Next Shares (left), with jockey Drayden Van Dyke up, races along the rail Thursday en route to winning the $250,000 Old Friends Stakes at Kentucky Downs in Franklin.

Jockey Drayden Van Dyke rode Next Shares to 1 3/4-length win over Siem Riep on Thursday in the $250,000 Old Friends Stakes at Kentucky Downs in Franklin.

A total of $5,815,464.58 was wagered on the 10-race card, fourth-highest all time and the highest for a weekday. A total of $5,402,255 was bet on the first Thursday last year.

Trainer Richard Baltas shipped in Next Shares from California, where he had most recently run 12th in the Grade 2 Del Mar Mile. He was made the favorite in the Old Friends off the strength of three on-the-board finishes in two Grade 1 stakes and a Grade 3 at Santa Anita this year. The Old Friends is for 3-year-olds and up that haven’t won a stakes race in 2018.

“He was too close the last couple times,” Baltas said in a news release. “He really wants to be back. He wants to be settled. Doesn’t want to be rushed at all. At Del Mar there were 13-horse fields and small turns. I don’t know if he really liked the Del Mar course. This was a good spot for him.”

Siem Riep and jockey James Graham, who had dropped back in the turn, came on again in upper stretch to compete with the eventual winner only to be passed by Parlor in deep stretch. But Siem Riep gamely outfought Parlor to the wire to get second place by a nose.

Flatlined finished fourth, two lengths behind of Parlor, followed by Master Merion, Zapperini, Doctor Mounty, Siding Spring, Cowboy Culture, Bondurant and Shut the Box. The race was timed in 1:41.79 going a mile and 70 yards.

Live racing continues Saturday at Kentucky Downs. Post time for Race 1 of the 10-race card is 1:25 p.m.