Chamberlain Bridge

SUPER ESPRESSO LOOKS TO END RACING CAREER WITH FALLS CITY VICTORY – Celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s Super Espresso will look to end her racing career in style on Thursday when she makes her final start in the 96^th running of the $175,000-added Falls City Handicap (Grade II) for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on the main track at Churchill Downs.

“This will be her last race,” said Michael McCarthy, assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher. “We’re looking to get her some more black type before she enters her second career (as a broodmare).”

Super Espresso, a $1.1 million Keeneland September Yearling purchase, will face nine rivals in the Falls City, the featured event on the Thanksgiving Day racing program.

She captured the DuPont Distaff (GIII) at Pimlico in May and then competed in five consecutive Grade I events. She hit the board in her first two starts at the highest level, running third to Awesome Maria in the Ogden Phipps Handicap (GI) and second to Ask the Moon in the Ruffian Handicap (GI).

The 4-year-old daughter of Medaglia D’Oro then finished fifth to Ask the Moon in the Personal Ensign, 10^th to Aruna in the Spinster (GI) over the synthetic Polytrack surface at Keeneland and enters the Falls City off a seventh-place finish to Royal Delta in the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (GI) at Churchill Downs.

The Ladies’ Classic was a bit of a reach,” McCarthy said. “This is a logical spot for her. She’s getting a bit of a class break and her numbers are as good as or better than everyone else in the field.”

In preparation for the Falls City, Super Espresso breezed a sharp four furlongs over the fast main track in company with Giant Sensation in :47.80, the third fastest of 47 at the distance. The duo recorded fractions of :12.20, :24.20, :35.80 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:00.60 and six furlongs in 1:14.20.

“She had a nice work over the track a few days ago and she’ll enter the race with good energy and a good attitude,” McCarthy said.

Super Espresso has a career record of 4-2-4 from 17 starts and earnings of $270,788. She will break from post eight in the field of ten under Javier Castellano.

The Falls City is the featured event on Thursday’s 12-race holiday program.  It will go as race 11 with a post time of 4:24 p.m. EST.

CHAMBERLAIN BRIDGE GETS CLASS BREAK, BETTER DRAW ON THURSDSAY – Carl R. Moore Management LLC’s Chamberlain Bridge, winner of the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (GII) at Churchill Downs, returns to his favorite track on Thursday in an attempt to snap a five-race losing streak.

The 7-year-old War Chant gelding is entered in Thursday’s sixth race, an allowance optional-claiming event at five furlongs on the Matt Winn Turf Course.

Chamberlain Bridge attempted to defend his title in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in his most recent start, but fell well short of that goal.  He broke from the outside post in a field of 14 on the Churchill Downs grass and finished eighth to the victorious Regally Ready.

"Hopefully that race is just a throw out,” said Dennis “Peaches” Geier, assistant to trainer Bret Calhoun. “He was coming into the Turf Sprint really well and his two works before the race (:59 on a wet-fast main track at Churchill Downs on Oct. 19 and :50.60 on a firm Matt Winn Turf Course on Oct. 29) were probably two of the best works of the entire Breeders’ Cup. He really had no chance whatsoever breaking from the 14-hole. It’s a tough gig out there.”

Chamberlain Bridge, who was made the 7-5 morning-line favorite by Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia, will break from post two in Thursday’s race under Brian Hernandez Jr. It will be the first time since October of 2009 that Chamberlain Bridge has been ridden by a jockey other than Jamie Theriot.

Jamie is already in New Orleans (for the Fair Grounds meet), so we got Brian to ride,” Geier said. “Brian has definitely been hot this meet and I hope he (Chamberlain Bridge) runs well for him.”

Hernandez has experience aboard Charmberlain Bridge.  He rode the veteran turf sprint star to a  5 ½-length claiming victory at Keeneland in October of 2007.  And Hernandez has been on a roll during the Fall Meet and entered Wednesday’s racing with 11 wins from 55 mounts at the meet.  That’s good for third in the jockey standings behind Julien Leparoux and Corey Lanerie.

Thursday’s race is also notable for Chamberlain Bridget in that it will be his first outing in more than three years in which he has dropped out of the ranks of stakes horses to face allowance foes.

“It’s a break, but it’s not going to be an easy race,” Geier said. “There are several horses in there that are running really well. I think they’ll be enough speed in there for him to run at, though, and if he’s anything like he was last year then he should win.”

Future plans for Chamberlain Bridge, whose 17 career wins include four victories over the Matt Winn Turf Course, have not been decided.  But he is expected to race as an 8-year-old.

“We’ll bring him to Fair Grounds with us, but I’m not sure what we’ll do with him,” Geier said. “There aren’t too many races down there for him, though. We didn’t go too hard on him this year, so he might stay in training, but he could also get some time off before next year. A lot will depend on Thursday’s race.”

FALL MEET LEADERS ENTERING FINAL WEEK – Through 16 days of the 21-day Fall Meet, jockey Julien Leparoux, and owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey had clear leads in their respective divisional races at Churchill Downs.  But trainers Steve Asmussen and Mike Maker were locked in a tight battle for “leading trainer” honors.  Below is a look at the leaders entering the final week of the Fall Meet:

Top Jockeys

1. Julien Leparoux (28-for-106, 26% win-percentage, $1,441,452 in earnings)

2. Corey Lanerie (20-for-103, 19%, $511,772)

3. Brian Hernandez Jr. (11-for-55, 20%, $285,115)

4. Jesus Castanon (9-for-55, 16%, $415,003)

5. Jon Court (8-for-51, 16%, $185,269)

Top Trainers

1. Steve Asmussen (11-for-49, 22%, $2,013,337)

1. Mike Maker (11-for-42, 26%, $1,374,178)

3. Dale Romans (8-for-43, 19%, $1,583,459)

4. Eddie Kenneally (6-for-25, 24%, $297,652)

4. Ken McPeek (6-for-30, 20%, $250,988)

4. Bill Mott (6-for-18, 33%, $4,027,702)

Top Owners

1. Ken and Sarah Ramsey (9-for-33, 27%, $735,718)

2. Billy, Donna and Justin Hays (5-for-20, 25%, $98,805)

3. Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds Inc. (3-for-10, 30%, $34,053)

4. 14 owners are tied for fourth with two wins each

BARN TALK – Veteran trainer Robert Holthus, a regular on racing circuits in Kentucky, Arkansas and the Midwest for nearly 60 years, died Tuesday morning in Louisville, Ky. at the age of 77. A local memorial service for Holthus has been scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 26 at 10:30 a.m. (EST) at Christ Chapel on the Churchill Downs backside. Holthus saddled 211 winners beneath the Twin Spires, including 11 stakes wins. …

For the second year in-a-row, jockey Corey Lanerie was named a finalist for Santa Anita's George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. The other finalists are Ramon Dominguez, Martin Pedroza, DeShawn Parker and Scott Stevens. The winner, to be determined by a nationwide vote of jockeys, will be announced in January. The Woolf Award has been presented annually by Santa Anita since 1950 and is regarded as one of the most prestigious honors in all of racing.  It recognizes those riders whose careers and personal character earn esteem for the individual and the sport of Thoroughbred racing. …

Leading-rider Julien Leparoux will travel to Hollywood Park on Friday to ride Team Block's Never Retreat in the Matriarch (GI). Leparoux enters Wednesday with a 28-20 lead in the jockey standings over Corey Lanerie. He will return to beneath the Twin Spires on Saturday and is named to ride in all 12 races on that day’s Stars of Tomorrow II program.  ...

Churchill Downs will host a “Stache Bash” on Saturday during the races to honor and celebrate all of the Mo Bros and Mo Sistas who participated in Movember. Churchill Downs will donate $1 per attendee who is sporting a mustache to the Movember Foundation with a minimum guaranteed pledge of $5,000 given through the Churchill Downs Foundation. The day’s festivities will include between-race live music by popular Cincinnati-based My Sister Sarah in the paddock area and Happy Hour drink specials from 3-5 p.m. …

Trainer Angel Montano Sr. recorded his 334^th victory at Churchill Downs with Autumn Eyes in Sunday’s sixth race. Montano ranks ninth in career victories at Churchill Downs and his next victory will pull him into a tie for eighth with Jack Van Berg. …

Jockey Jon Court is five wins away from the 400-win milestone at Churchill Downs. Court has mounts in eight races Wednesday, six races Thursday and nine races Friday.

GIANT RYAN HAS EASY WORK; TEST TIME FOR TRINNIBERG ON THURSDAY – The plan for Shivananda Parbhoo was to have his two Breeders’ Cup hopefuls, Giant Ryan and Trinniberg, work on Thursday morning after the break.

Mother Nature did not get the memo.

Lighter than expected rain overnight coupled with light drizzle during training hours left the track in “wet-fast” condition and Parbhoo in a quandary with more rain scheduled the next 24 hours in the Louisville area.

“I didn’t know the track would be so good this morning,” Parbhoo said. “I sent (Trinniberg) out early without company and I had no company lined up for him at that time.”

After the break, Giant Ryan breezed an easy three furlongs on his own with exercise rider Sabastian Garcia aboard in :39.20. Clockers got Giant Ryan in :12.60 for the first eighth of a mile and galloping out a half-mile in :53.60.

"I just wanted him to get used to the track and I told the rider to really slow him down and not go too fast,” Parbhoo said. “The next work next week is more important. He’ll go a half-mile and gallop out a strong five-eighths.”

Giant Ryan will enter the Grade I, $1.5 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Sprint on a six-race win streak that is highlighted by victories in the GII Smile Sprint Handicap and the GI Vosburgh.

As for Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint candidate Trinniberg, he will have company tomorrow morning for a key work.

“He will breeze the best he can and show me what he is all about,” said Parbhoo, who would have to ante up $100,000 to supplement Trinniberg to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint. “I am in it to win, not run second. If he is not up to the standard to win, he’s not going."

Trinniberg, who is nominated to the GIII Iroquois to be run here on Oct. 30, finished second in his most recent start in the GII Nashua and prior to that was second in the GI Hopeful. He is scheduled to work a half-mile Thursday with Willie Martinez slated to be aboard.

CHAMBERLAIN BRIDGE FIRES BULLET FIVE-EIGHTHS FOR BREEDERS’ CUP TURF SPRINT – Carl Moore Management LLC’s Chamberlain Bridge, defending champion in the GII Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, tuned up for an expected repeat bid Wednesday morning by working a bullet five furlongs on the main track in :59 with jockey Jamie Theriot up.

Working shortly after the track opened at 6 o’clock on a surface labeled as “wet-fast”, Chamberlain Bridge recorded fractions of :11.80, :23.40, :35.40, :47 and out six furlongs in 1:13.80. The five-furlong time was 1.4 seconds better than the next fastest time.

“You can’t do any better than that,” Theriot said. “I think he has a big, big chance.”

Theriot rode Chamberlain Bridge to victory in last year’s Breeders’ Cup, a day after winning the GI Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint with Dubai Majesty, also for trainer Bret Calhoun.

Theriot was confident about Chamberlain Bridge’s chances last year, “but Dubai Majesty, she was doing so good, but she was 0-for-7 at the (seven-furlong) distance and it was a tough spot.”

In the 27-year history of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships, riders have won the same race in consecutive years 18 times with seven coming with the same mount. The Turf Sprint has had only three runnings and no rider has repeated.

“The (prospective) field doesn’t look as a deep as last year,” said Theriot, who also has been Chamberlain Bridge’s regular rider for works. “There were some tough horses in there last year.”

BARN TALK – Bobby Flay’s Her Smile, winner of the Grade I Prioress at Belmont Park this year, will be pointed to the GII, $150,000 Chilukki, which is to be contested at one mile on the main track beneath the Twin Spires on the undercard of Breeders’ Cup Saturday. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Her Smile finished sixth after a troubled trip in the Charles Town Oaks in her most recent start. …

Dark Thunder, winner of four consecutive sprints in New York, will be pointed to the $85,000 The Jimmy V, which is scheduled to be run on the undercard of Breeders’ Cup Friday. Also trained by Pletcher, Dark Thunder captured the Island Whirl Stakes at Saratoga by 5 ¾ lengths. …

General Quarters, a multiple Grade I winner of more than $1.2 million, is likely to appear next in the GII Fayette going 1 1/8 miles on Polytrack at Keeneland on Oct. 29. He is stabled at Churchill Downs in Barn 37. …

Nominations for four graded stakes races to be run at Churchill Downs over Breeders’ Cup weekend will close today (Wednesday). The eighth running of the GIII, $100,000 Commonwealth Turf for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course will be contested on Thursday, Nov. 3. The 19^th running of the GIII, $100,000 Ack Ack Handicap for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles on the main track will be part of the undercard on Breeders’ Cup Friday. The 26^th running of the GII, $150,000 Chilukki for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up at one mile on the main track will be contested on Breeders’ Cup Saturday. The 38^th running of the GIII, $100,000 Cardinal Handicap for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course will be run Sunday, Nov. 6.

Carl Moore Management’s Chamberlain Bridge collared Smart Enough in deep stretch and then held off  a late charge from Cannonball by a neck to win the 15th running of the $112,800 AEGON Turf Sprint (Grade III) for 3-year-olds and up over the Matt Winn Turf Course at Churchill Downs on Friday afternoon.

The AEGON Turf was the first of six stakes, five of them graded, on the Kentucky Oaks card that featured 12 races.

Longshot Jazz Nation led the field down the backstretch with Smart Enough in closest pursuit and Chamberlain Bridge, under Garrett Gomez in third. Smart Enough, with Jeremy Rose up, cut the corner at the head of the lane and grabbed a clear lead at mid-stretch only to be overhauled by Chamberlain Bridge and then Cannonball.

Chamberlain Bridge, now undefeated in three starts over the Matt Winn Turf Course, gave trainer Bret Calhoun his second consecutive victory in the Aegon Turf. Mr. Nightlinger, who is co-owned by Carl Moore Management and Martin Racing Stable, won the 2008 renewal.

Chamberlain Bridge, the favorite in the field of seven, returned mutuels of $5.60, $3.20 and $2.60. Cannonball, ridden by Elvis Trujillo, returned $3.80 and $2.80 and finished a half-length in front of Smart Enough, who paid $2.60 to show.

Chamberlain Bridge, a 5-year-old gelded son of War Chant out of the Trempolino mare She’s Got Class, covered five furlongs on “yielding” turf in :57.06.

The victory was worth $68,537 and increased Chamberlain Bridge’s career earnings to $395,468 with his ninth victory in 18 starts.

AEGON TURF SPRINT QUOTES

BRET CALHOUN (trainer of winner Chamberlain Bridge) – “I thought we might be the lone speed in there. But he was fractious in the gate, and he broke a little tardy. I was concerned all the way down the backside, because he’s never run like that. I thought we weren’t going to get anything. This was the first time he’s showed us a different dimension, and it wasn’t by design. But he loves this turf course, and he’s three-for-three here now.”

GARRETT GOMEZ (jockey of winner Chamberlain Bridge) – “When he gets behind horses on the inside, it takes some of his speed away. The horse that was free wheeling on the lead started to come back quickly. But then I had a little trouble getting my horse focused but once I did, he came home well.”