Wise Dan to face six in Maker’s 46 Mile

It was a busy Tuesday for two-time Horse of the Year Wise Dan, who turned in a three-furlong breeze at Keeneland and was also entered for his first race of the season in Friday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Maker’s 46 Mile.

Wise Dan kicked off his 2013 Horse of the Year title defense in the Maker’s Mark Mile, which he won by a length. The seven-year-old gelding won five of his six remaining starts last season, culminating in a repeat victory in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita on November 2.

Weather has been an issue for Wise Dan in recent months. Based at Keeneland during a prolonged and bitterly cold winter in Central Kentucky, Wise Dan might be playing catch-up with some of his Maker’s 46 Mile rivals, who have been training and racing in warmer climes.

“You have to get started somewhere and you can’t worry about getting beat,” LoPresti said. “In a perfect world, I’d like to have another five-eighths work, but with the weather that we had, that was the hand I was dealt.

“If he is going to be vulnerable, this is it because the others that are in there have been running.”

Among these is Lochte, who has been a surprising development in the turf male division. Still eligible for a first-level allowance on January 1, the Medaglia d’Oro gelding passed that condition in late January and then pulled off a 39-1 upset in the 1 1/8-mile Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap less than three weeks later.

Also entered in the Maker’s 46 Mile are recent Canadian Turf hero Reload, the Grade 3-placed Gentleman’s Kitten and Kaigun, and the lightly-raced Brazilian import Alakazan Alakazan.

First post at Keenelend on Friday is set for 1:05pm ET.  The Maker’s 46 Mile Stakes is Race 9 and goes off at 5:13pm ET.

2014 G1 $300,000 Maker’s 46 Mile Stakes