LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kelly Breen has been around the racetrack long enough to know that there are no absolutes. Yet, the 41-year-old New Jersey-born trainer knows when circumstances are in his favor, and that might well be the case Sunday, when Breen sends out a long-winded 3-year-old named They Call Me Giant in the eighth race at Keeneland, a $51,000, second-level allowance at 1 1/2 miles on the turf.
“This is like a perfect race for him,” Breen said Friday morning from Monmouth Park, from where he was preparing to head to the airport for Lexington. “If there’s ever been a race written for him, this is it. This colt just grinds it out, never stops. I’d been saying, boy, wouldn’t he love a mile and a half on the grass back in allowance company? And here’s exactly the race I asked for. Now, I’m not saying I’m right, but if I am right, this race should hit him right in the head.”
They Call Me Giant is one of 10 entered in the eighth race, the last of four straight allowances on a nine-race Sunday card. Owned by Lori and George Hall, the colt has made steady progress this year. From his last five starts, he has won a maiden race and a first-level allowance while performing creditably without winning in three turf stakes: the Choice, the Jersey Derby, and, most recently, the Grade 3 Kent at Delaware Park. By Giant’s Causeway, the $270,000 Keeneland yearling purchase has been pegged as the 5-2 morning-line favorite with Robby Albarado to ride from post 9 in the three-turn race.
A pair of New York shippers, both trained by Christophe Clement but uncoupled for wagering purposes, look like the main threats: En Fuego (Freddie Lenclud, post 1) and Armstrong Mill (Garrett Gomez, post 2).
In the preceding allowances, a well-matched group of 2-year-olds will go a mile on turf for $49,000 (race 5); Smart Bid returns from a nine-month layoff as the choice in a Polytrack sprint worth $53,000 (race 6); and Gold Collection is the program favorite in a $49,000 Polytrack route (race 7).
After Sunday, Keeneland goes dark for two days before another five-day race week starts back up Wednesday. First post daily is 1:15 p.m. Eastern.
