Three Graded Stakes Winners to Battle in Ack Ack

Three graded stakes winners will line up Oct. 1 in a field of 10 slated to contest the $300,000 Ack Ack Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs, led by Godolphin's homebred grade 1 winner Speaker's Corner .

The 4-year-old son of Street Sense   comes into the one-mile race off his only off-the-board finish of the year, a fourth in the Pat O'Brien Stakes (G2) at Del Mar. Otherwise it's been a sparkling year for Speaker's Corner, who rolled through three consecutive graded stakes wins in the first four months of the year. He kicked off this year's campaign by winning the Fred W. Hooper Stakes Presented by Hill 'n' Dale Farms at Xalapa (G3) at Gulfstream Park and followed with a 5 1/2-length win in the WinStar Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes (G2). He next won the seven-furlong Carter Handicap (G1) by 4 1/2 lengths at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The summer proved a challenging one for Speaker's Corner who took on two of the toughest handicap horses in the U.S. He was third behind undefeated Flightline  in the Hill 'n' Dale Metropolitan Handicap (G1) and second to Life Is Good  in the John A. Nerud Stakes (G2). In his most recent start, he was the even-money favorite in the Pat O'Brien where he got pressed on the lead through sharp early fractions of :22.41, :44.74, and 1:08.91 and faded to fourth.

The Ack Ack is a Breeders' Cup Challenge Race, offering an automatic entry into the Nov. 5 Big Ass Fans Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile (G1) to the winner, but that is not why Speaker's Corner was entered, according to trainer Bill Mott.

"I would have been interested in this race even if it wasn't," he said. "It was the timing and the distance. It will be a bonus if we happen to win it, so we'll worry about that if we're lucky enough to do it."

Speaker's Corner will break from post 1 toting the high weight of 125. Junior Alvarado will be in the saddle, as he was for the colt's three graded stakes wins earlier in the year.

Juddmonte Farms' four-time graded stakes winner Fulsome , a 4-year-old homebred son of Into Mischief  , will try for a second consecutive win in graded company in the Ack Ack. His most recent start in the West Virginia Governor's Stakes (G3) at Mountaineer Casino Racetrack & Resort produced a 1 1/4-length win and became his fourth victory in a graded stakes. Fulsome's debut this year was a win in the Oaklawn Mile (G3) back in April.

Fulsome is trained by Brad Cox and will break from post 3 under Florent Geroux, who was aboard in the Oaklawn Mile.

The other graded stakes winner in the field is Ed and Susie Orr's Silver Prospector , a 5-year-old son of Declaration of War , who is trained by Steve Asmussen. The horse has been behind Fulsome twice this year, finishing third in the West Virginia Governor's Stakes in his most start and having finished off the board in the Oaklawn Mile.

Silver Prospector has won twice at Churchill Downs, including a win in the 2019 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2). He also has a graded win to his credit this year in the May 30 Steve Sexton Mile Stakes (G3) at Lone Star Park that he won by 1 1/2 lengths. He will break from post 6 with Ricardo Santana Jr. in the irons.