Glen Hill Farm

Glen Hill Farm’s Marketing Mix displayed a devastating late kick in the homestretch of Churchill Downs’ Matt Winn Turf Course to easily win Saturday’s $200,500 Mrs. Revere (Grade II) by 1 ½ lengths over Bizzy Caroline.

The Canadian-bred daughter of Medaglia d’Oro tracked pacesetter New Normal from second through most of the 1 1/16-mile race before jockey Julien Leparoux let loose his snug hold of the rein midway around the final turn. Marketing Mix took her rider’s cue, immediately grabbed the lead and kicked clear in the stretch for a convincing victory.

Marketing Mix stopped the teletimer in a swift 1:42.59 over “firm” going. The final time was second only to Mary’s Follies’ 2009 stakes record of 1:41.73 in 21 editions of the race – quite a feat when considering that Leparoux essentially eased the filly inside the final sixteenth of a mile.

"That was a really nice field and she won pretty easily,” said winning trainer Tom Proctor.

Sent postward as the 8-5 favorite, Marketing Mix paid $5.40, $3.20 and $2.60. Bizzy Caroline, ridden by Manny Cruz, rallied up the hedge to nose Hungry Island for second and paid $3.60 and $3.20. Hungry Island, with Corey Nakatani in the saddle, returned $3.20.

Smart Sting, Don’t Tell Sophia, Tourmaline, Groupie Doll, Holidaysatthefarm, New Normal (who led the field through early fractions of :24.04, :49.04 and 1:13.01), Sea Level Drive and Trac N Jam completed the order of finish. Louvakhova was scratched early Saturday morning.

“We got a good trip and went at an easy pace,” said Leparoux, who tops the Churchill Downs jockey standings with 20 wins through the first 10 days of the 21-day Fall Meet. “When we got a few lengths in front in the stretch, I (geared her down). She’s a nice filly and she won; she didn’t need to win by 10 (lengths).”

Marketing Mix collected her second graded stakes triumph this year. She won in similar fashion on Sept. 17 at Arlington Park to prevail in the Pucker Up (GIII). In her previous start on Oct. 15, the dark bay or brown filly was runner-up to the Aidan O’Brien-trained Together-IRE in the prestigious Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (GI) at Keeneland.

Overall, Marketing Mix has won four of her nine starts. The $116,881 winner’s share of the purse boosted her career earnings to $538,826. Proctor plans to send the filly to his owner’s Glen Hill Farm in Ocala, Fla. for some R & R before she returns to action for a 4-year-old campaign.

Racing at Churchill Downs continues Sunday with a 10-race program that begins at 12:40 p.m. EST. The card features a three-day Pick 6 carryover of $8,702 on Races 5-10 plus a four-day Super Hi-5 carryover of $57,131 in the finale.

MRS. REVERE QUOTES

Tom Proctor, trainer of Marketing Mix (winner) – “That was a really nice field and she won pretty easily. She’s had a great year and has won over $500,000. She’ll head to the farm (Glen Hill in Ocala, Fla.) now and I’ll let her eat grass and have some fun for a few months.”

Julien Leparoux, jockey on Marketing Mix (winner) – “We got a good trip and went at an easy pace. When we got a few lengths in front in the stretch, I (geared her down). She’s a nice filly and she won; she didn’t need to win by 10 (lengths).”

Ken McPeek, trainer of Bizzy Caroline (runner-up) – “She ran really well. And that winner – I don’t think they even hit her.” (Note: Leparoux went to a left-handed stick twice aboard Marketing Mix).

Q: What do you do with Bizzy Caroline now – head to Florida? “I don’t know. We’ll see. In California she didn’t seem to go for the Bermuda grass, so I’m not sure we’ll run her in Florida. We might just wait for spring.  We like to win at Keeneland and Churchill.”

Manny Cruz, jockey on Bizzy Caroline (runner-up) – “She ran well. I saved more ground than anyone else in this race. I put her inside and stayed on the rail. She’s very honest; she gave to me what she had.”

Corey Nakatani, jockey on Hungry Island (third) – “My trip was really good. Going to the far turn she bobbled a little bit and took a bad step, and it cost her a little bit of her momentum. But once I got her going again, I got her to stay inside until we hit a seam and she actually ran a huge race off that pace. I had a feeling that’s what was going to happen, but she’s such a one-dimensional, one-style filly. I talked to (trainer) Shug (McGaughey) about it and he said, ‘Don’t worry about that. Just ride her, make one run and if we get there, we get there.'”

GLEN HILL FARM, PROCTOR TAKING TWO SHOTS AT MRS REVERE – Glen Hill Farm and trainer Tom Proctor will be taking two shots at this year’s extremely competitive edition of the $175,000-added Mrs. Revere (Grade II) with Marketing Mix and Holidaysatthefarm.

Marketing Mix will enter the Mrs. Revere off a game runner-up effort to Together-IRE in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup (GI) at Keeneland. The plan was to originally give Marketing Mix the rest of the year off, but then the connections called an audible.

“The $175,000 (purse) had a lot to do with it,” Proctor said. “She’s also doing really well and we wanted to give her one more shot to run against her age group.”

The Mrs. Revere is one of the final opportunities for 3-year-old fillies to compete in stakes company on the turf exclusively against members of their own age group. For this reason, the race often comes up very competitive and the 21^st running of the race on Saturday is no exception.

“It’s always a tough race,” Proctor said. “Everyone wants to run against 3-year-olds one more time before the end of the year. This is one competitive race.”

Prior to the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, Marketing Mix won the Wonder Where at Woodbine by over four lengths and then took the Pucker Up (GIII) at Arlington Park by over three. She is the 5-2 favorite in oddsmaker Mike Battaglia’s morning line for the race that includes five other graded stakes winners.

“Why shouldn’t she be the favorite?” Proctor said. “She’s a runner.”

The odds on the other Glen Hill Farm-Proctor entrant Holidaysatthefarm will likely be much higher than her stablemate. The 3-year-old daughter of Smarty Jones, listed as a 20-1 risk in the morning line, will enter the Mrs. Revere off a fourth-place finish behind Daisy Devine in the Valley View (GIII) at Keeneland.

“It’d be nice to see her (Holidaysatthefarm) run really well and I think if they were going longer she could win,” Proctor said. “We’ll see how it goes, but I wanted to get a race in her and then run her longer. She’ll probably run in the La Prevoyante (GIII at 1 ½ miles on the turf at Calder Race Course on Dec. 2).”

The Mrs. Revere will be the ninth race on Saturday’s 10-race card. Post time for the first race is 12:40 p.m. (all times EST) with the Mrs. Revere scheduled for 4:37 p.m.

GROUPIE DOLL ENTERS MRS. REVERE; BRADLEY OPTIMISTIC -  When Brass Hat, a Grade I winner of over $2.1 million, retired this spring and left the Buff Bradley barn, the trainer commented that he was hoping one of the remaining horses in the barn would step-up and be his “next big horse.” Fast forward to today and it appears as though Bradley has found that next big horse in the 3-year-old filly Groupie Doll.

In six career starts, Groupie Doll has recorded a record of 3-2-0 with earnings of $239,930. After breaking her maiden by 3 ¼ lengths on dirt at Churchill Downs, the 3-year-old daughter of Bowman’s Band rolled to an eight-length victory in an allowance at Ellis Park prior to winning the Gardenia (GIII) by three lengths against older fillies and mares. Groupie Doll will enter the Mrs. Revere off runner-up performances in the Charles Town Oaks and the Lexus Raven Run (GII).

“It’s a really nice field, but if she can improve off her last two then she should be right there,” Bradley said.

The Mrs. Revere will be the first start on turf for Groupie Doll since her career debut when she finished eighth of 11 in a maiden special weight outing on the Matt Winn Turf Course.

“She should handle the turf course fine,” Bradley said. “Her last work (:47.20 around the “dogs” over a firm Matt Winn Turf Course on Nov. 8) was really good. I told (jockey) Greta (Kuntzweiler) to get her attention and make her work at it. She went slow the first quarter and then came home quick enough to let her know she was working. It was what we wanted and I was happy.”

The switch to the turf doesn’t concern Bradley and neither does the 1 1/16 mile distance of the Mrs. Revere.

“She’s never gone that far, but she’s never given us any reason to believe she can’t get the distance,” Bradley said. “I actually didn’t want to cut her back to seven furlongs after going a mile at Ellis Park, but we wanted to keep her running against 3-year-olds.”

Bradley is optimistic that his filly will run a big race Saturday, but he is also well-aware of the high quality horses that make up the field, especially two from one particular barn.

"It seems like you always have to run against (Tom) Proctor on the grass with a filly,” Bradley said.

STAKES WINNERS FACE OFF IN FRIDAY FEATURE AT CHURCHILL DOWNS – The Mrs. Revere isn’t the only race at Churchill Downs this weekend that came up extremely competitive as Friday’s featured allowance/optional claiming race includes four stakes winners.

Heuristic Stable’s Fortune Play is the morning-line favorite at 5-2 and will enter Friday’s fourth race off a second-place finish to Happy Week in seven-furlong allowance on the synthetic Polytrack course at Keeneland. Trained by John Booker Jr., Fortune Play captured the overnight Roxelana Stakes beneath the Twin Spires this spring. She is entered with a claiming-price of $80,000 and will break from post three under Freddie Lenclud.

To the inside of Fortune Play is Carl R. Moore Management LLC’s four-time stakes winner Speedacious, who will break from post two under Miguel Mena. The 4-year-old Louisiana-bred daughter of Yankee Gentleman has recorded three wins this year, including a victory in the Satin and Lace over the synthetic Tapeta course at Presque Isle Downs. According to Bret Calhoun’s assistant trainer Dennis Geier, Friday’s allowance will serve as the prep for the Louisiana Champions Day Ladies’ Sprint at Fair Grounds on Dec. 10. It will be the third appearance in the Louisiana Champions Day for Speedacious, who won the Louisiana Champions Day Lassie as a 2-year-old and finished ninth in the Ladies’ Sprint last year.

The co-second choice with Speedacious is William Patterson’s Dances With Ashley, who enters the race off a 10^th-place finish in the Thoroughbred Club of America (GII) on Keeneland’s Polytack. The 4-year-old daughter of Wildcat Heir was bred in Florida by Brambly Lane Farm and Steve Dwoskin and won two restricted stakes races at age three.

Drawing the outside post is Desk Farms LLC’s Helen Belen, a four-time winner in a career that is highlighted by a victory in last year’s Valdale at Turfway Park. She will be ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr.

BARN TALK – Dear Maria, a granddaughter of Mrs. Revere, will try to break her maiden in Friday’s third race at Churchill Downs. Bred by Dr. Hiram Polk and Dr. David Richardson, who owned Mrs. Revere, Dear Maria is out of the mare Maria Balastiere, who won the Regret beneath the Twin Spires in 1991 and was the only foal produced by Mrs. Revere before her passing. Trained by Tim Glyshaw, Dear Maria will break from post two under Calvin Borel. …

Mark Guidry, 19^th all-time in wins at Churchill Downs with 331, recorded his first victory at the Louisville track in nearly four years aboard Minister Colin in Wednesday’s sixth race. Guidry has won 17 stakes at Churchill Downs, with his biggest victory coming in the 2006 Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) aboard Lemons Forever. …

Ten $1,000 scholarships will be distributed to full-time students from colleges and universities throughout the country when Churchill Downs joins the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association for the annual College Scholarship Day on Friday, Nov. 11. College Scholarship Day will also feature a concert by Grammy-nominated country music artist David Nail. The concert will begin after Friday’s 10^th and final race and Nail is expected to perform from 5:30-7 p.m. EST. The concert is included in the track’s regular $3 admission price, but is complimentary for full-time students with a valid college ID. …

Also on Friday, all veterans with a valid ID will receive free admission to Churchill Downs in celebration of Veterans Day.

WORKTAB – Multiple graded stakes winner Thiskyhasnolimit breezed four furlongs over a fast Churchill Downs track Thursday morning in :52.80 for trainer Steve Asmussen. The 4-year-old son of Sky Mesa is a two-time stakes winner at the Louisville track, having won the Iroquois (GIII) as a 2-year-old and the Matt Winn at age three. …

Jack Mandato’s Zimmer breezed five furlongs on the firm Matt Winn Turf Course around the “dogs” in 1:01.80 for trainer Christophe Clement. Zimmer is pointing toward the River City Handicap (GIII) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on the Matt Winn Turf on Saturday, Nov. 19 and will be ridden by Calvin Borel, according to agent Jerry Hissam.

Glen Hill Farm’s Banned became the fifth horse in Churchill Downs history to sweep the track’s pair of stakes events for 3-year-olds on turf when he drew clear of Benergy in the stretch to win Saturday’s 36^th running of the Grade III, $106,215 Jefferson Cup Presented by Abu Dhabi by two lengths. The Jefferson Cup was one of five stakes races on the 12-race Stephen Foster Day program, which was presented by Abu Dhabi.

Ridden by Jose Lezcano and trained by Tom Proctor, Banned clocked 1 1/16 miles on a Matt Winn Turf Course rated “yielding” in 1:43.66. By doing so, the 3-year-old joined Senor Tomas (1992), King Cugat (2000), Senor Swinger (2003) and Tizdejavu (2008) as the only horses to complete the American Turf-Jefferson Cup double. The Kentucky-bred son of Kitten’s Joy out of the Capote mare Cadinalli collected his first stakes victory on the May 6 Kentucky Oaks undercard with a 4 ½-length romp in the Grade II, $237,400 American Turf Presented by Ram.

Banned, sent to post as the odds-on 1-5 favorite, only had three rivals Saturday. Redboard broke from the gate on top, with a hard-pulling Banned in second, and took the field through fractions of :24.69, :49.31 and 1:13.58. Banned made his winning move on the final turn, took the lead at the top of the stretch in 1:37.38 for the mile and drew clear in deep stretch under a hand ride.

“I was really confident in him coming into the race, but the four horse field scared me,” Proctor said. “Too many things can happen in a small field that will make you not get there.”

Banned paid $2.60 and $2.10. There was no show wagering. Benergy, ridden by Javier Casteallano, returned $3. Perregaux, under Robby Albarado, was another 3 ¼ lengths behind in third and pacesetter Redboard was another 2 ¼ lengths back in last. Live in Joy, Dream Warrior, Swagger Jack and Great Mills were scratched.

Banned improved his record to 4-0-1 from seven starts. The $67,890 winner’s share 

JEFFERSON CUP QUOTES

Tom Proctor, trainer of Banned (winner): “I don’t know how good he is yet. Opinions don’t matter in horse racing. You put them in the gate and they tell you how good they are. I was really confident in him coming into the race, but the four horse field scared me. Too many things can happen in a small field that will make you not get there.

"I think the logical choice is to take him to Arlington or Virginia now…or we may even take him to Del Mar. (Owner) Mr. (Leonard) Lavin is a big California guy so he may push for us to run out there.”

Jose Lezcano, jockey of Banned (winner): “He is a very nice horse and has a lot of talent. He broke good and sat comfortable and then went very well at the end. I felt like a winner the whole time.”

Dale Romans, trained of Benergy (runner-up): “I think he’s a good colt.  I’m very proud of the way he ran. He’s improving every race. I think (Banned) is probably the best 3-year-old turf horse in the country right now, but I think our horse even wants to run a little further.”

Javier Castellano, jockey of Benergy (runner-up): “He ran excellent. I loved the way he did it today. He settled behind horses and split horses at the right time and the right place, and he took off. Unfortunately, the winner looked a little better on paper and he showed up today. When his jockey asked him, he (Banned) took off. But I’m very satisfied with him – it was a great performance.”

Glen Hill Farm’s Closeout coasted to a three-length victory over Gloria Goodbody to win the 28th running of the $114,900 Locust Grove Handicap (Grade III) to close out the 45-day Spring Meet at Churchill Downs.

            Trained by Tom Proctor, who was winning the Locust Grove for the second time, Closeout covered the mile on a Matt Winn Turf Course labeled as “yielding” in 1:38.38. The victory was worth $71,238 and increased Closeout’s earnings to $310,671 for her fifth victory in 10 starts. Proctor’s other Locust Grove win came in 2006 with Rich In Spirit for Glen Hill Farm.

            Ridden by Robby Albarado, Closeout was content to trail the field through the first half-mile as Tensas Yucatan cut out fractions of :23.84 and :47.99 with Zee Zee and Stealin’ Kisses in closest pursuit.

            Approaching the far turn, Albarado began to move after the leaders and turning into the stretch Closeout moved four wide to quickly collar Stealin’ Kisses, who had taken a brief lead. Closeout quickly opened a daylight advantage and was never threatened in the run to the wire.

            Closeout, who shared the starting high weight of 116 pounds with two others, returned $3.60, $2.40 and $2.10. Gloria Goodbody paid $4.40 and $3 in finishing two lengths ahead of Stealin’ Kisses, who paid $4.20 to show under Tony Farina. Completing the field in order were Zee Zee and Tensas Yucatan. The field was reduced to five when Leamington, Tizaqueena and Namaste’s Wish were scratched.

            Jockey Julien Leparoux rode 62 winners in the meet to edge Calvin Borel, who finished with 61. The leading rider title was the third spring crown for Leparoux and fifth overall.

            Steve Asmussen saddled 29 winners to claim his third spring leading trainer title and sixth overall. Ken and Sarah Ramsey won their record eighth spring leading owners title and 15th overall by notching 18 winners.

            Racing resumes at Churchill Downs on Sunday, Nov. 1 for the Fall Meet that runs through Saturday, Nov. 28.

POST-RACE QUOTES – THE LOCUST GROVE HANDICAP

ROBBY ALBARADO, jockey of CLOSEOUT (winner)

            “She was a little rank early so I just rode her very patiently. We had an honest pace up front and she showed a lot of confidence when she tugged on me at the three-eighths pole. It was just a matter of her staying on her feet and getting over the soft going. It was a Cadillac ride so I didn’t have to do much on her. I’m not going to take credit for this one. Give all the credit to the barn and everyone that did all the hard work. I was just a passenger.”

TOM PROCTOR, trainer of CLOSEOUT (winner)

Q: Last time she looked a little rank and this time she relaxed nicely. . .

“It looked that way. There was speed . . . You know what, she hadn’t run in a long time and a lot of times they’ll be rank coming off that. I actually kind of was expecting that.”

Q: Was there a reason for her layoff at the end of last year?

“Good trainers give horses time off.”

Q: What kind of filly is she; is she a late bloomer?

“Well, actually, she is turf all the way. I think she’s got two or three full brothers that have all won stakes. But she showed right off the bat that she could run when I got her. I didn’t get her until December of her two-year-old year, but she showed she could run a little bit. I mean, I wasn’t surprised when she won first time out. She showed a lot in the mornings. She’s the best of her brothers and sisters and they were pretty good.”

JOHN GLENNEY, co-owner & trainer of GLORIA GOODBODY (runner-up)

“She’s been running well, but there was a short time between her last race and this one, but she had done well running off a short time between races before.  She had never been on this yielding a turf and a mile is probably not her thing.  When she runs a little bit longer it undoubtedly is going to help her.  But she won her last race and was at the top of her game, training super, so you had to give it a shot.  I was hoping she was going to get the lead, but when she didn’t, I was hoping at least she’d relax and Jon (Court) had her relaxed.  Apparently she settled real well and that bodes well for the future because if she has to have the lead, she’s one-dimensional.  But if she can sit back a little bit and wait, that’ll be to her advantage.  She came running down the lane, so I was real happy.  Coming from an allowance race to a stakes and to see her step up and get a good second is fantastic.  You can’t complain when you get beat by a 3-5 or a 4-5 horse in really her first stakes on the turf, which is her preferred surface.”

Q: Are you going back to Del Mar this summer?

“We’ll go back to Del Mar.  There are a couple of spots she might possibly get to.  There’s a California Thoroughbred Trainers stake a mile and three-eighths toward the end of the meet. I hope we can find something at the beginning.  But that’s a hard and fast turf course and I think she’s going to like that.”

JON COURT, jockey on GLORIA GOODBODY (runner-up)

“She broke good, sat behind the speed and rallied up right there with the winner, but the winner kicked away.  He had the jump on us and ended up putting up a pretty good margin of daylight winning the race, so she ran a valiant second.  She’s stakes-placed in a graded race, so she did really good.”

TONY FARINA, jockey on STEALIN KISSES  (third)

“Mr. (D. Wayne) Lukas asked me to take a little hold.  It was just a five-horse field and she was a little bit quick at the first quarter; she was running very easy as I came to the quarter pole.  She started to tire a little bit when she turned for home and maybe that cost me second place, but she ran very good.”

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