Ride On Curlin, who finished second behind California Chrome in the 2014 Preakness Stakes (gr. I), is scheduled to make the second start of his comeback when he runs in the $60,000 Tenacious Stakes at Fair Grounds.
Trained by William Gowan, the son of Curlin won an allowance race and finished second in the Essex Handicap before poor showings in the Razorback Handicap (gr. III) and Alysheba Stakes (gr. II) sent him to the sidelines for a rest. Ride On Curlin returned to action in the six-furlong Thanksgiving Handicap on November 26th, finishing fifth while attempting to rally over a speed-favoring track, and should improve while stretching out to a mile and seventy yards in the Tenacious Stakes. In preparation for this race, Ride On Curlin has turned in two solid workouts, breezing seven furlongs in 1:26 2/5 and a mile in 1:41 4/5.
Ride On Curlin will face a capable field that includes Nates Mineshaft, runner-up in the Churchill Downs Stakes (gr. II) earlier this year, and Eagle, the third-place finisher in the 2014 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (gr. II). The complete entries for the Tenacious Stakes are as follows:
Tenacious Stakes
PP, Horse, Jockey, Trainer
1 Nates Mineshaft, Robby Albarado, A.P. Smith
2 Eagle, Brian Hernandez Jr., Neil Howard
3 Ride On Curlin, F. Torres, William Gowan
4 Supermason, Jamie Theriot, Bret Calhoun
5 Freestyler, Miguel Mena, Joe Sharp
6 Treasury Bill, Florent Geroux, L. J. Roussel III
7 Witt Six, Patrick Valenzuela, J. Gourneau
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