GRADE I CIGAR MILE WINNER AMERICANREVOLUTION TAKES ON BEN ALI WINNER SCALDING IN $200,000 BLAME

May 30, 2022 Churchill Downs Communications

CHC Inc and WinStar Farm’s 2021 Cigar Mile (Grade I) winner Americanrevolution is poised to make his 4-year-old debut against Grandview Stable, Cheyenne Stable and LNJ Foxwoods’ $300,000 Ben Ali (Grade III) winner Scalding in Saturday’s $200,000 Blame (Listed), the local prep for the $750,000 Stephen Foster (GII).

Saturday’s 11-race stakes bonanza from Churchill Downs will get underway at 12:45 p.m. The Blame will go as Race 10 with a post time of 5:26 p.m.

Americanrevolution, trained by Todd Pletcher, was originally probable for the $200,000 Commentator at Belmont but the race did not fill. The chestnut son of Constitution finished a half-length better than Following Sea in the Dec. 4 Cigar at Aqueduct. Previously, New York-bred Americanrevolution demolished state-bred competition in the $300,000 Empire Classic by 11 ¾ lengths. Americanrevolution will be ridden by Florent Geroux from post No. 8

Scalding, trained by Shug McGaughey III, will ride a four-race win streak into the Blame after winning the Ben Ali by 1 ¼ lengths over Dynamic One and Proxy. The 4-year-old colt by Nyquist broke his maiden on Jan. 5 and has been nothing short of brilliant since. McGaughey sent Scalding to Tampa in February where he dusted a first-level allowance field by 5 ¼ lengths as the 3-5 favorite and recorded his first stakes victory by a neck over top older horse Cody’s Wish in the $100,000 Challenger Stakes. Veteran rider Javier Castellano, who has ridden Scalding in all of his previous six starts, will have the call from post No. 6.

The Blame field also features Charles Fipke’s graded stakes winner Title Ready; Repole Stable, Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable’s Ben Ali runner-up Dynamic One; and Godolphin’s three-time winner Proxy.

Here’s the complete field for the Blame from the rail out (with jockey and trainer): Proxy (Luis Saez, Mike Stidham); Super Stock (Corey Lanerie, Steve Asmussen); Title Ready (John Velazquez, Dallas Stewart); Militarist (Rafael Bejarano, Carlo Vaccarezza); Dynamic One (Tyler Gaffalione, Todd Pletcher); Scalding (Castellano, McGaughey); Santos Dumont (Mitchell Murrill, Chris Hartman); and Americanrevolution (Geroux, Pletcher).

Wagering is available for the Blame Stakes and every race from Churchill Downs on www.TwinSpires.com, the official wagering provider of Churchill Downs Incorporated and the Kentucky Derby.