Set Piece Tops Wise Dan Field; Tut’s Revenge Live Longshot

Set Piece may be the odds-on favorite to win the $400,000 Wise Dan Stakes (G2) for the second time, but don’t count out 20-1 longshot Tut’s Revenge in any multiple wagers in Saturday’s race at Ellis Park.

The 7-year-old chestnut gelding is 0-for-his-last-11 starts. He’ll be racing for the 47^th time in his career, and in just his second graded stakes race. When Tut’s Revenge ran in the John B. Connally Turf Cup (G3) at Sam Houston Park in 2021, he finished last of 12 – the worst result of his career. His trainer, Shea Stuart, runs a small stable and is looking for his first graded stakes winner.

And now, the good news: Tut’s Revenge has raced four times at Ellis Park and his resume at the track reads a second and a third in 2022, and a pair of runner-up finishes in 2021.

The pedigree is impressive, too. Tut’s Revenge is a son of Eskendereya-Cat Five’O, by Pleasantly Perfect (the 2003 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner). His career record, by the way, is 46-11-10-9 for earnings of $543,249 for owner Claim to Fame Stable.

A field of 10 is entered in the 1 1/16-mile turf race, and with the weather calling for a 70% chance of rain, Tut’s Revenge may be worth a few bucks.

Francisco Arrieta has the call leaving from post 2.

The Wise Dan is part of a big day at Ellis Park, headlined by the $1 million Stephen Foster (G1). Post time for the Wise Dan is 4:45 p.m. ET

Juddmonte-owned Set Piece, trained by Brad Cox, is the 4-5 favorite, arrived in the U.S. in 2020, and has gone nine wins from 21 starts since. The 7-year-old gelding won the Arlington Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs on June 3, and will be ridden again by Florent Geroux (from post 8).

“He’s such a cool horse and developed into a barn favorite,” Cox said. “He always shows up and runs hard. We’ll see how the pace shakes out in this race. He likes to come from off the pace but has been training well at Churchill out of the Arlington Stakes.”

Get Smokin, beaten a length by Set Piece in the Arlington Stakes, seeks to avenge that loss on Saturday. Trained by Mark Casse, the 6-year-old gelding has victories in the Hill Prince (G2) and Tampa Bay Stakes (G3) on his resume.

Ricardo Santana, Jr., has the call from post 4 as the 5-1 co-second favorite.

The field, from the rail out, with jockey, trainer, odds:

1. Harlan Estate (Declan Cannon, Whit Beckman), 10-1
2. Tut’s Revenge (Francisco Arrieta, Shea Stuart), 20-1
3.  Camp Hope (Brian Hernandez Jr., Kenny McPeek), 5-1
4. Get Smokin (Santana, Casse), 5-1
5. Play Action Pass (Tyler Gaffalione, Robert Medina), 12-1
6. Kittansett (Cristian Torres, Paulo Lobo), 12-1
7. Cowboy Justice (GB) (James Graham, Conor Murphy), 20-1
8. Set Piece (GB) (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox) 4-5
9. Stitched (Marcelino Pedroza Jr., Gregory Foley), 20-1
10. Hozier (Julien Leparoux, Rodolphe Brisset), 15-1

US Racing Team

The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.