Du Jour , winner of the American Turf Stakes Presented by Derby City Gaming (G2T) at Churchill Downs this spring, heads a capacity field of 12 3-year-olds entered for the opening-day, $750,000 Big Ass Fans Dueling Grounds Derby Sept. 5 at Kentucky Downs.
Also on the card, BBN Racing's Core Values , fresh off beating boys in Ellis Park's stakes prep for the Dueling Grounds Derby for trainer Vicki Oliver, goes back in against fillies while putting her three-race win streak on the line in the co-featured $500,000 Exacta Systems Dueling Grounds Oaks. Both stakes are 1 5/16 miles, one lap around Kentucky Downs' undulating, kidney-shaped course.
A total of 145 horses are on the program for Sunday's 11-race card, with an extra race added because of the strong demand. There are 124 horses in the body of the races, with another 21 needing defections in order to run. Seven races attracted at least 12 entries. The Dueling Grounds Oaks' field of nine is the smallest field, with an 11-horse field and a pair of 10-horse fields rounding out the card.
Du Jour, owned by Jill Baffert and Debbie Lanni, most recently was third in $1 million Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T) after finishing fourth in the $1 million Belmont Derby Invitational Stakes (G1T). Those races marked his first starts for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott. The Temple City colt was previously trained by Bob Baffert.
Joel Rosario rides from the outside post on the 5-2 morning-line favorite.
Reigning Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox has a strong tandem in the 3-year-old stakes with Steve Landers Racing's Royal Prince in the Dueling Grounds Derby and Godolphin's Adventuring in the Dueling Grounds Oaks.
Royal Prince lost Ellis Park's Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Derby by a nose to Core Values after garnering a second and third in a pair of $150,000 stakes at Churchill Downs prior to the Duelings Grounds Derby. Royal Prince won a pair of $75,000 stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots and Sam Houston Race Park earlier in the year. Royal Prince has the distinction of finishing first in his debut at Kentucky Downs a year ago, only to have the race declared a no-contest because of a gate malfunction.
Modern Science gets another crack at Royal Prince after leading all the way in the Ellis Park prep only to get passed late to finish third by a neck.
Yes This Time , Cellist , Palazzi , and Grey Streak are other prominent 3-year-olds in the lineup.
Rosario, who left his base at Saratoga to ride at Kentucky Downs on Sunday, also is aboard Adventuring, who ran third, beaten half-length, as the favorite in Ellis Park's Kentucky Downs TVG Preview Dueling Grounds Oaks, won by Core Value's stablemate Flippant in a stakes sweep for Oliver.
Also back from Ellis Park's Preview Dueling Grounds Oaks is fourth-place finisher Oliviaofthedesert . Trainer Kenny McPeek has enjoyed a lot of success in the Dueling Grounds Oaks, winning in 2019 with Princesa Carolina and in 2017 with Daddys Lil Darling and coming in second in 2018 with Princess Warrior .
Mark Casse, voted into racing's Hall of Fame last year and formally inducted this year after a COVID delay, sends out the entry of Woodbine allowance winner Inthewinnerscircle and Earth Strike in the Dueling Grounds Oaks, among his seven horses in on Sunday.
Kentucky Downs, Sunday, September 05, 2021, Race 10Entries: Big Ass Fans Dueling Grounds Derby
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Accredit (KY)
Martin Garcia
118
Pavel Matejka
20/1
2
2In Effect (KY)
Declan Cannon
118
Jack Sisterson
20/1
3
3Yes This Time (KY)
Tyler Gaffalione
124
Kelly J. Breen
6/1
4
4Modern Science (IRE)
Chris Landeros
118
Ian R. Wilkes
12/1
5
5Palazzi (KY)
Adam Beschizza
124
Mark E. Casse
8/1
6
6Red Hornet (KY)
Alex Achard
118
Anna Meah
30/1
7
7Hilliard (KY)
Mitchell Murrill
118
Michael J. Maker
30/1
8
8Cellist (KY)
Julien R. Leparoux
124
George R. Arnold, II
4/1
9
9Royal Prince (KY)
Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.
124
Brad H. Cox
10/1
10
10Grey Streak (KY)
James Graham
118
George R. Arnold, II
12/1
11
11Last Samurai (KY)
Jon Kenton Court
118
Dallas Stewart
8/1
12
12Du Jour (KY)
Joel Rosario
124
William I. Mott
5/2
Kentucky Downs, Sunday, September 05, 2021, Race 9Entries: Exacta Systems Dueling Grounds Oaks
PP
Horse
Jockey
Wgt
Trainer
M/L
1
1Serene (KY)
James Graham
118
Eoin G. Harty
12/1
2
2Viburnum (KY)
Adam Beschizza
118
Kelsey Danner
12/1
3
3Inthewinnerscircle (FL)
Julien R. Leparoux
124
Mark E. Casse
9/2
4
4Line Dancing (KY)
Tyler Gaffalione
118
Michael R. Matz
10/1
5
5All in a Dream (KY)
Mitchell Murrill
118
Wayne M. Catalano
30/1
6
6Adventuring (KY)
Joel Rosario
118
Brad H. Cox
3/1
7
7Oliviaofthedesert (KY)
Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr.
118
Kenneth G. McPeek
8/1
8
8Core Values (KY)
Rafael Bejarano
124
Victoria H. Oliver
4/1
9
9Earth Strike (IRE)
Declan Carroll
118
Mark E. Casse
6/1