Maker’s Mark Mile Preview: Raging Bull Tops Meet’s First Grade 1

LEXINGTON, KY – Peter Brant’s multiple Grade 1 winner Raging Bull tops a stacked field of 10 older males entered in Friday’s $300,000 Maker’s Mark Mile Stakes (G1), the first elite-level event on the Keeneland summer meet schedule.

The Maker’s Mark Mile is slated as race eight with a locaol post time of 4:57 PM ET and joins the Beaumont Stakes (G3) on Keeneland’s Friday card.

Here is a look at the full field for Friday’s Maker’s Mark Mile:

1. Hembree 12/1 – The first of two entries from the Mike Maker barn is the field’s most experienced runner with 34 starts. He’s finished first or second in 10 of 16 turf mile starts, but his last win of any kind came 17 months ago while setting a new 7 1/2-furlong turf record at Gulfstream Park in the El Prado Stakes.

2. High Crime 30/1 – His third turf attempt produced his first grass victory when he aired against allowance rivals while going 5 1/2 furlongs at Churchill Downs last month. Though 7 of his 9 career starts were sprints, he came within a nose of winning his lone two-turn grass effort.

3. Parlor 10/1 – He joined the Maker stable after being claimed for $80k last November, and aside from a poor first effort, has looked like a solid pick-up thus far. He was a closed third in the Wise Dan Stakes (G2) at Churchill Downs last time out and once again gets the services of Florent Geroux, who was aboard for his most recent victory on March 18.

4. Raging Bull 9/5 – The morning line favorite made an ultra-impressive 2020 debut, winning May’s Shoemaker Mile Stakes (G1) at Santa Anita Park. This is a rare Keeneland turf stakes that trainer Chad Brown has not yet won, but that could all change if Raging Bull repeats his Shoemaker effort.

5. English Bee 10/1 – He won 3 stakes in 2019, each at a different track, and came within a neck of winning the Wise Dan Stakes (G2) last time out. That was his second runner-up finish of the year, having missed by a 1/2-length in the Canadian Turf Stakes (G3) in his 2020 debut.

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6. Everfast 15/1 – He is a neck and a 1/2-length away from being spotless in 2020, with both runner-up finishes coming in dirt mile events. He has worked well over the local lawn leading up to his turf debut, but he will need to show a tremendous love for the turf if he hopes to win for the first time since he debuted 23 months ago.

7. Emmaus 20/1 – The Irish import has been a steady performer for trainer Conor Murphy since arriving in 2019, twice defeating allowance company and coming within a neck of winning a pair of stakes. Though fifth in the Wise Dan Stakes (G2) last time out, he only missed by 1 3/4 lengths while returning from a four-month layoff.

8. Without Parole 5/2 – He is still seeking his first victory since June 2018, when he took the St. James’s Palace Stakes (G1) at the prestigious Royal Ascot meet. He finished third in both turf mile starts since joining Brown’s stable last summer, each time with returning jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr., in the saddle.

9. Next Shares 8/1 – He rallied strongly to take second in the Shoemaker Mile Stakes (G1) last time out after getting pinched back at the start and trailing by as many as 15 lengths. A closer (and cleaner) trip could put him back into the Keeneland winner’s circle; he took the local Shadwell Turf Mile Stakes (G1) in 2018.

10. War of Will 6/1 – The 2019 Preakness Stakes (G1) champion sheds the blinkers after wearing them in back-to-back poor efforts, including the Shoemaker Mile Stakes (G1) last time out. Though most racing fans know him best for his dirt triumphs, the War Front colt’s first 4 career starts came on turf.