Aikenite guns for Juvenile Stakes victory

Back in February, Dogwood Stable president Cot Campbell bought a 2-year-old colt at the Ocala Breeders' sale and decided to name it Aikenite in honor of Dogwood's home base of Aiken.

Aikenite will try to make the home folks proud on Saturday when he runs in the $2 million Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

"This is a nice colt up to now and has done nothing wrong," Campbell said. "He just seems to be getting better and better."

Aikenite will break from the No. 9 post position in the 11/16-mile race with jockey Alan Garcia aboard.

In a 13-horse field, he will need some racing luck, something that has eluded him in his last two starts.

Aikenite debuted with a six-furlong victory at Saratoga in August and followed that with a third-place finish in Saratoga's seven-furlong Hopeful Stakes after breaking slowly from the gate and racing wide most of the way.

He came back to run Oct. 10 in the 11/16-mile Breeders' Cup Futurity Stakes at Keeneland and finished a fast-closing second despite another wide trip.

"Aikenite is still trying to figure it out," trainer Todd Pletcher told the media after the race. "I'm not surprised he ran that well after his race in the Hopeful. I thought he was going to get that other horse (Noble's Promise), but that horse hit another gear."

Aikenite left the race with plenty of positives. He proved he could handle the 11/16-mile distance and that he could run well over a synthetic surface.

Santa Anita features a synthetic surface somewhat similar to Keeneland's.

"He had an eventful trip in the Futurity or he would have won that race," Campbell said. "He went 13 feet further than the winner and got beat by two feet. You have to be encouraged by that. If things go his way in California, he can definitely win the race."

Aikenite enters the race off two solid works. The most recent came Saturday when he breezed five furlongs in 59.94 in his final tuneup. It was the fastest work of the day at the distance.

"He has always been sort of a lethargic work horse," Campbell said. "He has never been one to do much more than he has to do. But the last two works, he has shown a lot of burst and enthusiasm."

There's a lot at stake for Aikenite on Saturday, and not just the winner's share of the $2 million purse.

The winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Stakes is typically anointed as the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby.

Then there's the favorable publicity a victory in the nationally-televised race would bring to Aiken.

"I think this horse, because of the name, and because of radio, television, internet and print, will put the name Aiken before more people than six times the promotional budget of the Aiken Chamber of Commerce," Campbell said.

Lowcountry horse racing fans will be interested to know that Dogwood has a yearling colt named Charlestonian waiting in the wings.

If his early training goes without setbacks, Charlestonian's juvenile campaign will likely crank up in May.

The colt was sired by Broken Vow from the Dixieland Band mare For Dixie and is a full brother to Dogwood's Grade 1-winning filly Cotton Blossom.

"I wanted a classy name that speaks of the South," Campbell said in explaining Charlestonian's name. "Charleston certainly comes to mind."