Saturday's Ben Ali Attracts Well-Matched Field Of Eight

Two-time Canadian Horse of the Year Mighty Heart, the multiple graded stakes-placed Proxy and Santa Anita Handicap (G1) runner-up Warrant headline a field of eight entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 91^st running of the Ben Ali (G3) for 4-year-olds and up. 

The Ben Ali, run at 1 1/8 miles on the main track, will be run as the eighth race on Saturday’s 10-race program with a 4:44 p.m. ET post time. First post Saturday is 1 p.m. 

Lawrence Cordes’ homebred Mighty Heart will be making his 2022 debut for trainer Josie Carroll. Winner of three stakes in 2021 and a four-time Sovereign Award winner, Mighty Heart has had six works since returning from a short layoff. His two most recent works were at Keeneland. 

James Graham has the mount Saturday and will leave from post position two. 

Godolphin’s homebred Proxy returned to the races following a 10½-month layoff with an allowance victory at Fair Grounds, which was followed by a runner-up effort to Olympiad in the New Orleans Classic (G2) on March 26. 

Trained by Mike Stidham, Proxy chased the likes of Hot Rod Charlie, Mandaloun and Midnight Bourbon on the Kentucky Derby trail before a fourth-place finish in the Stonestreet Lexington (G3) in his final start of 2021. 

Brian Hernandez Jr., who has been aboard Proxy for his two starts this year, has the call Saturday and will break from post position three. 

Twin Creeks Racing Stable’s Warrant, beaten a head by Express Train in the Big Cap in his most recent start, closed his 2021 campaign with a victory in the Oklahoma Derby (G3). Trained by Brad Cox, Warrant will be ridden by Flavien Prat from post position five. 

The field for the Ben Ali, with riders and weights from the rail, is: Cowboy Diplomacy (Colby Hernandez, 118 pounds), Mighty Heart (Graham, 120), Proxy (Hernandez Jr., 118), Dynamic One (Irad Ortiz Jr., 118), Warrant (Prat, 118), Tartufo (Rafael Bejarano, 118), Scalding (Javier Castellano, 118) and Title Ready (John Velazquez, 118).