The $5 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Turf regularly attracts the best U.S.-based distance turf horses along with a formidable international contingent that makes the 1 ½-mile race a daunting assignment. It takes a consistently elite U.S. runner to have a realistic shot at success.

Ole Crazy Bone on Saturday punched his ticket to the Breeders’ Cup Turf with a dominant 3 ¾-length victory in the 1 ½-mile KTDF Kentucky Turf Cup Invitational Stakes at Kentucky Downs. How does he stack up as a contender for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Nov. 1 at Del Mar? Let’s take a closer look.

Accomplishments: Consistency has been a strength of Ole Crazy Bone with 14 top-three finishes in 19 starts and, more recently, he’s only been unplaced twice in 13 races since the start of 2024 with six wins. His track record in grass races is likewise solid with five wins, four seconds, and two thirds in 13 races on turf.

Up until the Kentucky Turf Cup, however, he had not been tested against elite competition. Ole Crazy Bone had never won a stakes race of any kind before the Kentucky Turf Cup, with seconds in non-graded stakes at Ellis Park and Lone Star Park and a third in a stakes race at Sam Houston Race Park his best showings. In fact, he made his graded stakes debut at Kentucky Downs and was claimed for $100,00 just two starts beforehand by trainer Mike Maker on behalf of Flying P Racing out of a runner-up finish June 6 at Churchill Downs in a 1 1/8-mile race on a sloppy track.

In two starts for his new connections, Ole Crazy Bone has finished second by a head in the $300,000 KY Downs Preview Turf Cup Stakes Sept. 3 at Ellis Park and won the $2.5 million Kentucky Turf Cup Sept. 6 by 3 ¾ widening lengths. He’s been a terrific claim for his new connections.

New to racing? Let us explain …

Claiming races are races where each horse entered is up for sale at a pre-determined price, in Ole Crazy Bone’s case $100,000. Owners interested in buying a horse in a claiming race notify the racing secretary at the track before the race is run, and if two more owners stake their claim on a particular horse, their names are put on pills that are then placed in a cup for the “shake” and then one is drawn out. All sales are final no matter how the horse runs in the race, but the original owner is entitled to the horse’s winnings as well as the proceeds of the sale.

Speed Figures: The average winning Equibase Speed Figure for the last 20 editions of the Breeders’ Cup Turf is 123.75 with a median of 124, ranging from the 116 Found earned for winning the 2015 edition to the 133 Enable earned for winning in 2018. Seventeen of the last 20 winners earned a 120 or higher for their Breeders’ Cup win.

Ole Crazy Bone has his work cut out for him. His career-best Equibase Speed Figure is a 110 and he was given a 102 for the Kentucky Turf Cup victory. He has averaged 101.7 for his seven starts this year, so Ole Crazy Bone probably has to improve by six to 10 points from his career-best and 15 to 18 points from his season average to be a viable win candidate.

Looking Ahead: Ole Crazy Bone is a likable 5-year-old gelding who has shown significant improvement for Maker. Ole Crazy Bone finished his final three-eighths of a mile in a blistering :34.09 in the KY Downs Preview Turf Cup Stakes, so he has an explosive turn of foot, and his graded stakes debut was an eye-opener. He looked like he relished every bit of the 1 ½ miles.

I’m rooting for his continued success, but right now he would need to take another significant step forward to be a serious threat to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf against another level of quality in terms of opposition. I usually fade all but the very best of the best U.S. horses in this Breeders’ Cup race, so I’ll have to sell on Ole Crazy Bone even though I love his name and seeing a claimer succeed in stakes races.