Whitmore Faces Large Cast in Keeneland Sprint
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Photo: Coady Photography
Whitmore wins a third edition of the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn Park
Before grade 1-winning millionaires Zulu Alpha and Arklow compete in the $175,000 TVG Elkhorn Stakes (G2T) July 12 at Keeneland, another horse with those credentials is showcased on the undercard when Whitmore heads an overflow field in the eighth race, an $80,000 allowance optional claimer at 6 1/2 furlongs.
A 10-time stakes winner and earner of more than $3.1 million, Whitmore won the Forego Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course two years ago at 5, and has seemingly not lost any of his speed since. This spring at Oaklawn Park, he captured two stakes, including his most recent effort in the April 18 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3), his third victory in that race.
Video: Count Fleet Sprint H. (G3)
Over his 34-race career, Whitmore has raced three times at Keeneland, always during the fall meet in the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes (G2). He won it three years ago before placing second in the race in both 2018 and 2019.
After the 2018 Phoenix, Whitmore ran second in the TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) at Churchill Downs. He followed his Phoenix runner-up performance in 2019 with a third in the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Santa Anita Park. He was eighth in his first try in the Breeders' Cup Sprint in 2017.
Ron Moquett trains the 7-year-old Pleasantly Perfect gelding for owners Robert LaPenta, Head of Plains Partners, and the trainer's Southern Springs Stables.
Joe Talamo will return in the irons aboard Whitmore, the even-money program favorite.
He is joined in the race by other horses with grade 1 placings, including Mr. Money, second in the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) in September, and Nitrous, third in the 2018 Hopeful Stakes (G1) and the runner-up in the 2019 Woody Stephens Stakes (G1).
Twelve horses are in the body of the field, plus 2019 Woody Stephens third-place finisher Borracho, who is an also-eligible. He needs a scratch to draw into the field.
Four longshots—Mojo Man, Home Base, Copper Town, and The Tabulator—race for hefty claiming prices of $150,000 apiece, and the remaining starters are eligible by competing under the race's allowance conditions.