Horses to Watch: Follow 6 runners in weekend stakes

In this biweekly series, racing analyst J. Keeler Johnson shares promising horses from his handicapping watch list, reviewing runners who have recently caught his eye and previewing horses scheduled to run back in the near future.

Upcoming entries

Adeera

Adeera was sharp when debuting in a 5 1/2-furlong maiden special weight at Churchill Downs last month. The 2-year-old daughter of Horse of the Year Authentic dueled for the early led, then finished up strongly to win by 3 3/4 lengths.

Adeera is sticking to the same track while making her second start in Sunday’s fourth race at Churchill Downs, the six-furlong Debutante, post time 2:14 p.m. EDT. She’s the 5-2 morning line favorite and will be tough to beat if she moves forward at all off her flashy debut.

Disarm

Winner of the Matt Winn (G3) last year, Disarm repeatedly held his own against tough competition as a 3-year-old, finishing second in the Travers (G1) and Louisiana Derby (G2) and fourth in the Kentucky Derby. Along the way, he earned a trio of triple-digit Brisnet Speed ratings.

Disarm recently kicked off his 4-year-old campaign by wiring a slow-paced $80,000 allowance optional claimer at Churchill Downs. Given a faster pace to work with in Saturday’s 11th race at Churchill Downs, the Stephen Foster (G1), post time 6:03 p.m. EDT, I expect Disarm to move forward in a big way and vie for victory.

Extra Añejo

Extra Añejo has shown flashes of talent throughout his layoff-dotted career. The $1.35 million yearling acquisition even ranked among the early favorites for the 2023 Kentucky Derby.

Those Derby dreams didn’t pan out, and Extra Añejo’s brief 3-year-old campaign concluded with a fourth-place finish in a strong renewal of the Haskell (G1). But he bounced back to the winner’s circle when returning from a long layoff in a $100,000 allowance optional claimer sprinting seven furlongs at Churchill Downs last month, tracking the pace before taking over to win by 3 1/2 lengths with a career-best 97 Brisnet Speed rating.

Now Extra Añejo is returning to the stakes ranks for Sunday’s 10th race at Churchill Downs, the one-mile Hanshin, post time 5:27 p.m. EDT. A formidable field packed with graded-stakes winners has turned out, so if Extra Añejo is able to win, we could be looking at a Grade 1 horse in the making.

First Mission

The decisive morning line favorite to win the Stephen Foster is First Mission, who has posted back-to-back daylight victories in the Essex Handicap (G3) at Oaklawn and the Alysheba (G2) at Churchill Downs. He won the latter contest by four lengths with a career-best 106 Brisnet speed rating.

With the exception of a ninth-place finish in the Pegasus World Cup (G1), First Mission has never run a bad race. He’ll be a formidable contender again while returning to the Grade 1 ranks for the Stephen Foster.

Ova Charged

Louisiana-bred sensation Ova Charged has won 14 of her 17 career starts, including her last six in a row. She’s also 4-for-4 on turf, most notably wiring the Unbridled Sidney (G3) at Churchill Downs. She also earned a spectacular 113 Beyer Speed Figure from Daily Racing Form when smashing the Page Cortz over the Fair Grounds lawn, the highest Beyer posted by any turf horse so far this year.

Suffice to say, Ova Charged looks tough to beat while tackling turf once more in Saturday’s fourth race at Lone Star Park, the five-furlong Chicken Fried, post time 3:59 p.m. EDT. No one has found a way to beat her on grass, so look for Ova Charged to deliver a seventh consecutive victory.

Raging Torrent

Raging Torrent couldn’t have been more impressive in a $100,000 allowance optional claimer sprinting seven furlongs at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby day. Returning to dirt after a couple of defeats on turf, Raging Torrent led all the way to dominate by 8 1/4 lengths in the blazing time of 1:21.13 seconds, earning a 107 Brisnet speed rating.

If Raging Torrent comes close to repeating that number while sticking to the same track and distance for Sunday’s sixth race at Churchill Downs, the seven-furlong Maxfield, post time 3:18 p.m. EDT, his rivals are almost certainly running for second place.