’s early pick-4 looks very playable with a single of 4-5 morning line favorite Little Nancy in race 1.

The best chances for a price happen in races 2 and 3.  Lord Dubai is the favorite in race 2, but has to go 6.5 furlongs, which may be pushing his stamina.  Rockslide Slim exits the same last race as the favorite, but the added distance will help him.  Mo’ Terms also ran in20that same race and was far back and was closing ground late.  He is another that wants all of this distance and is a 8-1 on the morning line.

Race 3 is another grab bag that could go to any one of a few.  Remember Turfway has night racing with a first post of 7:00 pm EST.

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It’s interesting to note that there is a stakes race at Louisiana Downs on Saturday on the turf course for two-year-olds named the Sunday Silence.  Sunday Silence raced only three times as a two-year-old and nothing before October 30 and he never stepped foot on any surface other than dirt.  His progeny have won many a grass race overseas, but this race is named because he won the 1989 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs.

This years version features no Sunday Silence-type horses, but there will be a horse with great betting odds.  With the Michael Maker trained, Ken and Sarah Ramsey owned, and Garret Gomez ridden son of Kitten’s Joy in the race the rest of the entrants are bound to be prices.  On horse in particular should get a lot of attention.  Perfect Lou is a fat 6-1 on the morning line and would be a steal at that price.  He was absolutely blocked in deep stretch last time and should have won for fun.  With a clean trip he is worth a bet at a price and may be a way to get some money for the pick-4 before it starts in race 9.

Saturday is the Grade 2 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs and while it only drew a field of seven, it is a wide open race.  There will be four horses in here that could go off as the favorite.  Those three horses are Soul Warrior, Regal Ransom, Uno Mas, and Blame.

Soul Warrior is coming off the best race of his career having run down Big Drama and holding off Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird in the West Virginia Derby.  Big Drama set all the pace, was staggering home and Mine That Bird was not handling the track so Soul Warrior could be a play against.  Remember he was 23-1 in that race and has only been favored twice in his seven race career.  He may need a career best in the Super Derby, but he does get John Velazquez in the saddle.

Regal Ransom last started in the Kentucky Derby finishing eighth by over 14 lengths.  He was close to the pace that day and gave way.  The layoff is a little concerning, but trainer Saeed bin Suroor had his horses ready to run at the Saratoga meet and could continue his winning ways here.  On a fast dirt track Regal Ransom has four starts with two wins and two seconds.  There were some doubts he could get a mile and a quarter so the cut back to a mile and an eighth will help.

Uno Mas won the local prep for this race, the Prelude, and could be overlooked in the betting.  Even though Velazquez rides the other Asmussen trainee Soul Warrior, Shane Sellers may be the key.  Shane seemed to ride nothing but winners for Asmussen at the Evangeline Downs meet and has continued to ride well at Louisiana.

The fourth horse that may vie for favoritism is Albert Stall’s Blame.  Blame is by Arch, who won the Super Derby in his three-year-old year, and is out of a mare by Seeking the Gold, who also won the Super Derby in his three-year-old year.  That is not even the best thing going for Blame.  Blame, in his last start, out finished Gone Astray and Gone Astray went on to dominate the Pennsylvania Derby.  Blame comes in off a series of strong works over the Keeneland Polytrack and will be in a good spot turning for home.

The most important aspect of the race will be the pace scenario.  Regal Ransom, on paper, looks to be the speed of the race and may have things his own way on the front end.  Blame, Soul Warrior, and Electric Alphabet will be positioned just off the speed with the others at the back of the pack.  Massone benefits from a fast pace, but may be better on turf.  He has never raced on dirt, but has finished in the money 11 of 14 starts.

The Super Derby should be an exciting race and the whole Louisiana Downs card is great.  There are five other stakes races on the day that make it a good day to play the multi-race exotics.  The late pick-4 is a must play on their super day.