2023 Ben Ali Stakes Preview & FREE Picks | Call Me Fast Back At Keeneland Looking To Rebound

Magic previews the 2023 Ben Ali Stakes (G3) from Keeneland, then gives his top picks & long shots. The Michael Puhich-trained Call Me Fast is back at the track where he broke his maiden while looking to rebound from his last-place finish in the Essex Handicap (G3) at Oaklawn Park. Can the Dialed In gelding regain the form that saw him win 2 straight at Oaklawn prior to the Essex? Tell us YOUR thoughts in the Comments section!

SMASH the *Thumbs Up* ~ HIT *Subscribe* ~ RING the *Notification* bell

The track press release:

Lucky Seven Stable’s Rattle N Roll, emphatic winner of the 2021 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland, headlines an evenly matched field of seven 4-year-olds and up entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 92nd running of the $300,000 Ben Ali (G3) going 1 3/16 miles on the main track.

The Ben Ali will go as the ninth race on Saturday’s 10-race program with a 5:16 p.m. ET post time. First post is 1 p.m.

Trained by Kenny McPeek, Rattle N Roll won three stakes 2022 highlighted by a score in the Oklahoma Derby (G3). In his 2023 debut, Rattle N Roll was fourth in the New Orleans Classic (G2) at Fair Grounds on March 25.

Brian Hernandez Jr. has the mount and will break from post position five.

Another entrant with graded stakes success at Keeneland is Peachtree Stable’s Tawny Port.

Winner of the Stonestreet Lexington (G3) last spring, Tawny Port also won the Ohio Derby (G3) last June and enters the Ben Ali off a fifth-place finish in the Essex (G3) on March 18 at Oaklawn Park. Trained by Brad Cox, Tawny Port will be ridden by Flavien Prat and break from post seven.

Arriving Monday at Keeneland from South Florida was Daniel Alonso’s multiple Grade 3 winner Skippylongstocking. Trained by Saffie Joseph Jr., Skippylongstocking enters the Ben Ali off a 3¼-length victory in the Challenger (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs on March 11.

Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount and will break from post position four.

The field for the Ben Ali, with riders and weights from the rail out:

1. Pioneer of Medina (Tyler Gaffalione, 118 pounds)
2. Trademark (Rafael Bejarano, 118)
3. Call Me Fast (Julien Leparoux, 118)
4. Skippylongstocking (Ortiz Jr., 118)
5. Rattle N Roll (Hernandez Jr., 118)
6. Happy American (James Graham, 118)
7. Tawny Port (Prat, 118)