Sonata Stable's Arzak is back in the bluegrass to defend his title in the $400,000 Shakertown Stakes (G2T) April 8. The copper-coated son of Not This Time is a two-time graded stakes winner over Keeneland's 5 1/2-furlong turf trip, having also captured the Woodford Stakes (G2T) in 2023.
Third to Our Shot in last year's Woodford, Arzak then finished sixth, beaten 1 1/2 lengths for all the money, in his second Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T) appearance. The venerable 7-year-old finished out 2024 with a fast-closing runner-up effort to Coppola, who vies for his third straight stakes for trainer Dale Romans, in the five-furlong Janus Stakes Dec. 21 at Gulfstream Park. Despite his defeat, the Mike Trombetta trainee surpassed the $1 million mark in earnings with his second-place finish.
Unraced since the Janus, Arzak has zipped through four consecutive bullet works over the Fair Hill Training Center tapeta, including a five-furlong move in 1:00 3/5 March 22.
Irad Ortiz Jr. will pilot Arzak in his 2025 debut, with the pair breaking from the 3 post just outside of familiar rival Our Shot.
A month after defeating Arzak in the Janus, Coppola scored another victory in front-running fashion in the five-furlong Gulfstream Park Turf Sprint Stakes. The speedy son of Into Mischief was even more impressive in his latest win, setting punishing early fractions of :20.82 and :42.67 en route to his :54.43 final clocking. An extra half-furlong and outside break (he starts from post 10) could leave him vulnerable in this spot.
Rogue Lightning and Valentine Candy are among the two most intriguing unknown factors in Tuesday's 11-horse field.
Recently imported from overseas, group 3 stakes winner Rogue Lightning is set for his first United States assignment for Wathnan Racing and trainer Tom Clover. The Kodiac gelding exits a win in the local grade 3 Dukhan Sprint in Qatar Feb. 15.
The gelding's connections skipped an invitation to the Al Quoz Sprint (G1T) on Dubai World Cup day in favor of a U.S. campaign.
"If all goes well at Keeneland, there is a grade 2 sprint (the Twin Spires Turf Sprint) at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby day we could look at but we'll take it a step at a time," Clover said. The trainer indicated that the 5 1/2 furlongs around a bend should "suit" Rogue Lightning.
A six-time stakes winner sprinting on the dirt, Valentine Candy will try the turf for the first time in his career in the Shakertown. Trained by Steve Asmussen, the 4-year-old's pedigree gives every indication he could take to the lawn. Valentine Candy is a son of Ashford Stud stallion Justify , the sire of five grade/group 1 winners on the turf, including last year's Longines World's Best Racehorse, City of Troy. His dam, Taste Like Candy, was grade 1-placed on the synthetic surface at Hollywood Park in California and is a daughter of South American champion Candy Ride , a prolific sire of both turf and dirt runners.
Keeneland, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, Race 9Entries: Valvoline Global Shakertown S. (G2T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Run Carson (KY) John R. Velazquez 122 Kelsey Danner 6/1 2 2Our Shot (PA) Luis Saez 124 John P. Terranova II 7/2 3 3Arzak (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 122 Michael J. Trombetta 4/1 4 4Rogue Lightning (IRE) Flavien Prat 122 Tom Clover 5/1 5 5Valentine Candy (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 122 Steven M. Asmussen 6/1 6 6No Nay Hudson (IRE) Luan Machado 122 Wesley A. Ward 12/1 7 7Eamonn (KY) Edgard J. Zayas 122 Joseph F. Orseno 20/1 8 8Petcoff (KY) Brian Joseph Hernandez, Jr. 122 Brittany T. Russell 20/1 9 9Mischievous Rogue (KY) Christopher A. Emigh 122 Brittany A. Vanden Berg 30/1 10 10Coppola (KY) Mario Gutierrez 122 Dale L. Romans 6/1 11 11Think Big (KY) Ben Curtis 122 Michael Stidham 15/1
