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Landeros high on Ry's the Guy, Princess Causeway

| Churchill Downs, Coady Photography photos, Ellis Park, horse racing, jockeys

Ry's the Guy winning a Churchill Downs allowance race. Coady Photography

A week after winning Ellis Park’s Good Lord Stakes aboard Absolutely Aiden, jockey Chris Landeros has a strong chance to tack on one or two more this Sunday with Ry’s the Guy in the $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup and Princess Causeway in the $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Turf. 

Both Ry’s the Guy and Princess Causeway are trained by Ian Wilkes, who is Landeros’ father in law. 

Ry’s the Guy is the 9-2 second choice behind 6-5 favorite and 2019 winner Factor This in the 1 1/4-mile Preview Turf Cup’s capacity field of 12. Princess Causeway is the 8-1 fourth choice in the Preview Ladies Turf, with Daddy Is a Legend the 3-1 morning-line favorite in that field of 12, with Molto Bella (also trained by Wilkes) needing a scratch to run.

Ry’s the Guy seemed to find his best stride when he stretched out to 1 5/16 miles in last year’s Dueling Grounds Derby at Kentucky Downs, narrowly losing to the accomplished Social Paranoia. He comes into the Ellis race off a respectable fifth in Keeneland’s Grade 2 Elkhorn.

“He’s super talented, there’s no doubt,” Landeros said. “A mile and a quarter actually is probably a little too short for him. But it’s still a route of ground where he can get his feet under him and kind of travel along. I just don’t think I’ve completely figured out how he wants to be ridden. He’s a funny horse. He can clip along all day long but doesn’t really quicken, so you have to use it as a weapon, find where he wants to be in a race. At Kentucky Downs, I just let him bounce along, and that’s probably what I’ll do Sunday. I look for him to run a big race. He’s an honest horse, just so cool.”

Princess Causeway has won on turf and dirt and is going back to grass for the first time in six races.

“She’s very versatile,” Landeros said. “She can run at 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt and she can run at a mile on turf. She’s a feisty filly. You kind of have to get along with her. If you fight her or force her to do something early in a race, it doesn’t work out in your favor. You have to let her dictate it. She’s as honest as they come. She’s gritty, won’t stop running. She will try, and you can’t count her out.

“I can’t wait for Kentucky Downs with her. She’s already proven there two years in a row (with maiden and allowance wins). This will be a great prep. She can run 6 1/2 or a mile at Kentucky Downs; it doesn’t matter."