Horse Racing: Lopresti to send out Successful Dan to Churchill Downs
When the trainer Charlie Lopresti announced that two of racehorses will be running in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, the news gained a huge deal of attention from those involved in the horse business. Only 16 colts are known to be under Lopresti’s care at his
Keenland base, nonetheless he was successful to make Here Comes Ben and Wise Dan a part of their respective events in the Breeders’ Cup Classic meet at Churchill Downs.
The fact that sports analysts and fans were surprised at was that both the aforementioned colts are not the best trainees of Lopresti. This Thanksgiving weekend, Charles Lopresti plans to send out his racehorse Successful Dan to run as a major competitor
in the 136th edition of the Grade I Clark Handicap that is scheduled to take place on the 26th of November at Churchill Downs.
When Lopresti was questioned about the upcoming event, he was reported as saying, “I would say Successful Dan is probably the best of the three, and I don’t say that lightly.” He added, “He is a really, really nice horse.”
Successful Dan will be ridden by Julien Leparox from the third post from the field of 11 competitors in the 11.8 mile Clark Handicap. The race will carry a purse of $ 500,000 and will kick off at Churchill Downs at 5.42 p.m. Eastern time.
As a three year old racehorse, Successful Dan proved his worth by winning all 3 of the 3 starts. These included his victories in the Northern Dancer Stakes that took place at Churchill Downs against the champion Warrior’s Reward. He was then kept from taking
part in any race for about 14 months due to an injury. This racing season, Successful Dan started four times and stole the show in two of these meets at Keenland. The most important of these victories was his three length win in the Fayette Stakes on the final
day.
When talking to correspondents, Charles Lopresti said, “Those two races at Keenland speak for themselves. Julien has been really impressed with him, and the horse is doing really well coming up to this.”
The talented colt, Successful Dan will be carrying 121 pounds in the Clark’s Handicap against Apart who will be running the same event with a weight of 118 pounds from the second post. The racehorse Apart is owned and trained by Adele Dilschinder and Al
Stall Jr. The two personalities have the honour of winning last year’s edition of Clark and then the Breeders’ Cup Classic with Blame.
Apart will be ridden by the famed jockey Garrett Gomez, who was on board Blame when he won the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the start of this month. The jockey will carry the three race win streak to the Clark Handicap this weekend.
Successful Dan and Apart are not the only strong competitors of this race. This event will also be started by some of the most established racehorses of the country including Brass Hat. The nine year old gelding is expected to give a great performance at
Churchill Downs during the bountiful weekend of the Fall Meet. The colt will start the Clark Handicap from the sixth post under the jockey Tony Farina. Farina is a replacement for Calvin Borel who could not aboard Brass Hat due to some injury.
Clark has always been one of the most anticipated events that are run at Churchill Downs. It will be the 11th of the 12 races that will take place on Friday, with the coldest weather forecasts.
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