The highlight of the Turfway Park fall meeting is the Kentucky Cup Day of Champions. Although these races are not preferred paths to the Breeders' Cup, some winners have come out of these races in the past. With full fields competing in rainy conditions over the waterproof Polytrack surface, longshots were the order of the day as not a single favorite won any of the stakes races.
13-1 Ball Four took the lead in the opening strides of the $350,000 Kentucky Cup Classic (G2) and kept it all the way to the wire, surviving a late charge from Perfect Drift to win by 1/2 length in a track record 1:48.29. 11-10 favorite Premium Tap made a quick move up the rail at the second turn in an attempt to catch Ball Four on the inside but clipped heels with the leader and stumbled. 4-1 Good Reward moved to the outside to avoid Premium Tap and closed well to finish third, 3/4 length behind 2-1 second choice Perfect Drift. Premium Tap recovered and gamely came on again, but could not continue the comeback and finished fifth. 7-1 Greeley's Galaxy was sixth and last.
Results chart from DRF
Winning jockey Willie Martinez said, "Obviously the plan was to put him on the lead. I was able to control the pace, and once I got him comfortable, I knew he would be very tough to beat." Trainer Patrick Biancone added, "He worked extremely well this week and we knew he loved Polytrack. There were only six horses entered so we decided to take a shot and see if we could win."
