Derby Trial

Dawn and Ike Thrash’s Hurricane Ike blew past favored Eightyfiveinafifty leaving the far turn to repulsed a late bid from Aikenite to win the 86th running of the $237,400 The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial (GIII) by 2 ¾ lengths on Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs.

    In giving jockey Calvin Borel his fifth victory of the afternoon, Hurricane Ike covered the mile on a track labeled as “sloppy” in 1:36.35.

 The victory was worth $142,772 and increased Hurricane Ike’s earnings to $248,732 of which $198,883 came in graded stakes. A Florida-bred son of Graeme Hall, Hurricane Ike improved his record to 8-2-2-1.

    The victory could start a big week in the Louisville for the Thrashs as well as trainer John Sadler, who recorded his first Churchill Downs stakes victory. The Thrashs own Arkansas Derby (GI) winner Line of David who Sadler will send out next Saturday in the 136th running of the $2 million guaranteed Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI).

    Eightyfiveinafifty led the field of eight through fractions of :22.62 and :45.39 with Hurricane Ike in closest pursuit along the rail. At the middle of the far turn, Borel squeezed Hurricane Ike through a narrow opening after Eightyfiveinafifty and assumed command at the top of the stretch.

    Aikenite, ridden by Garrett Gomez rallied in the middle of the track, but was no match for the winner. Aikenite picked up $46,056 for finishing second to boost his career graded stakes bankroll to $267,806.

    It was another 6 ¾ lengths back to Pleasant Prince and 4 ¼ lengths more to Eightyfiveinafifty, both of whom had their Kentucky Derby hopes dashed by not earning enough money. Completing the field in order Game On Dude, Wow Wow Wow, Miner’s Reserve and Hear Ye Hear Ye.

    Hurricane Ike returned mutuels to his backers in the spring meet opening day crowd of $13.80, $5.60 and $3. Aikenite returned $6 and $4.40 with Pleasant Prince, ridden by Julien Leparoux, paying $3.40 to show.

    Borel’s other winners on the card were Dublin Da’Bet ($5.40) in the first, Raposa ($3.20) in the fourth, Forest Warfare ($5) in the sixth and Cassoulet ($10.80) in the eighth.

    Racing continues Sunday with a 10-race program that begins at 12:45 p.m. (ET).

THE CLIFF’S EDGE DERBY TRIAL QUOTES

CALVIN BOREL (Jockey, Hurricane Ike, winner): “I was fortunate to have the opportunity to ride him in New York the other day. He ran a little longer today; he went a mile today and that probably helped a lot. And it might have taken a race to get to know him. I loved him the first time I rode him. I begged the next time he ran to let me ride him and give me one more shot. He's a nice little horse. He tries. He's a gutsy little horse. To my knowledge the colt's just coming around -- a late developer.”
“I've had a super day. I'll come back tomorrow and try to do it again.
    “I've won on the rail, and I won outside. The track's good all over. Of course, I have to give credit to my man (agent Jerry Hissam) for getting all these nice horses for me to ride."

JOHN SADLER (Trainer Hurricane Ike, winner): “We were hoping he’d like the track. We don’t have that much experience with off tracks in California, especially real sloppy tracks. So we were hoping that he’d like the going and he seemed to be traveling well early. I told the jock, `you know more about this place than I do.’ I figured I was in good hands.
     “This horse ran a good race in New York (second in the Bay Shore on April 3). He’s a very nice horse. He’s a little unlucky. He got beat two or three lengths in the Del Mar Futurity and was eight-wide around there. He’s run with good quality horses in California and ran very well in the Bay Shore. When he ran so well in the Bay Shore, we kept him back here, brought him down to Keeneland, then came over here and had two works over the track. I thought he was pretty well prepared for this race today. If the favorite was 6-5, we certainly looked like we would be second or third choice in here.”
“The Preakness is an option or we might take him to the Dwyer in a couple of weeks. We’ll probably look at something back here (East) in the short term.”
 
GARRETT GOMEZ (Jockey, Aikenite, second): “I took a hold of him coming away from there and they sort of scooted away from me. I thought maybe I’d taken too much hold. But then he settled in and started picking them up and he really got to running good. He ran a good race. First time on the ‘off’ and he ran good.”

TODD PLETCHER (Trainer, Aikenite, second): Asked whether his owner (Cot Campbell of Dogwood Stable) would reconsider running the horse in next Saturday’s Kentucky Derby (with the $46,056 second-place share, Aikenite pushes his graded stakes earnings to $267,806, more than enough to qualify to enter the race): “I don’t think so. We weren’t thinking about it beforehand. We did not enter with the intentions of trying to accumulate earnings for the Derby.”

JULIEN LEPAROUX (Jockey, Pleasant Prince, third): “We got a good trip. They went fast up front. He ran a good race. No excuses.”

RAMON DOMINGUEZ (Jockey, Eightyfiveinafifty, fourth as favorite): “He’s a very, very fast horse. You can’t really blame it on the pace. It seems to me like the distance might be stretching it a little bit. And the surface probably wasn’t the best for him; he didn’t seem to care too much for it. He’s a very fine sprinter and I think he’ll do quite well at that.”

GARY CONTESSA (Trainer of Eightfiveinafifty): “He’s just too fast for going a route of ground. He’s running so easy on the lead, they go the half in :45 2/5. That’s about as slow as Ramon (Dominguez) could get him to go.
 “We’ll go back home, regroup and make him the best sprinter in the country. I’ve had that in my mind for a long time, but this was the next increment, this was the next thing to see if he could get the distance. You’re never going to see him going a mile again. Six furlongs. Seven furlongs. The King’s Bishop. The Amsterdam. There are plenty of stakes out there for a horse like this because I really believe he’s one of the best sprinters out there. We’re going to go back, regroup and make him one “

- END -

Saturday’s 85th running of the Grade III $100,000-added Derby Trial, the featured race on the opening day of the April 25-July 5 Spring Meet at Churchill Downs, will have a distinct Kentucky Derby flavor as several of the eight 3-year-olds entered in the race hail from barns that will seek success in 135th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) a week later.

The Derby Trial will go as the 10th race with a 5:17 p.m. post time (all times EDT). First post time for the 11-race program is 12:45 p.m. and admission gates open at 11 a.m.

Saturday’s program is the first of 52 for the spring meet, which will be highlighted by the Kentucky Derby on May 2 and preceded on May 1 by the 135th running of the $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) for 3-year-old fillies.

Heading the field for the 7 ½-furlong Derby Trial is Clarence Scharbauer Jr.’s Silver City, a onetime contender for this year’s “Run for the Roses” that is now focusing on shorter distances for trainer Bret Calhoun. 

The gray son of Unbridled’s Song won the Dixieland Stakes at Oaklawn Park and ran second to Old Fashioned, who was then the early favorite for the Kentucky Derby, in the Southwest Stakes (GIII) at Oaklawn Park.  A fifth-place finish in the Rebel (GIII) ended Silver City’s pursuit of the Kentucky Derby, and Saturday’s race will be his first start since that March 14 outing.

Julien Leparoux will ride Silver City, who is the only stakes winner in the Derby Trial field and will break from post one.   Leparoux is set to ride General Quarters in next week’s Kentucky Derby.

Silver City’s seven rivals in the Derby Trial include runners from the barns of Kentucky Derby trainers Jeff Mullins and Jerry Hollendorfer.

Mullins, who conditions possible Kentucky Derby favorite I Want Revenge, will send out Dean De Renzo, Randall Hartley, Joey Platts and William Sims’ Gato Go Win.  The son of City Place enters the race off a third-place finish behind the filly Evita Argentina in the Grade II San Vicente on Feb. 16 at Santa Anita.

Hollendorfer, trainer of Derby 135 contender Chocolate Candy, has Rendezvous for the Derby Trial. Owned by Hollendorfer, George Todaro and Team Green, Rendezvous comes into the Derby Trial off a third-place finish to Chocolate Candy in the Feb. 14 El Camino Real Derby (Grade III) at Golden Gate Fields.

Other trainers with prospective Kentucky Derby starters that have colts entered in the Derby Trial are Todd Pletcher and Bill Mott.

Pletcher, whose Kentucky Derby hopefuls include Dunkirk and Advice, will send out Starlight Partner’s Checklist in the Trial. Mott, who will send out Hold Me Back a week from Saturday, will saddle Haras Santa Maria de Araras’ Tintim Por Tintim in the Trial.

The field for the Derby Trial, from the rail out, is as follows: Silver City (Julien Leparoux),  Tintim Por Tintim (Alan Garcia), Gato Go Win (Calvin Borel), Checklist (Shaun Bridgmohan), Santana Six (John Velazquez), Rendezvous (Rene Douglas), Hull (Miguel Mena) and Kensei (Robby Albarado). All starters will carry 117 pounds.

None of the horses entered in the Derby Trial is expected to attempt to run back in next week’s Kentucky Derby.  Five horses have swept both the Trial and the Kentucky Derby since the Trial was introduced.  Black Gold won the inaugural 1924 running of the Trial, which was then run on the Tuesday before the Derby, and returned to complete the sweep in the main event.  The last horse to win both races was Calumet Farm’s Tim Tam in 1928.   Calumet’s Citation, winner of the 1948 Triple Crown, also swept the Derby Trial and the Kentucky. 

Several Kentucky Derby winners failed to win the Trial, but bounced back to win the “Run for the Roses.” Most notable of those were Calumet Farm’s Iron Liege, who finished fifth in the Trial and returned to defeat a Kentucky Derby field that included champions Gallant Man, Round Table and Bold Ruler and is generally considered to be the greatest field in Derby history.  King Ranch’s Assault finished off the board in the Trial, but returned to win the Derby and sweep the Triple Crown.  In 1941, Triple Crown winner Whirlaway finished second in the Derby Trial, but returned to sweep the Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

George Krikorian’s Street Car worked five furlongs in 1:01 over a “sloppy” track Monday morning in preparation for an expected start in Saturday’s 85th running of the $100,000-added Derby Trial (Grade III), the opening-day feature of the 52-day spring meet that runs through July 5.

    In addition to the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, 12 stakes will be run over the course of the first seven days of the meet and fields for those races are taking shape according to Donnie Richardson, Senior Vice President, Racing.

    In addition to Street Car, other probables for the Derby Trial include Starlight Partners’ Checklist, Barry Butzow and Westrock Stables’ Hamazing Destiny, Heiligbrodt Racing Stable, Gary Barber and Team Valor International’s Hull, Jerry Hollendorfer, George Todaro and Team Green’s Rendezvous and Clarence Scharbauer Jr.’s Silver City.

    Entries will be drawn Wednesday for the Derby Trial.

    The first graded stakes of the year for 2-year-olds, the Kentucky Juvenile (Grade III), will be run on Thursday, April 30. Probables for the five-furlong sprint are Steven Michael Bell’s Aegean, Robert Abrams, Mitch Dutko and Wesley Ward’s Jealous Again, Heiligbrodt Racing Stable’s Kinsolving and Midst, Elizabeth and Patrick Everard’s Kitty in the Bag and J. Kirk Robison’s Western Smoke.

    G. Watts Humphrey Jr.’s undefeated One Caroline tops a list of nine probables for the 24th running of the $350,000-added Louisville Distaff (Grade II). Unbeaten in five starts, One Caroline is expected to face the likes of Town and Country Farm’s Bear Now, Dawn and Ike Thrash’s Dawn After Dawn, Domino Stud of Lexington’s Miss Isella, Nancy Cole and Charles Kidder’s Stealin’ Kisses, William Deburgh’s Sugar Mint (IRE), Mark Stanley’s Swift Temper, Team Valor International’s Unbridled Belle and Robert Adams’ Unforgotten.  Reigning older filly and mare champion Zenyatta is also nominated to the race.
West Point Thoroughbreds’ Macho Again, winner of the New Orleans Handicap (Grade II) in March and runner-up in last year’s Preakness (Grade I), tops a list of seven probables for the Alysheba (Grade III) to be run at a mile and a sixteenth on May 1.

    Other probables include William Bennett and Carl Bowling’s Acting Zippy, John Oxley’s Dr. Pleasure, Millard Seldin Revocable Trust’s Golden Yank, Lanni Family Trust and Joel Barish’s Limestone Edge, Brittlyn Stable, Inc.’s Star Guitar and Zayat Stables’ Z Fortune.

    The 18th running of the $150,000-added American Turf (Grade III) has five probables, headed by Darley Stable’s Stormalory, winner of the Grade III Transylvania at Keeneland on April 3. Others under consideration for the mile and a sixteenth event for 3-year-olds are Werthheimer and Frere’s Affirmatif, Michael House’s Battle of Hastings (GB), James Scatuorchio and John Iracane’s Bittel Road and Jack Spratt, owned in partnership by Sand Dollar Stable, Skychai Racing, Golden Goose Stable, Thomas Conway and Mike Maker.

Five horses are considered as probable for the Aegon Turf Sprint (Grade III) at five furlongs. They are Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Accredit, Balkrisna Sukharan’s Castles in the Sky, Richard, Bertram and Elaine Klein’s Due Date, Westrock Stables’ Jazz Nation and Thomas Van Meter and Phillip Maloof’s Silver Edition.

    The only non-graded Oaks Day stake is the $100,000-added Edgewood for 3-year-old fillies going a mile and a sixteenth on the turf. Probables include Dolphus Morrison’s Abbott Hall, A. Stevens Miles Jr.’s Banker’s Choice and Marylou Whitney Stable’s Stone Legacy.

    Highlighting the Kentucky Derby Day undercard is the 23rd running of the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at a mile and one-eighth. Einstein (BRZ), winner of the 2008 renewal, is expected to seek a repeat win in the race against the likes of Court Vision, owned by IEAH Stables and WinStar Farm, Robert and Janet McNair’s Cowboy Cal and Juddmonte Farms’ Zambesi Sun (GB).

    Derby Day’s other Grade 1 race, the 23rd running of the $300,000-added Humana Distaff at seven furlongs, is expected to attract Patti and Hal Earnhardt’s champion Indian Blessing. Other probables include Zabeel Racing International’s Game Face, Augustin Stable’s Informed Decision, Richard Hills and John Kuehl’s Secret Gypsy, Darley Stable’s Seventh Street and William Wahl’s Tiz to Dream.

    The 75th running of the $250,000-added Churchill Downs (Grade II) has nine probables: Brian Prichard’s How’s Your Halo, Valene Farms’ Ide Like a Double, Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farm’s Kodiak Kowboy, B. Wayne Hughes’ My Pal Charlie, Jerry Hollendorfer and George Todaro’s Paul’s Hope, Zayat Stables’ Riley Tucker, Savorthetime Stables’ Sok Sok, Robert Yagos’ Spotsgone and Michael Tabor’s The Roundhouse.

    A trio of West Coast invaders tops the probables for the 24th running of the $200,000-added Churchill Distaff Turf Mile (Grade II). They are Ron Beegle’s Lemon Chiffon, William Deburgh’s Sugar Mint (IRE) and the David Lanzman Racing Stable’s Sweeter Still (IRE). Also “probable” is Mrs. Paul Shanahan’s Rustic Flame (IRE).

    Eight 3-year-old fillies are considered probable for the $100,000-added Eight Belles (Grade III) at 7 ½ furlongs. Topping the probables are the Larry Jones-trained duo of Just Jenda, owned by his wife Cindy, and Russell Welch’s Warrior Maid. Other likely starters are William Pacella, George Bonomo and Fred Barbara’s C.S. Silk, David Rippey’s Dave’s Revenge, D. and E. Racing’s Diamond Tags, Adele Dilschneider and Claiborne Farm’s Luster, Destiny Oaks’ She’s Our Annie and Marylou Whitney Stable’s Tweeter.

Two Kentucky Derby Week stakes races at Churchill Downs were granted higher graded status for their 2009 renewals as the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders’ Association issued its listing of U.S. Graded Stakes for 2009 on Tuesday.[asset|height=12|width=1]

The Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile, a one-mile turf race for fillies and mares ages three and up, was elevated from Grade III to Grade II status – one of 11 races at U.S. tracks that were raised to the Grade II level.  The Derby Trial, which had lost its status as a Grade III event in 2005, was restored to that level for its 2009 running.  The race was one of 10 contests elevated from Ungraded status in 2008.  Now run one week before the Kentucky Derby on the opening day of Churchill Downs’ Spring Meet, the Derby Trial is regarded as the final significant prep race for the “Run for the Roses."

Now a fixture of the Kentucky Derby Day racing card, the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile dates to 1983 and was initially run as a race for 3-year-olds on dirt.  Its conditions were adjusted several times until 1989, when the race was run for the first time under its current conditions as a one-mile event turf event for older fillies and mares.

The Derby Trial was run for the first time in 1924 and its first winner, Black Gold, also won the Kentucky Derby.  The race was held for 57 years on the Tuesday before the Kentucky Derby and was a key final prep for several winners of America’s greatest race.  Other horses that won both races include Triple Crown winner Citation (1948), Dark Star (1953), Tim Tam (1958) and Hill Gail (1952).  Horses that failed to win the Derby Trial but returned to win the Kentucky Derby include Triple Crown winner Whirlaway (2nd in the 1941 Trial), Iron Liege (5th in 1957), Assault (4th in 1946), Ponder (2nd in 1949), Middleground (2nd in 1950), and Determine (2nd in 1954).

With the upgrades of the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile and the Derby Trial, Churchill Downs will offer 37 graded stakes races on its 2009 stakes schedule.  That includes five Grade I events, 10 Grade II races and 22 Grade III contests.

The Grade I events on the Churchill Downs stakes schedule in 2009 will include the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, the Kentucky Oaks, Stephen Foster Handicap, Woodford Reserve Turf Classic and Humana Distaff.

In assigning grades for U.S. stakes races 2009, the American Graded Stakes Committee reviewed 746 unrestricted races with purses of at least $75,000 and grades were issued to 488 of those events.  The 2009 graded stakes total reflects an increase of seven from 2008. 

Two Kentucky Derby Week stakes races at Churchill Downs were granted higher graded status for their 2009 renewals as the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders' Association issued its listing of U.S. Graded Stakes for 2009 on Tuesday.

            The Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile, a one-mile turf race for fillies and mares ages three and up, was elevated from Grade III to Grade II status - one of 11 races at U.S. tracks that were raised to the Grade II level.  The Derby Trial, which had lost its status as a Grade III event in 2005, was restored to that level for its 2009 running.  The race was one of 10 contests elevated from Ungraded status in 2008.  Now run one week before the Kentucky Derby on the opening day of Churchill Downs' Spring Meet, the Derby Trial is regarded as the final significant prep race for the "Run for the Roses."[asset|height=12|width=1]

            Now a fixture of the Kentucky Derby Day racing card, the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile dates to 1983 and was initially run as a race for 3-year-olds on dirt.  Its conditions were adjusted several times until 1989, when the race was run for the first time under its current conditions as a one-mile event turf event for older fillies and mares. 

            The Derby Trial was run for the first time in 1924 and its first winner, Black Gold, also won the Kentucky Derby.  The race was held for 57 years on the Tuesday before the Kentucky Derby and was a key final prep for several winners of America's greatest race.  Other horses that won both races include Triple Crown winner Citation (1948), Dark Star (1953), Tim Tam (1958) and Hill Gail (1952).  Horses that failed to win the Derby Trial but returned to win the Kentucky Derby include Triple Crown winner Whirlaway (2^nd in the 1941 Trial), Iron Liege (5^th in 1957), Assault (4th in 1946), Ponder (2^nd in 1949), Middleground (2^nd in 1950), and Determine (2^nd in 1954).

            With the upgrades of the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile and the Derby Trial, Churchill Downs will offer 37 graded stakes races on its 2009 stakes schedule.  That includes five Grade I events, 10 Grade II races and 22 Grade III contests.

            The Grade I events on the Churchill Downs stakes schedule in 2009 will include the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, the Kentucky Oaks, Stephen Foster Handicap, Woodford Reserve Turf Classic and Humana Distaff.

            In assigning grades for U.S. stakes races 2009, the American Graded Stakes Committee reviewed 746 unrestricted races with purses of at least $75,000 and grades were issued to 488 of those events.  The 2009 graded stakes total reflects an increase of seven from 2008. 

TODAY'S TOP STORIES:

• ‘SLOPPY’ GOING KEEPS BIG BROWN IN JOGGING MODE
• DERBY TRIAL WINNER MACHO AGAIN BOUND FOR OHIO DERBY
• KODIAK KOWBOY TOPS NOMINATIONS FOR MATT WINN
  

BIG BROWN JOGS AGAIN OVER “OFF” GOING – For the third consecutive morning, Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown jogged a mile at Churchill Downs with Michelle Nevin up.

“You guys sure get a lot of rain here,” trainer Rick Dutrow said as he followed Big Brown to the track at 6:45. “When it stops, we’ll be ready.”

Outfitted with new hind shoes, Big Brown jogged alongside a pony over a track labeled sloppy by more overnight rain. A major deluge on Wednesday night had left the track muddy on Thursday.

“I would have galloped these last two days, but I won’t gallop him with the track like that,” Dutrow said.

Following his trip around the track, Big Brown, owned by IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa Jr., was full of energy as he negotiated his way through the stable area back to Barn 22 ahead of the pony.

MACHO AGAIN TO SKIP PREAKNESS – Trainer Dallas Stewart said Friday morning that West Point Thoroughbreds’ Macho Again would bypass the Preakness and instead point to the $300,000 Ohio Derby (Grade II) on May 31 at Thistledown.

Stewart also said that Overbrook Farm’s Honest Pursuit, an allowance winner at Churchill Downs on May 2, would bypass next Friday’s $200,000 Black-Eyed Susan (GII) at Pimlico and instead point to the $100,000 Dogwood (GIII) at a mile to be run at Churchill Downs on May 31.

PREAKNESS HOPEFULS GALLOP UNDER TWIN SPIRES -- Jerry Carroll, Stan Kaplan, Ronald Plattner and Mark Guilfoyle’s Racecar Rhapsody galloped a mile and half before the renovation break under Jose Castanon. The Ken McPeek trainee is scheduled to work five furlongs Saturday morning with Castanon expected to handle the work.

Robert LaPenta’s Stevil galloped a mile and a half before the renovation break. Trained by Nick Zito, the son of Maria’s Mon is scheduled to have his final pre-Preakness work on Monday at Churchill Downs.

Illinois Derby (Grade II) winner Recapturetheglory jogged around the main track to the starting gate at the head of the stretch and then galloped a little bit more than a mile and a quarter while well off the rail under assistant trainer Lara Van Deren. Owned by Ronald Lamarque and trainer Louie Roussel III, Recapturetheglory is scheduled to leave Churchill Downs, where he finished fifth behind Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby, on Saturday evening by van for Pimlico.

Trainer Beau Greely, John Greely IV and Phil Houchens’ Tres Borrachos jogged a mile before the renovation break under Andy Durnin on Friday morning at Churchill Downs.

Tres Borrachos is scheduled to have his final Preakness drill on Tuesday and ship to Pimlico the next day.

KODIAK KOWBOY TOPS MATT WINN NOMINATIONS – Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farms’ Kodiak Kowboy, second in the April 26 Derby Trial in his most recent start, heads a list of 18 nominations for the seventh running of the $100,000-added Matt Winn to be run May 17.

Trained by Steve Asmussen, Kodiak Kowboy broke his maiden here last spring and also won the Bashford Manor (GIII). Kodiak Kowboy also won the Saratoga Special (GII), ran second in the Futurity (GII) at Belmont Park and third in the Bessemer Trust Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI) at Monmouth Park.

Other stakes winners nominated to the six-furlong Matt Winn are Zayat Stables’ Eaton’s Gift and Massive Drama. Both are trained by Dale Romans. Eaton’s Gift won the Grade II Swale at Gulfstream Park in February and Massive Drama won last fall’s Hollywood Prevue (GIII) under the care of Bob Baffert.

A HIGH-FIVE FOR MENA – Miguel Mena had a day to remember Thursday at Churchill Downs, riding five winners with two runner-up finishes in his seven mounts.

Mena, a 21-year-old native of Lima, Peru, swept the early Pick 3 with victories aboard Treasure Hunter ($8.20), Tiz My Dream ($6.20) and Speak of Kings ($6). After second-place finishes in the fifth and sixth races, Mena took the late double with Tiz Now Tiz Then ($6.40) and Unbridled Spring ($5.60).

“I told him going in that he could win four or five,” said Steve Elzey, Mena’s agent. “The cool thing about it was it was his dad’s birthday in Peru and Miguel called him and told him to be sure to watch.”

Pat Day holds the all-time single-day record for wins at Churchill Downs with seven, accomplished on June 20, 1984. Day rode six winners on a card four times as did five other riders, including Julien Leparoux and Calvin Borel at last year’s Spring Meet. Five victories in a day have now been accomplished 49 times.

Mena doubled his win total for the meet to 10 and moved into a tie for second in the riders’ standings with Robby Albarado, three victories behind Leparoux.

2003 WOODFORD RESERVE WINNER HONOR IN WAR RETIRED – Honor In War, now age nine, has been retired from racing after spending two years in Australia. Prior to going Down Under, Honor In War had raced out of the barn of Paul McGee.

“We bought him as a yearling for I think $130,000 out of the Mill Ridge consignment,” McGee said. “I had him until the end of his six-year-old year.”

A son of Lord At War, Honor In War’s biggest victory came in the 2003 Woodford Reserve (GI) at Churchill Downs.

“It was 2003, the year Funny Cide won the Derby,” McGee said with a widening smile. “Honor In War paid $50 ($50.60) and I had the Woodford Reserve-Derby Double, which paid, I think, $200 and something, maybe more.”

Lots more … $425.90 for a $1 ticket.

Honor In War retired with 11 victories in 47 starts and earnings of $1,993,541.

McGee offered another footnote to Honor In War’s career.

“He ran that year (2003) in the Arlington Million and he was the horse that stepped on Gary Stevens after he fell from Storming Home,” McGee said.

BARN TALK – Trainer David Carroll has had third-place Kentucky Derby finisher Denis of Cork back on the track the past two mornings to jog. “I gave him four days off (after the Derby),” Carroll said. “He’s doing great, feeling good and eating everything.” The June 7 Belmont Stakes (GI) is the next target for Denis of Cork, who is owned by Mr. and Mrs. William K. Warren Jr. …

IEAH Stables, Lewis Lakin and Pegasus Holding Group Stables’ Pure Clan is scheduled to return to the track to jog a mile Saturday morning for trainer Bob Holthus. It will be Pure Clan’s first day back to the track since finishing third in the May 2 Kentucky Oaks (GI). Pure Clan is expected to run next in the $200,000 Regret (GIII) to be run at a mile and an eighth on the turf here on June 14. Pure Clan, who won her first two career starts on grass, will use the Regret as a prep for the July 19 Coaching Club American Oaks (GI) at Belmont Park.

2008 SPRING MEET LEADERS

Through Thursday, May 8  

Jockeys Starts 1-2-3

Julien Leparoux 66 13-8-11

Miguel Mena 49 10-5-10

Robby Albarado 48 10-5-4

Calvin Borel 65 7-4-14

Jesus Castanon 37 6-5-1

Kent Desormeaux 31 5-8-6

Shaun Bridgmohan 37 5-4-3

Jamie Theriot 42 4-4-4

Edgar Prado 17 3-5-3

John Velazquez 15 3-3-0

Trainers

Eddie Kenneally 15 5-3-4

Tom Amoss 14 5-2-3

Ken McPeek 12 5-2-1

Greg Foley 17 4-2-1

Ian Wilkes 10 4-1-2

Bill Mott 19 3-3-3

Steve Asmussen 22 3-3-2

Nick Zito 12 3-2-1

Mike Maker 10 3-2-0

Bobby Frankel 10 3-1-1

Owners

Ken and Sarah Ramsey 13 5-2-1

Zayat Stables, LLC 16 3-4-2

Maggi Moss 4 3-0-1

Stronach Stable 8 2-2-0

Arthur B. Hancock, III 4 2-0-1

Bloch, Milner, Basso & Seiler 3 2-0-0

Montesano Racing, LLC 3 2-0-0

Zabeel Racing International 2 2-0-0

 

West Point Thoroughbreds’ Macho Again rallied past favored Kodiak Kowboy in the final 50 yards to post a half-length victory Saturday in the $115,200 Derby Trial, the opening day feature of the 52-day Churchill Downs Spring Meet that will be highlighted by the 134th running of the $2 million guaranteed Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) on May 3.

Ridden by Julien Leparoux, Macho Again rated off the pace set by Eaton’s Gift, who took the field of nine through fractions of :22.59 and :45.14 and was still on top at the head of the stretch before being surrounded.  Fujita punched through on the inside to grab a brief advantage while Macho Again and Kodiak Kowboy moved as a team on the outside and began to draw clear of the field at the sixteenth pole.

Trained by Dallas Stewart, Macho Again completed the 7 ½ furlongs over a “fast” track in 1:28.45. A Florida-bred son of Macho Uno out of the Wild Again mare Go Donna Go, Macho Again improved his record to 8 3-2-0 with earnings of $143,761.

Sent off as the fifth choice, Macho Again returned mutuels of $14.20, $5.60 and $3.80. Vinery Stables’ Kodiak Kowboy, ridden by Corey Lanerie, returned $4 and $3 after finishing two lengths ahead of My Purple Haze Stables’ Fujita, who paid $5 to show under Calvin Borel.

Completing the field in order of finish were Majestic Warrior, Da’ Tara, Iron Works Pike, Eaton’s Gift, Turf War and Lemon Spice. Zulu Magic was scratched.

Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track.  Churchill Downs will conduct the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 3, 2008. The track’s 2008 Spring Meet is set for April 26 through July 6. Churchill Downs has hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships a record six times. Information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at www.churchilldowns.com.

POST-RACE QUOTES

JULIEN LEPAROUX (winning rider, MACHO AGAIN):
“He broke good and was in good position.  As they made the run into the stretch, we got bumped a little bit between the eighth and sixteenth (pole). When he got bumped, it made him go again.

“I rode him before around two turns and he was not the same. Around one turn, that’s the kind of distance he needs.”

DALLAS STEWART (winning trainer of MACHO AGAIN):
“Can we get him in the Derby? Make this race $300,000.

“He’s a really honest colt. He had a little bit of trouble at the quarter-pole. Kodiak Kowboy dug in tough at the sixteenth pole and Macho had to work hard to get by him and he finished up really well.

“He loves the track. He likes the dirt. We’ve just got to keep him off the Polytrack. He trains well over it, but he just doesn’t get down and run on it.

“There are a ton of good 3-year-old races coming up, so we’ll see. This horse still has to mature a little bit, but he’s got a lot of fight in him.

“He had a little bit of a setback at the Fair Grounds. He had a little problem in the hind after the LeComte. We had to work on him with some therapy and he responded really well and came back and won his next start. We put him in the LeComte thinking we’d get him on the Derby trail, but he had that little setback in the hind leg.”

COREY LANERIE (rider of KODIAK KOWBOY, 2nd):
“We got to bumpin’ and slidin’ a little bit on the turn, but it wasn’t too bad. In the end it was a good trip. I got through and he gave it a good run. He just got a little tired at the end. He ran hard and he ran a good race.”

CALVIN BOREL (rider of FUJITA, 3rd):
“He ran his heart out. We had the good trip; down inside and saving the ground. I was pleased with him. He ran his heart out.”

Churchill Downs kicks off its 134th Spring Meet and the celebration of Kentucky Derby Week on Saturday, April 26, as the historic home of the “Run for the Roses” opens its 52-day spring session with an 11-race program headed by the 84th running of the $100,000-added Derby Trial.

The April 26-July 6 Spring Meet marks the 134th consecutive year that Churchill Downs has conducted racing in the spring, dating back to its debut meet in 1875 that featured the first running of the Kentucky Derby.

Post time for the first race on Saturday’s opening day program is 12:45 p.m. (all times EDT), a Derby Week schedule that will continues on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. There is no racing on Monday of the meet’s opening week. Admission gates open at 11 a.m.

Admission gates will open at 8 a.m. for the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby programs on Friday and Saturday, May 2 and 3, respectively. Post time for the first race on both days is 11 a.m. The daily post time will drop back to 1:15 p.m. after Kentucky Derby Week, with the exception of “twilight” racing programs on Friday Happy Hours that will begin at 2:45 p.m.

A field of 10 three-year-olds was entered to contest Saturday’s Derby Trial at 7 ½ furlongs. The Derby Trial is the first event of a Spring Meet stakes schedule that will feature 31 stakes races during its 10 weeks of racing, 26 of which are graded events.

The stakes schedule is topped by the program on Saturday, May 5, that surrounds the 134th running of the $2 million-guaranteed Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands. The Derby is one of six stakes events with total purses of a record-equaling $3.35 million, which will make the Derby Day program the richest single day of racing at the track outside of a visit by the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

Saturday’s opening day program will also include a special 2008 Spring Meet T-shirt giveaway, sponsored by Fifth Third Bank, to the first 5,000 fans with paid admission.

Other Derby Week special events and promotions include a giveaway of a die-cast replica of the UPS/Churchill Downs Chevrolet and an autograph session with NASCAR drivers Dale Jarrett, David Reutimann and Michael Waltrip from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

The 11th annual Festival in the Field, held over two days in the Churchill Downs infield, will be headlined by country music star Kellie Pickler on Thursday and alternative metal band Finger Eleven on Friday (Kentucky Oaks Day).

Following Derby Week, Caribbean-style Friday Happy Hours, sponsored by Fischer’s and Budweiser Select, will return every week from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. starting May 9.

Churchill Downs
2008 Spring Meet At A Glance

Dates: Saturday, April 26 – Sunday, July 6 (52 days). No racing on April 28 or May 4, 5 or 6. Dark on Mondays and Tuesdays following Derby Week. Live racing on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26; dark May 27 and 28.

Location: 700 Central Avenue, Louisville, Ky.

Gates Open: Derby Week, 11 a.m.; Kentucky Oaks and Derby Days, 8 a.m. Following Derby Week, gates open at 11:30 a.m. daily except for Fridays, which open at 1 p.m.

Post Times: Derby Week, 12:45 p.m.; Kentucky Oaks and Derby Days, 11 a.m. Following Derby Week, first post is at 1:15 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays, weekends and holidays. Post time on Fridays is 2:45 p.m.

Admission: $3 clubhouse and grandstand, $1 senior citizens and Twin Spires Club members; children ages 12 and under are free when accompanied by an adult. Kentucky Oaks Day general admission is $25 and Kentucky Derby Day general admission is $40.

Parking: Free parking is available in the Longfield lot (gates 10 and 12); $3 in all other parking lots; $5 valet. No on-site parking on Kentucky Oaks or Kentucky Derby Days.

Programs: $2 on-track, $2.50 off-track. Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby programs $5 each on-track; $5.50 each off-track. Simulcast program $4 on-track, $4.50 off-track.

Wholecard Wagering: Schedule will vary but will include Aqueduct, Arlington, Belmont, Calder, Golden Gate, Hawthorne, Hollywood Park, Lone Star Park, Monmouth, Pimlico, River Downs and Woodbine.

Wagering Format: Daily Doubles every race; exactas every race; trifectas, superfectas and over/under every race that qualifies on field size; Super Hi-5 on the last race daily (except a to-be-determined race Oaks Day and the Kentucky Derby on Derby Day); Pick 6 on the last six races of each race card (except Oaks Day and Derby Day - races 5-10); rolling Pick 3 wagers every race; Pick 4 on races 1-4 & final four races (except Derby Day - races 1-4, 3-6, 7-10 & 9-12).

Television: All races except the Kentucky Derby on HRTV – on Insight-75 in Louisville from noon-6 p.m. races days (extended hours on Oaks/Derby Days and Fridays) and for all broadcast hours every day on Insight-564 (digital subscribers only).

Radio: WAVG-AM (1450) in Louisville; results of each race daily. WHAS-AM (840) in Louisville; results and a live call of the feature race.

Scratch Line: (502) 636-4404 or (502) 58-DOWNS

Results Line: (502) 636-4403 or (502) 58-DOWNS