Lil E. Tee

SUNDAY’S STAKES WINNERS TARGET CLOSING-DAY STARS OF TOMORROW II CARD – Jerry Romans’ Sassy Image and Cathy and Bob Zollars and Mark Wagner’s Thiskyhasnolimit, winners of the Pocahontas (GIII) and Iroquois (GIII) respectively on Sunday, figure to make return trips in stakes company on Churchill Downs’ closing-day “Stars of Tomorrow II” card.

That Nov. 28 racing card, like Sunday’s meet opener, will be made up exclusively of races for 2-year-olds.    “Everything is good here and I am looking forward to running her closing day in the Golden Rod (GII at 1 1/16 miles),” trainer Dale Romans said of Sassy Image, who scored by two lengths over Decelerator.

Sassy Image will be attempting to become the sixth filly to sweep the Poncahontas and Golden Rod, a feat most recently accomplished by Pure Clan in 2007. Others to do it are French Park (2005), At The Half (1993), Flippers (1983) and Weekend Surprise (1982). The latter two won divisions of the Pocahontas.

   Romans, who leaves Wednesday for Santa Anita to saddle Frank Jones Jr.’s Tapitsfly in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf, has another Jones runner aimed for closing day in Romans Reward, who broke his maiden in Sunday’s sixth race at 1 1/16 miles on the turf. The Grand Canyon, an overnight stake at the same distance on the Matt Winn Turf Course is the next objective for Romans Reward.

Steve Asmussen, trainer of Thiskyhasnolimit, said after Sunday’s victory that the Sky Mesa colt would be pointed to the Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) at 1 1/16 miles on the main track.

Four juveniles have swept the Iroquois and the Kentucky Jockey Club with the Asmussen-trained Tiz Wonderful being the most recent in 2006. Others to do it are The Cliff’s Edge (2003), Exploit (1998) and Ide (1995).

WHITING COULD HAVE RUNNER TO WATCH IN DRYFLY – One of the grittier efforts on Sunday’s “Stars of Tomorrow I” card was turned in by Charles Cella’s Dryfly, an allowance winner going seven furlongs under Calvin Borel.

Dryfly assumed early command but was collared at the head of the stretch by the undefeated Great Attack, who put a head in front at the eighth pole. Dryfly dug back in and had enough to hold off Flatter Than Me, runner-up in this summer’s Bashford Manor (GIII) by 1 ½ lengths and complete the distance in 1:23.55.
“He broke a little flat-footed and I was surprised to see him on the lead. I thought he would be laying third,” said trainer Lynn Whiting, who saddled Lil E. Tee to win the 1992 Kentucky Derby (GI). “That horse that came to him of Merrill Scherer’s (Flatter Than Me) can run a little bit and I thought he had the momentum, but I think my horse will keep on running.”

Dryfly, a son of Jump Start, raced as a first-time gelding on Sunday. Whiting said Dryfly was gelded after his second race because of an undescended testicle.

A winner of two of three starts, Dryfly is done for the year according to Whiting.

“He needs a little break and I am going to keep him in light training, jogging and maybe galloping every third day,” Whiting said. “I am looking at the Smarty Jones on Jan. 18 at Oaklawn Park for him. They have a good series for 3-year-olds there with the Smarty Jones, the Southwest, the Rebel and the Arkansas Derby.

“If you want to make a run at the marbles, you’ve got to have the horse.”

TOUCH FOR A SHOCK JOLTS RIVALS IN ELECTRIFYING DEBUT – “He’s a good colt and he can run a little bit,” trainer Cecil Borel was saying about Touch for a Shock, one of two first-time starters to win on Sunday’s “Stars of Tomorrow I” card exclusively for 2-year-olds.

You think?

Ridden by his brother Calvin, Touch for a Shock exploded out of the 11 hole and quickly made his way to the rail. Turning for home, Calvin Borel was looking over his shoulder for competition and then began gearing down at the sixteenth pole as Touch for a Shock won by five lengths in 1:10.93 for six furlongs.

Three other six-furlong sprints were held Sunday for maidens and the fastest time among those races was 1:11.71.

He won a little easier than I thought he should,” Cecil Borel said of the homebred son of Touch Gold who is owned by Clifford Grum. “There were a lot of others in there who thought their horses were pretty good and I was starting to get scared.

“What I would really like to know is what I beat. A lot of times people will tell you a horse can run, but they can’t.”

Borel plans to bring Touch for a Shock back on closing day, Nov. 28 for a shot at allowance competition and then give the colt a break before heading most likely to Oaklawn Park for the winter.

COMMONWEALTH TURF ATTRACTS 21 NOMINATIONS – Darley Stable’s Florentino (JPN), winner of the Jefferson Cup (Grade II) here in June, heads a list of 21 nominations for the sixth running of the $100,000-added Commonwealth Turf (GIII) to be run on Nov. 15.

The 1 1/16-mile test for 3-year-olds, won last year by Nistle’s Crunch, will be run over the Matt Winn Turf Course.

Three other graded stakes winners on the turf this year are among the nominees topped by William Stiritz’s Proceed Bee. Winner of the Hawthorne Derby (GIII) in his most recent start, Proceed Bee won the Grand Canyon Handicap here at the Commonwealth Turf distance on the closing day of the 2008 Fall Meet.

Other colts coming out of graded stakes victories on the turf are Sullimar Stables’ Get Stormy, who took the Bryan Station (GIII) on Oct. 18 at Keeneland, and Lewis Schaffel’s Sal the Barber, winner of the Calder Derby (GIII) at Calder on Oct. 17.

BARN TALK – Trainer Scooter Dickey said that Oxbow Racing’s Flat Out is about a week away from rejoining his barn. Winner of the Smarty Jones Stakes in January at Oaklawn Park, Flat Out was knocked off the Kentucky Derby trail in late April by a stress fracture in a shoulder.

Fred Bradley’s Brass Hat will be among a group of 22 horses trainer Buff Bradley will send to Gulfstream Park this winter. Winner of the Louisville Handicap (GIII) here this spring and an earner of more than $2 million, the 8-year-old Brass Hat has not run since finishing second in the Stars and Stripes Handicap (GIII) at Arlington Park on Sept. 5. “He is on the farm now,” Buff Bradley said. “He got an injury to the outside of his cannon bone from being knocked around in the race at Arlington.”

WORK TAB – On Monday, three-time Churchill Downs graded-stakes winner Acoma worked a half-mile in :50.40 over a “fast” track for trainer David Carroll in advance of a possible run in the Nov. 21 Cardinal Handicap (GIII). … Also working a half-mile were two possible runners for Saturday’s Chilukki (GII): Copper State (:49.60) for trainer Steve Asmussen and Be Fair (:50.60) for trainer D. Wayne Lukas. On Tuesday, Lukas’ other possible Chilukki starter, Color Me Up worked three furlongs in :36.40 over a “fast” track. Another Chilukki nominee, Keep the Peace worked the same distance in a bullet :34.80 for trainer Eddie Kenneally. Working on “firm” turf around the dogs was Regret (GIII) winner Keertana, who covered a half-mile in :49.60 for trainer Tom Proctor. Keertana in nominated to the Grade II Mrs. Revere to be run Saturday, Nov. 14.

WIN BY ACTION SEEKER PUTS WHITING IN SELECT COMPANY – Veteran trainer Lynn Whiting was all smiles Saturday as he accepted congratulations for his 300th Churchill Downs win, a milestone achieved by JoAnn and Alex Lieblong’s Action Seeker in the eighth race.
    “I thought he had a chance once he got clear,” Whiting said of Action Seeker, who rallied to collar Duke of Pearl in deep stretch to win by a head.
    The victory made Whiting only the 10th trainer to post 300 career victories in 135 years of racing at Churchill Downs.
    “My first year here was 1979,” said Whiting, who began training in 1969. “I spent my first couple of years in Rhode Island at Lincoln and Narragansett and then the next eight winters in Maryland.”
    Whiting’s biggest Churchill Downs winner was W.C. “Cal” Partee’s Lil E. Tee, who captured the 1992 Kentucky Derby (Grade I) under Hall of Famer Pat Day. The trainer has a couple of other favorites to go with his Derby winner.
    “Big Pistol had the three fastest times here in the 1980s at six furlongs, 7 ½ furlongs and a mile and an eighth,” Whiting said of his sprint star who won five races at Churchill Downs, three of them stakes events. “At the Threshold (a two-time Churchill Downs winner) ran third in the 1984 Derby. All of those were owned by Mr. Partee.”
    
MINE THAT BIRD CONTINUES PREPARTIONS FOR BELMONT STAKES RUN – As Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird headed to the track Saturday morning, he and jockey Calvin Borel crossed paths.
    Borel walked up to Mine That Bird, tousled his mane, gave him a couple of pats on the neck and planted a big smooch on the gelding’s forehead.
    Trainer Chip Woolley could only grin at the exchange between horse and rider who will be reunited on the Triple Crown trail next Saturday in the $1 million Belmont Stakes (GI) at New York’s Belmont Park.”
    “Calvin really likes him and the horse likes him too,” Woolley said as he watched Mine That Bird gallop twice around before the renovation break under exercise rider Charlie Figueroa.
    Borel rode Mine That Bird to victory in the Kentucky Derby, but was aboard Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness in which the filly beat Mine That Bird. On Friday, the connections of Rachel Alexandra announced that the filly would pass on the third jewel of the Triple Crown, thus freeing Borel to return to Mine That Bird.
    “It was a relief, but I never believed she would run,” Woolley said. “In my mind, I thought I had him (Borel) all along. I am glad to have it all ironed out.”
    Woolley was called by Rachel Alexandra’s majority owner Jess Jackson about the decision not to run.
    “It was good that he called me first so I was ready for the barrage (of questions),” Woolley said. “I called (owners) Mark (Allen) and Doc (Leonard Blach) and they were happy.”
    Mine That Bird will gallop again Sunday morning and then is scheduled to work five furlongs after the break Monday morning with Borel up. Tuesday would be a walk day and Mine That Bird would fly to New York on Wednesday. Woolley is leaving for New York on Tuesday.
    Rachel Alexandra backtracked to the frontside and then galloped about a mile and a half under exercise rider Dominic Terry. Rachel Alexandra is scheduled work for trainer Steve Asmussen early Monday morning.

KAELIN ENJOYING BEST SPRING MEET IN YEARS – Last fall, veteran trainer Forrest Kaelin could not buy a win at Churchill Downs. Six months later, Kaelin has six winners from 17 starters and is enjoying one of his best Spring Meets beneath the Twin Spires in years.
    “I have no idea for the big turnaround,” Kaelin said Saturday morning. “It was just one of those falls. (D. Wayne) Lukas, Frankie (Brothers) and (Bob) Holthus couldn’t win a race either. I told folks to wait until we go to Tampa and we won 15 there.”
    Kaelin, 74, began his career at the track as a rider in 1952 and has been a Churchill Downs training fixture since the 1960s.  He won the first two runnings of the Stephen Foster Handicap, long before it achieved its current Grade I status, with local favorite Vodika Collins in 1982 and ’83.
“You go through things like that,” Kaelin said of the winless fall. “I had one year at Ellis when I was riding and I only had two winners and 20-something seconds. It gets to you.”
Kaelin picked up his sixth victory of the spring Friday when Nick’s Girl won the fourth race.
    “She has some issues, but she’s got a big heart,” Kaelin said. “But she got claimed from me by (Wayne) Catalano.”
    Kaelin, who has 14 horses here, has 312 career wins at Churchill Downs, eighth most in track history. The six wins equal Kaelin’s total from 1989 when he was 6-for-48 and he is en route to having his best season here since he saddled 16 winners in the spring 1985 meet.
    “Things have just come around,” said Kaelin, who has been stabled in Barn 46 for 40 years. “Sometimes that old worm gets in a hole and eventually has to come up for air.”

ONE CAROLINE SIDELINED BY INJURY -- G. Watts Humphrey Jr.’s One Caroline, who suffered her first career loss in six starts when she ran second to Miss Isella in the Louisville Distaff (Grade II) on May 1, will not get a rematch with that rival in the June 13 Fleur De Lis (Grade II).
    “She suffered a slight injury yesterday and she will be out for 60 days,” trainer Rusty Arnold said. “It is not major and she will be back in the fall. If you had to ask me now, I’d say we’d look for Churchill Downs in the fall.”
One Caroline worked five furlongs in 1:01 on Friday at Keeneland and the injury was detected afterward.
“It is not career threatening, just a bump in the road,” Arnold said. “I feel sorry for Churchill, because we wanted to come back and meet (trainer) Ian Wilkes’ filly (Miss Isella) again. It looks like that is going to be a nice little rivalry.”

MILESTONE WATCH – Robby Albarado has eight mounts at Churchill Downs on Saturday as he continues his pursuit of 4,000 career victories. Albarado has 3,998 wins.
David Vance will go for Churchill Downs victory No. 300 in Saturday’s ninth race with Kiss Mine. Ten trainers have won 300 races at Churchill Downs, the most recent being Lynn Whiting, who achieved the feat on Friday.
Bill Connelly, who has 998 career victories, will saddle two horses Saturday night at Indiana Downs in his bid to reach 1,000. The two horses are Hard Rock Man in the seventh and Go Lydia Go in the eighth.

BARN TALK – Trainer D. Wayne Lukas has named Julien Leparoux  to ride Robert Baker and William Mack’s Flying Private in next Saturday’s Belmont Stakes. Lukas’ other Belmont prospect, the Marylou Whitney Stables’ Luv Gov, will be ridden by Miguel Mena. The horses will leave for Belmont Park at 2 a.m. (EDT) Sunday.
The Kentucky Derby-winning team of trainer Chip Woolley and jockey Calvin Borel will join New York-based trainer Gary Contessa in ringing the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday morning, June 4.
Nominations close Saturday for the five stakes that make up the June 13 Reunion Day card, highlighted by the $600,000-added Stephen Foster (Grade I) at 1 1/8 miles on the main track. Other stakes that day are the $200,000-added Fleur De Lis (Grade II) for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 1/8 miles on the main track, the $150,000-added Jefferson Cup (Grade II) for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course, the $100,000-added Northern Dancer (Grade III) for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16th miles on the main track and the $150,000-added Regret (Grade III) for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles on the turf.

WORK TAB – Three-time Churchill Downs stakes winner Pure Clan put in her final major prep for next Saturday’s Early Times Mint Julep (Grade III) by working five furlongs in 1:01.80 over a fast track after the renovation break under exercise rider Steve Schmelzel. The move was the second fastest of 25 at the distance.
    The Mint Julep will be Pure Clan’s first start since a loss to champion Forever Together in the Oct. 24 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (GI) at Santa Anita.
    “I am eager to get her going again,” trainer Bob Holthus said. “She is the best filly I have had. I want to see how she comes out of this one. She is nominated to the Modesty (Grade III on July 11) and the Beverly D. (Grade I on Aug. 11) at Arlington Park.”
    Terrain, in his first work since finishing seventh in the Preakness, worked a half-mile in :47.60, the second fastest of 71 at the distance. Trainer Al Stall Jr. is pointing Terrain toward the Iowa Derby on June 26 at Prairie Meadows.
    Undefeated Hull worked a half-mile in :49.60 as his final tuneup for next Saturday’s Woody Stephens (Grade II) at Belmont Park.