Larry Jones

• Fox Hill Farm’s Havre de Grace tuned up for the Breeders’ Cup Classic with an easy 5f workout in 1:02 under jockey Gabriel Saez Monday. The clockers caught her in splits of 12 2/5, 24 3/5, 36 4/5, 49 1/5 and 1:02 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:15 3/5.

“It was very similar to the work before the Beldame that we had at Delaware Park,” trainer Larry Jones said. “(Jockey Gabriel Saez) thought the effort she put forth was about the same thing. It was probably one of the slower works we’ve had coming into Churchill Downs.

“Everybody criticized Hard Spun for his 57 (before the 2007 Kentucky Derby) so we didn’t do that today. She had a real good work at Keeneland. We’re not worried about fitness so much as we’re worried about handling the track. Watching the helmet cam with Gabe you could tell every time he called on her a little bit she gave him something.

“Everything was good. It probably wasn’t as fast as all these other horses have been working. That was a concern when we first saw the time, but it looks like, watching her now and what little water she drank, it’s more like a gallop than a work.”

“She never has (been a great work horse),” Jones continued. “She’s become a better work horse and maybe I should have thrown a target at her.

“At Keeneland I gave her a little something to run at but we made a point to be the first one around the track today. If we really needed to tighten her down, I would have sent something out there. I wanted to kind of see how she got over the track. She doesn’t do anymore than you ask her, so we’re okay.”

• Trainer Charles “Scooter” Dickey had only good things to report of Flat Out on Monday morning, one day after the Jockey Club Gold Cup winner zipped 4f in 46 3/5 at Churchill Downs.

He’s wanting to go back out there,” Dickey said. “He’s fine. The work didn’t take anything out of him.”

Flat Out walked the shedrow Monday morning. He is scheduled to return to the track and jog two miles Tuesday in the first set around 6:10 a.m.

The Preston Stables runner will be under regular exercise rider Otto Aguilar for the next few days, although jockey Alex Solis will be in the saddle Friday morning to get reacquainted before Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic.

• Spendthrift Farm’s Mile hopeful Court Vision impressed his connections with a 5f workout over the turf course in 1:01 4/5 under regular rider Robby Albarado.

“He sure looked happy out there,” trainer Dale Romans said. “At this point we’re not going to change anything. We just wanted to keep him happy. We know he’s fit.”

Live Oak Plantation’s Brilliant Speed, who meets older horses for the first time in Saturday’s Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Turf, walked his Belmont Park shedrow Monday morning.  The Dynaformer colt will fly to Kentucky Tuesday afternoon.

“He should be in at Churchill by about 5 in the afternoon,” trainer Tom Albertrani said.  “His last two works have been his best ever.  It’s a tough assignment, but the colt is training well.  He’s maturing all the time and however he runs there’s going to be no disgrace.  I know he’s going to try.”

• Courageous Cat went to the turf course shortly after 9:45 Monday morning for a final breeze with exercise Rudolph Brisset. The 4f move was clocked in a leisurely 51 4/5 around the dogs.

“My rider was happy,” trainer Bill Mott said. “He said he gave him a little rein at the eighth pole and he was willing to go on, so he was happy.”

Courageous Cat finished second in the Mile in 2009.

• New York-bred Compliance Officer, who has gone unbeaten in five starts since claimed by current trainer Bruce Brown, is scheduled to fly to Kentucky Tuesday afternoon.

“He’s really in great shape,” Brown said.  “He deserves to take shot in a race like this.  If some of those older horses stub their toe a bit and we’re able to pull a good trip, he’s going to be right there.”

Jockey Alex Solis has the mount Saturday.

“Alex gets along with him great and breezes him for me all the time now,” Brown said.  “He really knows the horse and they get along well.  I don’t know if I’d be as game to do this if Alex wasn’t on the horse.”

• Trainer David Fawkes worked both of his Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Sprint contenders, Apriority and defending champion Big Drama, on Monday morning at Churchill Downs with jockey Jeffery Sanchez aboard each.

Big Drama, who won last year in gate-to-wire fashion, went out early while Apriority was sent to the track at 8:30 a.m.

“Big Drama turned in a nice breeze in 49 (49 3/5) and I have no complaints. Everything is good with him,” Fawkes said.

Apriority breezed 4f in 50 2/5.

• Trainer Al Stall Jr. sent his two Breeders’ Cup contenders Cease and Animal Spirits through their final pre-race works Monday morning with Animal Spirits working 4f in 49 1/5 on the main track for the Juvenile Turf and Cease going the same distance in 51 4/5 for the Marathon.

Although it was entry day, Stall did not plan to be at the draw. He was scheduled to pay a visit to Claiborne Farm and last year’s big Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Blame.

“I have a group of good old friends from Louisiana that I’m taking out there,” Stall reported. “It’s supposed to be great weather and Claiborne looks pretty fine on a sunny day.”

• The Kiaran McLaughlin-trained Rattlesnake Bridge galloped at Belmont Park Monday.  He is scheduled on a Kentucky-bound flight that departs from New York Tuesday.

“The Classic is obviously a tough spot,” McLaughlin said.  “But we feel he’s going to get a serious pace and he’ll make a serious run.  I’m confident we haven’t seen the best of this colt yet.”

Godolphin Racing’s Alpha, runner-up to Union Rags in Belmont’s Champagne this month, was scheduled to van from Belmont Park to Churchill Downs Monday afternoon.

“He’ll get in at 5 tomorrow morning and walk right into his stall,” McLaughlin said.  “He couldn’t be doing any better.”

Cheyenne Stable’s Miss Netta, who was third in Belmont Park’s Frizette this month, was scheduled to van from Belmont Park to Churchill Downs Monday afternoon.  Miss Netta galloped at Belmont Park prior to her departure.

“I was happy she finished third in the Frizette,” McLaughlin said.  “She had an unlucky, terrible trip.  She’s worked great a couple of times since.”

Mill House’s Trappe Shot, who has never started at a mile in his 11-race career, galloped Monday at Belmont Park.  He is scheduled to fly to Kentucky Tuesday.  Jockey John Velazquez has the mount on Saturday.

“We think the mile is a great distance for him,” McLaughlin said.  “And given the race shape, with The Factor and Shackleford setting a fast pace, that’s a big plus.  (John Velazquez) should be able to stalk without having to get into him early.”

It’s Tricky, winner of Belmont’s Acorn and Saratoga’s Coaching Club American Oaks this year, was scheduled to depart Belmont Park on a van bound for Churchill Downs Monday afternoon.

“She’s fine once she ships,” McLaughlin said.  “Rather than get on a van, get on a plane, then get on a van with her, all she has to do is walk onto the van and she’ll be at Churchill by 5 in the morning.  She can just walk right into her stall.”

Before the renovation break Monday, four of Steve Asmussen’s Breeders’ Cup hopefuls worked a half-mile, and the trainer was pleased with all of their moves.

• George Bolton and Stonestreet Stables’ My Miss Aurelia, the morning-line favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, breezed 4f in 49 3/5.

“It was a nice half mile,” Asmussen said. “She got over the track well and was nice and relaxed. We’re keeping her happy.”

Winchell Thoroughbred LLC’s Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Sprint contender Seeker breezed 4f in 50 2/5.

“He went well,” Asmussen said. “The work went nice and smooth. I feel very good about where’s he’s at.”

Winchell Thoroughbred LLC’s Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile entrant Tapizar breezed 4f in 49 3/5.

“He worked a nice half-mile,” Asmussen said. “He’s proven he likes this racetrack in the past.”

Stonestreet Stable LLC’s Wilburn breezed 4f in 49 4/5.

“It was an easy half-mile for Wilburn,” Asmussen said. “I was very happy with all four of them (Monday Breeders’ Cup workers). They all handle the track well, and I’m very comfortable with where they’re at.”

• The 2011 Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice jogged 1m over the Churchill Downs track Monday morning after arriving by van from Monmouth Park late Sunday night.

Trainer Kelly Breen was not planning to attend the Breeders’ Cup post position draw Monday afternoon.

“I didn’t attend the Belmont draw and it turned out OK,” Breen said. “I don’t want to change things now.”

• Turf Sprint entrant Great Attack had his final major workout Monday breezing 5f in 1:02 4/5 over the turf course with jockey Jeffery Sanchez aboard.

“It was beautiful,” trainer Wesley Ward said of the workout. “I’m very happy with it.”

Kenneth & Sarah Ramsey’s 2yo filly Stephanie’s Kitten was entered in the Juvenile Fillies Turf instead of the Juvenile Fillies on Monday morning. According to trainer Wayne Catalano, the decision was a “no brainer”.

“Her pedigree is turf all the way,” Catalano explained. “She’s run on the turf and Polytrack, and her numbers (speed figures) are good on those surfaces. If it had been a question between turf and Poly, it would have been a tough call, but since it was turf or dirt, it wasn’t a tough call at all.”

• Tom Amoss was confident Monday morning following an easy 4f workout by Sum of the Parts as he moved a step closer to Friday’s Juvenile Sprint.

“He worked a nice half in 49 3/5,” the Churchill Downs-based trainer said. “He did it well in hand.”

And that made Amoss especially happy, as he said that he’s been trying to dial down the aggressiveness normally shown by the son of 2004 Sprint winner Speightstown.

• Trainer Mark Casse’s Breeders’ Cup prospects were reduced by half Monday when the Sovereign Award winner said that neither Spirited Miss nor Sky High Lady will be in the gate on Friday.

Sky High Lady was being pointed to the Juvenile Fillies and Spirited Miss was a contender for the Juvenile Fillies Turf.

“Last week after Spirited Miss’s work (on October 24 when she breezed 5f in 1:01 2/5 at Churchill Downs), we scoped her and she was full of mucus. We scoped her again yesterday and she’s not better,” he said.

“The other filly (Sky High Lady who ran at Churchill Sunday) isn’t going to run.”

• Trainer Donnie Von Hemel commented as to why McNeil Stables and Cheyenne Stables’ Caleb’s Posse was entered in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile rather than the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

“The tough part about our decision was that his best races have come at seven furlongs, and they wouldn’t let us run in the Filly & Mare Sprint (7f),” Von Hemel said of his colt with a chuckle. “If it had been a two-turn mile, we would have almost surely gone in the Sprint.”

At Churchill Downs, 1m dirt races are run around one turn. The 3yo son of Posse has won at distances spanning from 6f to 1 1/16 m.

“It was a tough decision. After pre-entries come out, you try and handicap the races and figure out how both races might set up. In the end, the owners and I thought the mile was the best spot for us.”

• Creative Cause, a leading contender for the Juvenile Saturday, galloped 1 ½ m on Cushion Track at Hollywood Park Monday in his final exercise in California before being flown to Kentucky Tuesday morning.

Also putting in their last drills before joining Creative Cause on the Tex Sutton charter from Ontario Airport were Tanda in the Filly & Mare Sprint, Camp Victory in the Turf Sprint and Tres Borrachos in the Dirt Mile. The flight is scheduled to leave Ontario at 5 a.m. Pacific time.

“He looked good to me,” said trainer Mike Harrington after Creative Cause galloped under regular exercise rider John Cisneros. “He seemed full of himself. He’s happy and healthy, and that’s all you can ask for at this point. He’s ready.”

Graded stakes winners Tanda and Camp Victory each galloped 1m on the main track, according to Phil D’Amato, assistant to trainer Mike Mitchell.

“All systems are go,” D’Amato said. “They’re ready. We’ve been pointing for these races for a long time.”

Tres Borrachos exercised on the training track, jogging once around and galloping around twice, according to Martel Castaneda, assistant to trainer Marty Jones.

“He’s been doing great,” Castaneda said. “He won’t be battling for the lead like he did in his last race (the Goodwood). He’ll run the way he did when he won the San Diego.”

Harrington and Mitchell caught flights to Louisville Monday, while Jones is scheduled to fly east on Wednesday.

• Arrivals: Tex Sutton Air Forwarding charter flights carrying contenders for this weekend’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Churchill Downs arrived into Louisville from New York on Saturday and California on Sunday.

Another flight Monday morning originating in New York was to bring runners trained by Nick Zito with a stop in Baltimore to pick up others stabled in the mid-Atlantic trained by Michael Matz, Graham Motion and Anthony Dutrow.

Two more Tex Sutton flights are scheduled for Tuesday. The first originates in California with a full load, including as many as 10 trained by Bob Baffert, and the second due in late afternoon from New York, including trainer Kiaran McLaughlin’s contingent and Gio Ponti for trainer Christophe Clement.

Nineteen of the Europeans arrived on two flights on Saturday, October 29.

The first flight contained four runners, the Roger Varian-trained pair of Nahrain, who will contest the Emirates Airlines Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf and Farraaj for the Juvenile Turf. Also on board were the John Gosden-trained Questing and the David Lanigan-trained Meeznah.

A further 15 arrived on the Saturday evening Breeders’ Cup charter including France’s first lady Goldikova ahead of her historic bid of a four-timer in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile.

The Europeans yet to arrive are the eight Aidan O’Brien colts, including the Breeders’ Cup Classic contender So You Think, who are due to arrive at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday.  The O’Brien shipment had been reduced by one, with news that Learn will not be aboard the flight.

The only Europeans that appeared on the track Monday were Questing and Meeznah.

Meeznah went a couple of circuits at a walk and trot with her pony to get used to the surroundings before heading back to the barn.

An early arrival at Churchill Downs is trainer Alan McCabe, who will be saddling his first Breeders’ Cup runner when Caspar Netscher contests the Juvenile Turf.

“I am very pleased with everything. The horse is in good shape and I am happy with the ground at Churchill Downs, which is good to firm good in places.” McCabe said.

Complete list of Monday Workouts

Churchill Downs: Animal Spirits – 4f in 49 1/5; Apriority – 4f in 50 2/5; Big Drama – 4f in 49 3/5; Candrea – 4f in 48 4/5; Cease – 4f in 51 4/5; Golden Mystery 4f in 47 2/5; My Miss Aurelia – 4f in 49 3/5; Seeker – 4f in 50 2/5; Sum of the Parts – 4f in 49 3/5; Tapizar – 4f in 49 3/5; Wilburn – 4f in 49 4/5; Courageous Cat – 4f turf in 51 4/5; Customer Base – 4f turf in 49 3/5; Shkspeare Shaliyah – 4f turf in 51; Court Vision – 5f turf in 1:01 4/5; Great Attack – 5f turf in 1:02 4/5; Havre de Grace – 5f in 1:02.

Churchill Downs Training Center: Hansen – 4f in 48 3/5.

Santa Anita: Prayer for Relief – 4f in 46 2/5; The Factor – 6f in 1:10 1/5.

Another busy morning for the Todd Pletcher barn at Churchill Downs was headlined by two five-furlong workouts Sunday from Mike Repole’s duo of Uncle Mo and Stay Thirsty in preparation for Saturday’s Grade I, $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Working shortly after the renovation break, Uncle Mo breezed five furlongs in 1:01.40 on a fast track and recorded fractions of :12.80, :24.80, :36.60 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.40 under John Velazquez, who was quite impressed with the 3-year-old son of Indian Charlie.

"The key was to get a steady work, finish well and gallop out well,” Velazquez said. “He went very good and it was exactly what we wanted and what we expected.”

Uncle Mo, who missed this year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) with a liver ailment, returned to top form with a narrow defeat in the King’s Bishop (GI) and a dominating performance in the Kelso Handicap (GII). Pletcher was pleased with Uncle Mo’s work and believes he is coming up to another big race.

“The workout was perfect,” Pletcher said. “He went nice and steady and had an excellent gallop out. We have him coming into the race as well as he can be and there isn’t a horse on the grounds that looks as good as he does.”

One major question surrounding Uncle Mo is whether he will handle the 1 ¼-mile distance of the Classic, but Pletcher sees no reason last year’s 2-year-old champion would struggle going longer in Saturday’s race than he has before.

“He’s done nothing to indicate that he can’t get the distance, but until he does it you don’t know for sure,” Pletcher said. “But he’s coming into the race well and he’s the most talented horse in the field coming into the race.”

Working shortly after Uncle Mo was Stay Thirsty, who worked in company with Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (GI) hopeful Rule. Under Javier Castellano, Stay Thirsty breezed five furlongs in 1:00.60 and recorded fractions of :24.20, :35.80 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.20.

“I thought Stay Thirsty also went very well,” Pletcher said. “He went a little bit faster than Uncle Mo, but I thought they both looked excellent.”

Castellano, who rode Stay Thirsty to victory in Jim Dandy (GII) and Travers (GI) at Saratoga this summer, was pleased with the work.

“It was a very good, consistent work,” Castellano said. “He handled the track really well and pulled me the whole way.”

Rule, who started two lengths in front of Stay Thirsty, was credited with a five-furlong time of 1:01.20.

“His (Rule) work was OK,” Pletcher said. “As some horses mature they begin to know the difference between the mornings and the afternoons and he’s getting wise to it. So, the work wasn’t exceptional.”

The first Breeders’ Cup horse to work for Pletcher on Sunday was Dogwood Stable’s Aikenite, who worked in company with Shared Heart prior to the renovation break. Aikenite and Shared Heart started even and finished even through a four-furlong breeze in :47.80 and recorded fractions of :12.20, :23.80, :35.80 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:01.

Aikenite is pre-entered in the Dirt Mile and the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Sprint (GI), with first preference in the Sprint.

The final Breeders’ Cup hopefuls to work from the Pletcher barn Sunday were WinStar Farm and Rubio B. Stable’s Sidney’s Candy and Mrs. John Magnier and Michael Tabor’s Finale, who breezed four furlongs on a firm Matt Winn Turf Course.

Sidney’s Candy, who will enter the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile (GI), started and finished a length ahead of Finale (GII Juvenile Turf) and both were credited with a time of :49.80. The two recorded fractions of :13.60, :26.80 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:03.20.

“Sidney’s Candy worked exceptionally well,” Pletcher said. “He handled the course well and finished well. He’s coming into the race great, very settled and relaxed.

“Finale worked great and went very well for a 2-year-old working with a horse like Sidney’s Candy.”

FLAT OUT’S BULLET WORK LEAVES DICKEY FLAT-OUT PLEASED – Preston Stables LLC’s Flat Out showed his readiness for next Saturday’s $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) by working a bullet half-mile in :46.60  on Sunday morning with jockey Greta Kuntzweiler aboard.

Fractions for the work accomplished shortly after 7 o’clock over a fast track were :12.20, :23.80, :35.20 and out five furlongs in :58.80 and six furlongs in 1:12.40. The half-mile time was the best of 58 for the morning.

“I’m flat-out pleased,” trainer Scooter Dickey said with a laugh. “I told Greta to let him do what he wants to do, then cluck to him at the eighth pole and have him gallop out strong. We’re ready.”

Dickey said that Flat Out would gallop up to the Classic with jockey Alex Solis slated to get aboard for Friday morning’s activity. Solis has ridden Flat Out in his past four starts resulting in victories in the Suburban (GII) and Jockey Club Gold Cup (GI) and runner-up finishes in the Whitney Invitational Handicap (GI) and Woodward (GI).

Sunday’s work was the second bullet move at Churchill Downs for Flat Out since winning the Jockey Club Gold Cup at the Breeders’ Cup Classic distance of 1 ¼ miles. Flat Out has run twice here, finishing sixth both times.

“He had a bad trip the first time he ran here when he was a 2-year-old,” Dickey said. “In the Stephen Foster (Handicap), that was not a bad race. He was trapped down on the inside and couldn’t get out. All the others (that finished in front of him) came down the middle of the track. He made a good move, but the rail was dead that day.”

HAVRE DE GRACE TO HAVE FINAL CLASSIC WORKOUT MONDAY MORNING – Fox Hill Farms Inc.’s Havre de Grace, who arrived at Churchill Downs from Keeneland on Saturday afternoon, galloped on the main track under trainer Larry Jones after the renovation break Sunday morning and is scheduled for a five-furlong work Monday morning after the break with Gabriel Saez to ride.

Havre de Grace, who was pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic as well as the Classic, will be entered in the Classic on Monday according to Jones.

“We have had time to look at the weather and it doesn’t look like this weekend will be like Belmont yesterday,” Jones said, referring to the heavy snow that forced Belmont to cancel its program after three races Saturday.

Jones and owner Rick Porter had pre-entered the Ladies’ Classic as a backup in case Havre de Grace drew the one hole for the Classic, but Jones is not worried about a possible such draw.

“A lot of emphasis is placed on the (Kentucky) Derby with where the gate is,” Jones said. “With a 20-horse field, they use a second gate and the one and two spots are squeezed in toward the rail. With just one gate (for the Classic), the gate is moved out a bit from the rail and the one hole is more like the three.”

The 4-year-old daughter of Saint Liam has won five of six starts in 2011 with her lone loss coming by a nose in the Delaware Handicap (GII) at 1 ¼ miles. After the Classic, there may be more to come in 2012.

“Rick has every intention of running her in 2012,” Jones said. “At the start of the year, we wanted to get her in position for Horse of the Year because we felt like she had a shot. I have had some fast fillies, but she is just special.”

Winner of the Beldame Invitational (GI) on Oct. 1 by 8 ¼ lengths in her most recent start, Havre de Grace had her last work at Keeneland on Oct. 24, a five-furlong move in :58.60.

"She is doing really well and acting like she is feeling better than she ever has in the past two weeks,” Jones said. “I don’t know if it is the cooler weather, but she is very lively and acts like she is ready to do something.”

MOTT SMILES AS ROYAL DELTA DAZZLES, TO HONOR AND SERVE DRILLS  – Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott’s good weekend continued Sunday with strong works by Breeders’ Cup World Championships contenders Royal Delta (Ladies Classic) and To Honor and Serve (Classic).

Palides Investments’ Royal Delta, winner of the Alabama (GI) and runner-up to Classic contender Havre de Grace in the Beldame (GI), produced Mott’s biggest smile as she worked four furlongs in :47.80 under exercise rider Rudolph Brisset.  The 3-year-old daughter of Empire Maker was caught in fractional splits of 12:80, :25, :36.20 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:00.40 and six furlongs in 1:14.40.

“If you didn’t like that, you don’t like training horses,” Mott said.  “That’s what you’re looking for.  You just dream of getting up in the morning and coming out and seeing something like that.  She went great.”

“The majority of a trainer’s job is to just to try to not do anything foolish and keep the horse out of trouble.  It just makes you feel good when you see them go well and everything went right.  I feel good about it and I feel good about the way she’s doing.”

After his glowing comments about Royal Delta, the Courier-Journal’s Jennie Rees told Mott that trainer J. Larry Jones had confirmed a short time earlier that Fox Hill Farm’s Woodward (GI) and Beldame winner Havre de Grace – a leading candidate for horse of the year – would be entered Monday only for a run against males in Saturday’s $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic.

That elicited another grin from the all-time leading trainer at Churchill Downs.

“Hey, I think they made a great move,” Mott said with a chuckle.

The work by Royal Delta ranked tied the fifth-fastest of 58 moves at the distance.

Mott was also very happy with the move by Live Oak Plantation’s To Honor and Serve, who is coming off an impressive victory in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby (GII) at Philadelphia’s Parx Racing.

The son of Bernardini breezed five furlongs under Brisset in 1:00.40.  To Honor and Serve carved out fractions of :12.80, :24.60, :36.80 and :48.40.  He galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.80 and 1:29.20 after his third work since his arrival at Churchill Downs better than three weeks ago.

“It was very smooth,” Mott said.  “It was very professional about everything.  I thought it was a better work than it was last week.  We let him go off a little quicker today, so ultimately it was a little bit of a faster work.  The gallop-out was very good and I thought everything worked out very well.”

The move ranked as the fourth-fastest of 33 at the distance.

To Honor and Serve started 2011 as a major contender for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI), but was knocked off the springtime road to Churchill Downs by disappointing runs in the Fountain of Youth (GII) and Florida Derby (GIII) at Gulfstream Park and a minor physical problem.  The colt returned to competition in early August with a sixth-place run behind Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (GII) candidate Caleb’s Posse in the 6 ½ furlong Amsterdam (GII) at Saratoga, then reeled off  sparkling wins in a Saratoga allowance race and the Pennsylvania Derby, both run at 1 1/8 miles.

“We were just unable to come into the (Kentucky) Derby and train him the way we wanted to,” Mott said.  “I guess it’s to his advantage now that he had the time and it looks like he’s come back well and he’s coming off two real good races.  So hopefully he’s coming into this in good order and the timing is right.”

Royal Delta and To Honor and Serve are members of a group of five horses that make up Mott’s 2011 Breeders’ Cup team.  Drosselmeyer, winner of the 2010 Belmont Stakes and another Classic hope, and Birdrun, who is bound for the Marathon, worked Saturday.

Mott plans to worked Pam and Martin Wygod and William S. Farish’s Courageous Cat, a contender for the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile, on the Matt Winn Turf Course on Monday.  The son of Storm Cat galloped over the main track early Sunday.

Courageous Cat won this year’s Shoemaker Mile (GI) at Hollywood Park and was runner-up to Goldikova in the 2009 Mile at Santa Anita.

SWITCH WORKS FIVE FURLONGS; CONFIRMED FOR FILLY & MARE SPRINT – C R K Stable’s Switch, who was pre-entered in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (GI) as well as the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (GI), worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 under exercise rider Edwin Orozco after the renovation break.

Fractions for the work, which was the second fastest of 33 at the distance, were :12, :24, :36 and out six furlongs in 1:14.20.

“I was happy with the work,” trainer John Sadler said of the breeze. “She is probably working better than last year when she ran in the (Filly & Mare) Sprint. That’s the race she will be entered in Monday.”

Switch, who has worked twice here since finishing third in the Thoroughbred Club of America (GII) at Keeneland on Oct. 8, ran second to Dubai Majesty in last year’s Filly & Mare Sprint.

BARN TALK – One of the first workers Sunday morning was Jerry Jamgotchian’s Satans Quick Chick, who covered a half-mile in :49, the 20^th fastest of 58 at the distance. Pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic (GI), Satans Quick Chick reeled off fractions of :12, :23.80, :36.60 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:03.

“I didn’t want her to do too much, just stretch her legs,” trainer Eric Reed said.

In the saddle for the work was jockey Rosemary Homeister Jr. Homeister, who was the fourth-leading rider at Churchill Downs last fall with 16 victories, gave birth to a baby girl, Victoria Rose, on Aug. 21.

“I was in the gym the following week and hired a trainer,” said Homeister, who began getting on horses for Reed at the Thoroughbred Training Center and Keeneland in Lexington about a month ago. “It’s great to be fit again.”

Homeister will ride her first race back for Reed on Thursday at Woodbine and plans to ride horses for Reed during the 21-day Fall Meet that begins this afternoon and then go to Tampa Bay Downs for the winter.

WORK TAB – Other Breeders’ Cup pre-entrants working before the break were Silverton Hill’s Havelock (Turf Sprint): four furlongs in :49.60 (32^nd best of 58 at the distance) under Chase Miller with fractions of :12.80, :25.40 and out five furlongs in 1:02.60; Myron Miller’s Ask the Moon (Ladies’ Classic): four furlongs in :50.20 (44^th fastest of 58) with fractions of :12.40, :24.40 and out five furlongs in 1:04; and Cathy and Bob Zollars’ Daddy Nose Best (Juvenile Turf): four furlongs in :50.20 (44^th of 58) with fractions of :13, :25.40, :37.80 and out five furlongs in 1:05.20. …

Working after the break were Chuck and Maribeth Sandford and Secure Investment’s Take Charge Indy (Grey Goose Juvenile): four furlongs in :48.20 (ninth of 58) with fractions of :11.80 and :35.20 with James Graham up; Kaleem Shah’s Irrefutable (Dirt Mile): four furlongs in :47.60 (third of 58) with fractions of :12, :23.80 and out five furlongs in 1:00.80 with Dana Barnes up; Don McNeill and Everett Dobson’s Caleb’s Posse (Sentient Jet Sprint or Dirt Mile): four furlongs in :48.20 (ninth of 58) with fractions of :12.60, :24.40, :36.20 and out five furlongs in 1:02.60; and William Cox’s Ann of the Dance (Juvenile Fillies Turf): four furlongs in :50.80 (53^rd of 58) with fractions of :13.20, :25.60, :38 and out five furlongs in 1:04.20 and six furlongs in 1:18.20.

Working on a firm Matt Winn Turf Course were George Schmitt, Jason Cline and Charles Cline’s  Cambina (IRE) (Emirates Airline Filly & Mare Turf): four furlongs in :51.60 under Julien Leparoux with fractions of :13.80, :27.60 and out five furlongs in 1:05.80; Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Coalport (Juvenile Turf): five furlongs in 1:02.20 with fractions of :12.20, :24.40, :37.80 and out six furlongs in 1:18; Mark Samuel’s Grand Adventure (Turf Sprint): four furlongs in :50.20 with fractions of :13.40, :26.60, :38.40 and out five furlongs in 1:04; Richard and Elaine Klein’s Country Day (Turf Sprint): four furlongs in :49.80 with James Graham up with fractions of :13, :26.40, :38.20 and out five furlongs in 1:04.60; and, Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Holiday for Kitten (Turf Sprint): five furlongs in 1:03 with fractions of :13, :26.40, :39.40, :51.20 and out six furlongs in 1:17.80.

At the nearby Trackside Training Center, trainer Mike Maker worked five of his Breeders’ Cup pre-entrants over a fast track: Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Headache (Classic, five furlongs in 1:00.60, fourth best of 20 at the distance); Jack and Tom Conway’s Stately Victor (Marathon, five furlongs in 1:00.40, second best); Connie Apostelos’ Baryshnikov (Marathon, five furlongs in 1:00.60, fourth best); Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Gung Ho (Juvenile Turf, five furlongs in 1:00.20, best of 20); and Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Dean’s Kitten (Turf, five furlongs in 1:03.60, 17^th best).

Edward Evans’ Malibu Prayer collared favored One Caroline on the far turn and then held off a late charge by Copper State by a length to win the 24th running of the $167,550 Chilukki (Grade II) for fillies and mares at Churchill Downs.

Ridden by Chris DeCarlo, Malibu Prayer gave trainer Todd Pletcher his second consecutive victory in the Chilukki having scored in 2008 with Leah’s Secret. Malibu Prayer covered the mile on a “fast” main track in 1:36.24.

One Caroline, who was coming off a six-month layoff because of an injury, shot to the lead under Leandro Goncalves and took the field through fractions of :22.47 and :44.87 while maintaining a clear advantage.

DeCarlo moved Malibu Prayer after One Caroline leaving the backstretch and took command entering the stretch only to have One Caroline battle back. Malibu Prayer finally began to draw clear in the final sixteenth of a mile as Copper State closed fast to swipe second place by a neck over One Caroline.

The victory was worth $99,626 and increased Malibu Prayer’s earnings to $348,526 with her fourth victory in nine starts.

Malibu Prayer, a 3-year-old Virginia-bred daughter of Malibu Moon who carried 115 pounds, nine fewer than top weight Swift Temper who finished sixth, returned $12.20, $6.20 and $3.80. Copper State, ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan, paid $15 and $6.60 with One Caroline paying $2.60 to show.

Payton d’Oro, who finished fifth in the field of nine, represented the final starter for trainer Larry Jones, who is turning the training of his 23-horse stable over to his wife Cindy.

Jones, a 53-year-old native of Hopkinsville, Ky., who began training in 1982, is best known as the conditioner of 2008 Kentucky Derby runner-up Eight Belles. Jones, who saddled Proud Spell to win the 2008 Kentucky Oaks, also had the 2007 Kentucky Derby runner-up in Hard Spun.

"At least I ended the career better than I started,” Jones said. “The pressure’s off. I bet my blood pressure’s already come down now. But, no, it’s good. Trust me, it’s got some sentimental feelings about it, but I’m OK. It’s all good. . . . I don’t know what the future really holds, but it’ll all be good.  You know, we’re ready for the next journey, whatever it may be.”

Cindy Jones will oversee the barn operations through the end of the Churchill Downs meet on Nov. 28 and then the couple will head home to Henderson, Ky., for the holidays before rejoining the barn for the 2010 meet at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark.

In the race before the Chilukki, Destiny Oaks’ She’s Our Annie made a successful return to the races after a 7 ½-month layoff to post a 2 ½-length victory over Adhrhythm in the $61,300 Dream Supreme, a six-furlong overnight stake for fillies and mares.

Ridden by Jon Court for trainer Jinks Fires, She’s Our Annie returned mutuels of $5.20, $4.20 and $3.20 as the favorite in the field of nine. Adhrhythm, ridden by Chris Emigh, returned $17.60 and $10.20 with Step Out Smartly paying $5.20 to show under Francisco Torres.

Racing continues Sunday with a 10-race card beginning at 12:40 p.m.

JONES GOES AROUND THE TRACK ON LAST TIME – It was business as usual Saturday morning at Barn 43 at Churchill Downs with trainer Larry Jones in the saddle and galloping his horses during training hours.

But the game, and Jones’ life, will change on Sunday.

"I am sleeping in that morning,” said Jones, who is turning over the training of his 23 horses to his wife Cindy. “I’m gonna tell Cindy that I’m sick.”

Jones, a 53-year-old native of Hopkinsville, Ky., who began training in 1982, is retiring as a trainer after the Saturday card in which he will send the 3-year-old Payton d’Oro out to face older foes in the $150,000-added Chilukki (Grade II).

Jones galloped four horses Saturday morning, the final one being No Such Word.

“That’s it, I’m done,” Jones said with a laugh after he got off the 2-year-old filly.

“I’m gonna keep on galloping. I think I’m on the gallop list tomorrow, but on the late, late ones. I think tomorrow will be my first day as an exercise rider because I have always had a trainer’s license when I have been galloping my horses.”

Jones owns one stakes victory at Churchill Downs, where he saddled his first starter. That winner was Proud Spell in the 2008 Kentucky Oaks.

But it was another filly that really kick-started Jones’ career, Island Sand, who finished second to Ashado in the 2004 Oaks.

“She was right here in this barn and she was the one that really put us on the map,” Jones said. “We drove back to Ellis Park with her in the trailer that afternoon after the race. We stopped at a McDonald’s for a bite to eat and she went through the drive-through with us.”

Jones, who saddled Hard Spun and Eight Belles to runner-up finishes in the 2007 and 2008 runnings of the Kentucky Derby, still has that trailer.

“It is in Maryland with all my stuff in it that has to get to Oaklawn Park,” Jones said.

Cindy Jones will oversee the barn operations through the end of the Churchill Downs meet on Nov. 28 and then the couple will head home to Henderson, Ky., for the holidays and Christmas with the grandchildren.
Longtime assistants Deirdre Jackson and Cory York will handle the stable’s move to Arkansas and continue to work with Cindy.

DEMARCATION COULD RETURN CLOSING WEEKEND – Trainer Paul McGee already had one horse in his barn targeting the Nov. 27 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GII) in Dubious Miss.
He may have picked up a second on Friday when the Amerman Racing Stables’ Demarcation rallied to win the Ack Ack Handicap (GIII) in his first main track start since February 2008.

“The way Mr. (John) Amerman was talking last night, he was thinking about the Clark,” McGee said. “We will talk about it, but Demarcation could come back and defend his title in the River City (Handicap, GIII). He is fine this morning.”

The victory by Demarcation was his first since dead-heating with Karelian in last year’s River City Handicap. Jesus Castanon, who was aboard Demarcation on Friday, also was aboard in the River City to account for the rider’s two Churchill Downs stakes victories.

TAPITSFLY COMPLETES FRIDAY GRAND SLAM FOR ROMANS – If there was any lingering doubt that Friday was Dale Romans’ day, Tapitsfly erased it in Southern California.

Romans was not at Churchill Downs yesterday to see each of his three starters reach the winner’s circle. First up was Bobby B. Goode ($8.80) in the second, followed by Buckwild ($11.60) in the fourth and Sir Jock ($5.80) in the fifth.

The trio of wins gave Romans five through the first four days of the 21-day meet and lifted him into the top spot in the race for “leading trainer” honors.

But the crowning achievement of the day came at Santa Anita when Louisvillian Frank Jones Jr.’s homebred Tapitsfly won the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf under Robby Albarado.

The victory by Tapitsfly, Romans’ only horse in the 2009 World Championships, was Romans’ first Breeders’ Cup win from seven starters.. It was the second Breeders’ Cup victory for Albarado, who won the 2007 Classic on “Horse of the Year” Curlin.

Albarado nearly doubled up in the next race, the $2 million Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI), finishing second on Beautician for Churchill Downs-based trainer Ken McPeek.

Baldemar Bahena, assistant to Romans, said that Tapitsfly was scheduled to return to Churchill Downs on Sunday.
 
FUND ESTABLISHED TO ASSIST INJURED RIDER BRIMO – Cindy Werner, wife of trainer Ronny Werner, has set up a fund at Fifth Third Bank to assist with the cost of rehabilitation for jockey Julia Brimo who was injured in an Oct. 30 spill at Keeneland.

“They have taken the respirator out and she is breathing on her own,” Cindy Werner said of the 33-year-old Brimo, who remains hospitalized in serious condition at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. “She has some movement in her extremities.”

Brimo’s mount, Golden Stride, clipped heels and feel in the first race on the Polytrack surface at the Lexington track.

“She has been galloping horses for us and rode some for us at Turfway Park,” Cindy Werner said.

Brimo had been a regular fixture at Churchill Downs the past few years as an exercise rider for trainer Mark Casse and among the horses she had galloped here was Sealy Hill, Canada’s Horse of the Year in 2007.

Werner said donations to the fund would be accepted at any Fifth Third Bank or can be mailed to Werner at 1116 Flat Rock Road, Louisville, KY 40245.

BARN TALK – Five-time Churchill Downs riding champion Julien Leparoux was the riding star of the first day of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita on Friday with two victories. Leparoux guided She Be Wild to victory in the $2 million Grey Goose Juvenile Fillies (GI) and Informed Decision in the $1 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (GI). Leparoux also finished third on Forever Together in the $2 million Emirates Airline Filly & Mare Turf (GI),

She Be Wild is trained by Wayne Catalano, who has 22 horses stabled in Barn 42.

Three-time Churchill Downs graded-stakes winner Pure Clan atoned for her last-place showing in last year’s Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf by running a fast-closing second to Midday (GB) for veteran trainer Bob Holthus.

The 1-2 finishers in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic, Life Is Sweet and Mushka, both spent time here in the Spring of 2008 in Barn 19 for trainer Bill Mott.

“Mushka spent some time between here and Keeneland after she wintered at Payson Park,” said Kenny McCarthy, Mott’s Churchill Downs assistant. “Life Is Sweet was here after she ran at Keeneland (fourth in the Grade I Ashland), but the owners (Pam and Marty Wygod) saw that she liked the Polytrack and sent her to John Shirreffs in California.”

Former jockey Joe Deegan, who spends the first part of each morning galloping horses at Churchill Downs, picked up a training victory Friday when Pop Tarrt posted a $101.80 upset in the eighth race.

“We have some horses at the High Point Training Center in LaGrange,” Deegan said. “I gallop here until 7:30 and then go out there. We can train as long as we want out there.”

The presence of Mark Stanley’s Grade I winner Swift Temper and the return to the races of G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and the Louise Ireland Humphrey Revocable Trust-2008’s One Caroline serve as the main attention grabbers for Saturday’s 24th running of the $150,000-added Chilukki (Grade II).
    
    But the story of the race figures to be Payton d’Oro, who is scheduled to be the final starter for Kentucky-born trainer Larry Jones.
    
    Jones, who saddled Proud Spell to win the 2008 Kentucky Oaks (GI) and sent out Hard Spun and Eight Belles to runner-up finishes in the 2007 and 2008 runnings of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI), is retiring after Saturday and turning the operation of the stable to his wife Cindy.
    
    Jones, a 53-year-old native of Hopkinsville, also will saddle Brereton Jones’ On the Menu in Saturday’s Dream Supreme, the day’s eighth race. After Saturday, he and Cindy will retain 23 horses that they own totally or in partnerships.
    
    Winner of the Remington Park Oaks last time out and the Grade II Black-Eyed Susan at Pimlico in May. Payton d’Oro is owned by Michael Pressley, John Ferris, Mike Riley, Lee Robey and Barry Higgins and will be ridden by Terry Thompson.

One Caroline, trained by Rusty Arnold, has been installed as the 8-5 morning line favorite by Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia. A winner of five of six career starts, One Caroline has not started since a runner-up finish to Miss Isella in the Louisville Distaff (GII) on May 1.

Leandro Goncalves will ride One Caroline and break from post position four under a 122-pound impost.

Swift Temper, 3-1 on the morning line, will tote high weight of 124 pounds in the Chilukki and break from post seven under Chris Emigh. Trained by Dale Romans, Swift Temper’s resume is highlighted by a victory in the Grade I Ruffian at Belmont Park in September. Swift Temper ran third in last year’s Chilukki behind Leah’s Secret.

The Chilukki goes as the ninth race on Saturday’s 10-race card with a 4:58 p.m. (all times EST). Post time for the first race on the program that includes simulcast of eight Breeders’ Cup World Championship races from Santa Anita, is 12:40 p.m. The Breeders’ Cup races kick off with the Juvenile Turf at 1:45 p.m. and concludes with the Classic at 6:45 p.m.
    
    The field for the Chilukki, from the rail out (with jockey, assigned weight and morning line odds), is as follows: Copper State (Shaun Bridgmohan, 118 pounds, 12-1), Royale Michele (E. Baird, 118, 10-1), Malibu Prayer (C. DeCarlo, 115, 8-1), One Caroline (L. Goncalves, 122, 8-5), Color Me Up (J. Court, 118, 30-1), Be Fair (I. Ocampo, 115, 20-1), Swift Temper (C. Emigh, 124, 3-1), Payton d’Oro (T. Thompson, 119, 10-1) and Dubai Majesty (J. Theriot, 120, 9-2).

- END -

Steve Asmussen, this year’s runaway leader in victories and earnings by Thoroughbred trainers in North America, heads the roster of trainers whose horses will compete during the 21-day Fall Meet at Churchill Downs that opens on Sunday, Nov. 1.

    Asmussen earned the 2009 Spring Meet title beneath the historic Twin Spires by saddling 29 winners and will be looking to sweep the two Churchill Downs  meets for a third time.  He collected Spring and Fall titles at the home of the Kentucky Derby in 2004 and ’07. The North American divisions of Asmussen’s sprawling stable had earned a spectacular 539 victories through Monday, according to figures compiled by Equibase. Asmussen set the record for wins by a trainer in a calendar year when he campaigned 622 victories in 2008.  His horses have earned more than $18.7 million, which comfortably leads the more than $12.8 million earned by horses trained by current runner-up Todd Pletcher.

    Asmussen’s Spring ’09 training crown was his sixth title at Churchill Downs and he now ranks fifth in career victories at the track. His Spring Meet wins pushed Asmussen’s career win total at the track to 337 – two more than Hall of Famer and 1987 Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Jack Van Berg. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott leads the career victory roster with 622 wins and a solid Spring Meet allowed Louisville native Dale Romans (472 wins) to slip past Hall of Famer and four-time Kentucky Derby (Grade I)  and Kentucky Oaks (GI) winner D. Wayne Lukas (471) into second place on the all-time Churchill Downs win list.  Romans had 15 wins while Lukas had eight during the 45-day spring session.  Bernie Flint stands fourth in the career top five with 414 victories.

    Mott, Romans, Lukas and Flint will all be back for the Fall Meet, along with a strong group of Churchill Downs regulars that includes record-setting defending Fall Meet training champ Mike Maker. During the 2008 session, Maker, a former Lukas assistant and son of the late trainer George Maker, won 31 races during the 26-day stand, which demolished the previous record of 20 victories set by Romans during the 27-day Fall Meet of 2003.

    Other top trainers with hopes of making their presence felt this fall include Tom Amoss, Greg Foley, Mike Maker, Helen Pitts-Blasi, Ken McPeek, Ian Wilkes, Eddie Kenneally, Bret Calhoun, Albert Stall Jr., Ronny Werner, Lynn Whiting, Steve Margolis, Vickie Foley, Cecil Borel, Tom Proctor, Ralph Nicks, Forrest Kaelin, Bob Holthus, Neil Howard, Dallas Stewart, Paul J. McGee, William “Jinks” Fires, Robert O’Connor II, Angel Montano, David Vance, Tony Reinstedler and David Carroll.

    Other Hall of Fame trainers scheduled to participate in the meet are two-time Kentucky Derby winners Nick Zito and Carl Nafzger.

    Veteran trainer Hal Wiggins, who won the 2009 Kentucky Oaks with leading Horse of the Year contender Rachel Alexandra, will make the Fall Meet his swan song.  Wiggins plans to retire at the end of the meet. So will J. Larry Jones, the 53-year-old Kentucky-born trainer who won the 2008 Kentucky Oaks with Proud Spell and finished second in the Kentucky Derby with Hard Spun (2007) and Eight Belles (2008). Jones’ final starter is expected to be Payton d’Oro in the Grade II, $150,000 Chilukki on Saturday, Nov. 7.

    Another trainer scheduled to have horses stabled at Churchill Downs or its Trackside training center include Michael Matz, trainer of 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro. Matz has been allotted five stalls for the meet.

    One trainer who could have a substantial impact in the short autumn meet is Chicago-based Wayne Catalano, who has been granted 22 stalls. Other new or infrequent visitors to Churchill Downs and Trackside who are scheduled to have horses stabled at one or both facilities include Dale Bennett, Steve Hobby, Judy Hicklin, Rick Jackson, Rebecca Maker, Barbara McBride, Lisa Merritt, Danny Miller, Chuck Peery, Rick Jackson and Elizabeth Gray.

    The Churchill Downs Fall Meet begins on Sunday with the first of two “Stars of Tomorrow” programs that are restricted to 2-year-old Thoroughbreds. The 11-race program, topped by the $100,000-added Iroquois Stakes (GIII) and Pocahontas Stakes (GIII), has a post time of 12:40 p.m. ET.  The Fall Meet will conclude on Saturday. Nov. 28.

    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 136th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 1, 2010. The track will conduct its 2009 Fall Meet from Sunday, Nov. 1 through Saturday, Nov. 28.  Churchill Downs is scheduled to host the Breeders’ Cup World Championships for a record seventh time on November 5 and 6, 2010.  Information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at www.churchilldowns.com.

The morning after the stunning victory in the $2,177,200 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) by Mine That Bird was a busy one for his owners and trainer – and for the 3-year-old gelding that won the roses with his last-to-first rally along the rail on Churchill Downs’ one-mile dirt oval.

Visitors to trainer Chip Woolley and owners Mark Allen of Double Eagle Ranch and Dr. Leonard Blach of Bueno Suerte Equine included three-time Kentucky Derby winner Bob Baffert, trainer of Derby 135 runner-up Pioneerof the Nile; winning jockey Calvin Borel; and Tom McCarthy, the owner-trainer of General Quarters the winner of the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (GI) and 10th to Mine That Bird in Saturday’s race.

There was also a live appearance by Woolley, Borel, Allen and Blach on NBC’s “Sunday Today” that included an appearance by the Kentucky Derby winner, as the horse stood behind the winning connections grazed in front of Barn 42 while wearing the winner’s saddle towel that bore the official Kentucky Derby 135 logo and the images of roses in the area that covered Mine That Bird’s withers.

Woolley, whose stable is based at New Mexico’s Sunland Park, said Mine That Bird was doing well after the race, and the gelding validated that assessment as he nibbled at the Churchill Downs grass and never turned a hair as a sizable crowd of reporters, videographers and well-wishers looked on.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said Woolley.  “It’s actually a little bit hard to get your arms around right at the moment.  It’s hard to believe that you actually came in here and won this thing.”

The 45-year-old Woolley admitted to getting little more than an hour of sleep after the biggest win of his training career.  Allen, when asked about how the night of celebration had gone, said “It’s still going,” and drew a hearty laugh from media members present on the morning after America’s greatest race.

Woolley said it will be a while before a decision is made on a possible bid for the $1 million Preakness (GI), the second jewel of the Triple Crown that will be run at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course on May 16.

“We’ll decide that today or tomorrow,” Woolley said.  “Me and the owners will meet and have a little discussion.  It really wasn’t something that was on our radar, so we’ll decide on it.  We were looking to run the horse farther anyway, so we’ll just have to see what it brings today.

“You’ve got to do what’s best for the horse, and the horse comes first.  So we’ll just see what happens.”

Blach and Allen agreed that the condition of Mine That Bird would be the basis for the ultimate decision on a Preakness bid, but Allen was most enthusiastic about the notion.

“We’re going to let the horse tell us that,” he said.  “This horse is doing good and comes off this race good, you bet we’ll run, but he’s going to have to tell us.”

All three credited the patient, ground-saving ride by jockey Calvin Borel as being the key to the upset victory by the 50-1 shot, the second-largest upset in the 135-year history of the “Run for the Roses.”  Mine That Bird was last in the field of 19 on the first run through the stretch after being jostled shortly after leaving the starting gate.

“The one-run was definitely the plan and we had talked about being eight-to-10 (lengths) from the lead,” Woolley said.  “I had felt all along that’s where the horse needed to be, but we had just never gotten that trip.  When he got annihilated leaving there – this is a little horse, he’s not very big – and when he got banged around leaving there, we were really concerned right away about that.  I had told the press before that he couldn’t take a bunch of beating, so when he got shuffled that far back, I actually wasn’t too high on my chances when he came by me at the grandstand way last.  But the horse responded and Calvin done a super job of riding the horse.  So we’re just lucky to have been there.”

“It’s truly an honor to be a part of it, but I’m telling you guys that this horse never got nearly enough credit for his ability.  You earned your way here.  It’s not like we just paid him in here and brought him.  The horse earned his way here and he deserved a chance to run in the Derby.  He was doing super, the horse was training good and we just felt like he had earned his spot here and we had to come and take ‘em on.  He anted up, I’m telling you.  He’ll leave it on the track every time.”

Baffert, who spent more than a little time racing in New Mexico and at Sunland Park, dropped by the barn and said “Where’s that cowboy who beat me?”

After offering best wishes to Woolley, Allen and Blach, Borel arrived and receive a hearty handshake from Baffert, who told Borel that this weekend, which began with Borel’s 20 ¼-length victory in the Kentucky Oaks aboard Rachel Alexandra and reached its peak with his unlikely romp in the Kentucky Derby, had earned the Louisiana native a spot in racing’s Hall of Fame.

“He’s the only one who could have pulled that off,” Baffert said of Borel’s ride.  “What he did was just incredible.  He won that race.  He sat back there and I watched the replay – and he’s last at the three-eighths pole – you just don’t do that.  He weaved his way through there and everybody knows that the rail’s the place to be, but everybody gets off of it.  I think he deserves a lot of credit, but that guy that trained him (Woolley), he did a great job with this horse.  This horse was ready and he trained him, and even though he vanned him here an it was like “Casey’s Shadow,” they got here and they won the biggest race.”

PIONEEROF THE NILE (2nd) – Trainer Bob Baffert was noncommittal about a run in the Preakness for Kentucky Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile.

“He looks good this morning, but I want to give him a couple of days and see how he comes out of it,” Baffert said.

The Zayat Stables color bearer had his four-race win streak snapped Saturday when he finished 6 ¾ lengths behind Mine That Bird.

“I saw Garrett (jockey Garrett Gomez) at the three-eighths pole and he was loaded and at the quarter pole he was still loaded,” Baffert said. “I didn’t see anything coming and I thought ‘Mine!’ Then that horse (Mine That Bird) went by me and I was like ‘What happened?’ My horse was battling with the others (Musket Man and Papa Clem) … it was a shocker.

“If he had won, I thought he had a shot at the Triple Crown. He can get the distance and he runs his race every time, Maybe the ‘Bird’ is for real.”

MUSKET MAN (3rd) – Eric Fein and Vic Carlson’s Musket Man was scheduled to leave for Monmouth Park on Sunday.

“We will give it a few days,” trainer Derek Ryan said about making a decision on the Preakness. “I am sure the owners are looking at it.”

Musket Man now has a career record of five wins and two thirds in seven starts and Ryan was happy with the colt’s effort Saturday.

“I can’t complain. He had the two hole and I wish he could have stayed there, but he got bumped out of there,” Ryan said. “The rail was golden.  You need the right kind of horse for a race like this. He has great temperament. He never schooled in the paddock and he might have been the best one in there. He’s got class and (Oaks winner) Rachel Alexandra, she never went to the paddock or gate.”

PAPA CLEM (4th) – Trainer Gary Stute said Sunday morning that Bo Hirsch’s Papa Clem would remain on the Triple Crown trail after his fourth-place finish Saturday behind Mine That Bird.

“With a little luck, I think he could have been second,” Stute said. “We will probably stay here a few days but we will go to Baltimore when there is a flight.  He may go back to the track here, but I want to get him to Pimlico and have a work over the track before the Preakness.”

Papa Clem was in a three-horse photo for second with Pioneerof the Nile and Musket Man, finishing a head in back of Musket Man after being bumped near the sixteenth pole by Pioneerof the Nile.

“I thought we might get put up,” said Stute, who noted Papa Clem came out of the race with “one little scratch.”

CHOCOLATE CANDY (5th) – Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was on a plane Sunday morning jetting back to California, but his right-hand man – Galen May – was keeping a watchful eye on his Kentucky Derby runner Chocolate Candy, who had finished fifth in the mile and a quarter run on a “sloppy” track Saturday.

“He was trying to bite me this morning, so you know he’s fine,” May noted.

The Candy Ride colt had taken his share of flying mud racing on the inside for most of the trip, a point both Hollendorfer and May said they thought affected the good-sized bay.

“It’s too bad he couldn’t have gotten clear to do some running,” May said, “but sometimes things work out that way.”

Chocolate Candy had gone off at odds of exactly 10-1 and had picked up a check for $60,000 for running fifth, beaten 13 lengths.

May said the horse had come back without any nicks or cuts and had no problem cleaning his feed tub Saturday night. He also noted that he was likely to head back to California shortly and train up to the Belmont Stakes on June 6.

“His breeding and style say he should like that mile and a half,” May said.

SUMMER BIRD (6th) – K.K. and Vilasini Jayaraman’s Summer Bird was scheduled to ship Monday morning at 5 o’clock to Louisiana Downs, according to trainer Tim Ice.

“We have never thought about the Preakness; maybe the Belmont,” Ice said. “I have no interest at all in the Preakness because that track doesn’t suit his style of running.”

Ice said Summer Bird came out of the race in good order.

“He came back playing last night,” Ice said. “He galloped out second after the wire; the only one ahead of him was the other Birdstone (winner Mine That Bird).  I was happy with his race. It was only his fourth race and he can only improve. He got lots of experience yesterday. He beat some nice horses and it proved we were not totally out of our minds.”

JOIN IN THE DANCE (7th), DUNKIRK (11th), ADVICE (13th) – Trainer Todd Pletcher reported some minor wounds, but no major damage, to his heralded Kentucky Derby runner Dunkirk, while stating at the same time that his other two competitors – Advice and Join in the Dance – had come out of the eventful renewal none the worse for wear.

“Dunkirk took the worst of it,” the five-time Eclipse Award winner said. “He’s got his share of nicks and cuts and he also grabbed a quarter on his left hind (leg). I think someone had to do it to him during the running. Where it is, it isn’t likely he did it to himself.  He stumbled coming away from there, then he stumbled for several jumps just after they got running heading up the straight. Then he got caught in some of the jostling you always get in this race going through the stretch the first time. Add in the fact that that track was just what we didn’t want it to be – drying out and heavy – and it never allowed him to get a real grip on it. He just never got a chance to get in a rhythm.”

Dunkirk had gone off in Derby 135 at 5-1 and had finished 11th, beaten 19 lengths by 50-1 longshot Mine That Bird.

Pletcher said Dunkirk and his stablemate Take the Points would ship to his barn in New York at Belmont Park. Dunkirk’s next start was up in the air at the moment, but Take the Points, who was eligible to run in the Kentucky Derby but took a pass, would be prepared for a go in the May 16 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.

Both Advice and Join in the Dance returned to Barn 38 after their Derby adventures in good shape and both “would be staying in Kentucky for right now,” according to Pletcher.

Advice had gone off at 49-1 in the mile and a quarter race and had finished 13th, 21 lengths behind the winner. Join in the Dance had performed the best of the barn’s runners, setting the pace in the race into the stretch, then holding on to finish seventh, beaten just over 14 lengths, despite his 51-1 odds.

“Join in the Dance was still bouncing after the race,” the trainer said. “He’s such a high-energy horse and we were proud of how well he did yesterday. There’s a chance he could come back in the Preakness. I’ll have to talk to his owners and see what they want to do.”

Join in the Dance, a Sky Mesa colt, is owned by Jake Ballis, Reagan Swinbank and Orlando Magic pro basketball player Rashard Lewis.

REGAL RANSOM (8th), DESERT PARTY (14th) – Both of the Godolphin colts, Desert Party and Regal Ransom, were fine Sunday morning, said Henry Spiller, an assistant to trainer Rick Mettee.

The colts are scheduled to be shipped back to Belmont Park on Tuesday. They are not being pointed toward the Preakness.

Regal Ransom, winner of the UAE Derby in his final start before the Derby, attended the pace set by Join in the Dance in the opening mile of the race. The Distorted Humor colt, sent off at odds of 22-1, finished eighth, 14¾ lengths behind the winner, Mine That Bird.

Desert Party, who was bumped at the start, was forwardly placed, about three lengths behind the leaders, by jockey Ramon Dominguez for a mile. He dropped out of contention in the second turn and finished 14th.

WEST SIDE BERNIE (9th), ATOMIC RAIN (16th) – George and Lori Hall’s West Side Bernie and Atomic Rain were scheduled to return to Monmouth Park on Sunday after their Kentucky Derby efforts.

“They came out of the race fine,” Breen said. “We are going to regroup and see what happens, but we are not looking at anything in two weeks.”

GENERAL QUARTERS (10th) – Owner/trainer Tom McCarthy said that General Quarters came out of Derby 135 in good order, but with no plans to continue on to the Preakness.

“The only excuse I can find for him was that he was not getting over the ground good,” McCarthy said. “I think we will go ahead and regroup and see what direction to go in. The Northern Dancer (on June 13 at Churchill Downs) is a possibility.”

The Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) winner raced in midpack most of the way around in splitting the field.

“He got bumped coming out of the gate and pushed to the inside, which is where we didn’t want to be,” McCarthy said. “He just wasn’t striding out like he usually does and one thing I learned yesterday is that I will keep him off wet tracks.  He is better than what he showed yesterday.”

HOLD ME BACK (12th) -- Elliott Walden, vice president and racing manger for WinStar Farm, said Sunday that Hold Me Back was fine and would be given a break. Walden wasn’t sure whether the colt would stay with trainer Bill Mott or be sent to the farm during his hiatus.

“He’s good,” Walden said. “He scoped good and looks like he came out of it OK. We’re going to regroup and go from there. He’s had a pretty solid six weeks.”

Hold Me Back won the Lane’s End (Grade II) on March 21 and finished second to General Quarters in the Toyota Blue Grass (Grade I) on April 11.

In the Derby, he was squeezed at the start and pinched back. Jockey Kent Desormeaux quickly rode him into contention – they were two lengths off the pace after a mile – but he could not sustain his run in the stretch and finished 12th, beaten 20 ½ lengths.

MR. HOT STUFF (15th) – Things were quiet Sunday morning at Barn 41 where the 15th-place Derby finisher Mr. Hot Stuff had spent an uneventful Saturday night following his little-impact journey in the 135th Run for the Roses.

“He’s fine,” reported groom Martin Rodriguez. “He was OK after the race; no cuts or bruises. He ate all his food last night."

Rodriguez also reported that the dark Tiznow colt would be headed back to his Southern California base “in the next day or two.”

Mr. Hot Stuff, who went off at 28-1, was steadied, bumped and squeezed back at the start and never managed to make much headway on the “sloppy” racing strip. He was beaten 23 lengths.

NOWHERE TO HIDE (17th) – The Nick Zito-trained Nowhere To Hide wasn’t feeling any negative effects on the morning after his 17th-place Kentucky Derby finish.

“He came back perfect,’’ assistant trainer Stacy Prior said. “The jockey said after the race that he was just spinning his wheels out there.”

FRIESAN FIRE (18th) – Cindy Jones, the wife and assistant of trainer Larry Jones, reported that their Louisiana Derby winner was feeling reasonably well Sunday morning, considering that the 7-2 beaten favorite had suffered cuts in his left front foot while getting bumped shortly after the start of the Kentucky Derby.

“He grabbed his quarter. He’s got a pretty good cut on his quarter,” Jones said of Friesan Fire, who faded to 18th after his troubled start. “Mentally, he’s fine. He’s got a few cuts and scrapes, but we’ll get him healed. He ate up. He’s walking very well this morning. He’s not pulling, but he’s walking well. He did clean up (his feed tub) this morning.”

Friesan Fire, who was squeezed on both sides after bumping with Papa Clem out of the gate, got back into the race under Gabriel Saez but was hindered by traffic.

“I couldn’t see it at all. Larry said he got hit hard at the start. You can’t see anything. Larry said he couldn’t find racing room and everywhere he went sort of closed up on him,” Jones said. “I think he and Gabe had enough before the race was over with.”

Jones said the groom Corey York summed up the mood at Barn 45 perfectly.

“He said, ‘We’re very disappointed this morning, but we’re not heartbroken like last year,’ ” said Jones, whose stable was devastated by the death of Eight Belles, who suffered a fatal breakdown while pulling up from a sensational runner-up finish behind Big Brown in last year’s Derby.

FLYING PRIVATE (19th) – The D. Wayne Lukas-trained Flying Private was reported to have come out of his last-place finish in the Kentucky Derby in good order Sunday morning.

“The horse came back fine,” assistant trainer Gary Neece said. “He’s no worse for the wear.”

Heiligbrodt Racing Stable’s Four Gifts overhauled favored Just Jenda to win the $113,300 Eight Belles (Grade III) for 3-year-old fillies by three lengths on Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs.

The race was formerly known as the La Troienne but changed this year to honor Eight Belles, the ill-fated runner-up to Big Brown in the 2008 Kentucky Derby who suffered a fatal injury a quarter-mile past the finish of that race.

Ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan, Four Gifts gave the Heiligbrodt Stable and trainer Steve Asmussen their second victory in the race with the other score coming in 2002 with Cashier’s Dream.

Auspicious, another Asmussen trainee, and Lady Laughter led the field of eight down the backside through the first quarter-mile in :23.34 with Just Jenda and Four Gifts sitting in a stalking position.

Lady Laughter disposed of Auspicious leaving the backstretch, but was soon challenged by Just Jenda, who swooped to the lead turning for home with Four Gifts right behind. Bridgmohan swung Four Gifts out at the eighth pole and drew clear for her fourth victory in nine starts.

Four Gifts, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Even the Score out of the Service Stripe mare Agiftfromservice, covered the 7 ½ furlongs on a “sloppy” main track in 1:30.94. The victory was worth $68,139 and increased Four Gifts’ earnings to $483,168.

Four Gifts returned payoffs of $9.60, $4.20 and $3. Just Jenda, owned by Cindy Jones and trained by her husband Larry Jones who trained Eight Belles, paid $3.40 and $2.80 under Gabriel Saez. The Jones-trained Warrior Maid took third another two lengths back under John Velazquez and paid $5 to show.

EIGHT BELLES QUOTES

SHAUN BRIDGMOHAN (rider of winner Four Gifts) – “I had a phenomenal trip. She settle really nice behind. She did everything I wanted her to do. The speed set up very good. I was able to watch the horse (Just Jenda) that I wanted to watch and got her on the outside of me. I just got her in the right spot that I though she needed to be, and the rest was up to her and she did it. She ran a really nice race for me.

“At the top of the stretch, I even thought about splitting (Just Jenda), and then Gabe (Saez) went to the right and drifted in a bit. So I had to alter course. Once I got on the outside of her, she just accelerated went on about her business along pretty nice.”

STEVE ASMUSSEN (trainer of winner Four Gifts) -- “I think the distance is the key with her. She’s been a very special filly, seven-eighths to a mile. I think the prep for the Fair Grounds Oaks, she ran a good race, but it put it in your head that that might have been a step too far because she made a great punch and then just backed up the last sixteenth.

“I think the off track and the company in the Fair Grounds Oaks definitely solidified what we need to do with her. I thought this was an ideal spot for her timing-wise as well as all the experience she had backing into it.

“The major targets for her going forward are the Acorn and the Test.”

GABRIEL SAEZ (rider of second-place finisher Just Jenda) – “That winner -- she was tracking me. I knew she was there, but we couldn’t stop her. My filly handled the track well and she ran hard. We just had to settle for second today.”

JOHN VELAZQUEZ (rider of third-place finisher Warrior Maid) – “Perfect trip; good run from my filly. Can’t ask for much more than that. She tried hard.”

Catch the latest and final updates on your Derby favorites, one day in advance of Kentucky Derby 135!

ADVICE / DUNKIRK / JOIN IN THE DANCE – The trio of Todd Pletcher horses was out and done with their leg stretching prior to 7 a.m. (all times EDT) Friday, each galloping approximately a mile and three eighths around the “sloppy” Churchill Downs oval that had been pelted with some fairly serious overnight rains.

Advice, the last of the barn’s Derby contenders came off the strip just prior to 7 with Pletcher looking on near the six-furlong gap.

“If it is ‘fast’ or ‘sloppy’ tomorrow for the race, I think we’ll be fine,” Pletcher said. “Dunkirk went over this ‘slop’ a little earlier and he handled it well. He was good with it. But I don’t think we’ll want to see a ‘good’ or ‘muddy’ track. That won’t help my horses. We’ll hope we don’t have to deal with that.”

The third Pletcher runner, Join in the Dance, made his first racing appearance at Churchill Downs on May 14 last year on a “sloppy” racing surface and finished second in a straight maiden race. He also ran on a “sloppy” track at Monmouth Park in New Jersey on Sept. 27 in the NATC Futurity, showing early speed, but finishing fourth.

Advice will be ridden by Rene Douglas on Saturday and break from post four. Dunkirk was assigned post 15 and will be handled by Edgar Prado. And Join in the Dance will have Chris DeCarlo up as they leave from post nine.

ATOMIC RAIN / WEST SIDE BERNIE – Trainer Kelly Breen waited until daylight hit the Downs to get West Side Bernie and Atomic Rain out on the track Friday morning.

“The track was sloppy, and I wanted to wait until there was enough light to see well before I took them out,” Breen said.

West Side Bernie went out at 7 a.m., and Atomic Rain was on the track by 7:30. Both colts jogged one mile with Breen aboard. They were ponied to the track by George Hall, who owns the horses with his wife, Lori.

The 6-year-old pony Hall was aboard is a story of his own. He is a Thoroughbred named Fagan’s Legacy and won the Grade III Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont as a 3-year-old. He’s named in honor of Hall’s grandfather, Larry Fagan.

“My grandfather took my brother John and me to the track at Belmont and Aqueduct when we were kids,” Hall said. “He’s the one that got us interested in racing.”

Hall ponied one of his horses to the track for a race Thursday, but says he has no plans to repeat that in the Kentucky Derby.

“I thought about it,” he said, “but the Derby is too big a race. I might get too nervous. Plus, I’m looking forward to the walk over there with family and friends.

“It was fun and exciting yesterday, and I’m glad I did it,” Hall said. “The pony, being a racehorse, got excited about it, too. He got to the top of the stretch and I think he was expecting to go to the gate.”

Breen, who has been smiling most of the week as he approaches his first Kentucky Derby, was coming back to the barn aboard West Side Bernie when he saw Michael Matz on the path.

“Got any pointers for me?” Breen said to Matz.

Barbaro’s trainer just smiled and said, “You’ll be fine.”

CHOCOLATE CANDY – The bay son of Candy Ride was out for some 7 a.m. exercise Friday at Churchill Downs, moving over a racing strip called “sloppy” after some heavy overnight rains.

Exercise rider Lindsey Molina led Chocolate Candy through a drill similar to the one he’d gone through the day before – a short stand in the starting gate and a good gallop of about a mile and five-eighths.

“He’s never run on an ‘off’ track,” trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said back at Barn 42, “but he’s handled it well the couple of times he’s been on one here this week. This morning when he came around the second time on his gallop he was going even better than the first. Once he got a feel for the track he liked it even more. If it comes up ‘off’ tomorrow, I think we’re going to be OK.”

Mike Smith will handle Chocolate Candy for the first time Saturday and they’ll leave from post 11. This will be the colt’s fourth race of 2009 and his fourth Derby. He started the year back on Jan. 17 by winning the California Derby at Golden Gate Fields in the Bay Area, then came back at that track on Feb. 14 to capture the El Camino Real Derby (Grade III). His most recent outing was a second-place finish (behind Pioneerof the Nile) in the Santa Anita Derby (Grade I) April 4.

DESERT PARTY / REGAL RANSOM – Trainer Saeed bin Suroor sent his Godolphin runners, Desert Party and Regal Ransom, out Friday morning to gallop a mile and three-eighths.

“They’re looking good,” bin Suroor said. “Happy. Fresh. Sound. Healthy. No problem at all. Now the job is done and we’re looking forward to tomorrow. We’re happy with them.”

Bin Suroor is optimistic his colts won’t be affected adversely by running over what is likely to be a wet track in the Derby.

“I think Desert Party will handle it. He’s won on it before,” bin Suroor said. “All week, Regal Ransom has handled the ground good, but in the race it could be different. It’s hard to say.”

Desert Party won the Sanford Stakes (Grade II) at Saratoga Race Course last summer over a track rated as “muddy.”

Bin Suroor said he thinks Godolphin has the right horses prepared properly, with three races in Dubai, for the Derby.

“There is no excuse for them,” he said. “If they are good enough, they are going to win.”

FLYING PRIVATE – Trainer D. Wayne Lukas sent Flying Private to the track for a routine gallop with Taylor Carty up Friday morning at Churchill Downs.

The Hall of Fame trainer, who has saddled four Kentucky Derby winners, has always had an astute eye for the competition during Derby Week.

“Desert Party appeals to me in this race. They have quality horses, and that horse looks excellent to me. I think he’s going to be a factor,” Lukas said. “I like (Bob) Baffert’s horse (Pioneerof the Nile). I think he’s adjusted (to the dirt surface). I wasn’t an I Want Revenge fan earlier in the week, but he’s starting to come around, too.”

Lukas views handicapping Derby 135 as a particularly tough endeavor.

“The only thing that’s confusing about it are those horses coming from different areas with synthetic surfaces,” he said. “It’s hard to evaluate how good they are. Some of them could adapt to this beautifully and others bomb, so it makes it a nightmare to handicap. There could be a 50 or 60 dollar payoff pretty easy.”

Robby Albarado will ride Flying Private, whom Lukas has compared favorably to two of his Derby winners: Grindstone (1996) and Charismatic (1999).

FRIESAN FIRE – Louisiana Derby (Grade II) winner Friesan Fire visited the paddock and galloped five-eighths of a mile with trainer Larry Jones in the saddle.

“We just wanted to keep his legs fresh,” Jones said. “I let him go to the paddock and look around and he was much more relaxed in there than the other day when he went to the gate.”

Owned by Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farms, Friesan Fire enters Kentucky Derby 135 on a three-race win streak. Listed at 5-1 on the morning line, Friesan Fire will be ridden by Gabriel Saez and break from post position six.

Jones, who saddled Hard Spun and Eight Belles to runner-up finishes in the past two Derbys, was asked about his confidence level with Friesan Fire.

“There is no way you can get too confident, because it is a horse race,” Jones said.

“He is coming into the race as good, if not better, than the last two. We have had no issues with him at all. Some others were battling quarter cracks and some other things, but everything has fallen perfectly in place for him.”

Jones, who plans to retire from training after this year’s Breeders’ Cup, was asked if he could pen the perfect script for Derby 135, how it would read.

“That’s easy. We win,” Jones said with a laugh. “We win in Baltimore and then Belmont. What a way to go out!”

GENERAL QUARTERS – The eyes of Louisville will be on local owner/trainer Tom McCarthy as he saddles Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) winner General Quarters in Saturday’s Derby 135. But don’t look for McCarthy to be hobknobbing in the grandstand.

“I’ll be sitting right there in that tack room and be with my horse all day,” McCarthy said. “I don’t get into all that other stuff. We’re here to do a job, and he’s the only one I really need to be with on Derby Day. I’m letting my son handle all the tickets and people and such.”

General Quarters galloped 1 ½ miles Friday morning under exercise rider Julie Sheets, and McCarthy loved what he saw on the sloppy track.

“Oh, boy, I think I’m hoping for rain now to be honest,” he said. “He just skipped over the mud and loved it.”

HOLD ME BACK – WinStar Farm’s vice president and racing manager Elliott Walden checked on WinStar’s three Derby starters, Hold Me Back, Mr. Hot Stuff and Advice on Friday morning.

Hold Me Back, handled by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, galloped a mile and a half. The Lane’s End (Grade II) winner and Toyota Blue Grass (Grade I) runner-up will start from post five, while Lexington winner Advice is in post four and Mr. Hot Stuff, third in the Santa Anita Derby (Grade I), is in post three.

Walden acknowledged that is quite an accomplishment to get three horses into the Derby field.

“All three are coming off very good races, so you feel good about that,” Walden said. “Hold Me Back is a horse that has developed very quickly with the last two races and he seems to be doing very well.

“Mr. Hot Stuff is a horse that is a little further behind, as far as his development is concerned. He’s only won one race, but we feel that the X factor is that he’ll love the mile and a quarter. He’s galloped out his races extremely well and he is progressing physically and mentally. He’s a little bit slower to come to the party than his full brother Colonel John, who had more of a 2-year-old career. We’re excited about how he’s coming in and we hope we’re right, but we’re guessing a little bit on that. Advice ran a big race and he’s worked great over the dirt, so we felt like he deserved a chance, too.”

Since all three colts have an off-the-pace running style, Walden said that WinStar officials were happy to see the speedy Join in the Dance, trained by Todd Pletcher, get a spot in the field this week.

“We had Advice sitting on the fence to run and a lot of that was because of the fact that he came to it late by winning the Lexington, but we also wanted the speed in the race from Todd’s horse.

“When Todd’s horse got in by another defection, that’s when we decided to run Advice. We probably wouldn’t have run Advice if he was 20 (on the earnings list) and  Join in the Dance was 21. We would have let him run because of the speed. We do need speed for all three horses. So we would have probably held Advice back.”

I WANT REVENGE – The Wood Memorial (Grade I) winner galloped a mile and jogged a mile under excise rider Joe Deegan on Friday morning at Churchill Downs. Trainer Jeff Mullins expressed satisfaction with I Want Revenge’s preparation for his start in Kentucky Derby 135.

“The only thing I could ask for is better weather and a fast racetrack,” the Southern California-based trainer said.

I Want Revenge will enter the Derby coming off an impressive victory in the Wood Memorial, in which he overcame a very late start and severe traffic in the stretch under jockey Joe Talamo.

Although Talamo will be riding in his first Derby, Mullins said that the 19-year-old jockey will be on his own without any instructions on how to get to the finish line first.

“I haven’t given him any yet, so I don’t think I’m going to start now,” Mullins said. “I could have given him all the instructions in the world for the Wood and look what happened.”

MINE THAT BIRD – While Tom McCarthy might be the most hands-on owner in this year’s Kentucky Derby with General Quarters, Mine That Bird co-owner Mark Allen isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, either. The rancher and owner of Double Eagle Farm doubled as groom Friday morning, giving his pint-sized Kentucky Derby contender a sponge bath.

Allen and trainer Chip Woolley go back more than two decades and are making their first appearance on Thoroughbred racing’s biggest stage. Mine That Bird galloped 1 ½ miles Friday morning and impressed Allen with how he responded to the conditions.

“He handled the track really, really well,” Allen said. “Chip could not have this horse doing any better.”

Both Allen and Woolley have worked extensively with Quarter Horses over the years in New Mexico, and Allen said he has big dreams in 2009 for both breeds.

“How amazing would it be to have a horse in the Kentucky Derby and the All American Futurity in the same year?” he asked. “I’d call that a perfect year. That’s what we’re hoping for. We have four or five really quality 2-year-old Quarter Horses that we’re aiming for at Ruidoso.”

MR. HOT STUFF – WinStar Farm’s Mr. Hot Stuff went trackside at 6:45 Friday morning and galloped a mile over a “sloppy” racetrack.

“A mile was enough,” trainer Eoin Harty said. “I didn’t want to chance any more.”

The transplanted Irishman was asked how he thought his Kentucky-bred son of Tiznow might handle a possible “wet” surface in Kentucky Derby 135 on Saturday.

“Haven’t a clue,” the conditioner said. “He’s never been on one, but I guess there’s a fair chance we might find out.”

Harty was asked if Mr. Hot Stuff’s full brother – Colonel John, whom he trained and saddled to run sixth in last year’s Derby – had any history of “off” track performance.

“No help there,” he said. “Don’t believe he was ever on a wet track.”

Wet or fast, Mr. Hot Stuff will break from post three Saturday at 6:24 p.m. with John Velazquez doing the steering.

“We’re ready for it now,” Harty said. “We’re as ready as we can be.”

MUSKET MAN – Trainer Derek Ryan had Musket Man out early Friday morning for a one-mile gallop around the sloppy Churchill Downs oval.

After that, the colt by Yonaguska calmly munched grass behind Barn 41, looking the picture of a happy, healthy horse.

“He’s doing great,” Ryan said as he prepares for his first Kentucky Derby. “I’m doing OK, too. It’s like all the other races – if you win, you celebrate; if you lose, you go home. Except this is the big one, so that makes it different.”

Ryan has been able to celebrate five times in Musket Man’s six-race career. The colt has lost only once, and comes into the Derby off consecutive victories in the Tampa Bay Derby (Grade III) and Illinois Derby (Grade II). Eric Fein and Vic Carlson own Musket Man, a $15,000 yearling purchase who already has earned $572,600.

NOWHERE TO HIDE – My Meadowview Farm’s Illinois Derby (Grade II) fourth-place finisher walked the shedrow under tack Friday morning, one day after blowing out a quarter-mile in :25.20 for Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito.

“Everything’s good and he’s ready,” Zito said.

The two-time Derby-winning trainer is among a trio of multiple Derby winners in this year’s cast, joining four-time winner D. Wayne Lukas and three-time winner Bob Baffert. But recent history indicates those three may not have an edge as six of the past seven Derby winners have been trained by conditioners making their debut in the Run for the Roses.

What does Zito make of the recent trend?

“It’s terrific and great for the game, are you kidding me?” he responded. “It shows you how great this race is, and how hard it is to win and also how many people are trying to come here and win it.

“Everybody wants to win this race from the moment they look at a horse in a yearling sale. That wasn’t always the case. When I bought Go for Gin for $150,000 in 1992, it wasn’t with one race in mind like buyers are aiming for today. Things have changed. Almost everyone today is looking for a Triple Crown or Breeders’ Cup winner, and that’s about it. As a trainer, you know what they want and that’s what you aim for.”

PAPA CLEM – With his pre-Derby work completed Thursday after a three-furlong blowout in :34 flat, the Arkansas Derby (Grade II) winner walked the shedrow Friday morning and was feisty as trainer Gary Stute met him afterward in his stall. Papa Clem took a nip at his trainer, eliciting some laughter and the declaration, “I think that means he’s ready.”

Stute will stick to his plan and walk Papa Clem on Derby morning as well. The trainer reported that Papa Clem’s legs were “ice cold” after the final breeze and that “he has not missed an oat this week, according to my barn foreman.”

Saturday’s famed Kentucky Derby walkover will be an exciting time, Stute said, as he makes the long journey from the stable area to the paddock with Papa Clem. He joked Friday morning that he hopes it goes better than the first time he made the trek in 1980 with his father, Mel.

“When my dad ran Bold n’ Rulling, I wanted to walk over with the horse,” he recalled. “But as I leaned to duck under the rail to go on the track, my pants split right down the seam! I had to run back to the barn and duct-tape them together. Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen Saturday on national TV.”

PIONEEROF THE NILE – Trainer Bob Baffert said Friday morning he has tried to prepare Pioneerof the Nile mentally and physically for the grind of running three times in five weeks in the Triple Crown series of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.

“He’s filled out. He’s carrying a lot of flesh,” Baffert said. “I’ve worked on his mind pretty well. He’s the kind of horse that is going to be able to handle the three races. I sort of brought him in here good enough to do this one but still have him for the next one. I didn’t want to do too much here. I wanted to do enough to get him to win this one so he can go to the next one. I’m still trying to win that damn Triple Crown.”

Pioneerof the  Nile has won all four of his starts since being moved to Baffert’s care late last year. The Empire Maker colt, to be ridden by Garrett Gomez, galloped a mile and a half Friday morning.

“He looks good. He had a good day,” Baffert said. “Everyday has been a good day for him. You need that.”

Pioneerof the Nile pulled Gomez to the lead early in what turned into a victory in the Santa Anita Derby (Grade I). The colt will be making his first start on dirt and Baffert chose post 16 in the starting gate in hopes that it will reduce the amount of dirt Pioneerof the Nile has kicked in his face. The key, he said, is for Gomez to get the colt to relax early.

“He didn’t want to settle the last time,” Baffert said. “That’s why I didn’t take a chance of putting him on the inside, especially with the wet. If it’s wet and he’s down on the inside and that mud starts hitting him, sometimes it can get to them.”

SUMMER BIRD – Trainer Tim Ice had Summer Bird out very early Friday morning, and the Birdstone colt jogged two miles over the sloppy track with jockey Chris Rosier aboard.

“It was dark, I didn’t even see him out there,” Ice said. “But I wanted to get out early and get him back to his stall today. Chris told me he went good out there, which is what I wanted to hear.”

Ice, who went out on his own as a trainer less than a year ago, has been the picture of placidity this week as he saddles his first Kentucky Derby starter.

“I’m trying to do everything like I normally do,” Ice said. “I’m not approaching this like it’s the world’s greatest race – which it is, of course – but I’m trying to stay calm and just go through my routine. It’ll probably all hit me Saturday.

“Chris and I were talking about that the other day,” Ice said. “Chris said that he’s ridden with all those jocks, so he has that experience to go with. Of course, when they play ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ that’s when the butterflies will really start. If you don’t get butterflies in your stomach at that point, you probably shouldn’t be here.”

Matthew Garretson’s Einstein (BRZ), a versatile major stakes winner on grass, dirt and synthetic surfaces, will attempt to become the first repeat winner of the $500,000-added Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (Grade I) on Saturday in one of the main appetizers on the Kentucky Derby 135 card at Churchill Downs.

The $2,202,200 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) is the centerpiece of the day that features five other graded stakes, two of them Grade I events, and the Eight Belles, a race for 3-year-old fillies that now honors the ill-fated filly that ran second to Big Brown in last year’s Kentucky Derby. First post time for the 13-race card is 10:30 a.m. with the Kentucky Derby post time set for 6:24 p.m. (all times EDT).

Trained by Helen Pitts-Blasi, the 7-year-old Einstein won four of nine starts in 2008 including the Grade I Gulfstream Park Turf and the Grade II Clark Handicap on the dirt at Churchill Downs. He also ran second last year on dirt to two-time “Horse of the Year” Curlin in Churchill Downs’ $1 million Stephen Foster Handicap (GI).  Einstein recently added a Grade I victory on Santa Anita’s synthetic Pro-Ride surface by taking the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap, known to fans as the “Big Cap,” on March 7.

Julien Leparoux, who has been aboard for Einstein’s past three starts, has the mount Friday and will break from post position six in the field of 10. Einstein will carry 119 pounds.

Carrying top weight of 124 pounds in the Woodford Reserve is IEAH Stables and WinStar Farm’s Court Vision, who ran 13th in last year’s Kentucky Derby.

Trained by Bill Mott, Court Vision will be ridden by Ramon Dominguez and break from post position four. Since moving to the turf, Court Vision has won two of five starts with victories coming in the Grade I Hollywood Derby and Grade II Jamaica.

The Woodford Reserve Turf Classic will go as the day’s 10th race.

The field for the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, from the hedge out, is as follows: Artiste Royal (IRE) (Alan Garcia, 119 pounds), El Caballo (Robby Albarado, 117), Proudinsky (GER) (Victor Espinoza, 121), Court Vision (Ramon Dominguez, 124), Yate’s Black Cat (Miguel Mena, 117), Einstein (BRZ) (Julien Leparoux, 119), Furthest Land (Edgar Prado, 117), Cowboy Cal (John Velazquez, 119), Zambesi Sun (GB) (Garrett Gomez, 119) and Thorn Song (Kent Desormeaux, 119).

The first Grade I race of the day is the 23rd running of the $300,000-added Humana Distaff for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up going seven furlongs on the main track. The Humana Distaff is the ninth race on the card.

Augustin Stable’s Informed Decision, winner of Keeneland’s Vinery Madison (Grade I) in her most recent start on April 9, will carry 124 pounds and concede from 2-6 pounds to her eight rivals. Trained by Jonathan Sheppard, Informed Decision will break from post position three under Julien Leparoux.

A trio of Grade II winners in 2009 will carry 122 pounds: Inside Information heroine Game Face, Barbara Fritchie victor Royale Michele and Distaff Handicap winner Secret Gypsy.

The field for the Humana Distaff, from the rail out, is as follows: Tiz to Dream (Calvin Borel, 118 pounds), Dubai Majesty (Kent Desormeaux, 118), Informed Decision (Julien Leparoux, 124), Bear Now (Jamie Theriot, 118), Secret Gypsy (Robby Albarado, 122), Temple Street (Jon Court, 118), Royale Michele (Rafael Bejarano, 122), Modification (Corey Nakatani, 118) and Game Face (Garrett Gomez, 122).

The 7 1/2-furlong Eight Belles, formerly known as the La Troienne, honors the Larry Jones-trained filly who beat 18 other colts in Kentucky Derby 134. The race will be the seventh on the card.

Jones has two fillies entered in the Eight Belles, including Just Jenda, who is owned by his wife Cindy.  A three-time stakes winner, Just Jenda will break from the rail under Gabriel Saez who was aboard for the filly’s victory in the Grade III Honeybee.  Jones’ other starter is Warrior Maid, who will break from post position five under John Velazquez.

The top weight for the Eight Belles is Laragh, who will carry 122 pounds and spot 2-6 pounds to her eight rivals. Trained by John Terranova, Laragh closed out 2008 with a victory in the Grade I Hollywood Starlet and she finished third to champion Stardom Bound in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies last fall at Santa Anita.

The field for the Eight Belles, from the rail out, is as follows: Just Jenda (Gabriel Saez, 120 pounds), She’s Extreme (Julien Leparoux, 116), C.S. Silk (Rafael Bejarano, 120), Four Gifts (Shaun Bridgmohan, 120), Warrior Maid (John Velazquez, 120), Dave’s Revenge (Mike Smith, 116), Loveyou Everybody (Miguel Mena, 116), Lady’s Laughter (Kent Desormeaux, 116), Laragh (Edgar Prado, 122) and Auspicious (Robby Albarado, 116).

The first graded stakes race of the day is the 75th running of the $250,000-added Churchill Downs (Grade II), which goes as race six.

Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farm’s Kodiak Kowboy, winner of the Grade I Carter Handicap in his most recent start on April 4, will carry top weight of 124 pounds and concede 2-6 pounds to his eight rivals in the seven furlong sprint. Gabriel Saez has the mount on Kodiak Kowboy and break from post position three.

The field for the Churchill Downs, from the rail out, is as follows: My Pal Charlie (Garrett Gomez, 122 pounds), The Roundhouse (Edgar Prado, 118), Kodiak Kowboy (Gabriel Saez, 124), Ide Like a Double (Robby Albarado, 118), Spotsgone (Joe Johnson, 118), Accredit (Julien Leparoux, 118), Hewitts (Joe Talamo, 118), Silver Edition (Miguel Mena, 118) and Sok Sok (Shaun Bridgmohan, 118).

Ike and Dawn Thrash’s Dawn After Dawn, fourth to Rags To Riches in the 2007 Kentucky Oaks, returns to the turf in 24th running of the $200,000-added Churchill Distaff Turf Mile (Grade II) for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up. Rene Douglas will ride Dawn After Dawn and break from post position 11.

The field for the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile, from the hedge out, is as follows: Lemon Chiffon (Mike Smith, 118 pounds), Visit (GB) (Garrett Gomez, 118), Tizaqueena (Jamie Theriot, 118), Rasierra (John Velazquez, 118), Zee Zee (Kent Desormeaux, 118), Sugar Mint (IRE) (Rafael Bejarano, 118), Ballymore Lady (Julien Leparoux, 118), Stealin’ Kisses (Robby Albarado, 118), Elusive Lady (Eibar Coa, 118), Rustic Flame (IRE) (Corey Lanerie, 118) and Dawn After Dawn (Rene Douglas, 118).