Blended Citizen, Somelikeithotbrown Battle at Turfway

Appropriately on the undercard of the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) March 14 at Turfway Park, two prior winners of the Jeff Ruby, Blended Citizen and Somelikeithotbrown, provide a compelling warm-up act in the $150,000 Twinspires Kentucky Cup Classic Stakes.

Blended Citizen, the 2018 winner, and Somelikeithotbrown, who scored last year, did little to frighten away the opposition. A capacity field of 12 is in the body of the 1 1/8-mile race, and another pair sit on the also-eligible list, in need of scratches to gain entry.

Based on their prior Turfway achievements, the two Jeff Ruby winners are the clear favorites. Somelikeithotbrown, unbeaten in three starts at Turfway, is the 2-1 morning-line choice, followed by Blended Citizen at 5-2. 

They attracted out-of-town jockeys, eager for the opportunity to ride them and other rich stakes on the 12-race card. Irad Ortiz Jr., the Eclipse Award-winning rider the past two years, will be aboard Somelikeithotbrown, while Florent Geroux will ride Blended Citizen.

Either runner could become just the third horse to win the Kentucky Cup Classic after previously capturing the Jeff Ruby, which was contested under different names until 2018. Perfect Drift and Hard Spun  won the Kentucky Cup Classic in 2003 and 2007, respectively, after earlier winning the Lane's End Spiral/Lane's End Stakes, now known as the Jeff Ruby. Perfect Trip's wins came on dirt, Hard Spun's over the track's current Polytrack surface.

The Kentucky Cup Classic, won by Kentucky Derby (G1) winners Thunder Gulch and Silver Charm during its glory days in the mid-to-late 1990s, was not run in 2010 and from 2012-17. It has its 20th running Saturday.

Somelikeithotbrown is one of multiple entrants for 22-time Turfway Park leading trainer Mike Maker, the others being Space Mountain, a 15-1 chance, and the graded-placed also-eligible Apreciado, a 6-1 shot.

A Sand Dollar Stables homebred 4-year-old by Big Brown  that races for Sand Dollar and Skychai Racing, Somelikeithotbrown appears his trainer's best hope in light of his stellar record on Turfway's synthetic Polytrack surface. Besides the 2019 Jeff Ruby, he won the John Battaglia Memorial at the track last year, and an allowance Feb. 21 this year in his second start after returning from a nine-month layoff, caused by a hind leg injury.

"I think it was the best race he's run since we've had him," Maker said of the recent allowance victory in which Somelikeithotbrown raced 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.33.

Blended Citizen is also a winner this year, though in an unusual manner. Second past the post in the Jan. 18 Louisiana Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, he was elevated to victory last month after the runaway winner, the Bret Calhoun-trained Silver Dust, tested positive for the prohibited substance levamisole, an ingredient found in some deworming treatments.

A 5-year-old Proud Citizen horse owned by Sayjay Racing, Greg Hall, and Brooke Hubbard, Blended Citizen was trained by Doug O'Neill for the first 18 starts of his career, a period that included the 2018 Jeff Ruby and a victory in the 2018 Peter Pan Stakes (G3). He joined trainer Brad Cox in the fall of 2019, winning an allowance at Churchill Downs for him and running a close second in the Tenacious Stakes in December at Fair Grounds before his eventual victory in the Louisiana Stakes.

Other horses listed at single-digit odds in the Kentucky Cup Classic include defending champion Nun the Less (9-2), perfect in three stakes starts at Turfway, and 2018 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) winner Signalman (5-1), who makes his first start as a 4-year-old after going winless in four races last year at 3.

Besides the Jeff Ruby and Kentucky Cup Classic at Turfway Saturday, the card features four other stakes: the $150,000 Maxim Crane Works Bourbonette Oaks, the $100,000 Rushaway Stakes, the $100,000 Latonia Stakes and the $75,000 Mayers Electric Company Animal Kingdom Stakes.

Saturday's racing at Turfway, like at many tracks across the world, is taking place without the public, restricted to essential staff, horsemen, owners, and media—amid health concerns regarding COVID-19, known as the coronavirus.

Entries: TwinSpires Kentucky Cup Classic S.

Turfway Park, Saturday, March 14, 2020, Race 9

• STK
• 1 1/8m
• All Weather Track
• $150,000
• 4 yo's & up
• 5:17 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Dragon Bay (KY)	Chris Landeros	120	Stuart C. Simon	50/1
2	2Flying Scotsman (KY)	Rafael Bejarano	120	Jack Sisterson	20/1
3	3Nun the Less (KY)	Rodney A. Prescott	120	Cipriano Contreras	9/2
4	4Moon Over Montana (KY)	Alex Achard	120	Kim Hammond	20/1
5	5Peekacho (KY)	John McKee	120	Brian Michael	20/1
6	6Space Mountain (KY)	Gerardo Corrales	120	Michael J. Maker	15/1
7	7Thirsty Betrayal (KY)	Luan Machado	120	Patrick Huffman	50/1
8	8Royal Mesa (KY)	Malcolm Franklin	120	Philip A. Sims	15/1
9	9Signalman (KY)	Corey J. Lanerie	120	Kenneth G. McPeek	5/1
10	10Somelikeithotbrown (NY)	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	120	Michael J. Maker	2/1
11	11Lanier (KY)	Inoel Beato	120	Brett T. Santangelo	15/1
12	12Blended Citizen (KY)	Florent Geroux	124	Brad H. Cox	5/2
13	13Lo's Journey (KY)	Sonny Leon	120	Cheryl Shifflett	30/1
14	14Apreciado (KY)	Kendrick Carmouche	120	Michael J. Maker	6/1