Baby Talk Info & Intel: Churchill Downs – Race 4 – Sunday, June 1, 2025

They stretch the boys out to five and a half furlongs on the dirt, and we’ve got a few dandies set to battle! Eleven dudes have passed through the entry box, and By My Standards is the lone First-Crop sire represented. We’ve also got Uncle Mo, Into Mischief, Speightstown, Gun Runner, and Candy Ride with one each. I can’t wait to dig in, so let’s go…

#1 Password (10/1) – Rodolphe Brisset conditions this Peter Blum homebred colt, whose stallion is Uncle Mo (15.2%). His dam is by Street Cry, however, she was winless in five attempts. She’s produced six other foals of racing age, but none have been overly successful yet. Brisset has had him out on six mornings (23 furlongs), all coming down the road in Lexington at Keeneland, with her last spin covering five poles. Two back, she zipped a half mile in 47.6 seconds from the gate (3/21). Flav Prat has secured the mount.

#4 Cannoneer (2/1) – The scoreboard lit up last year at the Keeneland September Yearling sale when this colt hammered for $1.75 million (2/62). He’s by the great Into Mischief (17.2%), and his unraced Stonestreet dam is wonderful. She’s by Malibu Moon and has tossed six other foals of racing age. One of those offspring is Girvin (now a sire himself), who won at first asking while a baby at Fairgrounds and went on to win $1.6 million with a record of four for ten, including a score in a Grade 1 event. Midnight Bourbon is also a half-brother who brought home $3.6 million with two wins in 16 starts, including a second-out victory at age two at Ellis Park, and a win in a G3 event with three runner-up efforts at the highest level. Mom also has another that banked nearly half a million dollars, won two G3s, and was victorious in their debut at Keeneland in the spring while a juvey. Brad Cox (2/16, 12.5%) will saddle this guy for the first time and his prep has included a half dozen works (22 furlongs) – the first three at Keeneland and the most recent three under the Twin Spires. Two back, he went a half mile from the gate in 48 flat, outworking his partner, Mischief Mania. Last time he traveled alone and covered the 4f in 46.6 seconds, spinning wide coming into the stretch and receiving no encouragement from the rider. Flo Geroux is tabbed to guide him

#5 Turin (5/1) – The barn of Steve Asmussen (24.1%) will send out this colt by Speightstown (17.5%) out for his second start. In his debut on 5/1/25 at CD, he dawdled in last place until he hit the stretch where he found his best stride, but fifth place was still the best that he could do. He did gallop out strongly, though. His dam was victorious twice on the track, including a score in her second outing at two at Del Mar. She brought home $184K for her owners and has thrown nine other foals of racing age. One of her offspring was Battle of Midway, a winner of $1.5 million. She also has one that scored as a 2YO in their first start. $200K was the final bid for this guy last year. He’s put in two half mile maintenance works at Churchill since his run. Son Keith will get the leg up from Steve.

#7 Macchiato (6/1) – Asmussen’s second runner is a Winchell homebred sired by Gun Runner (19.2%) Momma, who’s by Uncle Mo, scored three times in the five races that she ran, with earnings of $77,000. This is her first foal. Eight works (31 furlongs), half at KEE and half at CD, are the prep that this colt has put in for his debut. His fastest was on 4/29/25 at Keeneland when he went a half mile from the gate in 47.8 seconds (7/57). On that day, he worked in company with Spice Runner, who just won at first asking for Steve here at Churchill. Jose gets the call to manage the reins.

#9 Opus Uno (8/1) – Sired by Vino Rosso (10.7%), this colt is out of an Algorythms mare who won twice from seven outings, including a win at first asking while a juvenile at Parx, and banked $106K. She’s thrown two other foals of racing age, one was a full bro to today’s runner that was winless in 21 starts. The cost to buy this guy as a yearling was $30,000 (23/49). Peter Miller has worked him eight times (31 furlongs) at San Luis Rey Training Center, with his last two covering 5/8^th of a mile. His most recent spin was completed in 1:00.2 from the gate (5/34). Irad will be in the saddle.

My Pick – Turin may be a handful in his second start, especially with the added distance, but my pick definitely is #4 Cannoneer. I said it all above, so I won’t repeat it, but this guy is exciting. You’ll almost certainly not even get the M/L odds of 2/1, but there are a few in here that can run, so you never know. Have fun with this race!