Keeneland’s Fall Meet begins Friday, Oct. 4, celebrating 17 days of some of the finest Thoroughbred racing in North America that kicks off with the blockbuster Fall Stars Weekend, featuring nine of the meet’s 10 Breeders’ Cup “Win and You’re In” races.
Perfect Alibi, Tracy Farmer’s Spinaway (G1) winner, heads a field of 11 2-year-old fillies entered Tuesday for Friday’s 68th running of the $400,000 Darley Alcibiades Stakes (G1) on the first day of Keeneland Racecourse’s Fall Meet.
Contested at 1 1/16 miles over the main track, the Darley Alcibiades is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race with the winner earning a fees-paid berth into the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) to be run Nov. 1 at Santa Anita.
| Entry | Horse | ML Odds | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gone Glimmering | 15-1 | James Graham 118 Lbs |
Thomas Amoss |
| 2 | Three D Flag | 20-1 | Ricardo Santana, Jr. 118 Lbs |
Steven Asmussen |
| 3 | Spitefulness | 20-1 | Tyler Baze 118 Lbs |
Philip D’Amato |
| 4 | Alandra | 5-1 | Joel Rosario 118 Lbs |
Claude McGaughey III |
| 5 | Micheline | 8-1 | Brian Hernandez, Jr. 118 Lbs |
Michael Stidham |
| 6 | British Idiom | 4-1 | Javier Castellano 118 Lbs |
Brad Cox |
| 7 | Perfect Alibi | 5-2 | Jose Ortiz 118 Lbs |
Mark Casse |
| 8 | Heir of Light | 5-1 | Julien Leparoux 118 Lbs |
Norm Casse |
| 9 | Sequin | 12-1 | Tyler Gaffalione 118 Lbs |
Wesley Ward |
| 10 | Western Taffy | 6-1 | Florent Geroux 118 Lbs |
Mark Casse |
| 11 | How Ironic | 20-1 | Corey Lanerie 118 Lbs |
Victoria Oliver |
The centerpiece of the opening program of the 17-day Fall Meet that runs through Oct. 26, the Darley Alcibiades will go as the ninth race on Friday’s 10-race card with a 5:30 p.m. ET post time. First post time is 1:05 p.m.
Trained by three-time race winner Mark Casse, Perfect Alibi debuted May 16 at Churchill Downs where she romped to a 9½-length victory going 5 furlongs. Following a runner-up effort in the Astoria at Belmont Park, Perfect Alibi swept the Adirondack (G2) and Spinaway at Saratoga.
Jose Ortiz has the call Friday and will break from post position seven.
Godolphin’s homebred Micheline already has answered one question that has not been posed to her 10 rivals in Friday’s Darley Alcibiades (G1): She has won racing around two turns.
In fact, Micheline is the only filly entered in the 1 1/16-mile race to have tried two turns.
“She is a true two-turn horse; the farther the better for her,” trainer Mike Stidham said of the Bernardini filly, who finished third going 1 1/16 miles at Saratoga and then won the 1-mile Sorority at Monmouth.
What question has not been answered by Micheline is how well she will perform on dirt after beginning her career on the grass.
“She has worked well on the dirt at Fair Hill (Training Center in Maryland),” Stidham said. “That is why we are giving her the opportunity here.”
Micheline is a daughter of 2007 Juddmonte Spinster (G1) winner Panty Raid and is that mare’s first stakes winner from four foals to race.
The field for the Darley Alcibiades, from the rail out with riders, is: Gone Glimmering (James Graham), Three D Flag (Ricardo Santana Jr.), Spitefulness (Tyler Baze), Alandra (Joel Rosario), Micheline (Brian Hernandez Jr.), British Idiom (Javier Castellano), Perfect Alibi (Ortiz), Heir ofLight (Julien Leparoux), Sequin (Tyler Gaffalione), Western Taffy (Florent Geroux), HowIronic (Corey Lanerie). All starters will carry 118 pounds.
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