Improbable Luck Race Recap

Improbable Luck finished a disappointing eighth this evening in the finale at Churchill Downs and was not claimed. Your son of Improbable broke well, but wasn’t quick enough to control the pace as he attempted to do in his first two starts. Jockey Nik Juarez had to make a decision to maintain his position in between horses when the horse to his direct outside, #10 Flick, made an early move heading into the far turn. Improbable Luck did respond willingly to Juarez’s cues, but you could quickly see Flick was always traveling better than Improbable Luck. Juarez was all out approaching the quarter pole and they gradually backed out of it from there.

The Lukas barn and Juarez again felt his works have been better than his race-day performance. Our immediate thoughts are that it’s likely time to geld him. The other consideration would be looking to stretch him out in distance. He clearly wants to be forwardly placed, but has never been able to do it without having constant pressure in these shorter races. It’s entirely possible that he’s simply not very good, of course, but the barn has never felt or expressed that to this point and he’s at least shown some speed and improvement in the mornings over the recent months.

We’ll go back to the drawing board with trainer D. Wayne Lukas and get his opinion after having the opportunity to assess the race further and Improbable Luck’s condition coming out of it.