Sunday, October 1, 2017
Live Oak Plantation's homebred colt Awesome Slew got back to his winning ways on Saturday with a sharp score in the $100,000 Ack Ack S. at Churchill Downs (
VIDEO).
Awesome Slew has been competing against most of the top middle distance horses throughout 2017, but still faced another top-class runner in The Player in the Ack Ack. That duo would prove to be the standouts in the one-mile contest, drawing off in the stretch, with Awesome Slew winning by length, while it was nearly 10 lengths back to the rest of the field.
“The goal for this spot was to give him an easier race,” said Norman Casse, assistant to his father Mark. “He’s been facing some of the best sprinters in the country so he needed to build his confidence back up. He did everything well today and the distance was perfect. There’s still some discussion to be had but right now we’ll point towards the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1, at Del Mar on Nov. 3).
The first prize was $59,520 and hiked Awesome Slew’s bankroll to $952,940 with a record of 16-5-4-3.
Homebred Awesome Slew is out of Slewfoundmoney, a two-time stakes winner and sister to a pair of Grade 3 winners.