Michelle Nihei

ESPOIR CITY SLATED TO ARRIVE TUESDAY FOR BREEDERS’ CUP CLASSIC – Espoir City (JPN), Japan’s hope for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI), is scheduled to arrive at Churchill Downs early Tuesday morning.

“He is in the air now,” said Mikki Tsuge of the International Racing Bureau, who will serve as interpreter for trainer Akio Adachi and jockey Tetsuzo Sato at the Breeders’ Cup. “The trainer is coming in this afternoon and the jockey will be here on the 22nd.”

Espoir City was being flown from Japan to Chicago, where he would change planes for the flight to Louisville with an expected arrival at Louisville International Airport of 3 a.m. (EDT).  He will be in quarantine at Churchill Downs for 48 hours.

A three-time Grade I winner in Japan, Espoir City has won 11 of 20 career starts with a record on dirt of 13-10-2-0-1. In his most recent start, which followed a five-month layoff, Espoir City finished second in the Oct. 11 Nambu Hai Mile Championship.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME FOR ACOMA TO CLOSE OUT CAREER – The Juddmonte Spinster (GI) at Keeneland on Oct. 10 was supposed to be the last hurrah for Helen Alexander and Helen Groves’ Acoma.

However, a funny thing happened on the way to the farm: Acoma upset a stellar field of 10 and became a millionaire in the process. Now, trainer David Carroll is getting the regally bred 5-year-old daughter of Empire Maker ready for the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic (GI) to be run Nov. 5.

“She came out of the race fine,” said Carroll, who plans to give Acoma two works leading up to the Breeders’ Cup. “She is two-for-two on the dirt here and she likes it here. We know she can handle the dirt here. If the Breeders’ Cup were at Santa Anita or someplace else, we would not be going.

“Plus, Zenyatta (who is slated for the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 6) is not going to be there. There are a lot of factors involved.”

In addition to being perfect on the dirt here, Acoma has compiled a 5-3-1-0 mark on the Matt Winn Turf Course. Despite that mark, the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (G1) was not a consideration.

“It is a mile and three-eighths and way too tough,” Carroll said. “Plus, the ground is likely to be soft, which she doesn’t like.”

PRINCE WILL I AM COULD GO IN BC MARATHON OR TURF FOR NIHEI – Trainer Michelle Nihei said Monday morning that Casa Farms One’s Prince Will I Am may be pre-entered next Monday in the $3 million Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Turf (GI) as well as the $500,000 Breeders’ Cup Marathon (GIII).

“It is hard to believe he was a maiden here last fall,” said Nihei, a former assistant to Todd Pletcher. “You could tell then that he would mature late. He has a great mind, but his body didn’t catch up.”

Prince Will I Am entered the Breeders’ Cup picture with a victory Oct. 9 in the Jamaica Handicap (GI) for 3-year-olds at Belmont Park going 1 1/8 miles on the grass. The Breeders’ Cup Turf is 1 ½ miles and the Marathon is 1 ¾ miles on the main track.

“I am not worried about the distance either on turf or dirt, but there will be some strong Europeans for the Turf,” Nihei said.  “It is up to Susie (owner Susan Atkins).”

Nihei said that Prince Will I Am, who broke his maiden at first asking at odds of 45-1, “bounced out of the Jamaica great and would have two works prior to the Breeders’ Cup.

BARN TALK – Atta Boy Roy, winner of the Churchill Downs (GII) this spring, is scheduled to come to Churchill Downs from the Trackside Training Center for two works before the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Sprint (GI) according to trainer Valerie Lund. “He will work Friday or Saturday with Calvin (Borel) up and then on Saturday the 30th,” Lund said. “I will probably bring him over for the Breeders’ Cup on the Monday or Tuesday of Breeders’ Cup week.” Atta Boy Roy finished eighth in the 5 ½-furlong Woodford (GIII) on the grass at Keeneland on Oct. 9 in his most start. “He has done well since that race,” Lund said. “The timing of the race was right, but after the race he told me ‘No grass and don’t run me in the Turf Sprint.’ ” Lund said. …

Three Breeders’ Cup possible starters from the Steve Asmussen barn worked Monday morning over a “fast” track at Churchill Downs. Thiskyhasnolimit, winner of the 2009 Iroquois (GIII) who may go in the Dirt Mile (GI), worked five furlongs in 1:01, third-fastest of 44 at the distance. Also working were Astrology (Juvenile) in 1:01.80 (11th fastest) and Riley Tucker (Sprint) in 1:03.60 (30th fastest). …

    Scheduled to work Tuesday morning for the Breeders’ Cup Marathon (GIII) is A.U. Miner for trainer Clark Hanna. Calvin Borel will have the mount in the Marathon. …

Track superintendent Butch Lehr said the Matt Winn Turf Course would be open for training daily from 9:30-10 a.m. beginning next Monday, Oct. 25, through the Breeders’ Cup.

Elizabeth Alexander’s Tap Dancing held off a late bid from Silver Mountain by a length to win the featured $43,760 Hobert Summers Memorial over a “sloppy” track at Churchill Downs in a field reduced to four on Wednesday afternoon.

            The winner covered the 1 ¼ miles in 2:08.50 for the allowance test that was taken off the Matt Winn Turf Course.

            Trained by Michelle Nihei, Tap Dancing collared pace-setting Guadalcanal at the three-eighths pole after Guadalcanal had led the field through fractions of :25.11, :50.71 and 1:16.49.

            In giving jockey Julien Leparoux his second victory of the day and career win No. 993, Tap Dancing returned mutuels of $7.20 and $3.60. Silver Mountain, ridden by Miguel Mena, paid $2.80 to place.

            Tap Dancing is a 4-year-old New Mexico-bred son of Pleasant Tap out of the A.P. Indy mare Indicate. The victory, the second in 11 starts, was worth $25,800 and increased his career earnings to $60,342.

            A total of 72 winning tickets collected a payoff of $33,557.80 from a Pick 6 pool of $3,461,874.

            In the day’s final race, Shot Gun Cliff keyed a payoff of $15,509.20 in the Super Hi-5, which required bettors to select the top five finishers in order. There were 70 winning tickets in the Super Hi-5 that began the day with a $251,856 carryover and wound up with $1,032,668 in the pool.

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ACOMA SEEKS TO BUILD GRASS RESUME IN MRS. REVERE - Before trainer David Carroll ran Acoma in the Valley View (Grade III) at Keeneland, he termed the 3-year-old filly's grass debut as "a bit of an experiment."

            Acoma passed the "experiment" with flying colors, scoring a half-length victory in the 1 1/16-mile test. On Saturday, she hopes to build on that success when she faces 10 rivals in the 19th running of the $175,000-added Mrs. Revere (GII) at 1 1/16 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course.

            Owned by Helen Alexander and Helen Groves, Acoma also has won on Polytrack at Keeneland, a sloppy main track at Churchill Downs and posted a victory in the Grade III Dogwood on a fast main track here in May. She returned to Carroll's barn at Churchill Downs right after her Valley View win on Oct. 17.

            "She is the kind of filly who likes to settle in to one place before she runs," Carroll said. "That is why I took her to Keeneland well before she ran there."

            Acoma worked a half-mile on the main track in :50.80 on Monday in her first work since the Keeneland victory.

            "It was just a nice maintenance work," Carroll said. "She came out of the race fine and she has been doing really well since coming back here."

            A homebred daughter of Empire Maker out of the Danzig mare Aurora, Acoma has won four of seven career starts. She is a half-sister to Arch.

            "The Mrs. Revere is a little quick back, but this is her last race of the year," Carroll said. "We will bring her back in the spring."

SOUSAPHONE WORKS TOWARD POSSIBLE CARDINAL RUN - Elisabeth Alexander's Sousaphone made the trip over to Churchill Downs on Thursday morning from the Trackside Training Center for a six-furlong work in 1:15.20 as a prelude to a possible run in the Nov. 15 Cardinal Handicap (GIII).

            "We are kind of taking a gamble," trainer Michelle Nihei said of a possible run in the Cardinal.

            Nihei, a former assistant to Todd Pletcher who was the primary exercise rider for two-time champion and 2004 Kentucky Oaks winner Ashado, has 30 horses stabled at Trackside. Sousaphone presented Nihei with her second Churchill Downs victory this summer and later delivered the trainer's first stakes score with a triumph in the Vivacious Handicap at River Downs.

            Sousaphone has been idle since the Kentucky Cup Ladies Turf at Kentucky Downs on Sept. 13.

            "She is the kind of filly who does not like it real hard like it was at Kentucky Downs," Nihei said. "She got stuck behind a wall of seven horses that day and had nowhere to go and ran eighth ... beaten 2 ½ lengths."

TRACK KITCHEN HOSTING "PARTY FOR WOMEN" ON MONDAY - Churchill Downs backstretch workers and spouses are invited to a "Party for Women" on Monday from 9-10:30 a.m. to raise cancer awareness, an initiative of Horses and Hope.

            Supported in part by a grant from the Kentucky Breast Cancer Research and Education Trust Fund, the party will offer free breakfast, door prizes and gifts, plus the opportunity to meet with former rider Patty Cooksey, Churchill Downs' all-time leading female jockey and  breast cancer survivor.

            There will be signups for mammograms that will be available at Churchill Downs on Nov. 25.

            Horses and Hope is a project of Kentucky First Lady Jane Beshear, the Kentucky Cancer Program, and the Pink Stable, a committee of Kentucky horse owners, trainers, jockeys, race track representatives, and others. The mission is to increase breast cancer awareness, education, screening and treatment referral among the state's horse industry workers and their families.

            For more information on the event, contact Rachelle Seger at the Kentucky Cancer Program at (502) 852-5223.

BARN TALK - The victory by WinStar Farm's Fine Flyer in Wednesday's eighth race was the 449th for trainer Dale Romans at Churchill Downs, a figure that ties him with D. Wayne Lukas for second place all-time here. Bill Mott leads all trainers in career victories at Churchill Downs with 592. Romans is represented by four runners on Thursday's card. ...

            Tim Poole, assistant to trainer Nick Zito, reported that Robert LaPenta's Just a Coincidence was okay Thursday morning after some dicey moments in Wednesday's seventh race in which the 2-year-old Foresty colt bounced off the rail at the head of the stretch while on the lead, dropped back, and then rallied again to finish fourth. "He's got a little cut and he's a little stiff, but he's fine," Poole said. "It looked like he was getting ready to change leads and he went into the rail a couple of times. My heart was in my throat." ...

            Back on May 8, jockey Miguel Mena won five races on the Churchill Downs card to present his father Jose Mena with a happy 48th birthday. Thursday is Mena's 22nd birthday and he rides nine races on the 10-race card in a quest to match the family birthday trick. Mena is fifth in the rider standings with six victories through the first seven days of the meet.

WORK TAB - Two colts nominated to Sunday's sixth running of the Commonwealth Turf (GIII) put in works around the "dogs" Thursday morning on a firm Matt Winn Turf Course. Glencrest Farm, Dapple Stable and Sassafras Racing's On the Virg worked a half-mile in :51.60 for trainer Todd Pletcher, and Uptown Racing's Boss Lafitte covered the same distance in :52.40 for trainer Tom Amoss. ... Also working on the turf Thursday morning was W.S. Farish and Joseph Shields Jr.'s Diverse, a nominee to the Cardinal Handicap (GIII), who worked a half-mile in :51 for trainer Neil Howard. ... Sam P., ninth in the 2007 Kentucky Derby, breezed five furlongs in 1:02.40 for trainer Todd Pletcher.  ... Kentucky Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Sugar Mom, seventh in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Santa Anita, breezed a half-mile in :49.80 for trainer Wayne Catalano.

CALVIN BOREL GLASS GIVEAWAY ON SATURDAY - The week's promotional calendar is highlighted by the first of three collectable hurricane glass giveaways that salute popular Cajun jockeys who ride at Churchill Downs. A Calvin Borel glass, sponsored by Thorntons, will be given away to the first 5,000 paid and pre-paid admissions on Saturday. Glasses depicting Robby Albarado and Kent Desormeaux will be given away on Nov. 15 and Nov. 22, respectively.

FRIDAY HAPPY HOURS - New Orleans-themed "Friday Happy Hours" - featuring $2 Budweiser Select, $2 hurricanes, $2 Fischer's hot dogs and live jazz music - will be held Friday from 3-5 p.m. in the upper Jockey Club's paddock balcony area.   

SUNDAY BRUNCH AT THE DOWNS - Sunday Brunch at Churchill Downs returns this Sunday. For $41.50 ($25 for children 12 and under), customers can dine and watch the Nov. 9 races from a reserved seat Millionaires' Row Six, the luxurious 9,000 square-foot room with a four-tier balcony that overlooks the finish line. The brunch, accompanied by live jazz music, is served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and features a wide selection of food, including stuffed French toast, eggs, maple smoked bacon, homemade biscuits and gravy, carved roast turkey, fresh salads and plenty of sides. Appetizers and a bountiful desert tray will be available until 5 p.m. Brunch and an official program is included in the admission price. Another Sunday Brunch is scheduled for Nov. 23. The reserve a spot, call (502) 636-4400.

"IN SEASON" AIRS ON WAVE-3 SATURDAY - "In Season," Churchill Downs' weekly magazine-style television program hosted by John Asher, will air Saturday on NBC affiliate WAVE-3 in the Louisville area. The live half-hour program will be broadcast from 9:30-10 a.m. ET.

JUNIOR JOCKEY CLUB WEEKEND ACTIVITIES - A special appearance by the Louisville Fire Department Fire Safety Trailer and a fire truck display will highlight this weekend's activities at Churchill Downs' Junior Jockey Club located near the Guest Services Booth inside Gate. 10. The LFD will be on hand Saturday and Sunday between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. There also will be cloth pumpkin crafts for children age 4-10. Coloring books, crayons, individual games and reading material are available as well, and Churchill Downs' mascot Churchill Charlie will be on hand for photographs between 1-1:30 p.m.

HANDICAPPING CONTEST WEDNESDAYS, SUNDAYS - Racing fans can pit their handicapping skills against the best Louisville has to offer every Wednesday and Sunday in the popular twice-weekly "Who's the Champ?" Handicapping Contest. For a $30 entry fee ($25 for Twin Spires Club members), participants will compete for weekly cash prizes and an invitation to the Nov. 23 final where the top two finishers will win coveted berths in the Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship X slated for Jan. 23-24, 2009 in Las Vegas.

SPECIAL VETERANS DAY RACING ON TUESDAY - Churchill Downs will host a special live racing program on Tuesday, Nov. 11 in honor of Veterans Day. The first of 10 live races will be 12:40 p.m. ET.