2017 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes

Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes Preview and Odds

As part of the Kentucky Derby qualifying series, the Kentucky Jockey Club stakes will award points to the first four finishers on a 10-4-2-1 scale. The field of two-year-old colts will be racing 1 1/16 mileson the dirt, and chasing a total purse of $200,000.

In a wide open race that should offer good value on a number of contenders, trainer Kieran McLaughlin has the morning line favorite with Enticed at odds of 4-1. He overcame a number of issues right from the gate to prevail in his first lifetime start this past summer at Saratoga, and followed that up by running third in the (G1) Champagne Stakes at Belmont in early October. The second-place runner in that race, Good Magic, came back to win the 2017 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. A repeat of that effort puts Enticed in the mix here.

Others Have Experience at Churchill Downs

Coming from out in the #13 post, Lone Sailor (12-1) has been good in his last two. He had a slow start and then was cut off and had to alter his path to get up for third in the (G1) Claiborne Futurity, and then sustained a long drive to just miss by a head last race in the Street Sense Stakes on the Churchill dirt course. That race was at one mile, and the extra bit of distance here might be exactly what he needs.

The colt that just edged him in the Street Sense is also in this race, in the form of Gotta Go (6-1) for trainer Ian Wilkes. That was his second consecutive win at Churchill in his third lifetime start, and for young horses it's always good to know they are comfortable on the track and surface. He does like to come from way out of it, however, and so he's going to want to see others set up a fast early pace.

Some of that early speed is likely to come from Promises Fulfilled (8-1) who breaks from the very center of the gate, and who won his last in wire-to-wire fashion running seven furlongs at Keeneland. Prior to that he won his first lifetime start at Churchill by also leading every step of the way to eventually win by four lengths. He's from a sire who won the 2011 Preakness Stakes, but who's best distance may have been a mile, and it's to be seen how this one will handle the distance.

A couple others that warrant a look are Givemeaminit (6-1), who has been competitive in three consecutive Grade 1 events, more than any other colt in the field, and Arrival (12-1) for trainer Mark Casse, one of the more experienced colts in the field with five starts, and who took a big step forward last out to win on the Churchill dirt course.

The Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes goes Saturday, November 25 from Churchill Downs in Louisville Kentucky. Expected post time is 5:56 PM, and it's the second of two graded-stakes races on the day. You can bet the full card with an account at an online racebook.

Entries w/ Morning Line Odds