LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The odds are almost impossible, yet Al Stall Jr. probably is going to give them a try. The same blueprint he used to perfection with Blame will be rolled out again if Stall runs Apart as a 3-year-old in the Grade 1 Clark Handicap on Nov. 26 at Churchill Downs.
Last fall, Blame won the Clark in what proved to be a springboard to a wildly successful 4-year-old campaign that ended with his dramatic victory last weekend in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill. Of course, it is a long, long way from the 2010 Clark to the 2011 BC Classic at Churchill.
“You couldn’t realistically say that Apart is the same as Blame,” Stall said early this week from Fair Grounds in his hometown of New Orleans, where he already has taken 30 horses to prepare for the 2010-11 meet. “For some reason, Blame gave you a feeling all the time that he was the bomb, even when he was still a ‘one-other-than.’ Apart is different, but we’re probably going to give him a shot.”
Apart won the Ack Ack at Churchill on the Friday Breeders’ Cup undercard in his first start since he captured the Grade 2 Super Derby for Stall and owner Adele Dilschneider, who co-owns Blame with Claiborne Farm.
Apart is one of about 20 horses that Stall has kept in Kentucky for the duration of the Churchill fall meet, which runs through Nov. 28. Apart will be among a contingent based at Keeneland until then.
The Grade 1, $500,000 Clark is run at 1 1/8 miles and is the traditional meet highlight in non-Breeders’ Cup years.
