Horse Racing
Byron King 12y

BC Challenge: Dixiana up for grabs

Horse Racing

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Most races have some unknowns -- uncertainties regarding horses or the race conditions that cloud the picture of how the race will unfold.

Saturday's Grade 1, $400,000 Dixiana Breeders' Futurity -- a Win and You're In race for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile -- has way more than its fair share. A 1 1/16-mile race on Polytrack for juveniles, it drew a field of 14, plus two also eligibles -- yet only one horse in body of the race, longshot Curfew Tower, has the experience of having raced two turns on a synthetic track.

Thirteen others in the body of the field are trying something new -- either stretching out to two turns for the first time or experimenting with a race on Polytrack.

Despite these uncertainties, the race is among the most intriguing of the five stakes being run at Keeneland on Saturday.

The race drew the 1-2-3 finishers from the Grade 3 Arlington-Washington Futurity -- Shared Property, Take Charge Indy, and Motor City -- plus stakes winners from Florida and California -- Musical Flair and Majestic City, respectively.

Majestic City, winner of the Grade 3 Hollywood Juvenile Championship and most recently third behind Drill and Creative Cause in the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity, is the scant 7-2 morning-line favorite, though he has yet to race beyond the Del Mar Futurity's distance of seven furlongs.

Being by City Zip out of a Meadowlake mare whose lone win came sprinting, his pedigree hints of potential vulnerability going the added distance.

Should the distance take a toll on him, the horses most likely to capitalize would appear to be Shared Property and Take Charge Indy.

Both horses gained valuable experience in a 13-horse field in the Arlington-Washington Futurity, with the former winning despite being bottled up behind horses on the turn and the latter finishing a close second after greenly drifting inward down the stretch.

In an effort to improve his focus, Take Charge Indy will add blinkers, an equipment change trainer Pat Byrne hopes will make a noticeable difference.

"The bottom line is that this horse has a lot of raw talent," he said. "He's got the pedigree, the looks."

Standing almost 17 hands and being by A.P. Indy out of Grade 1-winning millionaire Take Charge Lady, he has the physical gifts and pedigree to become a valuable sire, particularly if he can win a Grade 1 race like the Breeders' Futurity.

Jimmy Graham rides.

Shared Property doesn't have a future at stud -- being a gelding by Scat Daddy -- but his racing future appears as bright as that of Take Charge Indy. He overcome a slow start to win going away at Ellis Park on dirt in his debut and then followed that effort by taking the one-turn mile Arlington-Washington Futurity in his first start on Polytrack.

Trapped behind horses in the latter race and taking kickback in his face while racing in midpack, he had every right to grow discouraged and quit. But once he found room on the outside, he quickly advanced and surged through the stretch to score a length victory.

"I think that big field and being crowded as we were is going to be his benefit on Saturday," trainer Tom Amoss said.

Other potential players include Optimizer and Dullahan, the second- and third-place finishers from the Grade 2 With Anticipation on turf at Saratoga; and Italian invader Lucky Chappy, who joins Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Graham Motion after going 2 for 3 overseas.

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