Charlie LoPresti didn’t seem overly worried on a relatively quiet morning at Keeneland Friday when talking about the weight Wise Dan would carry in Saturday evening’s Firecracker Handicap at Churchill Downs.
He is quite concerned about the spread the defending Horse of the Year will give to what looks like an overmatched group of opponents for the final graded stakes of the Churchill spring-summer meeting.
“Anywhere from 11 to 15 pounds is what the horse is giving the field,” LoPresti said of Wise Dan, who will carry 128 pounds in the one-mile Firecracker.
Wise Dan will indeed concede that much weight, the full 15 pounds to 30-1 longshot Dimension (GB) from Conor Murphy’s barn and as “little” as 11 to Corporate Jungle from Tom Proctor and Lea from Al Stall Jr.
LoPresti said Wise Dan has been training well, and the worktab backs him up. The 6-year-old Wiseman’s Ferry gelding has turned in four straight bullet works over the Polytrack at Keeneland since his gritty win in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic on the Kentucky Derby undercard. The latest-a half in :46.20-coming last Saturday.
The Firecracker was not originally part of Wise Dan’s campaign. LoPresti initially considered training him up to either the August 10 Fourstardave Stakes or the August 3 Whitney Handicap, both at Saratoga.
“Morton Fink [Wise Dan’s owner] wanted to get a race in him, so we decided to run him this weekend,” LoPresti said. “His performance in this race will determine where he goes next.”
Wise Dan is looking to for his second victory in the Firecracker, having won it in 2011, and will be reunited with John Velazquez after being ridden by Jose Lezcano in the Woodford Reserve.
The Firecracker is part of Churchill’s final “Downs After Dark” program with a post time of 10:11 p.m. ET.
