Kentucky Downs Daily – Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Day 7 of 7 – Closing Day!

What’s Happening

The 2025 Kentucky Downs meet wraps up this Wednesday, September 10, with a challenging 11-race card, headlined by the $2M Dueling Grounds Oaks Invitational Stakes. Brad Cox holds a strong hand in the feature, sending out recent G1 Belmont Oaks winner FIONN and Pucker Up Stakes victor DESTINO D’ORO. These two will likely dominate the wagering, and rightfully so: they’re the ones to beat. The card also features five maiden special weights and five fiercely competitive allowance races, packed with stakes winners that will demand careful handicapping to unravel. Good luck!

What’s Happened

Sunday put the juveniles in the spotlight after a blockbuster day for older horses on Saturday, with the $1M Juvenile Mile Stakes and $1M Untapable Stakes showcasing two highly exciting prospects. First, Ben Colebrook’s STREET BEAST, fresh off a maiden-breaking allowance win here at Kentucky Downs just 10 days ago, romped in the Mile by seven lengths under Luan Machado. While he may not have faced a deep field, his visual impression was taking, and his pedigree suggests he’ll only get better with time. An 81 Beyer is more than respectable for a 2-year-old this time of year, and it’ll be exciting to see how he develops into his 3-year-old campaign. Just 35 minutes later, QUICK STREET announced herself on the big stage by closing into a pace held up well to win the Untapable going away. (Congrats to anyone who cashed the ‘Street’ double!) She, too, is bred to improve with distance (her second dam was a half to BODEMEISTER), and Bill Mott isn’t exactly known for cranking out precocious 2-year-old filly sprinters, so her performance bodes extremely well for her future.

QUICK STREET was one of three winners on the day for Godolphin, who also took the second with INFINITE SKY and the nightcap with CHAPMAN’S PEAK. Both of those runners were trained by Brad Cox, who, after a two-win Saturday, notched a double-double, so to speak. Cox’s huge weekend vaulted him into a slim lead in the trainer standings over Mike Maker and Wesley Ward, boosting his meet strike rate to an eye-popping 35%. With two standout favorites in today’s Dueling Grounds Oaks Invitational Stakes, Cox might just have the trainer title sewn up. Bill Mott also bagged a brace of winners Sunday, not only saddling QUICK STREET in the Untapable but also the impeccably bred ATLAL—a grandson of CLOSE HATCHES—to a maiden-breaking score in race five.

Sticking with the trainer theme, Jose D’Angelo deserves a shoutout for engineering a $103.95 exacta in race three, with his runners SNAPPY COMEBACK and CATALIONA running 1-2. That moved D’Angelo’s meet record to an incredible 2-4-0 from just six starters—six-for-six in the exacta. His final runner Sunday, CIBORIO, could only manage seventh, but D’Angelo is red-hot, and his three runners today demand a close look. Elsewhere, Mark Casse notched his second win of the meet with debutant VINTUR in race seven, offering a slight sigh of relief in what’s been a tough meet for him. Still, I’d be cautious with Casse’s runners, as they’ve generally underperformed, much like Steve Asmussen’s and Saffie Joseph Jr.’s. After further blanks on Sunday, Asmussen is now a dismal 1-for-37 (3%) at the meet, and Joseph is 0-for-24 (0%).

Here’s how the trainer standings look:

Both of Brad Cox’s winners on Sunday were piloted to victory by the red-hot Irad Ortiz Jr., who also took the opener on VALALA, giving him a three-win day. He now joins his brother, Jose Ortiz, who also notched another win Sunday, in a tie for second in the rider standings, one behind Frankie Dettori, who despite failing to find the winner’s circle on Sunday, still leads with eight wins. Between them, these three riders are named on 34 horses today, so the jockey title is wide open. The only other jockey to score multiple wins on Sunday was… John Velazquez! Yep, you read that right—after I roasted him all meet for his dismal Kentucky Downs record, especially in Sunday’s blog, Velazquez flipped me the bird with a two-win day! Those wins bumped his five-year record at the track to 5-for-104 (5%).

Here’s how the trainer standings look:

Track Trends

As was the case on Saturday when the rail dropped to zero, the track played very fairly at all distances on Sunday. Of the seven sprint races, two were won in gate-to-wire fashion, three went to stalkers (1-3 lengths off the lead), and two to off-the-pace closers (5+ lengths back). The three one-turn route races went to two stalkers and one closer, while the lone two-turn route was won by a stalker. In sprints, post position had minimal impact again too, with winners breaking from gates 1, 3, 4, 11, 7, 5, and 4. Meanwhile, the three one-turn route winners broke from gates 2, 10, and 7, and the lone two-turn route winner broke from gate 9. It’s tough to pinpoint post-position trends for route races based solely on Sunday’s data, but combining Saturday and Sunday, gates 6+ have produced 15/18 route race winners, suggesting a possible edge for higher draws.

Here’s the meet’s data so far:

Sprints (6F, 6 1/2F, 7F): 29 races

• Winner’s average position at first call: 3.58
• Winners’ average beaten lengths at first call: 2.16

One-Turn Routes (1M, 1M 70YDS): 25 races

• Winner’s average position at first call: 4.91
• Winners’ average beaten lengths at first call: 2.73

Two-Turn Routes (1 5/16M, 1 1/2M, 2 1/16M): 14 races

• Winner’s average position at first call: 4.57
• Winners’ average beaten lengths at first call: 3.27

Horses To Follow

Race 4: #8 COMES A TIME (8/1 ML)

For those of you who’ve lost money betting ROCKY JOY, I feel your pain. I’ve followed this guy to the edge of the cliff—and over it. He’s a nice horse, but he’s also 1-for-14 with eight seconds and two thirds, and I’m looking to beat him as the 4/1 morning-line favorite in today’s fourth. There are many ways to go in this race, but at the prices, COMES A TIME intrigues me most. A debut winner last year for Brad Cox, this guy was sent off as the 7/2 second favorite behind SOVEREIGNTY in the G3 Street Sense Stakes last October. He bombed there and then hit the sidelines for 249 days, so I’m guessing something went amiss, but his two runs this year have been encouraging. Off the lengthy layoff, he ran a respectable fourth at Ellis Park behind BIG BOAT, who went off at 2/1 in the Ellis Park Derby next out, G1 runner-up MCKINZIE STREET, and FACT, who was beaten a head by TIP TOP THOMAS in the Smarty Jones Stakes next time. Brad Cox then switched the son of NOT THIS TIME to turf last out—understandable, given he’s out of a STREET CRY mare and a grandson of multiple GSW turf sprinter SANDER CAMILLO. Despite a short-priced defeat, I again thought COMES A TIME ran with credit to finish fourth as he had a legitimate excuse: the 1-mile distance was just too far. To my eye, cutting back to 6½F today—the distance of his lone victory—should suit him perfectly, and the hot-hand Brad Cox seems to agree. Three of his four Beyers (82, 77, 76) fit well with this group yet he retains upside potential, and as he tries turf sprinting in his third start off the layoff, a new career-best could be in store. His form is as strong as any of his rivals’, and having drawn well to use his tactical speed from gate eight, with Flavien Prat aboard, 8/1 feels like a fair price.

Race 6: #7 MOBSTER (10/1 ML)

Two races later we have another 6 1/2F allowance and again I’m going to try a horse cutting back from a route to a sprint: MOBSTER. This 5-year-old son of UNCLE MO didn’t break his maiden until his tenth career start, just two races ago. But let’s break down why he was desperately unlucky not to have visited the winner’s circle much sooner. At age two in December 2022, MOBSTER ran second in a MSW to BANISHING, a future multiple graded stakes winner, with the pair well clear of PYRENEES, who later won a G3 and placed second in a G1. Then, after some time off and a gelding operation, MOBSTER returned to finish second in another MSW, this time to WORLD RECORD, a future G2 winner. In his very next start, he was second again—beaten just a neck—by MOST WANTED, a future G3 winner. Fast forward to early 2025, his connections tried switching him to turf to catch a break. No dice. Off a layoff, MOBSTER ran second yet again—argh!—to BEACH GOLD, a future stakes winner who ran third in Saturday’s Mint Millions Stakes. To call MOBSTER unlucky before finally breaking his maiden in June 2025, when dropped for a tag and romping, is an understatement – he just kept bumping into monsters!

Nevertheless, Joe Sharp claimed him from that maiden-claiming win and promptly returned him to turf for his first start against winners 39 days ago, suggesting Sharp believes it’s MOBSTER’s best surface. That day at Ellis, he finished fourth, beaten 3 1/4 lengths; however, he didn’t break cleanly and was stuck mid-pack—not ideal for a horse who typically races on or near the lead—on a speed-favoring track. The race didn’t pan out well for him but still, he ran credibly behind talented horses, including UNLEASH THE POWER, who returned to finish third here last Thursday with an 84 Beyer. To me, MOBSTER’s 1-for-11 record looks worse than it is, and I believe that with a cleaner break today, he can improve significantly on his recent 74 Beyer as he tries turf sprinting for the first time. Trainer Joe Sharp, who’s 10-for-33 second off the claim (30%, $2.53 ROI) and having a tremendous meet, could’ve found an easier spot if he didn’t think MOBSTER was up to this, but has instead enlisted Jose Ortiz to ride. Drawn well in gate seven with the speed to get forward, MOBSTER could be a sneaky play at a big price.

Race 8: #8 GREEN LIGHT (8/1 ML)

Let’s wrap up this 2025 Kentucky Downs blog (which has been a blast to write—thanks for reading!) by bringing home a decent-priced winner with GREEN LIGHT. I’ll keep this short and sweet. Trained by Rodolphe Brisset, who I’ve flagged multiple times in these pages as an under-the-radar trainer to follow in Franklin, this 4-year-old son of HARD SPUN was last seen finishing seventh of nine in the KY Downs Preview Mint Millions Turf Mile Stakes at Ellis Park. That bare result might not inspire confidence, but five of the six horses to run back from that race have posted Beyers of 91+, including the third-place finisher, EPIC RIDE, who won Saturday’s Mint Millions Stakes with a 100 Beyer. Before that effort, where he possibly bounced off his big win off the layoff at Churchill Downs two back (91 Beyer), GREEN LIGHT had never finished out of the money in seven turf starts, including a third in the American Derby behind BRILLIANT BERTI and another third in the KY Downs Preview Nashville Derby behind CAMEO PERFORMANCE. Cutting to the chase, this guy is seriously good, and his form is too. His 120 TUS figure from two starts ago is not only the fastest recent figure in this field but also shows he’s progressed since his 3-year-old season, and now, in his third start off the bench with Jose Ortiz aboard, he could have more to offer. With tactical speed, a great draw, lasix back on today, and a hot trainer, 8/1 feels like excellent value on this runner with upside potential.