The Pizza Man Heads River City Handicap
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Photo: Michael Burns
The Pizza Man wins the 2016 Northern Dancer
Stalwarts The Pizza Man and Are You Kidding Me will face a competitive field in the River City Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Churchill Downs Nov. 24.
The 1 1/8-mile test drew a field of 14 and two also eligibles, with Are You Kidding Me on the rail and The Pizza Man in post 7.
In The Pizza Man's last start, the 7-year-old Illinois-bred finished fourth, two lengths behind the winner Erupt, in the Pattison Canadian International (gr. IT) at Woodbine Oct. 16. He won the Northern Dancer Turf presented by HPIBet (gr. IT), also at Woodbine, one start prior. In his 32 starts, he has hit the wire first in 17, including five graded stakes.
NOVAK: The Pizza Man All Class in Northern Dancer
A winner on two surfaces, the 2015 Canadian champion older horse Are You Kidding Me enters off back-to-back graded scores, both at Woodbine. Most recently, the Roger Attfield trainee took the Autumn Stakes (gr. II) Nov. 6 and before that the Durham Cup Stakes (gr. III) Sept. 24, both on the Tapeta main track. His other win this year also came at Woodbine in the grade II Eclipse Stakes May 28.
In his last race on turf, Are You Kidding Me finished second by 2 1/2 lengths to Messi in the Sky Classic (gr. IIT) at Woodbine Aug. 21. His record is 9-5-3 from 31 starts.
Grade II winner Pleuven comes off a sixth-place effort in the Oct. 8 Shadwell Turf Mile (gr. IT) at Keeneland. The 5-year-old gelding has won twice this year—the Cliff Guilliams Handicap at Ellis Park Sept. 5 and the Wise Dan Stakes (gr. IIT) June 18 at Churchill.
Virginia-bred One Go All Go most recently finished fifth in the 1 1/2 mile Sycamore (gr. IIIT) at Keeneland Oct. 20. He has three wins from 12 starts, including a score in the 2015 Commonwealth Derby (gr. IIT) at Laurel Park.
Grade III winners Dubai Sky and Bullards Alley will line up as well. After winning four in a row in 2015, Dubai Sky has yet to win this year, while Bullards Alley's single victory in 2016 came in the Louisville Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Churchill May 21.
Also entered is Allied Air Raid, who has yet to get a graded victory but has not finished worse than fourth in his 14 starts. He enters off a second in a Oct. 15 allowance race at Keeneland.
River City H. (gr. IIIT)
Churchill Downs, Thursday, November 24, 2016, Race 11
- 1 1/8m
- Turf
- $100,000
- 3 yo's & up
- 4:22 PM (local)
| PP | Horse | Jockey | Wgt | Trainer | M/L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1Are You Kidding Me (KY) | Alan Garcia | 122 | Roger L. Attfield | 7/2 |
| 2 | 2Behesht (FR) | Joseph Rocco, Jr. | 114 | George R. Arnold, II | 30/1 |
| 3 | 3Thatcher Street (KY) | Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. | 116 | Ian R. Wilkes | 12/1 |
| 4 | 4Allied Air Raid (KY) | Robby Albarado | 115 | Brad H. Cox | 20/1 |
| 5 | 5Taghleeb (KY) | Julien R. Leparoux | 116 | Michael J. Maker | 10/1 |
| 6 | 6One Go All Go (VA) | Declan Cannon | 115 | Pavel Matejka | 20/1 |
| 7 | 7The Pizza Man (IL) | Shaun Bridgmohan | 124 | Roger A. Brueggemann | 5/2 |
| 8 | 8Dubai Sky (KY) | Channing Hill | 115 | William I. Mott | 20/1 |
| 9 | 9Dac (KY) | Sophie Doyle | 114 | William S. Brumley | 30/1 |
| 10 | 10Roman Approval (KY) | Ricardo Santana, Jr. | 117 | Michael J. Maker | 12/1 |
| 11 | 11Dujac (KY) | Chris Landeros | 114 | Ian R. Wilkes | 30/1 |
| 12 | 12Pleuven (FR) | Corey J. Lanerie | 118 | Philip A. Sims | 9/2 |
| 13 | 13Granny's Kitten (PA) | Florent Geroux | 117 | Michael J. Maker | 10/1 |
| 14 | 14Bullards Alley (KY) | Marlon St. Julien | 118 | Tim Glyshaw | 12/1 |
| 15 | 15Coco Mon (IL) | Robby Albarado | 114 | Eddie Kenneally | 30/1 |
| 16 | 16Croninthebarbarian (KY) | Ricardo Santana, Jr. | 113 | Garry W. Simms | 30/1 |