Both stakes, which drew fields of eight runners, will be run at one mile on the turf, with the Jeff & Jack Coady going as the 5th race and the Chandler as the 7th on the eight-race card. Post time is 12:55 pm.
The Jeff & Jack Coady Stakes: (Named after father and son, two of Turf Paradise’s premier and beloved track photographers).
Focusing on Ride Hard Kowboy trained by Molly Pearson, the lone stakes winner in the field, it becomes apparent that the son of Kodiak Kowboy may find the Coady Stakes right up in his alley after competing against tougher stakes competitors in southern California.
Ride Hard Kowboy, who is a perfect 3-for-3 locally on the turf, including a win in the Temper Handicap, and who prefers a come from behind style will have Scott Stevens aboard.
The lightly raced Carouse (2 wins in 5 lifetime starts) won his local debut October 24, an eye-catching come from behind allowance win at 7 ½ furlongs on the turf. Trained by Robertino Diodoro, who won this race last year with Twelve Tribes, Carouse, a son of Curlin, will have JorgeCarreno up.
The pace-setting role will be sorted out among Purple Heaven, Shrewd Move, Solomon and Prater Sixty Four, each one looking for his first career turf win.
The Chandler Stakes: The two newcomers to Turf, Avenue Montaigne and Hero’s Amor, will attract attention due to their front-running styles and competitive resumes, in a field of closers.
Avenue Montaigne turned in a front-running mile victory at Zia Park October 3. She will be making her first turf start for trainer Shaun Morrow. The five-time winner Hero’s Amor, has won three of her last four efforts in Canada, including a hard-earned victory in the $100,000 British Columbia Oaks for trainer Greg Tracy.
A daughter of Street Hero, the Kentucky bred Hero’s Amor leads all entrants in wins and bankroll -$98,874.
The Dan McFarlane-trained My Blue Sky should find the competition softer in the Chandler after failing to be a factor in the $199,000 Kentucky Downs Oaks, in her last start, February 19. McFarlane is not a stranger to the Chandler Stakes winner’s circle, having won this event four previous times, the most recent in 2013 with Of Royalty.