Trainer
Todd Pletcher will attempt to sweep the two 3-year-old turf stakes on
Saturday night at Churchill Downs when he sends out Finale in the
Commonwealth Turf (GIII) and Peace Preserver in the Mrs. Revere (GII).
Mrs.
John Magnier, Michael
Tabor and Derrick Smith’s Finale enters the Commonwealth off a
sixth-place finish in the Hawthorne Derby (GIII) over a turf course labeled as
“soft.” Prior to that race, he ran 10th
in the Equalize at Saratoga in his first start of 2012.
“Finale
was one of the many horses that ran at Hawthorne under adverse conditions – a
driving rainstorm and very soft turf,” Pletcher said. “I thought, considering
he probably didn’t love the going, he ran pretty well. Hopefully the third
start off the layoff will be his best one.”
Finale
will be ridden by John Velazquez and break from post four.
Alto
Racing LLC’s Peace
Preserver also will have Velazquez aboard Saturday night. A bay daughter of War
Front, Peace Preserver exits a 6 ½-length victory in the Pebbles at Belmont
Park.
“We
thought Peace Preserver was pretty impressive when she won the Pebbles,”
Pletcher said. “She seems to really be catching her best form right now and
maturing and learning to settle in her races.”
Peace
Preserver ran with blinkers in three of her first four races of 2012. Since
removing the blinkers for her allowance score at Monmouth in July, Peace
Preserver has two wins and two seconds in four starts.
“The
key was getting her to relax and part of that was taking the blinkers off,”
Pletcher said. “I think that was helpful in getting her off the bridle in the
first part of the race.”
The
Commonwealth Turf will be run as Race 7 on Saturday night at 7:32 p.m. (all
times Eastern) and the Mrs. Revere will go as Race 9 at 8:36 p.m.