Bravazo Targets Clark Handicap for Autumn Return

Before Mother Nature brought cold and snow to Kentucky in the evening Nov. 11, multi-millionaire Bravazo turned up the heat with a bullet workout that morning at Churchill Downs. Clockers timed him covering five furlongs in :59 4/5 seconds, fastest of 26 at the distance, as he prepares for the $600,000 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (G1) Nov. 29 at Churchill.

It was the sixth breeze for the Awesome Again  4-year-old since he was sidelined in March for surgery to remove a chip from his left knee. He last raced Jan. 26, finishing fourth in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) at Gulfstream Park in his only start of 2019.

"They brought him in and he's been doing remarkably well," said Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. "He's filled out and matured. Some of those Awesome Agains get that way. They fill out, look better (nearing age) 5. He's training better or as well as I've ever seen him, and I've had him his whole life."

A start in the Clark would mark Bravazo's 10th consecutive grade 1, a stretch dating back to the 2018 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) in which he ran sixth behind Justify . He ran second behind Justify in the Preakness Stakes (G1) and later hit the board last year in the Betfair.com Haskell Invitational Stakes (1), the Runhappy Travers Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1), and the Clark.

Owned and bred by Calumet Farm, Bravazo has compiled a 3-4-3 record from 17 starts with earnings of $2,003,528. His last win came in the Risen Star Stakes presented by Lamarque Ford (G2) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots in February 2018.

Lukas said he weighed whether to bring Bravazo back in the Dec. 7 Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) at Aqueduct Racetrack or the Clark, and decided on the latter due to it being at his home base and over a surface on which he has performed well. The colt broke his maiden at 2 on the Churchill Downs main track and is twice grade 1-placed over the surface.

At this early juncture the Clark is shaping up the easier race of the two stakes, potentially headlined by Seeking the Soul, winner of the Stephen Foster Stakes (G2) at Churchill in June. Dual grade 1 winner Maximum Security, disqualified from victory in this year's Kentucky Derby, is aiming at the Cigar Mile.

"A little bit of a trade out to this is a mile and an eighth for a comeback race," Lukas said of the Clark distance. "His work pattern is so strong that I'm not too concerned about that. Now maybe he'll surprise me at the quarter pole."

Looking past the Clark, Lukas aims to have Bravazo participate in some of the rich stakes for older dirt horses in 2020, mentioning a return appearance in the $9 million Pegasus World Cup Jan. 25 as a possibility.

Bravazo is not the only one on the mend from surgery. So, too, is the 84-year-old Lukas, who had back surgery Oct. 16, the recovery from which he found more debilitating than he had anticipated. Back at work at his barn, it won't be long before he is back atop his pony to observe morning training.

"I'm not riding yet, won't be for another couple weeks," he said. "But I got through it and I think I'm better for it."