Chip Woolley Jr.

The stars of the 2009 Triple Crown season ignored rainy weather at Churchill Downs on Monday as Kentucky Derby (Grade I) winner and Preakness (GI) runner-up Mine That Bird and the Preakness-winning filly Rachel Alexandra turned in workouts over a “sloppy” track.
    Mine That Bird had jockey Calvin Borel, his pilot in the “Run for the Roses”, in the saddle as he breezed four furlongs in :51 in his first serious training move since the Preakness.  Rachel Alexandra cruised a half mile in :50.20 under exercise rider Dominic Terry, with a steady rain pelting the filly during much of her first work since her historic triumph in the second jewel of the Triple Crown on May 16 at Pimlico.
    Two major questions remained without answers following the Memorial Day works.  Will Rachel Alexandra run in the June 6 Belmont Stakes (GI) and attempt to become the first filly to win two legs of the Triple Crown?  And, if she does not run in the 1 ½-mile “Test of the Champion,” would Borel have an opportunity to ride Mine That Bird in the Triple Crown’s final jewel?
    Majority owner Jess Jackson of Stonestreet Stables said a decision of the Belmont Stakes status of Rachel Alexandra would not be made until next week at the earliest.  Rachel Alexandra is scheduled to work then and her camp would know more after that effort...
    “She is recovering nicely from the Preakness,” Jackson said.  “The key thing is her attitude.  She thinks can run through a brick wall.  We have to pull her back because she wants to run.”
    Trainer Steve Asmussen said he was pleased with the work, which came under unusual conditions.  A brief, but heavy, rain shower started to pelt the track as Rachel Alexandra entered the far turn, about an eighth of a mile into her work.
    “She looked beautiful, like Rachel does,” said Asmussen.  “The weather was not exactly cooperating this morning.  We a pretty good shower right in the middle of her breeze, but she handled it well, like she does everything else.  She came back very relaxed and looked good.”
    Jackson huddled after the work with Borel, who has ridden Rachel Alexandra throughout her winning streak of six consecutive stakes races, and Jerry Hissam, Borel’s agent.  Jackson said that Robby Albarado, the rider of his two-time “Horse of the Year” Curlin, could be called on to ride Rachel Alexandra if the decision was made to run the filly in the Belmont and Borel had another Belmont riding commitment.  
    Trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr. said he was happy with the easy move by Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Serte Equine’s Mine That Bird, which came shortly after the mid-session break for track maintenance.  
Woolley said he and co-owners Mark Allen and Dr. Leonard Blach would wait a few more days before making a decision on a rider for the Belmont Stakes.  The left the door open for Borel to return to the saddle aboard the Kentucky Derby winner if Rachel Alexandra’s camp decides against a Belmont bid.
    Borel was in the irons for the 6 ¾-length romp by the Birdstone gelding in the Kentucky Derby, but chose to ride Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness.  Mike Smith was aboard the Derby winner at Pimlico, but a previous commitment will keep him from riding Mine That Bird in the Belmont.  
   

Kentucky Derby (Grade I) winner Mine That Bird, a gallant runner-up to the brilliant filly Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness (GI), is off of the road and back in his stall at Barn 42 at Churchill Downs following a road trip from Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course, Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s son of Birdstone will return to the track on Tuesday to begin his preparation for a run in the Belmont Stakes (GI), the third jewel of racing’s Triple Crown that will be run on June 6 at New York’s Belmont Park.

    Trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr. rolled his truck and the trailer that carried the Derby winner to halt in front of the barn at 6:30 p.m. (EDT).  The gelded son of Birdstone stepped off the van following the nine and a half hour and into the barn, where he took a few rounds to stretch his legs.  Mine That Bird then relaxed by grazing in the lush grass behind the barn.  

    “The trip was great it, it went smooth as silk,” said Woolley.  “He looks good.  He come off the trailer pretty relaxed and looks all right, so we’re pretty happy with where he’s at right now.”

    The journey from Baltimore was less eventful that Mine That Bird’s journey through the 1 3/16-mile Preakness.  The Derby winner ran into some traffic problems and had to swing wide for the run down the stretch with a furious rally under jockey Mike Smith that erased all but one length form his early deficit to the victorious Kentucky Oaks (GI)-winning filly Rachel Alexandra.

    “You’ve got to give a lot of credit to that filly,” Woolley said.  “She run huge and deserves all the respect.  She run a great race and we just come up a little short.”

    Mine That Bird won’t get much time to relax on his return to the track where he notched his 6 ¾-length victory at odds of 50-1 in the May 2 Kentucky Derby.  Woolley said Mine That Bird would head back to the track on Tuesday to resume his training for the Belmont.  
 
    “We’ll just maybe jog him a couple of rounds backwards tomorrow and then go back and gallop the next day,” Woolley said.  “We don’t know when we’ll work him.  We’ll let him decide that.  He’s run two hard races and we’ll let him freshen up a little bit.  When he starts to showing he’s a little too fresh, he’ll stretch his legs.  But we’ll make that decision later.”

    As he returned to Churchill Downs, Woolley and co-owners Mark Allen and Dr. Leonard Blach found themselves in the unusual position of again looking for a jockey to ride Mine That Bird in the Belmont.  Calvin Borel gave up the mount after the Derby to ride Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness.  Mike Smith was aboard for the Derby winner’s big effort in the Preakness, but he is committed to ride Madeo for trainer John Shirreffs and owners Jerry and Ann Moss in the Charlie Whittingham Stakes (GI) at Hollywood Park on Belmont Stakes Day.

    Smith rode Giacamo to victory in the 2005 Kentucky Derby for the Mosses and Shirreffs, and is the regular rider for their unbeaten champion mare Zenyatta.  So Smith will honor an earlier commitment to ride Madeo in the Whittingham.

    “I don’t know,” said Woolley.  “It’s kinda funny.  You’d think if you get a horse this good, you’d keep one, but apparently not.  So we’ll deal with that here in a couple of days and we’ll see what happens.”

    Woolley said he’s heard from the agents of several riders who are interested in the mount on the Derby winner in the 1 ½-mile third jewel of the Triple Crown.  He has not made up his mind, but indicated that he won’t wait to see whether Rachel Alexandra goes on to the Belmont.  If the filly stays in trainer Steve Asmussen’s barn, it would free Calvin Borel to ride the horse he piloted to the second-biggest upset in Kentucky Derby history.

    “We’re going to make a decision pretty quickly, so we’ll see what happens,” said Woolley.  “Patience is probably the number one concern.  Is somebody patient and will they wait and see how things develop.  We’ll just have to see how it goes.”

    While Mine That Bird will be in familiar surroundings at Churchill Downs as he prepares for the Belmont Stakes, Woolley said his Derby winner could have a different ride when he makes the trip to Belmont Park.  Woolley said Mine That Bird would probably fly to Belmont in the days before the race rather than travel in his trailer because of concerns about traffic on the trip to the Elmont, N.Y. track.  

    The runner-up finish in the Preakness improved Mine That Bird’s career record to 5-2-0 in 10 races and lifted his earnings to $2,011,581.

KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER MINE THAT BIRD HEADS TO PIMLICO – A few minutes after 9 o’clock Tuesday morning, Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s Mine That Bird rolled out of the Churchill Downs barn area headed for Baltimore and the second leg of racing’s Triple Crown.
    With trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley behind the wheel of the Ford F-450 Lariat and exercise rider Charlie Figueroa riding shotgun, the Kentucky Derby-winning team left Barn 42 with Mine That Bird comfortably ensconced in the trailer behind the truck.
    “I think he is ready,” Woolley said. “If we make the trip up there good and he eats good, I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
    Woolley arrived pulling the trailer at 6 a.m. and began the process of loading everything for the 10-hour trip to Pimlico. Mine That Bird, who had worked a half-mile in :49.20 on Monday morning, walked the shedrow for 20 minutes and grazed behind the barn for another 15 minutes before returning to his stall for 10 minutes before loading on the trailer at 9 o’clock.
    The only stops Woolley planned to make was the occasional restroom break and to grab a bite to eat.
    “I have about 115 gallons and hauling the trailer I get about 8 ½ miles a gallon,” Woolley said. “This will be about like our first day coming here when we went from El Paso on Lone Star Park (in suburban Dallas). We won’t need to stop for gas. When we stop to eat, I’ll open the top of the window and let him look out and take things in. He’s a good shipper. Nothing bothers him.”
    Woolley was eager for the trip to begin.
    “It’s getting exciting; things are starting to build and I am eager to run again,” Woolley said. “I came here as the underdog with no pressure. Things have changed slightly.”
    Before Mine That Bird walked into the trailer, Bob Baffert, astride his stable pony Leo, rode up from Barn 33 where his Kentucky Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile is housed.
    “I just want to see how this is done,” Baffert said with a laugh.
    The two trainers shook hands, wished each other luck and then it was time to go.
    With Baffert running interference on Leo, Woolley pulled in right behind and had a clear shot to Gate 6 and the open road east.

PREAKNESS-WINNING RIDER ROSE GETS MOUNT ON TERRAIN – Trainer Al Stall Jr. said Jeremy Rose would have the mount on Adele Dilschneider’s Terrain in Preakness 134 on Saturday.
    “He has won the race (on Afleet Alex in 2005) and he knows the track there,” Stall said of Rose.
    Julien Leparoux had ridden Terrain in his first two starts of 2009, but has the call on General Quarters in the Preakness.
    Terrain, with exercise rider Jimmy Valdez up, jogged in the mile chute alongside a pony for about five minutes and then galloped once around the main track before the renovation break Tuesday morning.
    Stall said Terrain would gallop in the morning and is scheduled to be on a 1:30 p.m. flight to Baltimore.

HULL TO BYPASS PREAKNESS – “Looks like we’re not going,” trainer Dale Romans said Tuesday morning about the undefeated winner of the Derby Trial (Grade III) Hull. “I just don’t like the shape-up of the whole race.”
    Hull, who had worked a bullet, five furlongs in :59.40 on Sunday, returned to the track Tuesday morning to jog. Owned by Heiligbrodt Racing Stable, Team Valor International and Gary Barber, Hull will now be pointed to the Grade II Woody Stephens at seven furlongs on June 6 at Belmont Park.

BARN TALK – Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) winner and Preakness possible starter Rachel Alexandra was on the track at 6:20 a.m. Tuesday, going once around with exercise rider Dominic Terry up. Rachel Alexandra had worked a half-mile in :48.40 on Sunday and walked Monday.
    Zayat Stables Pioneerof the Nile walked the shedrow a day after working a half-mile in :47.60 on Monday. Trainer Bob Baffert said Pioneerof the Nile would go to the track in the morning and then leave for Baltimore on a 1:30 p.m. flight.
    Getting a jump on the migration east to Baltimore was owner/trainer Tom McCarthy’s General Quarters as well as five horses trained by D. Wayne Lukas including Preakness hopefuls Flying Private, owned by Robert Baker and William Mack, and Luv Gov, owned by the Marylou Whitney Stable. All were gone before the track opened for training at 6 o’clock.

RACHEL ALEXANDRA MOVES TO NEW BARN – Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick’s new purchase Rachel Alexandra began her new life in the care of trainer Steve Asmussen on Thursday morning by galloping once around a sloppy Churchill Downs main track under exercise rider Dominic Terry.
    The dominating, 20 ¼-length winner of last Friday’s Kentucky Oaks (Grade I), Rachel Alexandra was sold by the L and M Partners of Dolphus Morrison and Michael Lauffer on Wednesday.  Rachel Alexandra was transferred from trainer Hal Wiggins’ barn to Asmussen’s at 5:15 (EDT) Thursday morning.
    Jess Jackson, who campaigned two-time Horse of the Year,2007 Preakness (GI) winner and 2008 Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) winner Curlin under his stable colors, was asked what he thought of the latest addition to his stable after her morning exercise.
    “She is a graceful athlete; she moves like a ballerina and has the size of some of the colts,” Jackson said. “I am looking forward to seeing her compete.”
    Jackson was asked when the “ballerina” might run next.
    “The ink is not even dry yet,” Jackson said. “The only decision was to bring her to Steve’s barn. No decision has been made on any race or a rider. Basically the same team is in place as we had with Curlin, and like Curlin, we will let her decide when she runs and where she runs.”
    Asmussen, who saddled Curlin to his Preakness victory, indicated that like most of his runners nine to 10 days after a race, Rachel Alexandra would have her first recorded workout on Sunday or Monday. Terry would be her regular exercise rider and she would go out in the second set, around 6:15, each morning.
    “She’s a tremendously fast filly,” Asmussen said. “Hal (Wiggins) and his team did a tremendous job with her. We just got her today and we have no timetable or any plans to announce at this time.”
    For Wiggins, Thursday was anything but business as usual.
    “They came and got her at 5:15,” Wiggins said. “I didn’t know anything about it (the sale) until Tuesday night. I hope I see her in the winner’s circle many more times.”
    Racing for Wiggins, Rachel Alexandra compiled a record of 10-7-2-0 with earnings of $958,354. In addition to the Kentucky Oaks triumph, Rachel Alexandra scored Grade II victories in the Fantasy, Fair Grounds Oaks and Golden Rod plus added runner-up finishes in the Grade III Pocahontas and Debutante at Churchill Downs.
    “It was pretty tough (this morning),” Wiggins said. “When a horse is injured, that’s tough, too. As a trainer, you never know what you will find (in the morning). We will get over it. We were blessed to have her and experience the joy of winning the Oaks here.
    “It will be a little hard walking by that stall,” Wiggins continued, knowing he will still see her on the track. “It will be a joy to see her. I’ll have a smile on my face and a good feeling. I wish the new owners nothing but the best. I know she is in good hands and they will do right by her. I will be pulling for her every time she runs.”    
 
MINE THAT BIRD CONTINUES PREAKNESS PREPARATIONS – Kentucky Derby 135 winner Mine That Bird galloped two times around the main track at Churchill Downs on Thursday morning before the renovation break with exercise rider Charlie Figueroa up.
    Trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr. expressed satisfaction with the morning activity and remains on track to bring Mine That Bird, owned by Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine, to Pimlico on Tuesday.
    “He is doing good and I am surprised how he has bounced back because he had to run hard,” Woolley said. “But he is pretty easy on himself and doesn’t pound the ground.”
    But the overriding issue Thursday morning was the possibility that Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra could be supplemented to the Preakness and Woolley could possibly lose the services of jockey Calvin Borel, who swept the Oaks and Derby last weekend.
    “I hope they go to the Acorn (on June 6) with that mare,” Woolley said. “I told people that day (Derby Day) that I was glad she was not in the Derby.”    
    Woolley was bracing for the prospect of maybe losing his rider.
    “It’s a possibility; it could happen,” Woolley said. “But I don’t think I will have a hard time finding a rider if it happens.”

PREAKNESS PROBABLES GALLOP ON “SLOPPY” TRACK -- Zayat Stables’ Pioneerof the Nile galloped a mile and a half on a “sloppy” track after the renovation break with exercise rider George Alvarez up.
    Trainer Bob Baffert is scheduled to return to Louisville Saturday night and Pioneerof the Nile is tentatively slated to work Monday before shipping to Maryland on Wednesday if Baffert decides on a Preakness bid.
            Bo Hirsch’s Papa Clem galloped a mile and a half before the renovation break under exercise rider Mundo Gonzalez. The fourth-place Kentucky Derby finisher is scheduled to gallop again Friday and may leave for Pimlico later in the day or Saturday.
         Owner/trainer Tom McCarthy was happy with the mile and a half morning gallop from General Quarters before the renovation break, but he had a question for a bystander as exercise rider Julie Sheets brought the colt off the track.
    “What are they doing with that filly?” McCarthy asked referring to Rachel Alexandra. “She’s an awfully good filly.”
    Rachel Alexandra could be supplemented to the Preakness, but McCarthy is planning to head east on Tuesday.
    “I would hate not to go and have her not get in,” McCarthy said. “I went back and looked over the Oaks field and it didn’t look like she was facing the quality of competition that she will face in the Preakness.”
    McCarthy plans to gallop General Quarters the next five days, including next Tuesday before vanning to Baltimore.
    “I’d like to train here that morning if at all possible and then be able to jog Wednesday morning at Pimlico to allow him to get a feel for the track,” McCarthy said.
    Julien Leparoux, who was aboard in Kentucky Derby 135 in which General Quarters finished 10th, retains the mount for the Preakness.
        Robert Baker and William Mack’s Flying Private galloped shortly after the track opened Thursday morning at Churchill Downs with Taylor Carty up.
    Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said he likely would name a rider for Flying Private on Friday.
    Asked about the prospect of facing Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness, Lukas said: “I don’t like the idea at all. I’d like to run against the third-place finisher in the fifth at Beulah!”
       Adele Dilschneider’s Terrain galloped a mile and a half before the renovation break with exercise rider Jimmy Valdez up.
    Trainer Al Stall Jr. plans to work Terrain on Saturday or Sunday.
    “Looks like Sunday may be the work day,” Stall said as he monitored a Weather Channel forecast that called for rain the next three days in Louisville. “But we are in no rush. We have the luxury of time with five weeks (between the Toyota Blue Grass and the Preakness).”
       Trainer Dale Romans sent Heiligbrodt Racing Stable, Team Valor International and Gary Barber’s undefeated Hull out for a gallop after the renovation break.
    Asked if the presence of the speedy Rachel Alexandra might alter his Preakness plans for Hull, Romans said, “She might.”
    Hull is scheduled to work five furlongs on Saturday.

BARN TALK – Julien Leparoux rode two winners on Wednesday’s card to take a one-win lead (12-11) over Jamie Theriot in the race for leading rider. Leparoux’s career win total stands at 993 entering Thursday’s card.
    Trainer Al Stall Jr. said that B. Wayne Hughes’ My Pal Charlie has been nominated to the $600,000 Shadwell Metropolitan Handicap (Grade I) to be run May 25 at Belmont Park.
    “He came out of the race Derby Day (a runner-up finish in the Grade II Churchill Downs) in great shape,” Stall said. “A mile on the dirt may not be a bad way to go with him.”

MINE THAT BIRD ‘LOPES’ ONCE AROUND – Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s Kentucky Derby 135 winner Mine That Bird back-tracked to the paddock tunnel and then ‘loped’ once around a “fast” Churchill Downs main track Tuesday morning before the renovation break.
    Trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr. liked what he saw and said Mine That Bird would ‘lope’ around twice on Wednesday.
    “The only reason we are staying here is because he is very comfortable here and training well,” Woolley said. “We will leave Monday or Tuesday, probably Tuesday.  He may jog the morning we leave. I’d like to leave about 9 and get into Pimlico around 7 that evening.”
    The magnitude of pulling off the second-largest mutual shocker ($103.20) still has not sunk in on Woolley.
    “The whole thing is still a whirlwind,” Woolley said. “It is hard to get a grip on it that it really happened. Eventually you’ll get used to the fact that it really did happen.
    “Sunday I was in the paddock getting ready to do an interview and looked up at the sign ‘Kentucky Derby 2009, Mine That Bird’ and I almost started crying. I couldn’t believe it.”
    Winning jockey Calvin Borel, who saw his bid for a Triple Crown end two years ago at Pimlico on Street Sense when he was nipped by Curlin, came by the barn to look in on the Derby winner.
    Woolley was asked what Borel told him after he worked Mine That Bird five furlongs the Monday before the Derby after being on the gelding for the first time.
    “I was looking for 1:01 that morning and he went in 1:02 but he got off a little slow,” Woolley said. “Calvin never moved on him and he said ‘He will finish’ and that gave Calvin the confidence to take back and come driving.”

PAPA CLEM RETURNS TO THE TRACK – Bo Hirsch’s Papa Clem returned to the track at Churchill Downs at 6:15 Tuesday morning for the first time since running fourth in Kentucky Derby 135.
    With exercise rider Mundo Gonzalez aboard, Papa Clem jogged the wrong way around accompanied by a pony. Gonzalez said Papa Clem would gallop in the morning about the same time.
    Trainer Gary Stute is scheduled to return to Louisville this weekend and the colt is scheduled to fly to Baltimore on May 13.

PIONEEROF THE NILE HEADS BACK TO TRACK WEDNESDAY – Zayat Stables’ Pioneerof the Nile is scheduled to return to the track Wednesday morning for the first time since his runner-up finish in Kentucky Derby 135.
    Trainer Bob Baffert is scheduled to return to Louisville on Saturday night. Two of the nine runners he has at Churchill Downs, Mike Pegram’s Mayor Marv and Peachtree Stable’s Mythical Power, will be heading to Texas on Wednesday for Saturday’s $400,000 guaranteed Lone Star Derby (Grade III) at a mile and a sixteenth.

GENERAL QUARTERS REMAINS PREAKNESS POSSIBILITY – Owner/trainer Tom McCarthy walked General Quarters on Tuesday morning and plans to return the 10th-place Kentucky Derby 135 finisher to the track Wednesday morning.
    “The Preakness is a possibility, but I want to see how he gallops and go from there,” McCarthy said. “He is doing so well. I’d like to get him over there (Pimlico) and get a few turns around the track.”
     McCarthy is not sure when he would bring General Quarters to Pimlico if he decides to try the Preakness. A charter flight leaves from Louisville on May 13, but, McCarthy said, “He ships so well, I may van him up.”
    
HULL, MENA TO TEAM UP IN PREAKNEES FOR ROMANS – Heiligbrodt Racing Stable, Team Valor International and Gary Barber’s undefeated Hull galloped Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs.
    Trainer Dale Romans said the undefeated winner of the Grade III Derby Trial on April 25 would work Saturday morning and fly to Baltimore on May 13. Miguel Mena, who was aboard for the Derby Trial win, has the Preakness call.

TERRAIN HEADING FOR TEXAS … OR BALTIMORE – “We’ve got a decision to make,” trainer Al Stall Jr., said Tuesday morning. “The plane for Texas leaves at 7 o’clock in the morning.”
    The decision will be whether Adele Dilschneider’s Terrain goes to Lone Star Park for Saturday’s Lone Star Derby or remains in Stall 7 at Barn 47 at Churchill Downs and trains for the Preakness.
    “We are not 100 percent for the Preakness,” Stall said. “He is at Keeneland and is coming over here this afternoon. If he does not go to Texas, he will work here this weekend and fly to Baltimore next Wednesday.”
    Terrain ran fourth in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) at Keeneland on April 11 in his most recent start.
    “We gave him a little time off after the Blue Grass and he has had two works since,” Stall said of Terrain, who worked a half-mile in :50.40 at Keeneland on Sunday. “He has done real well since the Blue Grass.”
    Terrain has run twice this year, opening with a third-place finish in the Louisiana derby (Grade II) on March 14. Fourth in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Grade I), Terrain closed 2008 with a fifth-place finish in the Grade III Delta Jackpot behind possible Preakness rival Big Drama.

BARN TALK – IEAH Stables, Lewis Lakin and Pegasus Holding Group Stable’s Pure Clan, winner of last year’s Grade III Regret at Churchill Downs and the American Oaks Invitational (Grade I) at Hollywood Park, worked five furlongs on a “fast” main track in 1:00.40, second best of 25 at the distance, under regular morning partner Steve Schmelzel.
    “When we got her back off the farm, she had a stone bruise and that put us about 30 days behind with her,” trainer Bob Holthus said of Pure Clan, a three-time stakes winner at Churchill Downs and third-place finisher in the 2008 Kentucky Oaks (Grade I). “I had been working her on Saturday, but I didn’t want to go on Derby Day.”
    Pure Clan’s return is expected to come in the Early Times Mint Julep (Grade III) at a mile and a sixteenth on the Matt Winn Turf Course.
    “She worked well this morning, but her next work or two will probably be on the grass,” Holthus said.
The only faster work was turned in by three-time graded stakes winner Capt. Candyman Can, owned by Joseph Rauch and David Zell in 1:00.20 for trainer Ian Wilkes.
Robby Albarado joined the 800-win club at Churchill Downs last week, becoming only the sixth rider in track history to reach that milestone. He hit the mark in Thursday’s eighth race when he guided La Mousse (ARG) to victory.
    Calvin Borel, currently third in the rider standings with nine victories, is six wins shy of becoming the fourth rider in Churchill Downs history to reach 900 victories. Victory No. 9, which came aboard Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby, gave him 4,729 for his career.
    Jamie Theriot and Julien Leparoux lead the rider standings with 10 victories each.
Trainer Ken McPeek enters Wednesday’s card with 996 career victories, 231 of them at Churchill Downs. McPeek has two horses entered on Wednesday’s card: Biden Our Time in the second and Mimi’s Kids in the sixth.
Nominations close Wednesday for the eighth running of the $100,000 Matt Winn for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs on the main track on May 16. Zayat Stables’ Eaton’s Gift gave trainer Dale Romans his second consecutive Matt Winn victory in the 2008 running.
    Closing Saturday are nominations for the 72nd running of the $100,000 Louisville Handicap (Grade III) for 3-year-olds and up going a mile and a half over the Matt Winn Turf Course and for the sixth running of the $100,000 Winning Colors for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going six furlongs on the main track. The Louisville Handicap will be run May 23 and the Winning Colors on Memorial Day, May 25.
    Adele Dilschneider and Claiborne Farm’s Lattice won last year’s Louisville Handicap for trainer Al Stall Jr. Graeme Six, trained by Tom Amoss for the ownership of Tom O’Grady, Johns Martin and Team West Side Stables, won the 2008 Winning Colors.
Tracy Farmer’s Commentator, a two-time winner of the Whitney (GI) at Saratoga, worked four furlongs in :47.60 for trainer Nick Zito.  The 8-year-old Distorted Humor gelding is coming off an upset loss in his 2009 debut in the $500,000 Charles Town Classic at West Virginia’s Charles Town Races & Slots.
Chrysalis Stable LLC’s Silverfoot, the 9-year-old three-time winner of the Louisville Handicap (GIII), continued to work toward his 2009 debut with a five-furlong breeze around the dogs on “good” turf in 1:03.40.
Mr. Nightlinger, winner of the 2008 Aegon Turf Sprint (GIII), breezed four furlongs on the grass in :49.40.

Kentucky Derby fans who visited Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum on the day after the 135th “Run for the Roses” got a surprise gift from the team behind Mine That Bird, the 50-1 longshot that won America’s greatest race on Saturday.

Trainer Chip Woolley Jr. suggested Sunday morning that the mantle of roses worn by Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby Winner’s Circle after his victory be placed on the new sculpture of 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro located at Churchill Downs’ Gate 1 entrance.  After consulting with co-owners Mark Allen with Double Eagle Ranch and Dr. Leonard Blach of Bueno Suerte Equine, the trio behind Saturday’s surprise Derby winner decided to give the nearly 400 “Freedom Roses” that make up the garland to Derby fans who were visiting the Barbaro Memorial and the Kentucky Derby Museum on the day after the race.

The garland had been stored in refrigeration overnight in the museum, and at noon (EDT) was briefly placed over the rail of the Barbaro sculpture in tribute to the ill-fated 2006 winner of the Kentucky Derby.  The garland was then removed and Woolley and Allen began handing out the roses, one-by-one, to fans who happened by the larger-than-life sculpture as they visited the museum and Churchill Downs.

“This is a tribute to a great horse,” Woolley said.  “I wanted everyone to have a little piece of the Derby. We wanted to give something back to the game.  We just want to show how important horses really are.  That’s what this is all about.  We want people to know just how important these horses really are to us.  They’re not just animals, they’re a part of us.”

A line of delighted fans formed in front of the Barbaro sculpture as they awaited their opportunity for a Derby rose won by Mine That Bird, and Woolley and Allen also posed for photos and signed autographs until the each rose had been distributed.  The two men greeted fans in front of the Barbaro Memorial for more than an hour and a half until each rose from the garland had been handed out.