Clark Runners Finalize Preparation Prior to Friday’s 149th Renewal
At 0h04, on November 23, 2023 • By CHURCHILL DOWNS
Ten accomplished horses, led by 3-1 morning line favorite First Mission, are set to complete in Friday’s 149th running of the $600,000 Clark presented by Norton Healthcare (Grade II) beneath the historic Twin Spires of Churchill Downs.
“The Clark is a solid race each year,” said trainer Brad Cox, who will attempt to win his second-career Clark with First Mission. “He’s a horse we always thought highly of and I’m thankful for Godolphin for allowing us to be patient to let him develop.”
The lightly-raced First Mission has only made four-career starts but sports a gutsy victory earlier this year in the Lexington Stakes (GIII). The son of Street Sense was the early favorite for the Preakness (GI) but was scratched from the race due to an ankle injury. He returned six months later in a conditioned allowance event at Keeneland where he overcame an extremely troubled trip to win by a neck of Command performance.
“I think he got a lot of seasoning mentally out of that allowance race,” Cox said. “You don’t see horses overcome that type of trouble and win, especially at Keeneland. I think he’s coming into this race a better horse and we’re excited to see how he can progress.”
Friday’s Clark Stakes will run as Race 11 with a post time of 5:48 p.m. First post on the 12-race program is 1 p.m.
Here is the complete field from the rail out (with jockey, trainer and morning line odds): Straight Arrow (Florent Geroux, Dini, 8-1); First Mission (Luis Saez, Cox, 3-1); Il Miracolo (Tyler Gaffalione, Sano, 4-1); Gasoline (Flavien Prat, Todd Pletcher, 5-1); Trademark (Fernando De La Cruz, Vicki Oliver, 6-1); Film Star(Jose Lezcano, Linda Rice, 5-1); Giant Game (Martin Garcia, Dale Romans, 12-1); Happy American (Declan Cannon, Neil Pessin, 20-1); Stage Raider (Brian Hernandez Jr., Cherie DeVaux, 12-1) and Blue Devil (Javier Castellano, Jeff Hiles, 10-1).
