Redacted finished a well-beaten second Nov. 14 debuting in a Churchill Downs maiden sprint, earning a modest 57 Beyer Speed Figure. He’s a legit 30-1 on the morning line for the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Saturday at Churchill and probably can’t win. Eight other entrants? Go ahead and build a case. The Grade 2, $400,000 KJC, contested over 1 1/16 miles at the home of the Kentucky Derby, goes with no more than nine runners (Clock Tower will be scratched) and features one potential standout, but Jonathan’s Way’s tame seventh four weeks ago in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile won’t frighten anyone. Jonathan’s Way did some high-level stuff winning his first two starts, a six-furlong Saratoga maiden and the one-turn-mile Iroquois at Churchill. He overcame a poor start with a rallying debut win, and showed speed on the way to a front-running Iroquois score that produced a field-best 90 Beyer. Phil Bauer, who trains Jonathan’s Way for Rigney Racing, deemed the colt’s BC Juvenile “very disappointing.” Was it an off day after shipping west? An unfamiliar racing surface? Or did Jonathan’s Way struggle to negotiate a route of ground? His dam, Female Drama, preferred sprints, and while his sire, Vekoma, has hit a home run with his first crop, his prowess with route horses remains uncertain after a 19-3-1-1 start. Bauer worked Jonathan’s Way five furlongs behind two stakes fillies Nov. 16, and while Jonathan’s Way clocked a bullet 58.80 seconds, he couldn’t pass his mates despite strong urging. Joel Rosario breaks the favorite from potentially challenging post 2. The KJC stands as a crossroads race to determine whether Jonathan’s Way goes on the Kentucky Derby trail or heads down the Pat Day Mile path. The KJC is a 21-point qualifying race on Churchill’s Road to the Derby, and while Super Saver in 2009 was the last KJC hero to win the Derby, many connections already have an eye toward May. Count Chad Summers, trainer of Filoso, among them. Summers said his approach with Filoso, after the City of Light colt showed ability in a second-start one-mile Saratoga maiden win, was to work backward from May. Summers said he’d targeted the KJC with Filoso even before the colt finished a decent closing third, beaten nine lengths by East Avenue, in the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. “The opportunity to go two turns was key, and he ran at Keeneland kind of as a setup for this,” Summers said. “All things considered, he ran on well. He dropped back a little more than we anticipated.” Filoso turned in a fast New York work in the company of older horses between Keeneland and Churchill, shipping early to breeze over the track. John Velazquez has a return call. Two horses last raced at Woodbine, and He’s No Joke has only run on the Tapeta surface there. Making his first route start, He’s No Joke broke out Nov. 3 winning the Grey Stakes, closing from seventh – the only late-runner to make significant progress – and pulling clear to a sharp four-length victory that yielded a competitive 84 Beyer. By Practical Joke, He’s No Joke never has so much as breezed over dirt at a racetrack. His trainer, Josie Carroll, last started a horse at Churchill in 2021. First Resort, a Godolphin homebred trained by Eoin Harty, showed debut speed winning an Ellis maiden sprint and showed it again battling through fast fractions before settling for second in the 6 1/2-furlong Saratoga Special. “He showed a little bit of inexperience there, wanted to do everting to quickly, but he didn’t quit,” said Harty, who trained First Resort’s dam, Fair Maiden, who was at her best over seven furlongs. First Resort tried a turf route at Woodbine, the Summer Stakes. He found a couple spots of trouble and finished a decent fourth. “I’d expect him to be close to the lead. I’ve worked him extensively behind horses and he will listen to a rider, but that’s the practice field,” Harty said. Tiztastic merits consideration for trainer Steve Asmussen. An encouraging fourth at Saratoga in a good maiden sprint, Tiztastic switched to turf and won a rich Kentucky Downs route, then returned to dirt Sept. 27 in the 1 1/16-mile Street Sense at Churchill. Tiztastic broke poorly, nearly blew the first turn, found traffic around the far turn, and finished with interest for second behind eye-catching last-to-first winner Sovereignty. Dapper Moon had a spot of trouble, too, when fourth behind Tiztastic in the Street Sense, though this colt gives the impression one turn suits him better than two. Sonic Skidaddle and Render Judgment exit second-start maiden wins. Sonic Skidaddle closed into a scorching pace and overhauled exhausted front-runners winning at seven furlongs. Render Judgment, in a more encouraging performance, ran out a professional if less-than-exhilarating half-length maiden route win at Churchill. Render Judgment easily could leap forward Saturday. So could several others. It’s either Jonathan’s Way or it’s wide open. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.