Arson Squad
Breeders' Cup Juvenile Filly Turf Heroine Tapitsfly Back In Romans' Barn; Foster Hopes Macho Again, Arson Squad Work
BREEDERS’ CUP WINNER TAPITSFLY BACK IN ROMANS BARN – Trainer Dale Romans’ attention has been focused in recent days on his pair of contenders for Saturday’s Preakness (Grade I) – Donegal Racing’s Paddy O’Prado, the third-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) and Donald Dizney’s First Dude. But there is another reason for Romans to smile as he now can look down his shedrow and see the gray head of Tapitsfly poking out of her stall door.
Frank L. Jones Jr.’s homebred daughter of Tapit was last seen on the track in an impressive victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly Turf at Santa Anita, where she rallied from just off the pace to score a half-length victory under jockey Robby Albarado.
The promise of good things loomed for Tapitsfly after that race, which marked her third win in seven lifetime starts that also included a maiden win on traditional dirt at Saratoga and good efforts on dirt during the spring over her home track at Churchill Downs. But she was forced to the sidelines by injury early in her 3-year-old season and returned to Romans barn at the Louisville track a few days ago.
"We had a chip taken out of her ankle,” Romans said. “She’s back and looks better than ever, and we’ll start breezing her when we get back from Maryland.”
While she has run well on dirt, Tapitsfly is unbeaten in two races on the grass. While offspring of the versatile stallion Tapit seem to run well on just about any surface, she is out of Jones’ mare Flying Marlin, a turf specialist who won on grass courses at Churchill Downs and Keeneland during her 18-race career. Tapit’s other grass win came in the P.G. Johnson Stakes at Saratoga.
Once Tapitsfly begins to breeze, Romans is hoping for quick progress and a chance for Churchill Downs fans to see her compete.
“We’ll try to make one race by the end of the meet,” he said.
Tapitsfly’s career record stands at 3-2-1 in seven races with earnings of $668,142.
LIKELY CONTENDERS FOR STEPHEN FOSTER ‘CAP WORK – A pair of likely contenders for Churchill Downs $600,000 Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I) on June 12 were in action during training hours Friday morning at Churchill Downs as reigning champion Macho Again and Alysheba (GIII) winner Arson Squad appeared on the fast racing surface for morning works.
Both horses competed in the Alysheba on Kentucky Oaks Day. Jay Em Ess Stables’ Arson Squad scored an impressive 2 ½-length victory for trainer Rick Dutrow while the Dallas Stewart-trained Macho Again struggled to finish seventh of in that 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and up..
Arson Squad, who ran fourth to Macho Again in last year’s Foster, breezed five furlongs in :50 on Friday. The move by the 7-year-old Brahms gelding ranked as the 16th fastest of 34 at the distance. The Dutrow trainee won the Skip Away (GIII) at Gulfstream Park prior to the Alysheba and now has a career record of 8-1-4 in 27 races with earnings of $1,108,164.
West Point Thoroughbreds’ Macho Again has not won in five races since his triumph in the 2009 Foster – a string that included a narrow loss to Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra in the Woodward (GI) at Saratoga.
Macho Again breezed a half-mile in :49.20 – a move that ranked eighth out of the 34 at the distance.
Macho Again’s record stands at 6-6-0 in 23 races with earnings of $1,819,050. He has run seven times at Churchill Downs, with a record of 3-1-0 in those races. The Alysheba was the first start of the year for Macho Again, and his first race since a ninth-place finish behind Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider’s Blame in the $400,000 Clark Handicap (GII) on Nov. 27 at Churchill Downs.
Blame makes his 4-year-old debut on Saturday in the Schaefer Handicap (GII) on the Preakness undercard at Pimlico. A good effort there could earn the Al Stall Jr. trainee a start in the Stephen Foster.
Nominations for the Stephen Foster Handicap and other stakes races on the June 12 undercard will close Saturday, May 29.
PREAKNESS STAKES FESTIVITIES AT CHURCHILL DOWNS – Advanced wagering on the Preakness will be offered all day Friday at Churchill Downs, plus the Black-Eyed Susan/Preakness Double – similar to the Oaks/Derby Double – will connect Friday’s Grade II, $175,000 Black Eyed Susan and Saturday’s $1 million Preakness.
The pageantry of the Preakness Stakes will be featured prominently at Churchill Downs on Saturday with the simulcast of the second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown from Pimlico.
The first 5,000 fans attending Churchill Downs will receive a free Super Saver/Calvin Borel commemorative button in the paddock area while supplies last. Also, Black-Eyed Susan specialty drinks will be on tap at Churchill Downs at select locations, plus Dixieland and Big Band music will be performed in the paddock area and Millionaires Row 4 and 6.
Additionally, the Crab Derby returns as select customers will be in crab costumes competing in races throughout the day, with the final being held on the Matt Winn Turf Course immediately after Race 7.
Post time for the Preakness Stakes simulcast is 6:15 p.m. ET, which immediately follows the 11th and final live race at 5:58 p.m. ET.
SATURDAY’S SEVENTH RACE TO HONOR OLMSTEAD – For the second consecutive year, Churchill Downs will run the Chuck Olmstead Memorial on Preakness Stakes Day to honor the memory of the popular Louisville telvision newsman who passed away in March 2009 after an aneurysm ruptured in his brain.
The second annual Chuck Olmstead Memorial will be run as Race 7 on Saturday at approximately 3:57 p.m. ET.
Olmstead, who was a 34-year veteran at WHAS-11, was a longtime fan of Thoroughbred racing. Both he and his signature hat were broadcast fixtures in the Churchill Downs paddock on Kentucky Derby.
With tremendous encouragement from the community, Chuck’s widow, Candy Olmstead, has established a special fund in her husband’s memory through Norton Healthcare Foundation to support screenings and education provided by Norton Neuroscience Institute. These screenings will help detect aneurysms before they rupture, increase awareness of symptoms of ruptured brain aneurysms and, perhaps, save lives in the process.
More information can be found and pledges can be made online at www.ChuckOlmsteadFund.com.
ASHER WILL BE SPECIAL ‘GET IN THE GAME WITH JILL BYRNE’ GUEST – Churchill Downs vice president of racing communications John Asher will be Saturday’s “Get in the Game with Jill Byrne” special guest. Byrne and Asher will provide insight and analysis of the Preakness Stakes plus select races at Pimlico Race Course and Churchill Downs. The half-hour program will begin at 11:45 a.m. in the paddock area and will be televised on television monitors throughout Churchill Downs.
WEEKLY HANDICAPPING CONTEST WILL OFFER PRIZE MONEY, TRIP TO HORSEPLAYER WORLD SERIES – This spring’s “Who’s the Champ?” Handicapping Contest at Churchill Downs will offer $4,000 in prize money each week and five prize packages to compete in the Horseplayer World Series in Las Vegas.
First prize each week will be $1,500 and a five-day, four-night trip to Las Vegas to compete in the Horseplayer World Series, which is scheduled for Feb. 16-19, 2011 at the Orleans Resort and Casino.
The popular handicapping contest will begin this Sunday and continue every Sunday through June 13.
The “Who’s the Champ?” Handicapping Contest is a game of skill that tests the player’s ability to handicap Thoroughbred racing. Each contestant will start the day with a $24 imaginary bankroll and may only wager exactly $2 to win and $2 to place on six designated races from Churchill Downs.
The contest costs $30 per entry ($25 for Twin Spires Club members) and is limited to 400 entries with a limit of three entries per person. Registration will be open Sundays between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in the Champions Club Lounge on the second floor of the clubhouse.
BARN TALK – Fred Bradley’s homebred Brass Hat, winner of the 2009 Louisville Handicap (GIII), continues to gear-up for a defense of that victory. Trainer William “Buff” Bradley said Friday that the 9-year-old gelding would work Saturday in preparation for the $100,000-added at 1 ½ miles on turf on May 22. Regular rider Calvin Borel will be out of town for the Preakness bid by Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver on Friday, so veteran Charlie Woods is expected to be in the saddle for Brass Hat’s work … Leading rider Calvin Borel flew to Pimlico Thursday night for rides aboard Tidal Pool, the third-place finisher in the Kentucky Oaks (GI) in the Black-Eyed Susan (GII) on Friday and Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver in Saturday’s Preakness. Borel will return to Churchill Downs on Sunday to continue his pursuit of his first Spring Meet riding title at Churchill Downs. Borel holds a 19-11 edge over Julien Leparoux in the race for leading rider. Shaun Bridgmohan and Garrett Gomez are tied for third at 10 victories. … Nominations close Saturday, May 15 for a pair of upcoming stakes races at Churchill Downs: the $100,000 Aristides (GIII) for 3-year-olds & up at six furlongs on Saturday, May 29, and the $100,000-added Winning Colors (GIII) at six furlongs for fillies and mares 3-year-olds and up to be run on Memorial Day, May 31. Nominations can be made online at www.churchilldowns.com or by phone (502.636.4470) or fax (502.636.4598) before midnight (EDT) on Saturday.
WORK TAB (Main: FAST) – Carter Handicap (GI) winner and Churchill Downs (GII) runner-up Warrior’s Reward breezed four furlongs in :49.80 under exercise rider Tracey Wilkes. The Ian Wilkes trainee is being pointed toward the Metropolitan Handicap (GI) at Belmont Park and his work ranked as the 13th fastest of 38 at the distance.… Unforgotten breezed four furlongs in :50.60 for trainer Dallas Stewart. … Age of Humor, runner-up in the Bourbonette (GIII) at Turfway Park and 12th in the Kentucky Oaks, breezed five furlongs in 1:01 Friday over a fast surface at the six-furlong oval at Trackside Training Center.
BARN NOTES (6.11.09) - Mine That Bird Returns To Track/Warrior's Reward's Time?/Return To Dirt Key For Arson Squad
MINE THAT BIRD BACK-TRACKS OVER CHURCHILL DOWNS MUD – Kentucky Derby (Grade I) winner Mine That Bird returned to the racetrack for the first time since finishing third in last Saturday’s Belmont Stakes (Grade I) by leisurely back-tracking once around early Thursday morning under exercise rider Charlie Figueroa.
"He is fresh as a daisy this morning,” trainer Chip Woolley said as Mine That Bird pranced off the Churchill Downs track that had been rendered sloppy by overnight and morning rain.
The break from the track was the longest for Mine That Bird “since we brought him back last December off the layoff from the Breeders’ Cup,” Woolley said. “He will walk the next two days and go back to the track Sunday.
Owners Mark Allen of Double Eagle Ranch and Dr. Leonard Blach are scheduled to arrive in Louisville from New Mexico on Friday and, along with Woolley and jockey Calvin Borel, receive their Kentucky Derby trophies on Saturday.
“I am going to get with Mark and Doc when they get here and right now I am aiming for Monday for a decision on what we are going to do,” Woolley said. “We have six options that we are looking at.”
TIME MAY BE RIGHT FOR WARRIOR’S REDWARD IN NORTHERN DANCER – For A. Stevens Miles Jr.’s Warrior’s Reward, the road to the Kentucky Derby hit a dead end in Tampa, Fla., with an eighth-place finish behind Musket Man in the Tampa Bay Derby (Grade III) on March 14.
“He didn’t get the best of rides that day and it might have been a blessing for him,” trainer Ian Wilkes said. “He made some noise in that race and had a little throat surgery after that has been good since. Maybe it was not our time yet.”
Fast forward nearly three months and it appears the time may be at hand for the son of Medaglia d’Oro who figures to be an overwhelming favorite in Saturday’s 12th running of the $100,000-added Northern Dancer (Grade III) at 1 1/16 miles on the main track. Warrior’s Reward will break from post position three under Calvin Borel.
Warrior’s Reward returned to the races on May 1 and won a seven-furlong allowance test by 2 ¼ lengths over Munnings. All Munnings did in his next start was romp in last Saturday’s Woody Stephens Stakes (Grade II) at Belmont Park.
“I was pleased to see that,” said Wilkes, whose summer goals for Warrior’s Reward include the Jim Dandy (Grade II) and the Travers (Grade I) at Saratoga.
Warrior’s Reward tuned up for the Northern Dancer with a bullet, five-furlong work in the mud of 1:01.60 on June 4. He worked in company with Miss Isella, who figures to be the favorite in Saturday’s 35th running of the $200,000-added Fleur De Lis Handicap (Grade II) at 1 1/8 miles on the main track.
Miss Isella has won four of her six starts at Churchill Downs and will be ridden Saturday by Borel, who has been aboard in all five of the 4-year-old filly’s victories.
“She just loves this track,” said Wilkes of Miss Isella, who has won the Grade II Louisville Distaff and Falls City Handicap (Grade II) in her two most recent Churchill Downs races. “The only track she doesn’t seem to like is Gulfstream Park and I have never figured that out.”
ARSON SQUAD RELISHING RETURN TO THE DIRT – If horses could talk, one would imagine that Jay Em Ess Stable’s Arson Squad’s succinct appraisal of synthetic surfaces would go something like this: “NAY!”
“The dirt turned him right around,” said Michelle Nevin, assistant to trainer Rick Dutrow, of Arson Squad, who joined the barn late last summer following a run of seven consecutive off-the-board finishes over Southern California’s three synthetic race tracks.
In his first start for Dutrow, Arson Squad won the Meadowlands Cup Handicap, the third Grade II victory of his career. All three of those victories have come at 1 1/8 miles, the distance he will be asked to run Saturday in the 28th running of the $600,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I).
Arson Squad last ran in $6 million Dubai World Cup (Grade I) on March 28 in which he finished 11th, placing 3 ¼ lengths in front of fellow Foster rival Asiatic Boy. Once back from Dubai, Arson Squad has run of a string of five bullet works at Aqueduct.
“I was on some of those; we spread it around,” said Nevin, who served as the regular exercise rider for 2008 Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown. “His last work there on June 3 in company with Kip Deville was lights out. Hopefully he will like it here.”
That five-furlong move with the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Mile (Grade I) winner was accomplished in 1:00.
Arson Squad arrived at Churchill Downs on Monday on the same flight that brought Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird back to Louisville from his third-place effort in the Belmont Stakes. With Nevin up, Arson Squad worked a half-mile after the break in :49.60, the 17th fastest of 31 at the distance.
Arson Squad, who will break from post position four under Garrett Gomez, will carry 118 pounds, six fewer than probable Stephen Foster favorite Einstein. It makes a 3-pound shift in Arson Squad’s favor from the most recent matchup of the two in the Jan. 31 Donn Handicap (Grade I) at Gulfstream Park in which Einstein finished 3 ¼ lengths ahead of Arson Squad.
WHIRLIE BERTIE BACK IN ACTION FOR MARGOLIS – When Whirlie Bertie zoomed through her conditions here last spring and summer, her opportunities appeared limitless. But after leaving Churchill Downs she ran third in the Monmouth Oaks (Grade III) and then faded badly in the Oct. 3 Indiana Oaks (Grade II) at Hoosier Park.
Owned by Richard, Bertram and Elaine Klein, Whirlie Bertie has not been seen at the races since, but that will end Friday in the fourth race when she returns in a seven-furlong, allowance optional claiming event.
“She got hot that day and after that race we sent her to Rood and Riddle (in Lexington) to check her out,” trainer Steve Margolis said. “She had a little bit of a fracture in her right hind leg. No surgery was required and it healed well on its own and she stayed here all winter.”
All of Whirlie Bertie’s win have come around two turns and Margolis is not quite sure what to expect in Friday’s sprint.
“It will be interesting. I was looking to run a mile and a sixteenth, but there was nothing for her,” Margolis said. “She has been training good and we’ve done a lot of schooling with her. The outside spot (post five of six) should be good and (jockey) Shaun (Bridgmohan) knows her and has won on her.”
MILESTONE WATCH – Jockey Calvin Borel, who has ridden 922 winners in his career at Churchill Downs, is named on five mounts Thursday. He needs three victories to equal Don Brumfield’s total of 925 for second all time at Churchill Downs behind Pat Day (2,482).
Trainer David Vance, who has sent out 299 winners at Churchill Downs, is represented by Northeast Harbor in Thursday’s sixth race as he bids to become the 11th conditioner with 300 victories at Churchill Downs.
Also closing in on the 300-win mark at Churchill Downs is trainer Greg Foley. Currently tied for third in the trainer standings with 10 victories this spring, Foley has a career total of 295 here. He has two horses entered Thursday: Gerivello in the first and Speak of Kings in the ninth.
BARN TALK – Fleur De Lis Handicap contender Miss Isella will now run under the ownership of Elaine Jones.
Stephen Foster Hadicap favorite Einstein is scheduled to school in the paddock with horses in Thursday’s second race for trainer Helen Pitts-Blasi.
Nominations close Saturday for the 109th running of the Debutante (Grade III) for 2-year-old fillies going six furlongs on the main track on June 27. Garden District won the 2008 Debutante by a half-length over Rachel Alexandra.
Training hours will begin at 5 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday to give horsemen the opportunity to train under the lights that will be used for the three night cards this meet. The first of those nights is Friday, June 19, followed by June 26 and Thursday, July 2.
CORRECTION – An item in the May 31 Barn Notes incorrectly stated that Lady On Holiday was bred to Jump Start. She was bred to 2008 Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown and is in foal.
WORK TAB – Jake Wil Gallop, winner of the USA Stakes at Lone Star Park on May 25 in his most recent start, worked three furlongs over a sloppy track in :38.60 in advance of Saturday’s Jefferson Cup (Grade II).
Einstein Set to Make Run at History in Grade I, $600,000 Stephen Foster Handicap on Saturday
Midnight Cry Stable’s Einstein (BRZ) will carry high weight of 124 pounds and concede from 2-11 pounds to seven rivals Saturday as he attempts to become the first horse to win three consecutive Grade I races on three surfaces in the 28th running of the $600,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs.
The Stephen Foster, which serves as the centerpiece of an action-packed 11-race program that features four other graded stakes, will be the 10th race on the “Reunion Day” card at approximately 5:29 p.m. (all times Eastern). First post time is 12:45 p.m. and grandstand admission gates open at 11:30 a.m.
Trained by Helen Pitts-Blasi, Einstein will again be ridden by Julien Leparoux who guided Einstein to victory in the March 7 Santa Anita Handicap over the synthetic Pro-Ride surface and the May 2 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs.
Only Lava Man, who retired from racing last July, has won Grade I races on three surfaces, but he did not do it consecutively.
Einstein, a 7-year-old son of 1985 Kentucky Derby winner Spend a Buck, will break from post position three in the 1 1/8-mile main track race. Boasting a career mark of 25-11-3-2 with earnings of $2,609,904, Einstein ran second in last year’s Stephen Foster behind Horse of the Year Curlin.
Of the 11 victories, seven have come in graded stakes with five being in Grade Is. No other Stephen Foster entrant boasts a Grade I victory, but the other seven starters have combined to win 14 graded stakes.
The most accomplished of those is Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum’s Asiatic Boy (ARG), who will make his United States debut under the care of trainer Kiaran McLaughlin. A winner of four graded stakes in Dubai, Asiatic Boy has captured seven of 15 starts with earnings in excess of $3 million.
McLaughlin won the 2007 Stephen Foster with Flashy Bull.
Alan Garcia rides Asiatic Boy, who will break from post position seven and carry 122 pounds.
Three Stephen Foster starters will carry 118 pounds: Arson Squad, a three-time graded stakes winner, Finallymadeit, also a three-time graded stakes winner who has won 12 stakes in his career with 11 of those coming at Calder, and Researcher, winner of the Grade III Queens County Handicap at Aqueduct last fall.
Drawing 117-pound imposts are Macho Again, winner of last year’s Derby Trial here and subsequent victor in the Grade II Jim Dandy and New Orleans Handicap, and Bullsbay, a perfect 3-for-3 at Churchill Downs including a May 1 victory in the Alysheba (Grade III).
The field for the Stephen Foster, from the rail out (with jockey, assigned weight and Mike Battaglia’s morning line odds): Alphabet Magic (Tony Farina, 113 pounds, 30-1), Macho Again (Robby Albarado, 117, 10-1), Einstein (Julien Leparoux, 124, 2-1), Arson Squad (Garrett Gomez, 118, 4-1), Researcher (Calvin Borel, 118, 4-1), Bullsbay (Jeremy Rose, 117, 10-1), Asiatic Boy (Alan Garcia, 122, 7-2) and Finallymadeit (Eduardo Nunez, 118, 8-1).
Since achieving Grade I status in 2002, the Foster has produced three horses that went on to earn “Horse of the Year” titles: 2003 runner-up Mineshaft, 2005 winner Saint Liam and last year’s champ Curlin.
In 1998, Awesome Again and Silver Charm ran 1-2 in the Grade II Foster and then came back in less than five months to duplicate the finish in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
In 1991, when the Stephen Foster was a Grade III event, Black Tie Affair (IRE) won the race, the first of six consecutive victories in a Horse of the Year campaign that included a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) at Churchill Downs.
Churchill Downs to Open at 9 a.m. on Saturday, March 28 for Dubai World Cup Simulcast
Trackside at Churchill Downs will open early at 9 am (all times Eastern) on Saturday, March 28, to import the six lucrative stakes races that compromise the 14th annual Dubai World Cup program from Nad Al Sheba Race Course in the United Arab Emirates.
The $21 million extravaganza is anchored by the world’s richest race, the $6 million Dubai World Cup (Group I), which has lured North American horses such as Donn Handicap (GI) champ Albertus Maximus, Goodwood Handicap (GI) winner Well Armed, Meadowlands Cup (GII) hero Arson Squad and Pennsylvania Derby (GII) champ Anak Nakal. The Americans will face a stellar international cast that includes Japan’s Casino Drive, winner of last year’s Peter Pan (GII), and 2007 UAE Triple Crown winner Asiatic Boy, the runner-up to Curlin in last year’s World Cup.
The Dubai World Cup, scheduled as the seventh race at 1:30 p.m., culminates the action-packed program. The first import will be the $1 million Godolphin Mile (GII), which is carded as the second race at 9:40 a.m., and is followed by the $2 million UAE Derby (GII) at 10:15 a.m.; the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen (GI) at 10:55 a.m.; the $5 million Dubai Duty Free (GI) at 11:55 a.m.; the $5 million Dubai Sheema Classic (GI) at 12:40 p.m.; and Dubai World Cup. Win, Place, Exacta, Trifecta, Superfecta and Pick 3 wagering will be offered.
The 1 1/8-mile UAE Derby is an important steppingstone to Kentucky Derby 135 for Godolphin’s UAE 2,000 Guineas champ Desert Party, who’ll be ridden by Frankie Dettori. The prominent global outfit will also start Regal Ransom and Jose Adan.
Other familiar Northern American stars scheduled to run on the program are Archipenko (Duty Free), Black Seventeen (Golden Shaheen), Diabolical (Golden Shaheen), Doctor Dino (Sheema Classic), Gayego (Godolphin Mile), Hyperbaric (Duty Free), Indian Blessing (Golden Shaheen), Kip Deville (Duty Free), Marsh Side (Sheema Classic), Quijano (Sheema Classic), Red Rocks (Sheema Classic), Tiz Now Tiz Then (Godolphin Mile) and Two Step Salsa (Godolphin Mile).
The roster of winners for the 1 ¼-mile Dubai World Cup includes Cigar (1996), Singspiel (1997), Silver Charm (1998), Dubai Millennium (2000), Captain Steve (2001), Street Cry (2002), Pleasantly Perfect (2004), Roses in May (2005), Invasor (2007) and Curlin (2008).
Trackside at Churchill Downs will offer free general admission from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday. After 11:30 a.m., general admission is $3, but only $1 for Twin Spires Club members and seniors. Also, a $4.75 breakfast special – featuring eggs, sausage or bacon, biscuits and gravy, hash browns and coffee or juice – will be on sale in the ITW food court on the second floor of the clubhouse.
Later in the afternoon, Churchill Downs also will simulcast the Florida Derby Day program from Gulfstream Park with the important Grade I race scheduled as Race 10 at 5:44 p.m.
Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will conduct the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 2, 2009. The track’s 2009 Spring Meet will take place from April 25 through July 5. Churchill Downs is scheduled to host the Breeders’ Cup World Championships for a record seventh time on Nov. 5 and 6, 2010. Information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at www.churchilldowns.com.
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