Brownie Points

EINSTEIN GIVES ALL THE RIGHT CLARK ANSWERS TO PITT- The question trainer Helen Pitts was asking her stable star Einstein this month was whether the 6-year-old would be up for a run in Friday's $400,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (Grade II).[asset|height=12|width=1]

            With a bullet five-eighths work Sunday, the answer was a definitive "yes."

            "He worked super Sunday and I thought that was good enough to get us there," Pitts said of Einstein, who has not raced since a troubled fifth-place finish in the Grade I Arlington Million on the grass at Arlington Park on Aug. 9. "He had done enough while he was off and he had a good bottom to him."

            Einstein, who will break from post position three in the Clark under meet-leading jockey Julien Leparoux, did not have his first work after his Million run until Nov. 2.

            "I didn't want to say yes (to the Clark) and get my hopes up," Pitts said. "He had an easy half, a good half, then an easy five-eighths and a good five-eighths. He couldn't have lost a whole lot."

            Einstein has done his best work on the turf, where he has recorded Grade I victories this year with scores in the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap and the Derby Day Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs.  The son of 1985 Kentucky Derby (GI) winner Spend A Buck was runner-up to 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin in Churchill Downs' Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) in his most recent run on the main track.

            "There was no pressure to run here and it is going to be awhile before he runs again," Pitts said. "He's got some good works in him, he's doing good and we're going to take a shot. I am comfortable with him. I know he will give his 110 percent like he always does."

BROWNIE POINTS LOOKS TO RETIRE AS A MILLIONAIRE - The cash machine in trainer Donnie Von Hemel's barn will be shutting down Thursday after embarking on one last search for a major deposit.

            Pin Oak Stable's Brownie Points will make her swan song in this afternoon's $150,000-added Falls City Handicap (GII).  A victory in the 94th renewal in that 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares would swell her career earnings past the $1 million mark.

            "These kind of horses are hard to find," Von Hemel said. "You like to have one or two of those in the barn to keep things going."

            Through four years of racing, Brownie Points has compiled a record of 9-8-4 in 26 races with earnings of $946,442 - with almost equal success on dirt and turf.

            "I was just glad that she ran on either one," Von Hemel said. "We picked our spots with her and there was never a soundness issue."

Brownie Points ran the worst race of her career in her debut on dirt, finishing 10th in a field of 12 in a five-furlong sprint at Remington Park.

"We knew she was talented, and a lot of them train well and then when they run they don't do much," Von Hemel said. "We were disappointed in her first race, but the next time she ran on the dirt she ran second at 70-1."

The Falls City will mark the second trip to Churchill Downs for Brownie Points in 2008. She was a fast-closing second in the Grade III Locust Grove on the turf in July.  Luis Quinonez rode here that day and will be aboard again on Thanksgiving Day.

"Luis has been important to her success," Von Hemel said. "He has stayed with her for three years."

WIGGINS LOOKING FOR EARLY BIRTHDAY TREAT ON SATURDAY - Trainer Hal Wiggins will turn 66 on Sunday, but he would not mind picking up a present or two a day earlier on the "Stars of Tomorrow II" card at Churchill Downs.

            Wiggins will saddle Dolphus Morrison's homebred Rachel Alexandra in the $150,000-added Golden Rod (GII) at a mile and a sixteenth on the main track. He will also run Morrison's Abbott Hall in the $56,000 Caressing at a mile on the turf.

            Rachel Alexandra enters the Golden Rod off a runner-up finish to Sara Louise in the Pocahontas (GIII) on Nov. 1. It was her second race back after a 3 ½-month layoff that followed a promising runner-up finish to Garden District in Grade III Debutante.

            "She had a chip removed from her left front ankle," Wiggins said of the layoff. "We were hoping she would come back around and she ran good at Keeneland going short. She came out of that race fine and also the Pocahontas."

            Abbott Hall returns to the turf after a fifth-place finish in the Pocahontas.

            "That was just to see how she would handle it," Wiggins said. "She ran on it well in her first start at Ellis finishing second and she didn't run that well in her previous start at Keeneland (fourth in the Jessamine)."

            Saturday will bring down the curtain on 2008 for both fillies.

            "Rachel Alexandra will go to Hot Springs and they have that little series at Oaklawn with the Honeybee and the Fantasy," Wiggins said. "I'd like to run her twice before hopefully the Kentucky Oaks. They also have the Silverbulletday and the Fair Grounds Oaks in New Orleans, so we have a lot of options and she ran good on the Polytrack at Keeneland, so we could look at the Ashland."

            Abbott Hall could get see a later start for her 3-year-old campaign.

            "She may get a break. Rachel Alexandra's already had her break," Wiggins said. "There is not much for her out there now."

            Whatever the decision for Morrison's talent fillies, Wiggins will make the call.

            "I have trained horses for him for 27 years," Wiggins said. "The last thing he tells me when we talk is ‘you're the coach.' "

BARN TALK - Julien Leparoux added one victory Wednesday to elevate his meet-leading total to 51. With three days remaining in the meet, Leparoux has Pat Day's 23-year-old fall record of 55 squarely in his sights. Leparoux is named on 11 mounts each Thursday and Friday and on nine on Saturday. ... Robby Albarado had his third four-win day of the meet on Wednesday to raise his meet total to 37. Albarado also won four races on Nov. 14 and Nov. 19. ... "Happy Birthday" wishes to trainer Greg Foley, who turns 51 today.  The second generation trainer - the son of veteran trainer Dravo Foley and brother to fellow trainer Vickie Foley - has four horses entered on the Thanksgiving Day card at Churchill Downs.

COMMENTATOR ASSIGNED TOP IMPOST OF 124 POUNDS FOR 134^TH CLARK ‘CAP - Tracy Farmer's Commentator has been assigned high weight of 124 pounds by Churchill Downs Racing Secretary Ben Huffman for Friday's 134^th running of the $400,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (Grade II).

             Trained by Nick Zito, Commentator is expected to start Friday in the 1 1/8 miles main track test.

Assigned the next high weight of 121 pounds is Jay Em Ess Stable's Arson Squad, who is expected to run in the Cigar Mile (GI) at Aqueduct on Nov. 29.

When entries are drawn Tuesday, Commentator is expected to attract seven rivals headed by Magna Graduate, who was assigned the second-highest Clark impost.

Owned by Elisabeth Alexander, Magna Graduate won the 2005 Clark as a 3-year-old and took the opening-day Ack Ack Handicap (GIII). Trained by Steve Asmussen, Magna Graduate was assigned 120 pounds.

            Others considered probable for the Clark with weight assignments are Four Roses Thoroughbreds' Anak Nakal (118), The Big Stable's Delosvientos (118), World Thoroughbreds Racing's Wayzata Bay (117), Hobeau Farm's Delightful Kiss (116), Circle E Racing, Caesar Kimmel and Philip Solondz's Timber Reserve (116) and Silverton Hill Farm's Dominican (115).

SPRING WALTZ HIGH WEIGHT FOR FALLS CITY - Stronach Stables' Spring Waltz, runaway winner of the Gulfstream Park's Grade II Rampart Handicap in March and runner-up in Belmont's recent Turnback the Alarm Handicap (GIII), was assigned top weight of 120 pounds for Thursday's $150,000-added Falls City Handicap (GII).

            Trained by Hall of Famer Bobby Frankel, Spring Waltz has won two of three starts at the Falls City distance of 1 1/8 miles. Spring Waltz, who is training at Keeneland, could face seven rivals in the Falls City when entries are drawn on Sunday.

            One of those expected rivals is Pin Oak Stable's Brownie Points, assigned the second high weight of 119 pounds by Racing Secretary Ben Huffman. Trained by Donnie Von Hemel, Brownie Points has had two main track starts in 2008, finishing second to Hystericalady in the Azeri (GIII) to unbeaten Zenyatta in the Apple Blossom (GI).

            Other probable Falls City starters with weight assignments are Arbaway Farm, Carson Springs Farm and Letto Thoroughbreds' Stop a Train (117), Robert Adams' Unforgotten (117), Mark Stanley's Swift Temper (116), Glencrest Farm's Devil House (115), Richard Lister's Tell it as It Is (115) and Talley Racing's Initforthekandy (114).

KENTUCKY JOCKEY CLUB, GOLDEN ROD FIELDS TAKE SHAPE - The stars of the Nov. 1 "Stars of Tomorrow I" card are expected to come back next Saturday for encore performances on the closing-day "Stars of Tomorrow II" card that features races exclusively for 2-year-olds.

             Joseph Rauch and David Zell's Capt. Candyman Can, winner of the Iroquois (GIII) and Eldon Farm Equine's Sara Louise, winner of the Pocahontas (GIII), are listed as probable starters by Churchill Downs racing officials for the Kentucky Jockey Club and Golden Rod, respectively.

            Entries for the two $150,000-added Grade II events at 1 1/16 miles on the main track will be drawn Wednesday. The winners of last year's events went on to live up to their "Star of Tomorrow" billing as Anak Nakal and Pure Clan added 2008 graded stakes victories to their respective tallies in the Kentucky Jockey Club and Golden Rod.

            Five colts are considered likely to challenge Capt. Candyman Can, topped by John Oxley's Beethoven and Darley Stable's Stormalory, who ran 1-2 in a mile and a sixteenth allowance race on the "Stars of Tomorrow I" card.

            Other probables include Dogwood Stable's Coal Baron, the Virginia Tarra Trust's Giant Oak and Carl Potts' Allittakesisone. Possibles include Overbrook Farm's Big Surf, the Live Oak Plantation's Rocketing Returns and either Zayat Stables' Star of David or Winchell Thoroughbreds' Zion from the barn of Steve Asmussen.

            Four fillies are considered as likely to challenge Sara Louise in the Golden Rod. Topping the list is Livin the Dream Racing's Dream Empress, runner-up to Stardom Bound in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI) on Oct. 24 at Santa Anita. Trained by Ken McPeek, Dream Empress won the Darley Alcibiades (GI) at Keeneland last month.

            Other Golden Rod probables include Pocahontas runner-up Rachel Alexandra, owned by Dolphus Morrison, Winchell Thoroughbreds' War Echo, who is a half-sister to Pyro, and DWD Stables' Dance With Daddy.          

CORRECTION - In Friday's Barn Notes, the number of races for the current Fall Meet was listed as 270. The correct number is 268.

BARN TALK - Equibase Company LLC reports that trainer Steve Asmussen entered Saturday with 553 wins, three victories away from breaking his own North American record for wins in a single year (Note: two victories in Dubai this year with Curlin are not included in that number). Asmussen, who won 555 races in 2004, had 16 runners entered at seven venues Saturday including first-time starter Captain Cherokee in the 10^th race at Churchill Downs for Stonestreet Stable. Captain Cherokee is a half-brother to two-time Breeders' Cup Sprint (GI) winner Midnight Lute. Asmussen's first runner of the day was Not for Gold in the opener at Aqueduct at 12:30 p.m. (ET) and closes out with Light Lace in the seventh at Remington Park at 10:12 p.m. (ET). ... Making the rounds on the backside Saturday morning was jockey Filiberto Leon, who plans to resume riding when the Turfway Park meet opens Nov. 30. Leon, who will be represented by agent Buddy Fife, last rode at Finger Lakes in June 2007. ... Hobeau Farm's Delightful Kiss arrived at Churchill Downs Friday night for an anticipated start in next week's Clark Handicap. World Thoroughbred Racing's Wayzata Bay is scheduled to arrive Saturday night for the Clark, as is Pin Oak Stable's Brownie Points, who is slated to run in Thursday's Falls City Handicap.

WORK TAB - Talley Racing's Initforthekandy worked five-eighths in 1:01.60 over a track labeled as "good" on Friday at Trackside Training Center in preparation for an expected run in Thursday's Falls City Handicap.

TWO CANNED GOODS FOR FREE ADMISSION - Churchill Downs will offer free general admission through Sunday, Nov. 23 to all patrons who donate two non-perishable canned goods at Gates 10 and 17 in conjunction with the Kentucky Harvest Thanksgiving Food Drive, sponsored by Forcht Bank.

The canned goods can be delivered to Churchill Downs on those dates or any Louisville area Forcht Bank through Nov. 22 in exchange for the complimentary admission pass.

All donations will benefit Kentucky Harvest.

SUNDAY BRUNCH AT THE DOWNS - Sunday Brunch at Churchill Downs returns this Sunday. For $41.50 ($25 for children 12 and under), customers can dine and watch the Nov. 23 races from a reserved seat Millionaires' Row Six, the luxurious 9,000 square-foot room with a four-tier balcony that overlooks the finish line. The brunch, accompanied by live jazz music, is served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and features a wide selection of food, including stuffed French toast, eggs, maple smoked bacon, homemade biscuits and gravy, carved roast turkey, fresh salads and plenty of sides. Appetizers and a bountiful desert tray will be available until 5 p.m. Brunch and an official program is included in the admission price. To reserve a spot, call (502) 636-4400.

Three graded stakes winners – Brownie Points, Bayou’s Lassie and Meribel – headline a field of 10 entered Thursday for the 27th running of the $150,000-added Locust Grove Handicap (Grade III), a one-mile event on the Matt Winn Turf Course for fillies and mares and the centerpiece of Sunday’s closing day card of the 52-day Spring Meet at Churchill Downs.

The Locust Grove, which will be run at a mile on turf for the first time, will go as the ninth race on Sunday’s 11-race card that begins with a 1:15 p.m. (EDT) first post.

Pin Oak Stable’s Brownie Points will carry high weight of 120 for trainer Donnie Von Hemel. Winner of the Ouija Board Handicap (GIII) at Lone Star Park in her most recent start, will be ridden by Luis Quinonez and break from post position two. The versatile daughter of Forest Wildcat earlier finished second to Zenyatta in the $500,000 Apple Blossom (GI) on the main track at Oaklawn Park. The homebred Brownie Points has won eight of 22 races – with five wins on turf – and has earned $906,309.

Jacks or Better Farm’s Bayou’s Lassie, upset winner of the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile (GIII) on Kentucky Derby Day, is the next high weight at 119 pounds. Trained by Dale Romans, Bayou’s Lassie has won six of 11 turf starts will be ridden by Robby Albarado from post position five. Runnymede Farm’s Meribel, now in the barn of trainer Helen Pitts, will carry 118 pounds and be ridden by Calvin Borel as she breaks from post position six. Meribel accounted for the Grade III Valley View Stakes in 2006 over Keeneland’s Polytrack surface and since has placed in graded stakes races on turf.

Mauralakana won the 2007 Locust Grove under Julien Leparoux, who will bid for back-to-back scores in the race when he rides Godolphin Racing’s Say You Will. Trained by Saeed bin Suroor, the A.P. Indy filly is graded-stakes placed on synthetic surfaces and has won two of three grass starts. She will break from the outside post.

The field for the Locust Grove, from the hedge out, is as follows: James Barry’s Genuine Devotion (Alan Garcia, 115 pounds); Brownie Points (Luis Quinonez, 120); Heiligbrodt Racing Stable and John Sikura’s New Edition (Shaun Bridgmohan, 115); Richard Shultz’s Lemonlime (Willie Martinez, 117); Bayou’s Lassie (Robby Albarado, 119); Meribel (Calvin Borel, 116); Craig Bernick’s You Go West Girl (Miguel Mena, 114); Briland Farm’s Grace Happens (Brian Hernandez Jr., 112); Peter Bradley III’s Tears I Cry (Jamie Theriot, 117); and, Say You Will (Julien Leparoux, 115).