Delightful Kiss

Pitts Ecstatic Over Einstein's Clark Performance - More than 12 hours after Einstein's tour de force victory in the $400,000 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (Grade II), the smile had not left the face of trainer Helen Pitts.[asset|]

            "I am just so proud of him," Pitts said of Einstein's 1 ½-length victory over Delightful Kiss. "I have never had a horse that loves his job so much."

            Einstein, winner of the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (GI) on Kentucky Derby Day, tracked odds-on favorite Commentator until the top of the stretch when he powered by to give jockey Julien Leparoux his fifth winner of the day.

            The victory was the fourth of the year for Einstein to go with three seconds in an eight-race campaign. Pitts called it his best race of the year.

            "The Turf Classic on Derby Day here was phenomenal," Pitts said of that victory, "and his Stephen Foster (second to Curlin) was great. But yesterday was sensational, the top of the heap, the way he did it coming off the layoff."

            Einstein had not run since a troubled fifth in the Aug. 9 Arlington Million (GI) on the Arlington Park turf. The Clark victory closed out the year for Einstein.

            "He will leave in 10 days for Gulfstream Park," Pitts said. "Our next goal with him is the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap (GI to be run Feb. 1)."

            Einstein is a two-time winner of the Gulfstream Park race.

            Is there any chance Einstein could return to the dirt?

            "Probably the only place I would run him on the dirt would be here," Pitts said of Einstein, who broke his maiden at Churchill Downs on the dirt on Nov. 6, 2005 and has a 2-1-0 record in three races over the local course. "He really loves the dirt here."               

SUNSHINE MILLIONS NEXT OBJECTIVE FOR DELIGHTFUL KISS - Hobeau Farm's Delightful Kiss, a hard-charging runner-up to Einstein in the Clark Handicap, was scheduled to leave Churchill Downs around noon on Saturday for a return to his home base at Calder Race Course in Miami.

            "He ran a big race yesterday; he was really running at the finish," trainer Pete Anderson said.

            The 1 1/8-mile Clark closed out a strong finish to 2008 for Delightful Kiss, who scored Grade III victories in the Turfway Park Fall Championship and the All American Stakes at Golden Gate before running fourth, beaten two lengths, in the inaugural Breeders' Cup Marathon at Oak Tree at Santa Anita.

            "My next goal for him will be the Sunshine Millions at the end of January (Jan. 24)," Anderson said. "I might run him on the grass prior to that."

            Anderson first brought Delightful Kiss to Churchill Downs in the spring of 2007 with hopes of getting in the Kentucky Derby. However, insufficient graded earnings kept Delightful Kiss out of the "Run for the Roses" won by Street Sense.

            Anderson was asked if he thought he would have had the same success with Delightful Kiss had he run in the Kentucky Derby.

            "It is hard to say because he won the Ohio Derby soon after that and he was very close to top form," Anderson said. "He had a quarter crack that we were fighting after the Arkansas Derby. I would have liked to have made the Kentucky Derby, because at my age (now 77), I don't think I am going to get many chances.

            "I am fortunate to have him, he is a true delight. He has added 10 years to my life and for that I don't mind him biting me and kicking me."

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED FOR LEPAROUX - Julien Leparoux started the 26-day Fall Meet on fire and never cooled to an ember.

He took the lead for keeps in the rider standings with a four-win day on Oct. 30, the third day of the meet, and never looked back.

Leparoux hit the 10-day mark with 23 victories and the early pace had him on a path to break Pat Day's 23-year-old Fall Meet record of 55 victories. The bulk of the wins came for owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey and trainer Mike Maker.

"Hopefully, everyone will break a record," Leparoux said three weeks ago of the record pace the Ramseys and Maker were on.

In Friday's third race, Leparoux made it mission accomplished on all counts when his victory aboard the Ramseys-owned and Maker-trained Just Like William gave him 56 winners.

Leparoux added three more winners on his five-win Friday and entered Saturday's card with 59 victories. Leparoux also had also posted 40 second-place finishes and 25 thirds for an in-the-money percentage of 62. He was named on nine mounts on Saturday's final racing program of the Fall Meet.

Maker enters closing day with 29 winners, 28 of which have been ridden by Leparoux. Maker, who obliterated the previous Fall Meet record of 20 victories set by Dale Romans during the 27-day meet of 2003, has four horses entered today.

The Ramseys have 24 victories of which 22 have been ridden by Leparoux. With only two runners entered Saturday, there is one record that will elude the Ramseys' grasp: Most wins at a single meet.

During the 93-day Spring Meet in 1984, A.J. Foyt Jr. established that mark with 27 winners during the 93-day Spring Meet of 1984.  The previous Fall Meet record was 15 victories, set by T. Alie Grissom during the 23-day session in 1965.

WORK TAB (Track: FAST) - Magdalena Racing's Mrs. Revere (GII) runner-up My Baby Baby worked a bullet five furlongs in 1:01.60 for trainer Ken McPeek. Also working for McPeek were Koolmen Racing Stable's graded stakes-placed A to the Croft (1:02.60 for five-eighths, 10^th best of 17) and Lansdon Robbins III's stylish 2-year-old debut winner Danger to Society (:48.40 for a half-mile, fourth best of 35).

(November 28, 2008) – Einstein, a 6-year-old son of 1985 Kentucky Derby winner Spend a Buck, collared 2-5 favorite Commentator at the head of the stretch and then held off a late surge from Delightful Kiss to win Friday’s 134th running of the $440,400 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GII) at Churchill Downs by 1 ½ lengths.

Trained by Helen Pitts, Einstein ran the 1 1/8 miles on a fast main track in 1:49.79. The victory was the fifth of the day for Leparoux, who earlier in the card established a Fall Meet record for victories.

            The Fall Meet concludes its 26-day run Saturday with the “Stars of Tomorrow II” card featuring all 2-year-olds. The 12-race program begins at 11:30 a.m. (ET) with general admission gates opening at 10 a.m.

            Highlighting the card will be two Grade II stakes at 1 1/16 miles on the main track: the $150,000-added Golden Rod for fillies that goes as the ninth race at approximately 3:28 p.m. and the $150,000-added Kentucky Jockey Club that goes as the 11th race with an approximate 4:27 p.m. post time.

Also, reigning Horse of the Year and North America’s leading all-time money-earner Curlin will be paraded before the crowd between Races 5-6, and there’s a $23,365 carryover for the Z-5 (Super Hi-5), which requires bettors to pick the top five finishers in order, for the fifth race.

            Commentator, ridden by John Velazquez and carrying high weight of 124 pounds, led the field of seven through early fractions of :24.57, :48.58 and 1:12.64 with Einstein, toting 119 pounds, as his closest pursuer. Leparoux moved Einstein to the outside of Commentator at the top of the stretch, dueling on even terms for a sixteenth of a mile before beginning to draw clear.

Delightful Kiss, ridden by Calvin Borel, rallied from far back to be a clear second, but was no threat to Einstein, who took home the winner’s check of $267,588 to raise his career earnings to $1,634,019.

Racing for court-appointed owner Matthew Garretson, Einstein posted his first career graded-stakes victory on dirt. Einstein, who had run second to 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin in this summer’s Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) here, owns three Grade I victories on the grass.

Einstein rewarded his backers with mutuels of $11.80, $5.20 and $2.60. Delightful Kiss returned $10.80 and $3.80 in finishing 2 1/4 lengths ahead of Commentator, who paid $2.10 to show.

Completing the field in order were Magna Graduate, Wayzata Bay, Dominican and Anak Nakal.

Two races before the Clark Handicap, 2008 Belmont Stakes winner Da’ Tara finished third in a 1 1/16-mile allowance optional claiming race. Da’ Tara was the first Belmont Stakes winner to run at Churchill Downs since 1999 winner Lemon Drop Kid ran in the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Leparoux broke a 23-year-old Fall Meet record for victories when he recorded his 56th win. The victory in the third race aboard Just Like William eclipsed the mark of 55 set in the 30-day meet of 1985 by Pat Day. Leparoux’s total entering Saturday’s card is 59.

POST-RACE QUOTES – THE CLARK HANDICAP

JULIEN LEPAROUX (Jockey, EINSTEIN-BRZ, winner) – “I knew I had to stay close to Commentator and he broke sharp. I just kind of eased up a little bit on the outside. I just ran behind him all the way. When I asked him, he stuck his head in front of him and we were gone. It was done.”

Q: Did you work him in the morning?

“Yes. I breezed him last time and he breezed very good. We were expecting a good race from him, that’s for sure.”

Q: Was the game plan not to let Commentator get away?

“Yes, yes. The plan was to be right behind him and to not give him too much to do. Commentator is a very, very good horse and if you give him too much to do it would be tough.

Q: You were second aboard Einstein in the Stephen Foster. What was the difference today?

“That was a different race. It was a slow pace and he didn’t break very, very good that day. We came from the back and then finished. He still finished very good and just got beat by Curlin. Not bad.”

HELEN PITTS (Trainer, EINSTEIN-BRZ, winner) – “To be able to win a stake like that means the world to me but to get a graded stake on the dirt for him is super. It was kind of my main objective coming in here. He was second in a Grade I in the Stephen Foster. But to win a graded stake on the dirt for him, he deserves it more than anybody out there because I’ve never had a horse that loves his job and loves to train and loves to run as much as he does. When he turned for home, I knew he’d dig deep down inside to find all he could to get there. He’s a very special horse.”

Q: The game plan was to stay close, but isn’t there a fine line?

“There is. I mean, he worked him the other day and it was a big key. He rode him in the Stephen Foster but he had him close today and I think he realized that. In the Stephen Foster, I think he left him with a little too much to do. Today, they went :24 and change in the first quarter and he was perfect. It was a little bit out of Einstein’s style but at the same time they went slow enough where it wasn’t putting him totally out. I might have been second-guessing my own training at the three-eighths pole, but he pulled through for me. Just to have a horse like him means the world to me.”

Q: It was a nice win off the layoff . . .

“It was and I was hoping he hadn’t lost too much. That’s why everybody kept asking me, ‘Are you going to run? Are you going to run?’ I was going to let him tell me. When he worked like that last week and Julien said he did it all on his own, I figured he was ready.”

PETE ANDERSON, trainer of DELIGHTFUL KISS (runner-up)

“He (jockey Calvin Borel) gave him a lot to do.  I like the guy’s riding and all that, but he just gave him a little too much to do.  But it was a big effort.  At one stage of the game he had to be close to 20 lengths off the lead, I would think.  Unless my eyes are bad, I would say he was close to that.  When the horse (Timber Reserve) scratched, it changed the complexion of the race.”

Q: Will Delightful Kiss return racing next year?

“I’m staying with this horse until he dies.  I’ll have him until he dies.  It’s better than the fountain of youth, having this horse.  It’s one of the great thrills in my life, and I’ve had a whole lot of them.  But this is one of the great thrills of my life – I love this horse.”

CALVIN BOREL, jockey on DELIGHTFUL KISS (runner-up)

“I wish the other horse (Timber Reserve) hadn’t scratched – I think he would have added a little more pace.  But he ran good – he ran his race.  He ran a huge race – no complaints.  This horse is doing good.”

NICK ZITO, trainer of COMMENTATOR (third as the 2-5 favorite)

“He wasn’t himself.  Like everything else, it could just be the effect of a long year for him, the way he is.  He puts everything into everything he does.  You know, Helen (Pitts) did a good job with Einstein – coming off a three-month layoff.  He’s a nice horse that finished second to Curlin.  But John (Velazquez) said Commentator was just skipping.  He wasn’t getting a good hold (of the track).  He just wasn’t himself.”

Q: Were you concerned throughout?

“When he left there I was happy, but down the backside he just couldn’t accelerate and get away, and I knew something was wrong.  John said he just wasn’t himself.”

JOHN VELAZQUEZ, jockey on COMMENTATOR (third)

“He struggled with the track.  He was good the first part of the race, but he got to the half-mile pole and I tried to encourage him, but it seemed like he was skipping – he was slipping and sliding a little bit.  That’s the first time he ever felt that he was not getting hold of the track, and he’s been everywhere.  But today he just struggled with it.  I got after him, but he just went through the motions.  He didn’t do like he can.”

SHAUN BRIDGMOHAN, jockey on MAGNA GRADUATE (fourth)

“He ran OK.  He went around and had a good trip around there.  He was just fourth today.”

DELIGHTFUL KISS, ANDERSON SEEK BETTER LUCK AT CHURCHILL IN 134TH CLARK HANDICAP - The big gray was back at his old Kentucky home: Tom Proctor's side of Barn 22 on the Churchill Downs backstretch. But this was his first late fall appearance and for horse and trainer, and a new experience for both.[asset|height=12|width=100]

            "We're not used to this, either one of us," said Pete Anderson as a steady rain fell on a chilly November Tuesday as he held the shank on Hobeau Farm's Delightful Kiss. "But, I'll tell you one thing. The whole key is to keep your horses happy and he is one happy dude right now. He likes the mud."

            Delightful Kiss got some mud to play in Tuesday morning when he breezed a half-mile in :50 over a track labeled "sloppy" with Calvin Borel up.

"I got him galloping out three-quarters in 1:14," Anderson said. "Calvin handled the work perfectly."

            Friday's forecast, however, calls for partly sunny skies with a high near 43 - ideal conditions for the 134^th running of the $400,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (Grade II).

            The Clark would mark the third Churchill Downs start for Delightful Kiss, who used Louisville as his base last spring before going on to victories in the Ohio Derby (GII) at Thistledown and Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows, and again this summer after he ran in the Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) won by reigning Horse of the Year Curlin.

            Anderson first brought Delightful Kiss here in April 2007 after a fourth-place finish to Curlin in the Arkansas Derby (GII). Delightful Kiss had finished a length out of second and the added graded-stakes money from the runner-up spot would have earned the son of Kissin Kris a spot in the Kentucky Derby 133 (GI) starting gate.

            Delightful Kiss was entered in Derby 133, but was excluded from the field of 20 because of insufficient graded stakes money.  Instead, Anderson saddled Delightful Kiss on the eve of the Derby in the Crown Royal American Turf (GIII), where he finished ninth, before the colt launched his run of Midwest Derbies.

            The only horse in Anderson's care finished seventh in this spring's Stephen Foster, beaten 12 lengths by Curlin in a race that lacked a rapid pace.  But speed is an ingredient that should be present for the Clark with the presence of Tracy Farmer's speedy dual Grade I winner Commentator.

            For the Clark, Delightful Kiss returns to traditional dirt after three consecutive starts on synthetic surfaces that included two Grade III stakes wins and a fourth-place finish in the inaugural Breeders' Cup Marathon over Santa Anita's Pro-Ride surface.

            "He is doing great and I don't think he could be any better," Anderson said. "He has just gotten better as the year went on and I know he doesn't mind the Polytrack. I know he really likes the Tapeta at Golden Gate."

            The return to the dirt is the only worry Anderson has coming into the Clark in which Delightful Kiss will carry 116 pounds and be ridden by Calvin Borel.

            "That's my only concern. I just don't know how well horses do when they go to dirt from synthetic," Anderson said.

WAYZATA BAY GETTING BETTER WITH AGE FOR HICKLIN - Wayzata Bay has occupied a spot in trainer Judi Hicklin's barn for four years, racing 36 times at eight tracks. On Friday in the Clark Handicap, Wayzata Bay will add Churchill Downs to his travel dossier.

            "We have traveled a lot of miles together," Hicklin said after she cooled out Wayzata Bay after his morning exercise. "On this trip, I'm the van driver and groom."

            The trips in 2008 have been profitable for Hicklin as Wayzata Bay, a 6-year-old son of Roar, has compiled a record of 3-3-1 in eight races with earnings of $341,950. The highlight of the year was a victory in the Grade II Cornhusker Handicap at Prairie Meadows at the Clark distance of 1 1/8 miles.

            "There are not many horses that get good at 6 and not many that get their first graded stakes win at 6," Hicklin said. "And there aren't a lot of owners that would wait that long."

            Wayzata Bay is owned by Isaac Phelps' World Thoroughbreds Racing Inc.

            Wayzata Bay enters the Clark off his worst performance of the year in the Fayette (GIII) at Keeneland on Oct. 25.  He was beaten more than 40 lengths in that 10^th-place finish behind Ball Four.  But the poor effort over Polytrack was par for the synthetic track course for Wayzata Bay, who has never been better than fourth in six starts on Polytrack.

            "I don't think he would have been a $5,000 claimer on Polytrack," Hicklin said.

            Since the Fayette, Wayzata Bay has had one work at Hawthorne, but Hicklin thinks he is ready for a good effort under jockey Israel Ocampo, who has ridden the horse in his past six starts.

            "He has been doing two-minute licks at Hawthorne and he gets a lot out of his gallops," Hicklin said. "He will come with his run."

            Wayzata Bay will mark Hicklin's second starter at Churchill Downs. Let It Rock, who ran third in a Nov. 12 allowance race and is set to run back Friday on the Clark card, was her first.

            "It got to me walking over with him and seeing the Twin Spires," Hicklin said. "I was thinking ‘Wow, what's a girl from Iowa doing here?'"

McPEEK RIDES BONANZA OF 2-YEAR-OLDS - When Gessler Racing's Redreamit romped in her debut by 3 ¾ lengths on Sunday, she gave trainer Ken McPeek his meet-leading eighth 2-year-old winner of the meet.

            "We've got a great group of horses," McPeek said. "The stars are starting to align."

            That success has occurred before the appearance of Dream Empress, who is arguably the most talented youngster in McPeek's barn.  That talented filly will not run until Saturday's "Stars of Tomorrow II" card that offers 12 races filled with 2-year-olds.

            "I've got her and Striking Dancer for the Golden Rod," McPeek said.

            Dream Empress, owned by Livin the Dream Racing, won the Darley Alcibiades (GI) at Keeneland before a runner-up effort to Stardom Bound in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI). Dream Empress had her third Churchill Downs work since the Breeders' Cup on Monday, going a half-mile in :50.80 over a sloppy track.

            McPeek is confident that his barn will reach double figures for juvenile winners by the time the curtain drops on the meet Saturday.

"I've got 14 I'm going to enter for Saturday alone," said McPeek, who won the training title in the 2002 Fall Meet.

As for Redreamit, who joined Silver Wing Stable's Free Country and Lansdon Robbins III's Danger to Society as a debut winner, she is headed to Florida with the Grade III Old Hat at six furlongs on Jan. 4 as her immediate target according to McPeek.

BARN TALK - Julien Leparoux, who entered Wednesday's card with 50 victories this meet and six away from breaking Pat Day's 23-year-old Fall Meet record, will be riding this winter at Gulfstream Park. "The bulk of our clients are going to Florida, but a lot are going to the Fair Grounds, too," Leparoux's agent Steve Bass said. "It was a hard decision, but it worked out better with his schedule. Fair Grounds is already running and Julien is going to take a couple of weeks off after the meet ends Saturday." ... Da' Tara, winner of this year's Belmont Stakes (GI), is entered in Friday's ninth race, a 1 1/16-mile allowance optional claiming event. Owned by Robert LaPenta and trained by Nick Zito, Da' Tara ran fifth in this spring's Derby Trial. Da' Tara has not run since finishing sixth in the Grade II Jerome Handicap at Belmont Park on Oct. 5. Da' Tara will face seven rivals in the 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-olds and up.  He will be the first Belmont Stakes winner to run at Churchill Downs since 1999 winner Lemon Drop Kid finished fifth to Tiznow in the 2000 Breeders' Cup Classic (GI).  Victory Gallop, the 1998 Belmont Stakes winner, won the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs the following year.... The victory in the first race Sunday by Choctaw Racing Stable's Jump Enuf gave trainer Lynn Whiting his 297^th win at Churchill Downs. Whiting, who saddled Lil E. Tee to win the 1992 Kentucky Derby, notched his first Churchill Downs victory in the Spring Meet of 1979. ... A happy 50^th birthday today to trainer Rob O'Connor.

WORK TAB - There was only one recorded work Wednesday morning over a frozen track. ... The juveniles spiced up Tuesday's work tab over a sloppy track. Prepping for possible runs in Saturday's Kentucky Jockey Club (GII), were Winchell Thoroughbreds' Zion (half-mile in :50) and Zayat Stables' Star of David (:52.20), both for trainer Steve Asmussen. Working toward Saturday's Golden Rod (GII) were the 1-2 finishers in the Grade III Iroquois: Eldon Farm's Sara Louise (five furlongs in 1:03.40 for trainer Dale Romans) and Dolphus Morrison's Rachel Alexandra (a best-of-34 half-mile in :48 for trainer Hal Wiggins). Asmussen also worked Ron Winchell's War Echo, a half-sister to Pyro, a half-mile in :51 for the Golden Rod. ... Among the works Monday on a sloppy track was West Point Thoroughbreds' Jim Dandy (GII) winner Macho Again (1:02.60 for five furlongs) for trainer Dallas Stewart, Domino Stud of Lexington, Inc.'s Miss Isella (:50 for a half-mile) prepping for Thursday's Falls City (GII) for trainer Ian Wilkes and Dogwood Stable's Coal Baron (:48.40) prepping for a probable start in the Kentucky Jockey Club for trainer David Carroll. 

DERBY TICKET DRAWINGS CONTINUE - Over the final four days of the 2008 Fall Meet, Churchill Downs will continue its public daily drawings for guests to purchase two seats to the 135^th Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands on Saturday, May 2. More than 400 names (100 each day) will be drawn between Wednesday and Saturday. Guests age 18 and up may enter each drawing by filling out an entry form at Guest Services stations located inside Gate 17 or outside of Gate 10 in the clubhouse before 1:35 p.m. ET. A new drawing will be held each day. Winners need not be present to win and payment for invoiced tickets will be due Jan. 30. The drawings began Saturday and, all told, 500 pairs of tickets, or 1,000 in total, will be made available. The seats available include a variety of clubhouse and grandstand seats, ranging from grandstand bleacher seats to clubhouse boxes. The ticket prices per seat range from $88 to $207 ($176 to $414 per pair).

CURLIN TO BE PARADED ON CLOSING DAY - Curlin, North America's reigning Horse of the Year and the continent's richest racehorse of all time with earnings of $10,501,800, will be paraded one final time at Churchill Downs on Saturday. The brilliant winner of seven Grade I events including Churchill Downs' $1 million Stephen Foster Handicap in June, is scheduled to be paraded on the main track between the fifth and sixth races. A special salute in the paddock and/or winner's circle will follow. The fifth race is scheduled for 1:28 p.m. (all times Eastern), and the first of 12 races will be at 11:30 a.m.

THIS WEEK'S GUEST ANNOUNCER: MARK JOHNSON - England's Mark Johnson will describe the closing week's racing action (Wednesday, Nov. 26 through Saturday, Nov. 29) as Churchill Downs concludes its search to replace the late Luke Kruytbosch as the next "Voice of the Kentucky Derby". There was a different track announcer each week during the five-week Fall Meet. Calder's Bobby Neuman, Louisiana Downs' Travis Stone, Golden Gate's Michael Wrona and Gulfstream Park and Monmouth Park's Larry Collmus already made their guest appearances. Churchill Downs officials are seeking input from customers and encouraging comment via email at announcer@kyderby.com.

SPECIAL CLOSING WEEK POST TIMES - Churchill Downs will run its usual 10-race program at 12:40 p.m. ET on Wednesday (admission gates open at 11 a.m. ET), but the final three days of the meet will have special start times. Twelve-race holiday cards on Thursday (Thanksgiving Day), Friday (Clark Handicap Day) and Saturday (Closing Day/Stars of Tomorrow II) will begin early at 11:30 a.m. ET and grandstand admission gates will open at 10 a.m. ET.

SPECIAL Z-5 (SUPER HI-5) SCHEDULE FOR CLOSING WEEK - The Z-5 (Super Hi-5), which requires bettors to correctly select the top five finishers in a race in exact order, will have a new schedule for the final three days of Churchill Downs' 2008 Fall Meet. From Thursday to Saturday, the payout-pumping wager that zigzags between Churchill and its sister racetrack Calder Race Course will involve Race 5 at Churchill Downs (1:27 p.m.), Race 10 at Calder (4:35 p.m.) and Race 12 at Churchill Downs (4:53 p.m.). If no one picks all five winners, the pool would carryover to the next available Z-5 (Super Hi-5) race - the first interstate jackpot of its kind in horse racing. The pool for the final race at Churchill Downs on Saturday must be paid.

ADDITIONAL PICK 4s ON FINAL THREE DAYS - Churchill Downs will offer additional Pick 4s on Thursday, Friday and Saturday's special 12-race programs. Pick 4s, which require bettors to pick the winners of four consecutive races, will link Races 1-4, 5-8 and 9-12 over the final three days of the meet.

JUNIOR JOCKEY CLUB WEEKEND ACTIVITIES - Christmas crafts, a Friday puppet show and a special tour of the paddock on Saturday highlight the closing week activities at Churchill Downs' Junior Jockey Club located near the Guest Services Booth inside Gate. 10. Coloring books, crayons, individual games and reading material are available as well, and Churchill Downs' mascot Churchill Charlie will be on hand both Friday and Saturday for photographs between 1-1:30 p.m. Also, Santa Claus will make a special appearance at Gate 17 on both days at approximately 2 p.m.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY SPECIALS AT THE DOWNS - Packages to enjoy a Thanksgiving feast at Churchill Downs are nearly sold out, but specials on Friday and Saturday's closing day card can still be had. For $50, customers can dine and watch the races from a reserved seat in the Triple Crown room, the largest and most opulent of the Jockey Club Suites facilities. Entrees on the menu include a giant Reuben sandwich, cheeseburger station, chicken tenders, chicken wings, hot dogs and bratwurst. Plus, a Bloody Mar bar will be open from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Lunch and an official program is included in the admission price. To reserve a spot, call (502) 636-4400.

STARK'S THE CHAMP - Todd Stark of Hazard, Ky. and Rudy Hardin Jr. of Louisville finished one-two in Sunday's "Who's the Champ?" Handicapping Contest for the 2008 Fall Meet at Churchill Downs. The two banked $1,400 and $800, respectively, and will represent Churchill Downs at the Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship X in Las Vegas on Jan. 23-24. A total of 134 contestants earned berths to compete in Churchill Downs' qualifier last Sunday (only 125 actually participated). Participants were required to place mythical $2 Win and Place wagers on two different horses in Races 3-8. Stark finished first with a $57.20 final bankroll. Hardin was second with $48.00.

Tracy Farmer's Commentator, Elisabeth Alexander's Magna Graduate and Midnight Cry Stable's Einstein (BRZ), who have combined to earn $5,769,604 in their stellar careers, headline a field of eight for Friday's 134^th running of the $400,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GII) at Churchill Downs.

            The Clark Handicap, named for the family of Churchill Downs founder Meriwether Lewis Clark, was first run at the track's inaugural meet in 1875 and, like the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) and the Kentucky Oaks (GI), has been run annually without interruption since.  The 1 1/8-mile race over the main track will be the 11^th race on the 12-race card with an approximate post time of 4:29 p.m. (all times Eastern). Post time for the first race is 11:30 a.m. and admission gates open at 10 a.m.

            The 7-year-old Commentator has won 13 of 20 careers starts for earnings of $1,841,936 while racing for five years under the care of trainer Nick Zito. Ridden by John Velazquez in all five of his starts this year, Commentator has won four times, highlighted by a second victory in the Grade I Whitney at Saratoga, and enters the Clark off a 14-length victory in the Massachusetts Handicap on Sept. 20 at Suffolk Downs.

            The New York-bred gelding by Distorted Humor is enjoying the finest year of his career with four victories in five races and earnings of $1,025,700.  His only loss came in a runner-up finish to Divine Park in the Metropolitan Handicap (GI) at Belmont Park.  Commentator will carry top weight of 124 pounds and break from post position four under Velazquez.  He easily won his only previous start at Churchill Downs in 2004.

            Now trained by Steve Asmussen, the 6-year-old Magna Graduate has won 10 of 34 career starts with six seconds and six thirds for earnings of $2,561,237. Two of those victories have come at Churchill Downs, one in the 2005 Clark Handicap for former trainer Todd Pletcher and the other in this year's Grade III Ack Ack Handicap on Oct. 26.  Shaun Bridgmohan, who rode Magna Graduate in the Ack Ack, will be aboard Friday.  Magna Graduate will break from post position two and carry 120 pounds.

            The 6-year-old Einstein, trained by Helen Pitts, is a two-time Grade I winner on the grass this year and has built a career resume of eight wins in 21 starts for earnings of $1,366,431. Idle since finishing a troubled fifth in the Grade I Arlington Million on Aug. 9, Einstein last started on the dirt in the Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) at Churchill Downs on June 14 when he ran second to 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin.

            Julien Leparoux, who rode Einstein in the Stephen Foster, will ride Friday and break from post position three. Einstein will carry 119 pounds.

            Bidding for a return to form in the Clark will be Silverton Hill LLC's Dominican, winner of the 2007 Toyota Blue Grass (GI) at Keeneland.  The Darrin Miller-trained son of El Corredor defeated Street Sense by a nose over the Polytrack course that day, but finished 11^th to that rival on the dirt in the Kentucky Derby.  Dominican snapped a six-race losing streak in an allowance win over the synthetic Tapeta surface in July at Pennsylvania's Presque Isle Downs, and has since finished third to Delightful Kiss in the Turfway Fall Championship (GIII) and was runner-up to longshot Ball Four in the Fayette (GIII) at Keeneland.  Robby Albarado will ride.

            Three other graded-stakes winners on dirt in 2008 are in the Clark field: Four Roses Thoroughbreds' Anak Nakal, winner of the Grade II Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 1 at Philadelphia Park, World Thoroughbreds Racing's Wayzata Bay, winner of the Grade II Cornhusker Handicap at Prairie Meadows on June 28, and Hobeau Farm's Delightful Kiss, winner of the Turfway Park Fall Championship on Sept. 6 and the All American Stakes at Golden Gate on Sept. 27.  Delightful Kiss most recently finished fifth to Albertus Maximus in the $500,000 Breeders' Cup Marathon over the Pro-Ride course at Santa Anita.

            The field for the Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare, from the rail out, is as follows: Delightful Kiss (Calvin Borel, 116 pounds), Magna Graduate (John Velazquez, 120), Einstein (Julian Leparoux, 119), Commentator (John Velazquez, 124), Anak Nakal (Jesus Castanon, 118), Timber Reserve (Kent Desormeaux, 116), Wayzata Bay (Israel Ocampo, 117) and Dominican (Robby Albarado, 115).

            Appearing on the Clark Handicap undercard on Friday will be Robert LaPenta's Da' Tara, the upset winner of the Belmont Stakes (GI) who derailed Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown's bid for a Triple Crown.  The Nick Zito-trained son of Tiznow has lost three consecutive races since then, with the most recent setback coming in a sixth-place finish to Tale of Ekati in the Jerome Handicap (GII) at Belmont Park. 

Da' Tara will face seven rivals in the 1 1/16-mile allowance optional claiming race for 3-year-olds and up.  He will be the first Belmont Stakes winner to run at Churchill Downs since 1999 winner Lemon Drop Kid finished fifth to Tiznow in the 2000 Breeders' Cup Classic (GI).  Victory Gallop, the 1999 Belmont Stakes winner, won the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs the following year.

LEPAROUX'S RECORD DAY GOOD FOR THE DOUGHNUT BUSINESS - Agent Steve Bass was a busy and popular man as Churchill Downs' "doughnut king" on Wednesday, the morning after his rider, Julien Leparoux, produced a record-tying seven-victory day at the Louisville track.

"Eighteen dozen doughnuts," Bass said with a smile after his delivery to the Eddie Kenneally barn that sent out Leparoux's seventh win of the day, Runway West. "I got lucky. I had three stops in one at Mike Maker's barn."

Bass was asked if there was a big night of celebration after the banner day or just straight home for milk and cookies.

"It was a regular night for both us," Bass said. "Julien and I both went home and had dinner and that was it."

The seven victories matched a 24-year-old record held by Pat Day. Leparoux's milestone was achieved on seven consecutive mounts with only two aboard post time favorites. Day's feat on June 20, 1984 came with five favorites, three of which were odds-on, his victories were in the first three and last four races on an eight-race program.

"My goal each day is to win one or two and come home safe," Bass said. "Two or three is a good day and when he won the first four yesterday, I was like ‘Wow!' Usually when he starts the day good with some live horses, he finishes good. The day he won six last year (on June 27) was like that."

Leparoux was scheduled to ride eight horses on Wednesday's 10-race card.

The seven-win day allowed Leparoux to open a 12-winner lead over Robby Albarado in the chase for leading rider (31-19) after 12 days of the 26-day meet. Leparoux remains on pace to break Day's Fall Meet record of 55 victories during the 30-day session of 1985.

WRONA'S OPENING DAY AT DOWNS ONE FOR THE BOOKS - Australian-born announcer Michael Wrona has had some memorable days in the announcer's booth at racetracks across the country since his arrival in the United States in 1990.

Those career highlights include announcing Cigar's record-equaling 16th consecutive victory in the Citation Challenge in 1990 at Arlington Park; Laffit Pincay Jr.'s 8,834th victory, which broke the legendary Bill Shoemaker's record for career wins; and milestone victories Nos. 9,531 (which broke Pincay's record) and 10,000 by northern California riding legend Russell Baze.

And then came Tuesday at Churchill Downs, the first of six days on which Wrona is scheduled to serve as the 134-year-old track's guest announcer.

"... And then I walk into Churchill Downs and Julien Leparoux matches a record that has stood for 24 years," Wrona said. "My head was just exploding with all that was going on. It certainly was an eventful first day."

Wrona, one of five guest announcers to call races during the Fall Meet, never had called a race at Churchill Downs before Tuesday.

"The first live race I ever saw here was the first race I called Tuesday," said Wrona, 42, a native of Brisbane. "I was really getting pumped as the day went on."

Wrona's line of the day came after Leparoux's victory in the fourth race (his fourth out of seven consecutive wins): "I tell you, he'd win on a broomstick!"

Wrona, the current voice of racing at northern California's Golden Gate Fields, was preceded on the Fall Meet roster of guest announcers by Bobby Neuman, the announcer at Calder Race Course, and Travis Stone, who describes the racing action at Harrah's Louisiana Downs.

Larry Collmus, the voice of Gulfstream Park, Monmouth Park and Suffolk Downs, will serve as guest announcer next week. England's Mark Johnson will be in the Churchill Downs announcer's booth during the Fall Meet's final week.

ALBARADO FOUNDATION TO MAKE FIRST DONATION FRIDAY - The Louisville-based Coalition for the Homeless, a nonprofit organization established to assist homeless individuals and service providers in the area, will receive $18,000 on Friday from the Robby Albarado Foundation during a winner's circle presentation at Churchill Downs.

The check presentation will mark the first major contribution by the foundation, which was founded by the Churchill Downs-based jockey in 2007.

"When I was a young kid I grew up in a very poor area," said Albarado, the Fall Meet's second-leading rider. "I got a couple of chances from a few people who helped me in racing - and if I can make a chance like that in someone's life, then that's what I'm looking forward to."

The $18,000 check, proceeds raised from the foundation's inaugural Celebrity Golf Classic, will be presented after Friday's eighth race at Churchill Downs.

The goal of the Albarado Foundation is to assist the homeless, socially and economically disadvantaged, and less fortunate individuals in the Louisville area.

NOMINATIONS LIGHT FOR CLARK, FALLS CITY - Nov. 15 is the closing day for nominations for five Fall Meet stakes races, including four Grade II events slated for Thanksgiving Weekend.

The richest of the stakes is the $400,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GII) to be run at 1 1/8 miles on the main track on Friday, Nov. 28. On Thanksgiving Day, the fillies and mares will get their chance at the same distance in the $150,000-added Falls City Handicap (GII).

"Right now, the nominations are a little on the light side for both of those stakes," Racing Secretary Ben Huffman said.

Huffman said that four horses are under consideration for the Clark: Tracy Farmer's millionaire and two-time Whitney (GI) winner Commentator; Hobeau Farm's Delightful Kiss, fresh off a fourth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Marathon; Elisabeth Alexander's Magna Graduate, winner of the opening-day Ack Ack (GIII) and 2005 Clark winner; and The Big Stable's Brooklyn Handicap (GII) winner Delosvientos.

Among those under consideration for the Falls City are Mark Stanley's Swift Temper and Talley Racing's Initforthekandy, the third and fourth-place finishers, respectively, from the Nov. 2 Chilukki (GII).

Highlighting the closing-day "Stars of Tomorrow II" card that features all two-year-olds are the Golden Rod (GII) for the fillies and the open Kentucky Jockey Club (GII). Both races are 1 1/16 miles on the main track.

Also closing on Saturday is the Bet On Sunshine, a $61,000 overnight handicap for sprinters 3-year-olds and up going six furlongs on the main track. The Bet On Sunshine is set for Saturday, Nov. 22.

BARN TALK - Trainer Mike Maker and owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey moved closer to Fall Meet records Tuesday. Victories by Diva's Gold in the first and Majestic Feline in the seventh gave the Ramseys their 12th and 13th winners of the meet, two fewer than the Fall Meet record set in 1965 by T. Alie Grissom in a 23-day meet. In addition to Diva's Gold and Majestic Feline, Maker also saddled Variant to victory in the fifth race to raise his total to 17 for the meet, three fewer than the fall mark established by Dale Romans in the 27-day meet of 2003. It was the second three-victory day of the meet for Maker, who also produced a three-bagger on Oct. 26. Variant's victory was the fourth of the meet for Rose Barney's Scarlet Stable out of four starters.

WORK TAB - Silverton Hill Farm's Corlett, winner of the Mountaineer Juvenile Fillies and fourth in this spring's Debutante (GIII) worked six furlongs over a fast track in 1:19.20 for trainer Darrin Miller. ... Make A Hole Racing's Beer Pong, a convincing 2-year-old allowance winner on Nov. 1, worked a half-mile in :48 for trainer Tom Amoss. The move was the second fastest of 35 at the distance.

CHURCHILL'S INAUGURAL "RIDER CUP" SET FOR SATURDAY - Churchill Downs will stage its inaugural "Rider Cup" for charity on Saturday, Nov. 15.

The unique event will showcase American-born jockeys versus foreign-born jockeys in a competition for points in Races 4-8. Before each of the five designated races, celebrity team captains (Hall of Fame jockey Pat Day will captain Team USA and the Team World will be captained Hall of Fame jockey Angel Cordero Jr.) will choose one jockey to represent their respective team with hope of earning coveted points.

Points will be awarded on a 3-2-1 scale for first, second and third place finishes in each race. If neither jockey hits the board, the rider with the best finish will be awarded a half-point.

The team with the most points at the conclusion of Race 8 will be crowned the winner and a $10,000 donation will be made to the charity of the winning team's choice. The charity of the second place team will win a $5,000 donation.

Pre-race selections by the captains will be showcased on-track with Churchill Downs' John Asher serving as host.

HORSES AND HOPE ON SUNDAY - "Horses and Hope," a new initiative created by Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear with the Kentucky Cancer Program, is scheduled at Churchill Downs on Sunday, Nov. 16. The event, centered on the women who work in the barn areas at Kentucky racetracks, is designed to increase breast cancer awareness and provide education, screening and treatment referral.

In conjunction with the event, the color of pink will be scattered throughout Churchill Downs on Sunday, including the saddle towels and caps for the featured fifth race that will honor "Horses and Hope." Pink will also be featured on jockey's arm bands, groom's vests, outriders, flags, bunting and trophies for winning horse owners. There also will be a special pink cosmopolitan drink on sale with proceeds going to "Horses and Hope."

More than 700 cancer survivors are expected to attend the races in Millionaire's Row Four on Sunday. After the fifth race, there will be a group picture near the Aristides statue in the paddock garden.

ROBBY ALBARADO GLASS GIVEAWAY ON SATURDAY - The week's promotional calendar is highlighted by the second of three collectable hurricane glass giveaways that salute popular Cajun jockeys who ride at Churchill Downs. A Robby Albarado glass, sponsored by GE, will be given away to the first 5,000 paid and pre-paid admissions on Saturday, Nov. 15.

Fans who receive the glass can come back to Churchill Downs on Sunday, Nov. 16 for an autograph session with Albarado on the second floor of the clubhouse between 11-11:30 a.m.

A glass depicting Calvin Borel, sponsored by Thorntons, was given away Nov. 8. A Kent Desormeaux glass, presented by Kentucky Derby Party, will be given away on Nov. 22.

FRIDAY HAPPY HOURS - New Orleans-themed "Friday Happy Hours" - featuring $2 Budweiser Select, $2 hurricanes, $2 Fischer's hot dogs and live jazz music - will be held Friday from 3-5 p.m. in the upper Jockey Club's paddock balcony area.

JUNIOR JOCKEY CLUB WEEKEND ACTIVITIES - A special appearance by the Louisville Metro Police Department Horse Patrol on Saturday, Nov. 15 will highlight this weekend's activities at Churchill Downs' Junior Jockey Club located near the Guest Services Booth inside Gate. 10.

Crafts, featuring embossed horse pictures, will also be featured Saturday for children age 4-10. Sunday's activities include the decoration of pine cones. Coloring books, crayons, individual games and reading material are available as well, and Churchill Downs' mascot Churchill Charlie will be on hand both days for photographs between 1-1:30 p.m.