Helen Groves

Helen Alexander and Helen Groves’ Acoma outlasted You Go West Girl by a head to win the 36th running of the $111,700 Cardinal Handicap (Grade III) for fillies and mares at Churchill Downs.

    Ridden for the first time by Jesus Castanon, Acoma surged past Lemon Chiffon just inside the eighth pole and then repulsed the bid from You Go West Girl to remain perfect at Churchill Downs.

    A 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of Empire Maker, Acoma has won all five of her starts beneath the Twin Spires with three of the victories coming over the turf in graded stakes and two on the main track.
    
    Zaskar (GB) and Leamington led the field through fractions of :24.11, :48.55 and 1:13.42 over a “firm” Matt Winn Turf Course. Castanon had Acoma racing in mid pack in the run down the backstretch.

    On the far turn, Lemon Chiffon rocketed past the leaders with Acoma following a length behind. Meanwhile, You Go West Girl began to move on the inside and quickly joined Acoma at the front, but could not go by.

Trained by David Carroll, Acoma covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.02. The victory was worth $66,484 and increased Acoma’s earnings to $665,999 with an overall record of 14-8-1-2.

    Acoma rewarded her backers with payoffs of $9.40, $5 and $3.40. You Go West Girl, ridden by Jose Lezcano, returned $5.40 and $3.80 in finishing 3 ¼ lengths ahead of Lemon Chiffon, who paid $3.20 to show under Jon Court in the field of nine.

    In the $58,400 Bet On Sunshine, an overnight stakes for sprinters, favored Custom for Carlos romped to a 3 ¾-length victory over Accredit.

 Ridden by Jose Lezcano for trainer Eddie Kenneally, Custom for Carlos covered the six furlongs in 1:09.71 over a fast track and returned mutuels of $3.40, $2.60 and $2.40. Accredit, ridden by Miguel Mena, paid $4.80 and $3.60 with Golden Country finishing another half-length back in third under Freddie Lenclud and paying $5.80 to show.

 Custom for Carlos, a 3-year-old Kentucky-bred son of More Than Ready, is owned by Homewrecker Racing and Avalon Farms. The $37,040 winner’s check increased Custom for Carlos’ earnings to $290,630 for his fourth victory in 10 starts.

Racing continues Sunday as the 21-day Fall Meet enters its final week with a 10-race program beginning at 12:40 p.m. ET. There’s a four-day Pick 6 carryover of $21,378.88 on Races 5-10 and a $9,848.08 Super Hi-5 carryover for the finale.

POST-RACE QUOTES – THE CARDINAL HANDICAP

JESUS CASTANON, jockey of ACOMA, winner: “She is really just a nice filly. I want to thank the owners (Helen C. Alexander and Helen K. Groves) and the trainer (David Carroll) for putting me up on this one and giving me a shot today. I had a heck of a good trip around today. I waited as long as I could before I made a move toward home. When I finally moved for home, she really had a great turn of foot. When we went around the turn for the first time she was in the bridle, but when we were on the backside she really began to settle in nicely and relax. She really just seems to love it here.”

DAVID CARROLL, trainer of ACOMA, winner: “Home sweet home. She loves it here, obviously (5-for-5). She’d been training beautifully. Normally I’d go into this race with tremendous confidence but she came off a poor race and I was little bit more subdued. When she walked into the paddock today . . . she’s just a beautiful filly. When I saw her warm up she was on her toes. I just told Jesus (Castanon) to ride her with confidence because she’s let you know when she’s there. Down the backside he had a lot of horse. We were a bit wide and I was afraid that we didn’t get enough out of that last race condition-wise. Tom (Proctor)’s filly (You Go West Girl) ran huge, who was a very fit and in form filly.”
    Q: What’s next? “That’s it for this year. We’ll shut her down and get ready for next year. We needed to see that race from her and why not? The Breeders’ Cup is here next year.”
    Q: Is this relief or excitement? “It’s more relief. You take pride in knowing your horses. All the signs were that she was going to run big. But that also was the way she went into Keeneland and she never showed up at Keeneland for whatever reason. Maybe it was the soft turf? Regardless, she was never at the races. When she walked into the paddock how could you not have confidence? She was the pick of the paddock. I’m so proud to have her and she looked fantastic. She popped out of the gate and got good position but was a little wide down the backside. But he had a lot of horse and that’s all I really wanted. I wanted her to indicate that she wanted to run. She was very wide but she was game. She got nothing out of her last race. We had to run. I felt great win or lose. She was back. The win was the cherry on top. I can’t say enough about Miss Helen (Alexander) and her mother. They are unbelievable people to train for. This is a filly with a great pedigree and we look forward to a big year next year.”

TOM PROCTOR, trainer of YOU GO WEST GIRL (runner-up): “She got in a little trouble turning for home.  She runs hard all the time and, actually, I thought the winner won a little easier than it looked. I think she had me measured.”
Q: But you’re pretty happy with her effort? “Yeah, I’d liked to have seen her have a little better trip.”
Q: Will she come back next year? “Oh, yeah.”

JOSE LEZCANO, rider on YOU GO WEST GIRL (runner-up): “At the eighth pole, she was running between horses and she ran hard, but she just couldn’t hold off the winner.  She ran hard and fought in the run to wire.”

JON COURT, rider on LEMON CHIFFON (third): “She ran good – I just couldn’t believe they went by her that way down the stretch.  I had a bridle-full of horse turning for home and she kicked away from the field.  They were dogging me the whole way and then the one (You Go West Girl) and the three (Acoma) kicked away.  She had plenty of kick down the lane – she just couldn’t out-kick the three and the one.  They kicked-on by themselves.”

- 30 -

Helen Alexander and Helen Groves’ Acoma held off a furious late charge from Pure Clan to win the 33rd

running of the $109,000 Early Times Mint Julep (Grade III) on Saturday at Churchill Downs by a diminishing neck.

Acoma, a 4-year-old Kentucky-bred daughter of 2003 Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker out of the Danzig mare Aurora, is trained by David Carroll and was ridden by Corey Lanerie.

Longshot In My Glory, ridden by Jesus Castanon, led the field through fractions of :24.51, :49.12 on the firm Matt Winn Turf Course with Tizaqueena in closest pursuit. Lanerie held a ground-saving position with Acoma along the hedge in fourth place in the run down the backside.

Leaving the backstretch, Tizaqueena, ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., moved past In My Glory and had a slim lead at the top of the stretch. Acoma moved between In My Glory and Tizaqueena and quickly collared the leader and opened a daylight advantage at the eighth pole before Pure Clan began her rally from last in the field of six under Shaun Bridgmohan.

Acoma, now 3-for-3 on the turf and 6-for-6 in the state of Kentucky, covered the 1 1/16th miles in 1:43.10.

Acoma returned $5, $2.80 and $2.40. Pure Clan returned $3.40 and $2.40 with Tizaqueena finishing 4 ¾ lengths back in third and paying $2.10 to show. Completing the order of finish were Day of Victory, Closeout and In My Glory.

The victory was worth $66,905 and increased Acoma’s earnings to $597,165 with seven victories in 11 races.

Racing at Churchill Downs resumes Sunday with a 10-race card. First post time is 12:45 p.m. EDT.

POST-RACE QUOTES – THE EARLY TIMES MINT JULEP

DAVID CARROLL, trainer of ACOMA (winner)

“She’s just a beautiful filly. She ran a great race and Corey (Lanerie) gave her a great ride. He saved all the ground and the (hole) opened up turning for home. She kicked hard and Pure Clan made a great run at her and she’s a Grade I winner. Corey felt our filly got to gawking a little bit down the stretch, but once Pure Clan came to her, she kicked on again. She loves the competition but Pure Clan ran a great race off a long layoff.

“You know, we’re just so happy for Helen (Alexander) and her mother (Helen Groves). She’s just a lovely filly with a great pedigree. We’re very happy.”

Q: Is the Grade I Beverly D. a major goal?

“That would be one of her goals. But obviously we want to see how she comes out of this. She won the Mrs. Revere and had four months off. She came back and ran a huge race in the Azeri and then she kind of regressed in the Apple Blossom. We probably wouldn’t have beaten the winner on the day, but we didn’t run our race so we just freshened her up again.

“You know, she’s six-for-six in the state of Kentucky and hopefully they’ll move the Beverly D. down here! We’d like that!”

COREY LANERIE, jockey of ACOMA (winner)

“My filly broke well. The pace wasn’t real fast and she was in the perfect position the whole way. I was really just up there trying to be a good passenger. When we turned for home, I was looking for Tizaqueena. I figured she would be running and I could follow and hoped that something would open. It worked out perfectly. I followed her and she took a step out and the horse on the rail stopped. I pointed her to the hole and she took me right in there.”

Q: When Pure Clan started to come to you….

“I was watching her coming and I saw her coming and I actually didn’t think she was coming that fast. My horse was kind of loping a little bit and about four jumps before the wire I started to get busy again because (Pure Clan) was coming fast. But I knew I had horse. I was just keeping an eye on her to make sure she didn’t catch me.”

ROBERT HOLTHUS, trainer of PURE CLAN (runner-up)

“She ran a good race. She’d been off for seven months. She had to come around and the other horse got through on the rail.”

Q: Do have a plan for her for the summer?

“We’re probably going to the Modesty at Arlington in about a month. We’ll see how she comes back from this race and go from there.”

Q: It’s good to have her back in your barn for another year…

“It’s good to have her back running.”

SHAUN BRIDGMOHAN, jockey on PURE CLAN (runner-up)

“She ran hard. She broke kind of OK for me, and I didn’t want to gear her up and get her where she was pulling on me, so I kind of took what she gave me. Unfortunately, I was at the back of the pack and I had to wait for somebody to move or else I’d have to go way too wide. But once she got runnin’, she came runnin’ down the lane. She’s a very nice filly – and extremely nice filly.”

MIKE STIDHAM, trainer of TIZAQUEENA (third)

“She looked like she was in a good spot. Brian (Hernandez Jr.) said she handled the grass all right. We’ve got no real excuse right now.”

Q: Any thoughts about down the road and her next start?

“The Modesty at Arlington is a possibility. We’ll just kind of look around and see.”

BRIAN HERNANDEZ JR., jockey on TIZAQUEENA (third)

“We got out there and had everything go our way down the backside, and I thought turning for home we’d go on. We kicked and went on, but those two fillies that beat us, they were coming off layoffs – but they’re nice horses. That’s what it came down to. I was hoping with them off the layoff and our filly doing so good at the time, that we’d get the jump of ‘em and be able to beat ‘em today. But it didn’t work out that way.”

- 30 -

(November 8, 2008) – Helen Alexander and Helen Groves’ Acoma overtook pace-setting My Baby Baby in the final 50 yards to win the 18th running of the $201,950 Mrs. Revere (GII) for 3-year-old fillies by 1 ¼ lengths on Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs.

Acoma, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Empire Maker out of the Danzig mare Aurora, covered the 1 1/16 miles on the firm Matt Winn Turf Course in 1:43.52. The victory, the fifth in eight career starts, was worth $117,696 and increased Acoma’s career earnings to $390,260.

Trained by David Carroll, Acoma remained undefeated in two turf starts and scored her second stakes victory at Churchill Downs. Acoma won the Grade III Dogwood on the main track in May.

Ridden by Julien Leparoux, Acoma bided her time in midpack early on as My Baby Baby, ridden by Robby Albarado, led the field through fractions of :24.04, :47.69 and 1:12.68 while being pressured by Golden Doc A.

Entering the far turn, Leparoux swung Acoma to the outside and began picking off horses. At the head of the stretch Acoma was six wide but in the clear with a clear shot at My Baby Baby, who had opened a daylight advantage by midstretch.

Sent off as the second choice in the field of 11, Acoma returned mutuels of $7.20, $4.20 and $3.40. My Baby Baby returned $9.20 and $5.40 in finishing a length ahead of Scolara and Kent Desormeaux, who paid $6 to show.

Completing the field in order were Absolutely Cindy, favored My Princess Jess, Seemingly, Clear Pond, Raw Silk, Sky Mom, Golden Doc A and Dark Sky.

Live racing at Churchill Downs resumes Sunday with a 10-race program that begins at 12:40 p.m. ET. The featured ninth race at approximately 4:37 p.m. ET is the $100,000-added Commonwealth Turf (GIII) at 1 1/16 miles on turf. John A. Chandler’s Seaspeak, who crossed the wire first but was disqualified in the Bryan Station (GIII) at Keeneland in his last start, is the 5-2 morning line favorite in the field of 11 three-year-olds.

POST-RACE QUOTES – THE MRS. REVERE

JULIEN LEPAROUX, jockey on ACOMA (Winner)

“She actually kicked very nicely in the stretch. Last time, she was more of a grinder; she just kept going but she never really kicked. She really kicked on nicely in the stretch. She’s going to improve on the turf. She won last time, but she didn’t know . . .  she had a lot of questions to answer. Today she beat a good field and won very easy so I think she’s going to improve again and hopefully be better next year, too.”

DAVID CARROLL, trainer of ACOMA (Winner)

“It was just an awesome performance. This fall, she’s gone from strength to strength. From the [Grade III Valley View at Keeneland on Oct. 17], she gained weight and trained even better. I told Julien in the paddock to ride her with confidence and that he’d have more horse than he did at Keeneland, which he’d need today. We thought she was sitting on a big race. I was so happy for Helen and her mother; they are wonderful people to train for and it’s a privilege to train for people like that who let you do your thing. Good things happen.”

Q: As good as she is are you tempted to give her one more race like The Matriarch?

“She’s a filly that really does well where she’s stabled. When we got her back this summer, we may have rushed her in a couple of spots. Once we got her back to Kentucky and she was stabled at a place for a period of time, she got very comfortable. That’s when she told us it’s time to go. I don’t think she’s one you can just put her on a plane or one that ships. I’m hoping next year that maybe she’ll be more mature. But we think this is it for the year and we’ll look forward to next year.”

Q: Will you keep her on turf or synthetic surfaces next year or keep your options open for dirt as well?

“I think you have to have an open mind. It’s just a question as to how she’s doing herself. She’ll talk to you like they all do. When she’s ready to go whatever race is there she’ll go for. Obviously, we have a Grade II and a Grade III and the goal is a Grade I. That’s something we’ll have to work towards next year. The more races you can choose from the better. Julien said today that in all of her other races she’s had to grind the win out. Today she showed a kick. That tells me now that she’s coming into her own and getting stronger. Hopefully next year when she turns four, she’ll be more mature and show an even bigger kick. There’s were some really good fillies in this race today, some very accomplished fillies in this race today – and she handled them pretty easily.”

KEN McPEEK, trainer of MY BABY BABY (runner-up)

“She’s a lovely filly.  She does everything right.  We’re going to have some fun with her.  I see her getting a lot better next year, too.”

Q: She looked like she had given them the slip at the head of the stretch…

“Her best race came over this course earlier in the year.  She laid up close to the pace and I told Robby, ‘You’re in the one-hole and it looks like there’s only one other speed horse, so let her run.”

Q: Will she run again this year or will you put her up for the winter?

“There’s a chance a chance I might run her in a stake on the Polytrack at Turfway.”

ROBBY ALBARADO, jockey on MY BABY BABY (runner-up)

“She kicked-on nice.  Kenny said don’t discourage her and take advantage of the one-post, and we did.  We let her gallop along there in front in moderate fractions.  When I squeezed her she went on, but it was a nice filly that beat her.  I’ve been on her.  I know how good she is.”

KENT DESORMEAUX, jockey on SCOLARA (runner-up)

“She gave me a lovely ride.  She kicked it in, but the other ones were just too much.  They were too fast for her, that’s all.”

EIBAR COA, jockey on MY PRINCESS JESS (fifth as the favorite)

“From the word ‘go’ we were kind of concerned about the post position.  It took a lot out of her on the first turn, where she was five or six wide.  I tried to save some ground, but I had to use her a little bit too much.  I was in a good position, but again I knew that I used her a little bit in the beginning.  Anyway, I thought she could finish a little bit better today, but for some reason she didn’t give me the run that she always has.  She pulled up good and she’s okay, but she didn’t run her race today.”

(May 31, 2008) – Helen Alexander and Helen Groves’ homebred Acoma rallied to beat 2-1 favorite Keep the Peace by a half-length to register her first stakes win in Saturday’s 34th running of the Grade III, $109,000 Dogwood Stakes at Churchill Downs.

Acoma, trained by David Carroll, ran one mile over a “fast” main track in 1:34.56 – the fastest of three editions of the Dogwood at the distance.

Acoma, who made her stakes debut, settled off the early pace of :23.11, :46.22 and 1:10.11 set by Saratoga track record holder Secret Gypsy. Keep the Peace, who was stalking from second, drew even with the leader at the top of the stretch and assumed the top position with just a sixteenth of a mile remaining. Acoma, meanwhile, split horses on the turn and rallied wide from fifth to deny Keep the Peace victory in the final strides.

Robby Albarado, who notched his meet-best fourth stakes win, took over the riding duties on Acoma after regular rider Julien Leparoux opted to ride runner-up Keep the Peace.

“Right outside the eighth pole I thought I had some good momentum on ‘em,” said Albarado, who will team with Carroll again next week aboard Denis of Cork in the Belmont Stakes. “I was closing ground fast. With the distance from that point to the wire, I thought I had a shot to get to ‘em. When she ran by (Keep the Peace), she just kept extending herself. It was a great race from her.”

Acoma, a Kentucky-bred daughter of 2003 Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker out of the Danzig mare Aurora, collected her third straight victory in four career starts. She broke her maiden over Polytrack at Keeneland in mid-April and won a first-level allowance over a “sloppy” surface at Churchill Downs on May 11.

Acoma, who earned $66,904 to nearly double her bankroll to $134,564, paid $17.80, $6.40 and $4. Keep the Peace, a runner-up in three graded stakes this year, returned $3.80 and $3. Secret Gypsy finished another 3 ¾ lengths behind in third and paid $4.40.

Alina, Tiz to Dream and Temper Temper completed the order of finish. Pious Ashley was scratched by trainer Dale Romans.

Dogwood Stakes Jockey & Trainer Quotes

DAVID CARROLL, trainer of ACOMA

“She’s always been a beautiful filly. The best thing that happened to her last year is that we had to give her time. Hopefully she just keeps on improving.”

Q: The race didn’t set up for her, but she got it done…

“Actually the last race for her , when she caught a sloppy track and raced in traffic, she never really actually settled ‘til the three-eighths pole – that’s as early as he could get her back and give her a bit of a breather, because she raced in traffic the whole way. But she got it done, she came back and she trained beautifully – she’s always trained beautifully.”

“I she couldn’t run a step, you’d say she’s beautiful. But the fact that she can run makes her more beautiful.”
Q: Where do you go with her now that she has a graded stakes win under her belt?

“This is a big step. She’s a graded stakes winner now, and for a filly with her pedigree that’s a first step. But this was a good step for her. I won’t say today was a surprise, but we went into the race hoping she’d run well. If you hit the board, it would be great, and the fact that she won it was just icing on the cake. But for me, personally, watching her from the day we got her until now, she’s taught me an awful lot. Winning for Helen (Alexander) is always special.”

Q: Why didn’t she race at two?

“She had some gate issues and was immature. She came up with a little injury in the fall and we just decided to give her some time off. When she came back to me she looked fantastic. She had really filled out. She came back to me in great shape and we got her ready to run at the end of Fair Grounds, and she’s just gone from strength to strength.”

ROBBY ALBARADO, jockey on ACOMA

Q: Is this the start of a big week for you and trainer David Carroll?

“I hope so. We moved in with this one very quietly. We’re going to move in next week very quietly, and hopefully cause a big scene. That’s what we’re hoping to do.”

Q: There were lot of reasons that she would not win that race…

“That’s what David said in the paddock. We were cutting back on the distance for her and she hadn’t been breaking that well. But she gave herself a chance leaving there. She broke well and put herself in the race behind some very nice fillies, I thought. The only thing was if Eddie’s horse (Keep the Peace) would last that mile. That was a major concern. She’d been getting nailed going seven eighths of a mile, and we thought that maybe if she slows down some that we could maybe get there. She ran well.”

Q: When did you feel like you had it?

“Right outside the eighth pole I thought I had some good momentum on ‘em. I was closing ground fast. With the distance from that point to the wire, I thought I had a shot to get to ‘em. When she ran by her (Keep the Peace), she just kept extending herself. It was a great race from her.”

EDDIE KENNEALLY, trainer of KEEP THE PEACE

“She’s been unlucky not to have won a graded stake – she’s been second now in three of them. But she shows up every time, she’s very honest.”

- 30 -