The Thanksgiving holiday weekend offers four full days of exciting major stakes horse betting action at iconic race tracks all across the country such as Del Mar Thoroughbred Club near San Diego, Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York and Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.
Saturday’s race card at Churchill caught my eye with the running of the 2021 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes as the featured event. This is one of the last major prep races of the season for up and coming two-year old Thoroughbreds trying to make their mark on the early 2022 Kentucky Derby Trail.
This Grade 2 stakes race covers 1 1/16 miles in total distance on the dirt track at Churchill. The total prize money up for grabs in this race is $400,000. The top four finishers in this race will also earn qualifying points towards a spot in the 20-horse field for next year’s Kentucky Derby.
After going through the probable field of six entries as listed by Horse Racing Nation, I have come up with my picks for a Win-Place-Show finish.
2021 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes Picks
When: Saturday, November 27th 2021
Where: Churchill Downs
Win – Tiz The Bomb
Trained by Kenneth McPeek, this two-year old Kentucky-bred colt is coming off a second-place finish in this year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. He started his racing career with two Maiden Special Weight races on dirt before switching to the turf in his next three runs.
The son of Hit It A Bomb returns to the dirt track for this race with a trio of victories already on his early resume. His biggest win was in this year’s Grade 2 Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland on Oct. 10. Tiz The Bomb covered the 1 1/16 miles on turf in 1:43.69. There is some concern about his overall speed on dirt, but he appears to be the class of this projected field with a Horse Racing Nation rating of 5.62.
Place – Howling Time
My second choice for this race has the second-highest HRN rating in the projected field at 5.54. The son of Not This Time won the ungraded Street Sense Stakes at Churchill Downs his last time out. He covered the 1 1/6 miles on dirt in 1:44.68.
Trained by Dale Romans, he also won a six-furlong Maiden Special Weight race at Churchill on Sept. 25 in the competitive event of his two-year old campaign. A win on Saturday would elevate him to the status of being a legitimate contender on the 2022 Kentucky Derby Trail.
Show – Classic Causeway
Rounding out my top three picks for this year’s Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes , this Kentucky- bred juvenile is trained by Brian Lynch. Up against some solid talent in Rattle N Roll and Double Thunder, he finished third in this year’s Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland on Oct. 9.
Sired by Giant’s Causeway, he started his racing career with a victory at Saratoga in early September in a seven-furlong Maiden Special Weight event. He covered that distance on dirt in 1:22.67 to show some excellent closing speed.
This is another juvenile that would greatly benefit from a win on Saturday. He has shown the potential to be a legitimate contender after closing as a 9-5 favorite in his previous race.
