2023 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint Stakes Preview

The Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint, raced this year as the Ainsworth Turf Sprint, is a Grade 2 race that offers a purse of $600,000 (plus $400,000 in state-bred incentives through the Kentucky Thoroughbred Development Fund) as well as an automatic entry to the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint through the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series. The race covers six furlongs on Kentucky Downs’ unique, undulating turf course, and it drew an oversubscribed field of 12 runners plus one also-eligible.

The race is not always the most important Breeders’ Cup prep only because the Kentucky Downs track is so different from every other track in the country, and the six-furlong distance is longer than most conventional American turf sprints. However, between that unique setup and the full field, that means the race is always an excellent betting event on its own, like so many of the races over the Franklin, Kentucky oval.

2023 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint Stakes Information

• Race Date: Saturday, September 9
• Track: Kentucky Downs
• Post Time: 4:54 p.m. Central Daylight Time
• Distance: six furlongs on the turf
• Age/Sex: three-year-olds and upward
• Where to Watch: TVG.com, FanDuel TV
• Where to Bet: TVG.com and FanDuel Racing

Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint Stakes Draw and Odds

This is the field for the Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint Stakes, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line odds:

Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint Stakes Prep Race Results

The thirteen entrants in the race come out of ten different races, including seven different stakes races. There are five last-out stakes winners in the field.

Cogburn and Nobals, who ran 1-2 in the Troy Stakes (G3) at Saratoga, turn up here. One Timer won the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Sprint at Ellis; third-place Bad Beat Brian also presses on to Franklin. Front Run the Fed won the Van Clief at Colonial; 2021 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint winner Gear Jockey will try to bounce back from a sixth-place finish in that race. Other last-out stakes winners include Connaught Cup (G2) winner Dream Shake and Select winner Eamonn. Dr Zempf comes out of a fourth-place run in the Jaipur (G1) at Belmont Park, making him the only one to face Grade 1 foes last out. Anaconda was most recently seventh behind Casa Creed in the Kelso (G3) and turns back to a sprint for this.

The other three entrants come out of allowance company. Olympic Runner won a conditioned optional claimer at Colonial on August 5, while Noble Reflection will try to regroup after a sixth-place tilt at a similar level at Del Mar on August 4. Counterstrike, relegated to the also-eligible list, comes out of a first-level allowance win at Ellis.

Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint Stakes Contenders

These are the horses racing in the 2023 Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint Stakes in order of their post position.

1. One Timer: One of two entrants for Larry Rivelli, One Timer is one of only four horses in this field who has won over the love-it-or-hate-it Kentucky Downs surface before. He upset the Franklin-Simpson (G2) last year. He has a lot of early speed and an excellent gate jockey—and, to his credit, he has proven that he can gun it from the rail and stay on to win. The big field is a question, but he does have all the tools.
2. Front Run the Fed: His name is ironic, because he is not a frontrunner but rather a closer. That said, he is a good one: he frequently fires, and though he doesn’t always get there, he often comes in for a piece, and was beaten only two lengths in this race last year. He usually doesn’t get all the way there against horses of this quality, but if the early pace gets hot, he’s a dependable choice to come on for the underneath rungs of the exotics.
3. Olympic Runner: This Mark Casse trainee hasn’t tried stakes company since last summer at Woodbine, and hasn’t won in stakes company in about two years. He won for the first time since the 2021 King Edward (G2) last out in an allowance at Colonial, though, and has some upside second off the lay. With that out of the way, though, his better form against class company tends to have come over longer distances.
4. Bad Beat Brian: He has emerged as the reliable underneath horse of the turf sprint division this year. Though his two-back win (as well as his victory at Kentucky Downs last year) came in allowance company, he has piled up no shortage of superfecta finishes in good turf sprint races, including a narrow second in the Shakertown (G2) this year and a close fourth in the Woodford (G2) last year. He is versatile enough to either be part of the pace or sit just off of it, and especially with two good local starts, he has a shot at finding the exotics again.
5. Anaconda: A second-level allowance winner at Kentucky Downs last year, he has the tactical versatility to work a trip. The big question for this one is distance. He was second in a softer turf sprint stakes over this distance at Aqueduct last year, though in general, his better work has come going longer, seven furlongs or one mile.
6. Eamonn: He comes into this race off of a victory in a minor turf sprint stakes at Monmouth, though he has been facing far softer company than he will in this race, and his races have come back generally slow for this field. He has also run off the board against lesser foes in both starts at Kentucky Downs.
7. Cogburn: Steve Asmussen tried him on the lawn for the first time three starts back for a stakes race at Lone Star … and he rides a three-race win streak into this start, including a win in the Troy. He has been able to track close to the pace or rally from well off, and he has been able to win over firm or soft ground. All those grass races have been shorter, but he stayed six furlongs well on the dirt. Though Asmussen has struggled a bit on the win end at Kentucky Downs, his horses have been hitting the board, and he has an exciting and improving prospect.
8. Nobals: The second of the Larry Rivelli duo, he was just run down in the Troy last out by red-hot Cogburn. Speed is his most dangerous weapon, making it interesting that Rivelli entered both him and One Timer, since both of them are classic Rivelli “hit the gas and go, go, go” types. That said, Nobals drew better of the two, and he beat a very nice field on the Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs on May 6.
9. Gear Jockey: He won this race in 2021, prompting the pace and kicking clear. However, he has yet to do a lot in his next eight starts, with his only on-the-board finish being a well-beaten third in the Shakertown last year. His only start this year was a well-beaten sixth in a minor stakes at Colonial; perhaps he moves forward second off the layoff and on the return to Kentucky Downs, and he may well be the massive price to bet he might. As the saying goes, you don’t have to like much about a horse to bet them at 30-1, but you would be grasping at gossamer threads indeed here.
10. Dream Shake: He has won two straight seven-furlong races leading into this start, an allowance on the Tapeta at Woodbine, and then the Connaught Cup over the lawn. To his credit, he has shown good pace versatility: he has won races on the front end, from a stalking spot, and rallying from midfield. That should help him work a trip from this outside post. If he can carry that form into this race, he is fast enough to be a factor, and he should be enough of a price to consider him despite his being untested at Kentucky Downs.
11. Noble Reflection: He is yet another speed horse, but he is drawn outside, and he lacks the proven tactical gear of several of his foes. He will have to be used hard from the outside to get his spot. Strong Kentucky Downs rider Florent Geroux takes the helm, but with so much speed drawn to his inside it is hard to like him to take the field all the way.
12. Dr Zempf: Chad Brown gets bet hard everywhere he goes, and he almost always disappoints at Kentucky Downs. Though he is the only runner dropping out of a Grade 1, and he was a perfectly credible fourth to Caravel in that start, his form suggests he is better going a bit longer than this six-furlong trip, making him a likely underlay.
13. Counterstrike (ALSO ELIGIBLE): He has regularly shown up this year, but those races were all either claimers or first-level allowances. His ability to pass horses is a plus, but he has yet to run a race fast enough to be a factor in this graded stakes debut, and there is no compelling reason to suggest he will now.

Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint Stakes FAQ

Q: When is the Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint?

A: The Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint will be run on Saturday, September 7, 2023, at 4:54 p.m. Central Daylight Time.

Q: Where is the Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint?

A: The Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint Stakes happens at Kentucky Downs in Franklin, Kentucky. The race is carded as the 10th of 12 for the day.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint?

A: Rusty Arnold, James Dodgen, Kenneth Hoffmann, and Mike Maker have all won this race twice. Arnold, who won with both Totally Boss (2019) and Gear Jockey (2021), runs Gear Jockey in the race again.

Q: Who is the favorite for the Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint?

A: Off his score in the Troy last out, Cogburn is the 4-1 morning-line chalk, and off that effort and his recent form, he is a likely favorite. However, between his win in the Ellis Park prep and a local graded-stakes win last year, morning-line second choice One Timer (9-2) will likely take some major betting interest.

Q: Who is the best Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint jockey?

A: Robby Albarado leads all jockeys with four wins between 2000 and 2016. However, among jockeys who will ride the race this year, Florent Geroux leads with two. He won with Hogy (2017) and Totally Boss (2019), and will pilot Noble Reflection this year.

Q: Who won the Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint in 2022?

A: Bran won this race last year for trainer John Sadler and jockey Vincent Chaminaud, setting a new track record in the process. They do not return to the race this year. However, 2021 winner Gear Jockey returns for trainer Rusty Arnold and jockey Jose Lezcano.