4/12/2025

  5   KEE   Lexington (GII) [KYD]         

$400.000      3yo           1^1/16th Mile   Dirt      120lbs

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We are down to the final KYD points race and its hail-Mary time for some barns.  We look at the full field of twelve set to go a mile and a sixteenth over the famed KEE main oval in the Lexington (GII).  Another race that I love to see in person, and despite the KYD points, this looks like a race that could go any number of ways, especially with the crazy weather that the South is enduring. 

So, which way for a winner?  Mb Stables, the juggernaut that they are, has ten horses qualified for the KYD… way over the three they can take, so why not move this one up into the top 30 and really cause some confusion?  I like it, so Loyalist is my pick in this one.  Only a maiden win for this one, but he has been close in the four races since his win at PRX, back in Oct of his 2yo season.  A solid fourth in the SUN Derby (GIII) and a third-place finish in The Old Dominion, only beaten a length in the VA Derby, he looks like a horse that wants a route of ground and is getting better. 

Team 7 Illusions has an interesting entrant in Fire Teeth, with only five career starts and a very solid third in the FLA Derby (GI), a win here would put him right on the edge of the top 25 and that should be enough to get into the KYD (I don’t see Mb selling ALL of his qualifiers that he choose to not go with).  I think this one is closer to the pace today and should be right there when they hit the wire. 

I’d like to put Olumuyiwa in the mix, but coming back on 7-days’ rest is a lot to ask for in this setting… so let’s go in a different direction and take Comanche Smoke in the third spot.  Did Mb give up on this one too soon?  Sold for $50.000, Panionios Racing got a win in the Winkfield at AQU, and with the close races he had as a 2yo, this could be an absolute bargain.  He was second here at KEE in the Breeders Futurity (GI), so… yeah, I see him as a big threat. 

It’s going to be a great day at KEE… it ALWAYS is!! 

Here’s The Field –  

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1		Olumuyiwa		Riggins Racing		Velazquez J R		120		10/1
2		Travis Mathew		Nakamura Stables		Gallardo A A		120		10/1
3		Hes A Runner		LionKing Stables		Smith M E		120		12/1
4		Forever Martian		Mo Mentum Farm		Moore R L		120		8/1
5		Comanche Smoke		Panionios Racing		Lezcano J		120		7/2
6		Declaration		Team 7 Illusions		Gutierrez Mario		120		8/1
7		Fighter Ship		Grimley		Carmouche K		120		7/1
8		Loyalist		Mb Stables		Franco M		120		4/1
9		Fire Teeth		Team 7 Illusions		Corrales G		120		4/1
10		Salah		Royalty Stables		Ortiz I Jr		120		8/1
11		Mooresy		Big Guns Stables						SCR
12		Maymun		D J C Racing Stables				120		SCR
13		Xbox Phenom		Langley Farms		Flores D R		120		20/1
14		Rubbing Is Racing		Alydar Stables		Geroux F		120		20/1

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COZMAN  8 / 9 / 5       Willie’s Green Card  8 / 13 / 9 

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