Whitmore Tops Field of 12 for Grade 2 Ogden Phoenix

Whitmore (Robert LaPenta, Ron Moquett and Head of Plains Partners) will make his fourth start in the $200,000 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix Stakes (G2) when he headlines a field of 12 for the 6-furlong main track test at Keeneland Racecourse on Friday, October 2.

The Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix is a "Win and You're In" race for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) to be run here Nov. 7. The race will go as the eighth on Friday's 10-race program that opens the 17-day Fall Meet, which runs through Oct. 24. First post is 1:05 p.m. ET with the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix slated for 5:05 p.m.

Trained by Moquett, Whitmore won the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix in 2017 and has been runner-up in the race the past two years. Whitmore has used this race as a final prep for the Breeders' Cup Sprint the past three years, a race in which he finished third in 2019 at Santa Anita and second in 2018 at Churchill Downs.

Seventh over a sloppy track in the Forego (G1) at Saratoga on Aug. 29 in his most recent start, Whitmore will be ridden Friday by Joe Talamo and break from post position three.

Whitmore, who won the 2018 Forego, is one of three Grade 1 winners in the field.

L and N Racing's Echo Town won the Allen Jerkens (G1) at Saratoga going 7 furlongs on Aug. 1 and most recently was fifth as the favorite in the Pat Day Mile (G2) at Churchill Downs. Trained by Steve Asmussen, who won the race last year with Engage, Echo Town will be ridden by Ricardo Santana Jr. and break from post position six.

Maggi Moss and Greg Tramontin's No Parole won the Woody Stephens (G1) at Belmont in June going 7 furlongs. Trained by Tom Amoss, who won the race in 2012 and 2013 with Sum of the Parts, No Parole will break from post position five and be ridden by Luis Saez.

The field for the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix, with riders and weights from the rail out, is: Shashashakemeup (Corey Lanerie, 118 pounds), Absolutely Aiden (Chris Landeros, 120), Whitmore (Talamo, 120), Diamond Oops (Florent Geroux, 122), No Parole (Saez, 122), Echo Town (Santana Jr., 122), Empire of Gold (Declan Carroll, 118), Copper Town (Julio Garcia, 120), Lexitonian (Tyler Gaffalione, 120), Edgemont Road (Declan Cannon, 120), Mo Don't No(Gerardo Corrales, 120) and Midnight Sands (Joel Rosario, 120).

Diamond Oops Arrives Ready For Grade 2 Ogden Phoenix

Diamond Oops, Diamond 100 Racing Club (Amy Dunne, D P Racing and Patrick Biancone Racing) arrived at Keeneland Monday morning following an overnight van ride from Palm Meadows Training Center in South Florida for a run in Friday afternoon's $200,000 Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix (G2).

Monday's arrival marked the second trip to Kentucky in a month for Diamond Oops, who was last seen in the Commonwealth winning the TwinSpires Turf Sprint (G2) Presented by Sysco going 5½ furlongs on Sept. 4 at Churchill Downs. In his lone Keeneland start, Diamond Oops was second in last year's Shadwell Turf Mile (G1).

"He's a multipurpose horse," said Andie Biancone, assistant to her father, Patrick Biancone. "I think he is better on the dirt."

A two-time Grade 3 winner sprinting on the dirt, Diamond Oops worked a bullet half-mile in :47.85 at Palm Meadows on Friday. However, that performance was not the key to the gelding trying the Stoll Keenon Ogden Phoenix going 6 furlongs on the dirt.

"My dad had planned on the Phoenix," Biancone said of Diamond Oops, who also was nominated to this weekend's Shadwell Turf Mile and Woodford (G2) Presented by TVG. Florent Geroux will have the mount.

Diamond Oops was accompanied on the van by a pony but not by Sole Volante, the 11th-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby (G1) Presented by Woodford Reserve who is co-owned by Andie Biancone.

"My dad wanted to give him more time (after the Derby)," Biancone said of Sole Volante, who was nominated to the Shadwell Turf Mile. "He is looking at bringing him up for an undercard race on Breeders' Cup weekend (Nov. 6-7)."

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