Miss Isella

STEWART BEAMING AFTER MACHO AGAIN’S FOSTER TRIUMPH – Trainer Dallas Stewart was all smiles Sunday morning as he accepted congratulations on  the victory by West Point Thoroughbreds’ Macho Again in Saturday’s $600,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I).

    “He just wanted to win yesterday,” Stewart said of Macho Again, who provided the trainer with his second Grade I victory at Churchill Downs to go with Lemons Forever’s triumph in the 2006 Kentucky Oaks (GI). “He is a well-accomplished horse. He has won on fast and wet tracks and won at Saratoga, Fair Grounds and here. This ought to close a lot of talk about him being an in and out horse.”

    Macho Again won last year’s Derby Trial at Churchill Downs, a race that was followed by a runner-up finish to Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown in the Preakness (GI), the second jewel of the Triple Crown.  The Stephen Foster victory was his first triumph in Grade I company and improved his career record to 6-4-0 in 18 races with earnings of $1,475,247.  The son of Macho Uno has raced five times at Churchill Downs and his record under the Twin Spires is 4-1-0 with earnings of $499,989.

Stewart was worried about the slow early pace in the Stephen Foster, which was similar to the pace Macho Again caught when he finished sixth in the Alysheba (Grade III) on the May 1 Kentucky Oaks (GI) undercard.
“I thought the:48 half was a little slow for us. I thought they would go in :47,” Stewart said.

Next up for Macho Again is the Whitney Handicap (Grade I) at 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga on Aug. 8. Macho Again won the Jim Dandy (Grade II) last summer at Saratoga going nine furlongs.

    Asiatic Boy (ARG), who finished a length behind Macho Again, was scheduled to return to New York on Sunday along with stablemate Florentino (JPN), winner of Saturday’s Jefferson Cup (Grade II).

FRUSTRATION REMAINS HIGH IN EINSTEIN CAMP AFTER FOSTER FINISH – Einstein’s bid for racing history came up a length short Saturday when the 7-year-old Brazilian-bred horse ran third after encountering trouble throughout his 1 1/8-mile journey in the Stephen Foster Handicap.

    “I just want the best for him and I really wanted him to get a Grade I win on the dirt,” trainer Helen Pitts-Blasi said of Einstein, who had won the Santa Anita Handicap (Grade I) on the synthetic Pro-Ride surface and the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (Grade I) at Churchill Downs in his two prior starts.
    No horse had won three consecutive Grade I races on three surfaces.

    The footnotes in the Foster chart told the story of Einstein’s race under Julien Leparoux: “Einstein bobbled at the start to get away a bit slow, checked off heels near the seven-eighths marker, was bottled up between horses down the backstretch and through the second turn, shifted out a bit and found a seam entering the stretch, was bumped and stuffed behind rivals with three-sixteenths to run, got through toward the inside late but was left with too much to do.”

    “It was just bad racing luck and he was much the best horse,” Pitts-Blasi said. “I’d like to get Horse of the Year with him and a race like this could hurt him and it was not his fault.”

    Pitts-Blasi said Einstein came out of the race fine with the Arlington Million (Grade I) next up on the radar on Aug. 8.

    “I am going to give him a little break with the Million as the next goal,” Pitts-Blasi said. “The Pacific Classic (on Sept. 6 at Del Mar) I’d strongly consider because that would give us a month between the two races.”

    His difficult trip in the Stephen Foster left Einstein’s career record at 11-3-3 in 26 races with earnings of $2,673,924.

MISS ISELLA DOING WELL AFTER FLEUR DE LIS TRIUMPH – Elaine Jones’ Miss Isella reaffirmed her love for the main track at Churchill Downs on Saturday by winning her third consecutive Grade II stake beneath the Twins Spires in taking the $200,000-added Fleur De Lis.

    “She just loves it here. I’d like to run her here year-round,” trainer Ian Wilkes said of Miss Isella, who now has won five of seven starts with one second at Churchill Downs.

    As she had done in her two previous stakes wins here, Miss Isella benefited from a rail-skimming ride from Calvin Borel. On Saturday, she barely squeezed past Distinctive Dixie, who bumped Miss Isella into the rail as she was trying to get by.

    “She is just a little filly with a lot of determination and heart,” Wilkes said. “You don’t know if they have it until they get in a race.”

    Wilkes said Miss Isella would head next to Saratoga with the $300,000 Go for Wand (Grade I) at 1 1/8 miles on Aug. 2 and the 1 ¼-mile, $400,000 Personal Ensign (Grade I) on Aug. 30 as possible targets.

    Trainer Dale Romans said that Fleur De Lis runner-up Swift Temper came out of the race fine but had no immediate plans for a next start.

    Third-place finisher Temple Street is headed to Delaware Park according to trainer Brad Cox.

    “I am going to Delaware after this meet and I may look at the Delaware Handicap (worth $1 million at 1 ¼ miles),” said Cox, who has guided Temple Street to graded-stakes placings in both springs and routes this spring. “I’d like to have her as a graded-stakes winner. The distance is the great unknown, but when Julien (Leparoux) got off her yesterday said she could go a mile and a half or two. She knows the running starts at the quarter pole.”    

    Wilkes fell a head short of taking two stakes on the Stephen Foster day card when Warrior’s Reward finished second to Successful Dan in the $100,000-added Northern Dancer (Grade III).

    “He had the whole stretch to get by the other horse,” Wilkes said. “But he’s still learning. He ran good, but you’ve got to give that other horse credit, too. They both ran hard.”

    Wilkes mentioned the $200,000 Dwyer Stakes (GII) at 1 1/16 miles at Belmont Park on July 4 as the next possible spot for Warrior’s Reward.

PREPARATIONS CONTINUE FOR FRIDAY’S ‘DOWNS AFTER DARK’ NIGHT RACING DEBUT – Neighbors of Churchill Downs and people traveling in the neighborhood around the historic home of the Kentucky Derby got a preview late Saturday evening of how the track will look under the lights during this Friday’s first ever night racing session.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Technicians from Musco Lighting were at the track to test the fixtures that will illuminate the track for the first time in its 135-year history on Friday, June 19: Friday, June 26; and Thursday, July 2.

    Horsemen will have a chance to get a first-hand look at the lights on Monday and Tuesday as training will open an hour early at 5 a.m. (EDT).  Kentucky Oaks and Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra is expected to be one of the early horses on the track under the lights.  She is scheduled to work for trainer Steve Asmussen between 5:15 and 5:30 a.m. (EDT).

BARN TALK – Robby Albarado’s five-win day on Saturday was his second at Churchill Downs. Albarado, who won the Stephen Foster Handicap on Macho Again and the Regret on Keertana, also won five on July 9, 2005 when he had 11 mounts. Albarado rode 10 races on Saturday.

Training hours will be extended an hour Monday and Tuesday to give horsemen a chance to exercise their horses under the temporary lights. The track will open at 5 a.m. those days with the renovation break remaining at 8 o’clock. The gate will be up at its normal time from 7:15-9:15 on Monday.

Grace Stable’s 2-year-old filly Hot Dixie Chick established the second track record of the Spring Meet on Saturday when she won the sixth race in :56.48 for the five furlongs. The previous five-eighths record was :56.49, established on May 20, 2005 by Wildcat Shoes.

    The other track record to fall this meet was for 1 1/16 miles on the turf when Wise River covered the distance in 1:39.83 on April 26. The previous record had been established by Quite a Bride in winning the 2007 Early Times Mint Julep (Grade III) in 1:40.70.

MILESTONE WATCH – Greg Foley, seeking to move closer to becoming the 12th trainer at Churchill Downs to record 300 victories beneath the Twin Spires, has one starter on Sunday: Zosogood in the second. Foley has 297 Churchill Downs victories.

Elaine Jones’ Miss Isella squeezed through a narrow opening on the rail under Calvin Borel in the upper stretch and then fought off a challenge from Swift Temper to win Saturday’s 35th running of the $221,600 Fleur De Lis Handicap (Grade II) by three-quarters of a length at Churchill Downs.

            Distinctive Dixie and Jesus Castanon set the pace in the race for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up with fractions of :24.24, :48.18 and 1:12.07 with Santa Teresita stalking to her outside under Aaron Gryder and Borel a little further back tucked along the rail.

            Distinctive Dixie and Santa Teresita hit the top of the stretch as a team as Borel looked for an opening at the rail. At the three-sixteenths pole, Miss Isella hit the rail as she brushed past Distinctive Dixie and burst to a narrow advantage with Swift Temper looming on the outside.

            Miss Isella, who carried top weight of 122 pounds, five more than Swift Temper under Garrett Gomez, drew off in the final yards to complete the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.59 over a fast track.

            Miss Isella returned $5.40, $3.20 and $2.20 as the favorite in the field of nine. Swift Temper paid $6.80 and $4.20, finishing 4 ½ lengths ahead of Temple Street, who rallied to finish third under Julien Leparoux and pay $5.60 to show. Santa Teresita, Distinctive Dixie, Copper State, Kiss With a Twist, French Kiss and Unforgotten completed the field in order.

            Trained by Ian Wilkes, Miss Isella is a 4-year-old daughter of 1997 Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm out of the Last Tycoon mare La Cucina. Now 5-for-7 at Churchill Downs and 6-for-15 overall, Miss Isella increased her career earnings to $568,629 with the $131,896 winner’s check.

POST-RACE QUOTES – THE FLEUR DE LIS HANDICAP

CALVIN BOREL, jockey of MISS ISELLA (winner)

            “She came off the pace pretty good today. When I got up into the hole, Distinctive Dixie kind of came back down and shut me off.  She brushed my filly a little bit, but they had a lot of room when I drove her in there.  I put a little pressure on her, but it wasn’t that bad.  It looked bad because it threw her into the air and off stride, but that’s the name of the game.”

IAN WILKES, trainer of MISS ISELLA (winner)

            “She’s game. She loves it and loves that part of it. She’s a game filly. You’ve just got to love her. She loves what she does.”

            Q: What goes through your mind when Calvin Borel goes through the rail like that?

            “Nothing really. When Calvin (Borel) goes through I think he’s got enough horse. If he doesn’t have enough horse, he’s not going in there. If he only gets a little way in, he’s in trouble. If has enough horse to get through there I’m all for it.”

            Q: It’s been a nice two days for owner Elaine Jones (she won a first level allowance on Friday with 3-year-old colt Guam Typhoon). . .

            “Yeah. Her (Miss Isella) half-brother (Guam Typhoon) won yesterday. I’m very pleased and excited for her.”

            Q: What might be next?

            “I’ve got no plans yet but I do want to take her to Saratoga and take a shot at some Grade Is.”

GARRETT GOMEZ, rider of SWIFT TEMPER (runner-up)

“It happens all the time around here. I don’t know.  It’s very frustrating to ride a tactical smart race and and you gave up ground to be in a garden spot and then see him (Borel) get through.  To come off the fence and just let him through – and it’s not just once or twice, it’s like all the time. It takes a lot of heart out of your horse. It’s difficult to swallow when it keeps happening over and over.”

Q: Your mare ran a good race . . .

“She ran a lot better today.  The other day (in the Louisville Distaff) she just looked dull and I was telling him (trainer Dale Romans) after the race that getting just two weeks off after the Sixty Sails probably took a lot out of her.  She’s not very big, but she runs very hard and she was just kind of a dull horse in that race.”

JESUS CASTANON, rider of DISTINCTIVE DIXIE (fifth and involved in bumping with Miss Isella in upper stretch)

“I was running out of horse in that spot and I thought he’d (Borel) do that business he always does.  My horse was trying to drift inside and at the same time he kind of went through.  I was trying to save my position as I was running out of horse, then he got through.  We made some contact, but he got through.  His filly was much the best in this race.”

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MINE THAT BIRD BACK-TRACKS OVER CHURCHILL DOWNS MUD – Kentucky Derby (Grade I) winner Mine That Bird returned to the racetrack for the first time since finishing third in last Saturday’s Belmont Stakes (Grade I) by leisurely back-tracking once around early Thursday morning under exercise rider Charlie Figueroa.

"He is fresh as a daisy this morning,” trainer Chip Woolley said as Mine That Bird pranced off the Churchill Downs track that had been rendered sloppy by overnight and morning rain.

The break from the track was the longest for Mine That Bird “since we brought him back last December off the layoff from the Breeders’ Cup,” Woolley said. “He will walk the next two days and go back to the track Sunday.

Owners Mark Allen of Double Eagle Ranch and Dr. Leonard Blach are scheduled to arrive in Louisville from New Mexico on Friday and, along with Woolley and jockey Calvin Borel, receive their Kentucky Derby trophies on Saturday.

“I am going to get with Mark and Doc when they get here and right now I am aiming for Monday for a decision on what we are going to do,” Woolley said. “We have six options that we are looking at.”

TIME MAY BE RIGHT FOR WARRIOR’S REDWARD IN NORTHERN DANCER – For A. Stevens Miles Jr.’s Warrior’s Reward, the road to the Kentucky Derby hit a dead end in Tampa, Fla., with an eighth-place finish behind Musket Man in the Tampa Bay Derby (Grade III) on March 14.

    “He didn’t get the best of rides that day and it might have been a blessing for him,” trainer Ian Wilkes said. “He made some noise in that race and had a little throat surgery after that has been good since. Maybe it was not our time yet.”

    Fast forward nearly three months and it appears the time may be at hand for the son of Medaglia d’Oro who figures to be an overwhelming favorite in Saturday’s 12th running of the $100,000-added Northern Dancer (Grade III) at 1 1/16 miles on the main track. Warrior’s Reward will break from post position three under Calvin Borel.

    Warrior’s Reward returned to the races on May 1 and won a seven-furlong allowance test by 2 ¼ lengths over Munnings. All Munnings did in his next start was romp in last Saturday’s Woody Stephens Stakes (Grade II) at Belmont Park.

     “I was pleased to see that,” said Wilkes, whose summer goals for Warrior’s Reward include the Jim Dandy (Grade II) and the Travers (Grade I) at Saratoga.

    Warrior’s Reward tuned up for the Northern Dancer with a bullet, five-furlong work in the mud of 1:01.60 on June 4. He worked in company with Miss Isella, who figures to be the favorite in Saturday’s 35th running of the $200,000-added Fleur De Lis Handicap (Grade II) at 1 1/8 miles on the main track.

   Miss Isella has won four of her six starts at Churchill Downs and will be ridden Saturday by Borel, who has been aboard in all five of the 4-year-old filly’s victories.

    “She just loves this track,” said Wilkes of Miss Isella, who has won the Grade II Louisville Distaff and Falls City Handicap (Grade II) in her two most recent Churchill Downs races. “The only track she doesn’t seem to like is Gulfstream Park and I have never figured that out.”
    
ARSON SQUAD RELISHING RETURN TO THE DIRT – If horses could talk, one would imagine that Jay Em Ess Stable’s Arson Squad’s succinct appraisal of synthetic surfaces would go something like this: “NAY!”

    “The dirt turned him right around,” said Michelle Nevin, assistant to trainer Rick Dutrow, of Arson Squad, who joined the barn late last summer following a run of seven consecutive off-the-board finishes over Southern California’s three synthetic race tracks.

    In his first start for Dutrow, Arson Squad won the Meadowlands Cup Handicap, the third Grade II victory of his career. All three of those victories have come at 1 1/8 miles, the distance he will be asked to run Saturday in the 28th running of the $600,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I).

    Arson Squad last ran in $6 million Dubai World Cup (Grade I) on March 28 in which he finished 11th, placing 3 ¼ lengths in front of fellow Foster rival Asiatic Boy. Once back from Dubai, Arson Squad has run of a string of five bullet works at Aqueduct.

    “I was on some of those; we spread it around,” said Nevin, who served as the regular exercise rider for 2008 Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown. “His last work there on June 3 in company with Kip Deville was lights out. Hopefully he will like it here.”

    That five-furlong move with the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Mile (Grade I) winner was accomplished in 1:00.

    Arson Squad arrived at Churchill Downs on Monday on the same flight that brought Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird back to Louisville from his third-place effort in the Belmont Stakes. With Nevin up, Arson Squad worked a half-mile after the break in :49.60, the 17th fastest of 31 at the distance.

    Arson Squad, who will break from post position four under Garrett Gomez, will carry 118 pounds, six fewer than probable Stephen Foster favorite Einstein. It makes a 3-pound shift in Arson Squad’s favor from the most recent matchup of the two in the Jan. 31 Donn Handicap (Grade I) at Gulfstream Park in which Einstein finished 3 ¼ lengths ahead of Arson Squad.

WHIRLIE BERTIE BACK IN ACTION FOR MARGOLIS – When Whirlie Bertie zoomed through her conditions here last spring and summer, her opportunities appeared limitless. But after leaving Churchill Downs she ran third in the Monmouth Oaks (Grade III) and then faded badly in the Oct. 3 Indiana Oaks (Grade II) at Hoosier Park.

    Owned by Richard, Bertram and Elaine Klein, Whirlie Bertie has not been seen at the races since, but that will end Friday in the fourth race when she returns in a seven-furlong, allowance optional claiming event.

    “She got hot that day and after that race we sent her to Rood and Riddle (in Lexington) to check her out,” trainer Steve Margolis said. “She had a little bit of a fracture in her right hind leg. No surgery was required and it healed well on its own and she stayed here all winter.”

    All of Whirlie Bertie’s win have come around two turns and Margolis is not quite sure what to expect in Friday’s sprint.

    “It will be interesting. I was looking to run a mile and a sixteenth, but there was nothing for her,” Margolis said. “She has been training good and we’ve done a lot of schooling with her. The outside spot (post five of six) should be good and (jockey) Shaun (Bridgmohan) knows her and has won on her.”
    
MILESTONE WATCH – Jockey Calvin Borel, who has ridden 922 winners in his career at Churchill Downs, is named on five mounts Thursday. He needs three victories to equal Don Brumfield’s total of 925 for second all time at Churchill Downs behind Pat Day (2,482).

    Trainer David Vance, who has sent out 299 winners at Churchill Downs, is represented by Northeast Harbor in Thursday’s sixth race as he bids to become the 11th conditioner with 300 victories at Churchill Downs.

    Also closing in on the 300-win mark at Churchill Downs is trainer Greg Foley. Currently tied for third in the trainer standings with 10 victories this spring, Foley has a career total of 295 here. He has two horses entered Thursday: Gerivello in the first and Speak of Kings in the ninth.

BARN TALK – Fleur De Lis Handicap contender Miss Isella will now run under the ownership of Elaine Jones.

    Stephen Foster Hadicap favorite Einstein is scheduled to school in the paddock with horses in Thursday’s second race for trainer Helen Pitts-Blasi.

Nominations close Saturday for the 109th running of the Debutante (Grade III) for 2-year-old fillies going six furlongs on the main track on June 27. Garden District won the 2008 Debutante by a half-length over Rachel Alexandra.

    Training hours will begin at 5 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday to give horsemen the opportunity to train under the lights that will be used for the three night cards this meet. The first of those nights is Friday, June 19, followed by June 26 and Thursday, July 2.

CORRECTION – An item in the May 31 Barn Notes incorrectly stated that Lady On Holiday was bred to Jump Start. She was bred to 2008 Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown and is in foal.

WORK TAB – Jake Wil Gallop, winner of the USA Stakes at Lone Star Park on May 25 in his most recent start, worked three furlongs over a sloppy track in :38.60 in advance of Saturday’s Jefferson Cup (Grade II).

Domino Stud of Lexington’s Miss Isella will go for her third consecutive Grade II stakes victory at Churchill Downs on Saturday when she totes high weight of 122 pounds in the 35th running of the $200,000-added Fleur De Lis Handicap (Grade II).

            The Fleur De Lis, for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 1/8 miles on the main track, is one of four graded stakes Saturday on Reunion Day Featuring the 28th running of the $600,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I).

            In addition to the Stephen Foster and the four other graded stakes, the connections from Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra will receive their Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks trophies, respectively. First post time for Saturday’s 11-race card is 12:45 p.m. (all times Eastern) and grandstand admission gates open at 11:30 a.m.

            Trained by Ian Wilkes, Miss Isella made her graded-stakes debut in last fall’s Falls City Handicap (Grade II) here, winning by a length over Skylighter at 1 1/8 miles. On May 1, Miss Isella handed One Caroline her first career defeat in six starts in winning the Louisville Distaff.

            Regular rider Calvin Borel will be aboard Saturday and break from post position three. Miss Isella will concede from 1-9 pounds to her eight rivals in the Fleur De Lis, which goes as the ninth race on the card at approximately 4:59 p.m.

The second high weight in the race is Southern Equine Stable’s Santa Teresita at 121 pounds. Trained by Eric Guillot, Santa Teresita won the Grade I Santa Maria Handicap this winter at Santa Anita and most recently ran second in the Sixty Sails Handicap (Grade III) at Hawthorne on April 18. Aaron Gryder will ride Santa Teresita and break from post position four.

            Hystericalady won last year’s Fleur De Lis.

          The field for the Fleur De Lis, from the rail out (with jockey, assigned weight and morning line odds): Unforgotten (Robby Albarado, 115 pounds, 15-1), Distinctive Dixie (Jesus Castanon, 114, 10-1), Miss Isella (Calvin Borel, 122, 2-1), Santa Teresita (Aaron Gryder, 121, 3-1), Copper State (Shaun Bridgmohan, 115, 6-1), Temple Street (Julien Leparoux, 113, 8-1), French Kiss (Joe Johnson, 113, 20-1), Swift Temper (Garrett Gomez, 117, 8-1) and Kiss With a Twist (Miguel Mena, 115, 6-1).

The other Grade II on Saturday’s card is the 34th running of the $150,000-added Jefferson Cup for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course. The Jefferson Cup is the first stakes race on the card and goes as the seventh race at approximately 3:57 p.m.

          Trainer Rusty Arnold, who won this race in 1982 with Wavering Monarch and in 1990 with Divine Warning, will send out one of the favorites in El Crespo.

            Owned by G. Watts Humphrey Jr., El Crespo captured the Grade III Palm Beach at 1 1/8 miles this winter at Gulfstream Park and has a turf record of 4-2-1-1.  Julien Leparoux will ride El Crespo and break from post position five under the top impost of 121 pounds.

          Also expected to draw interest at the windows in the race won last year by Tizdejavu are WinStar Farm’s Advice, who will be making his turf debut as the 5-2 morning line favorite after finishing 13th in the Kentucky Derby, and Darley Stable’s Florentino (JPN), who was scratched out of last Friday’s Hill Prince (Grade III) at Belmont Park when it was rained off the turf.

          The field for the Jefferson Cup, from the hedge out: Advice (Garrett Gomez, 117 pounds, 5-2), Jake Wil Gallop (Tuffy Collier, 117, 10-1), No Inflation (Robby Albarado, 117, 7-2), Florentino (Alan Garcia, 117, 3-1), El Crespo (Julien Leparoux, 121, 3-1), Har D Boy (Shaun Bridgmohan, 117, 12-1) and Bruce N Autumn (Miguel Mena, 117, 10-1).

          The filly companion to the Jefferson Cup is the 40th running of the $150,000-added Regret (Grade III), which goes as the day’s final race at 5:58 p.m.

          Silverton Hill LLC’s Excelente (IRE) and Glen Hill Farm’s Prytania, second and fourth, respectively, in the American 1,000 Guineas at Arlington Park on May 23, help comprise an evenly matched field of 11 in the Regret.

 Miguel Mena, who rode Excelente (IRE) for the first time at Arlington, has the call again Saturday and will break from post position one.

          Pure Clan won the 2008 Regret and used that victory as a springboard to victory in the American Oaks Invitational (Grade I) three weeks later at Hollywood Park. Julien Leparoux, who rode Pure Clan to victory last year and scored in the Regret in 2006 on Lady of Venice, rides Prytania for trainer Tom Proctor.

          Proctor, who won the race in 2005 with Rich In Spirit, also sends out Keertana who gave jockey Robby Albarado his 4,000th career victory on May 30. Albarado has the call Saturday.

The field for the Regret, from the hedge out: Excelente (Miguel Mena, 116 pounds, 5-1), The Best Day Ever (Corey Lanerie, 116, 8-1), Rena (Garrett Gomez, 116, 8-1), Satans Quick Chick (Jeremy Rose, 116, 30-1), Banker’s Choice (Calvin Borel, 116, 9-2), Oculuna (Alan Garcia, 116, 6-1), Hot Cha Cha (Jesus Castanon, 116, 8-1), Super Poni (Tony Farina, 116, 50-1), Keertana (Robby Albarado, 116, 5-1), Prytania (Julien Leparoux, 116, 7-2) and Kiss Mine (Jon Court, 116, 20-1).

          The 12th running of the $100,000-added Northern Dancer (Grade III) for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the main track drew a field of eight, headed by A. Stevens Miles Jr.’s Warrior’s Reward. The Northern Dancer is the eighth race on the card at approximately 4:29 p.m.

          Trained by Ian Wilkes, Warrior’s Reward has won two of four career starts, including an impressive allowance triumph May 1 over Munnings, who came back to win the Woody Stephens Stakes (Grade II) last Saturday at Belmont Park. Calvin Borel has the mount on Warrior’s Reward, who will break from post position three.

          Trainer Steve Asmussen, who won the Northern Dancer last year with Pyro and also in 2001 with Compendium, will send out two starters in Heiligbrodt Racing’s Stable’s Dumar and Stonestreet Stables’ Omniscient.

          The field for the Northern Dancer, from the rail out: Omniscient (Robby Albarado, 116 pounds, 9-2), Successful Dan (Julien Leparoux, 116, 7-2), Warrior’s Reward (Calvin Borel, 116, 6-5), Dumar (Shaun Bridgmohan, 116, 8-1), Final Judgement (Aaron Gryder, 116, 15-1), Broad Stone (Jeremy Rose, 116, 20-1), Parade Clown (Miguel Mena, 116, 8-1) and Gresham (Garrett Gomez, 116, 10-1).

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EINSTEIN ASSIGNED 124 POUNDS FOR FOSTER; MISS ISELLA TOPS FLEUR DE LIS WEIGHTS – Midnight Cry Stable’s Einstein (BRZ) was assigned top weight of 124 pounds by Churchill Downs Racing Secretary Ben Huffman for next Saturday’s 28th running of the $600,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I) for 3-year-olds and up going 1 1/8 miles on the main track.
Trained by Helen Pitts-Blasi, Einstein ran second in last year’s Stephen Foster behind Horse of the Year Curlin.  The 7-year-old son of 1985 Kentucky Derby (GI) winner Spend A Buck is scheduled to work a half-mile Sunday morning.  A winner of 11 of 25 races with earnings of $2,609,904, Einstein will be shooting for a third consecutive Grade I victory and his first win at that level on traditional dirt.
A win in the Stephen Foster would allow Einstein to join Lava Man as the only horses to win Grade I races on dirt, grass and synthetic courses.  The two-time winner of Churchill Downs’ Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (GI) on turf and the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap (GI) on the synthetic Pro-Ride surface at Santa Anita, Einstein won the $500,000 Clark Handicap (GII) last fall on the man track at Churchill Downs.
The next high weight was assigned to Asiatic Boy with 122 pounds. The 6-year-old is coming off a 12th-place finish to Well Armed in the $6 million Dubai World Cup (GI) and the Foster will mark both his U.S. bow and debut for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.  Previously trained by South African Mike de Kock, he has a record of 7-3-2 in 15 races and earnings of $3,068.090.  He was second to Curlin in last year’s Dubai World Cup and won the $2 million UAE Derby as a 4-year-old in 2007.
Other probable starters and their weight assignments include 2008 Meadowlands Cup (GII) winner Arson Squad (118); Finallymadeit, winner of Calder’s Memorial Day Handicap (GIII) and Gulfstream Park’s Skip Away (GIII) (118); Researcher (118), winner of the Queens County (GIII) at Aqueduct and the recent $500,000 Charles Town Classic;  Alysheba (GIII) winner Bullsbay (117), Macho Again (117), runner-up to Big Brown in the 2008 Preakness (GI) and winner of the 2009  New Orleans Handicap (GII).
Domino Stud of Lexington’s Miss Isella, winner of the Louisville Distaff (Grade II) on the May 1 Kentucky Oaks (GI) undercard, was assigned top weight of 122 pounds for the 35th running of the $200,000-added Fleur De Lis Handicap (Grade II) for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 1/8 miles on the main track.
Trained by Ian Wilkes, Miss Isella has won four of six starts at Churchill Downs, including the Grade II Falls City Handicap last fall.  The daugheter of 1997 Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm has a record of 4-1-0 in six races under the Twin Spires and has earned $436,733.  Of that total, $400,968 has been earned at Churchill Downs.
Second high weight for the Fleur De Lis is the Eric Guillot-trained Santa Teresita, winner of Santa Anita’s Santa Maria (GI) with 121 pounds. Other probable starters and their weight assignments are Sixty Saile (GIII) and Gardenia (GIII) winner Swift Temper (117); Arlington Matron (GIII) runner-up Kiss With a Twist (115); Unforgotten (115), the runner-up in Churchill Downs Chilukki (GII) and Pimlico’s DuPont Distaff (GII); and Distinctive Dixie (114), runner-up in Oaklawn’s Bayakoa. Considered as possible for the race are Maryland-based multiple stakes winner All Smiles (115) and Humana Distaff (GI) runner-up Temple Street (113).

COURT RELISHES RETURN TO THE BLUE GRASS – A familiar scene from the Spring Meet played out after Friday’s sixth race, where jockey Jon Court’s mega-watt smile illuminated the winner’s circle as a fat, double-figure payoff lit up the tote board.
    Hidden Bay gave Court his 14th winner of the meet and returned $35.20. The average payoff for Court’s winners is $25.10, which nearly triple the average return for a winners ridden by the meet-leading Julien Leparoux and almost double the return on Calvin Borel’s winners, which include the $103.20 Derby mutuel on Mine That Bird.
    “People are hollering back ‘welcome home’ and it just doesn’t get any sweeter than that,” said Court, who last rode regularly at Churchill Downs in the 2003 Fall Meet. “I was just thinking that maybe about this time next year it will wear off, but I hope the rejuvenation doesn’t.”
When Court, 48, left for Southern California to ride regularly five years ago, he held on to his house in Shelbyville. Now, that house is home again.
“I am far more delighted about being back in Kentucky than I thought I would be,” said Court, the 18th-leading rider all time at Churchill Downs with 323 victories. “Second of all, I thought I would miss California a bit, but the warm homecoming has been so overwhelming that I have no longings to go back to California.”
Court feels the return to Kentucky may prolong his career.
“I have found that at my age I get an agent (Tony King) that puts you on the card and your career has some longevity that a year ago you didn’t think was possible,” Court said. “I had people ask last year what I would do after I was done riding.
“At that point, I had no plans on quitting, but apparently the way my career was  moving -- it had slowed down quite a bit – people were thinking I was taking that as an option. I know that is down the road. I just hope it is further down the road.”
Another plus for Court is the fact that his son Justin is here and works as an exercise rider.
“That has been a pleasure to have my oldest son on the track,” Court said. “he is always a joy to be around.”

FINAL LIGHTS ARRIVE FOR NIGHTS NEXT WEEK – “Downs After Dark” night racing debuts June 19 and its final sets of temporary lights arrive next week.
    “They will be installing one set of lights at the top of the stretch and two near the track kitchen on June 10 and 11,” said David Sweazy, Churchill Downs’ vice president, Operations. “There will be eight mobile trailers for the infield that will go up between June 10 and 13.”
    Training hours on Monday and Tuesday, June 15 and 16, will begin at 5 a.m. to give trainers an opportunity to have their horses on track under the lights.
    Two more Downs After Dark programs are scheduled for June 26 and July 2 with the first post time for each card being 6 p.m.

RAMSEYS IN COMMAND OF OWNERS RACE – With 60 percent of the 45-day Spring Meet in the books, the husband-wife team of Ken and Sarah Ramsey appear to be well on their way to a 15th owner’s title at Churchill Downs.
The victory by Pauillac in Friday’s fifth race gave the Ramseys 12 winners for the meet, six more than their closest pursuer, Maggi Moss.
The Ramseys, who have won the past three meet titles at Churchill Downs, had 20 winners during last spring’s 52-day meet.
Steve Asmussen, who has won five training titles at Churchill Downs, leads Mike Maker 16-12 in the chase for leading trainer.
In the race for leading rider, four-time meet leader Julien Leparoux has a 43-35 lead over Calvin Borel. Both jockeys are riding at Belmont Park on Saturday and have mounts in the Belmont Stakes (Grade I): Leparoux on Flying Private and Borel on Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.

MILESTONE WATCH – Calvin Borel will be back at Churchill Downs on Sunday, with mounts in nine of the 10 races. Borel has 920 career victories at Churchill Downs and needs six wins to surpass Don Brumfield for second place all time at the track. Pat Day is No. 1 all time with 2,482 victories.
David Vance has one starter in at Churchill Downs on Saturday – Westline in the eighth -- in his bid to become the 11th trainer with 300 victories beneath the Twins Spires.

BARN TALK – The disqualification of Calimonco for interference in the stretch of Friday’s 11th race that elevated Victory Notion to the win was only the second DQ of the meet for first place. The other previous win DQ came on May 7 in the seventh race when Cross Village was disqualified and placed third for interference in the stretch.

WORK TAB – Three possible candidates for next Saturday’s Fleur De Lis worked over a fast track Saturday morning at Churchill Downs. Likely starter Unforgotten worked a half-mile in :49.80, the 41st fastest of 70 at the distance. Also working were possible starters Temple Street, who worked a half in :47.40 under jockey Jon Court for the second fastest move at the distance of the morning, and French Kiss, who worked seven furlongs in 1:27.60 under jockey Joe Johnson. Probable Regret starter The Best Day Ever worked five furlongs in 1:03.20, the 20th fastest of 33 at the distance. Posting half-mile works were Matt Winn runner-up Cash Refund (:49.20, 30th fastest) and seventh- place Preakness finisher Terrain (:49.60, 36th fastest), who runs next in the Iowa Derby.

WITH 4,000 VICTORIES, ALBARADO AIMS FOR NEXT MILESTONE – With one milestone behind him, jockey Robby Albarado took time out the other morning to reflect on some of the magic moments en route to 4,000 career victories, mark he achieved at Churchill Downs on Saturday.
    “Obviously, the very first one I won in 1990,” Albarado said of One Little Point at Evangeline Downs on June 29 as he began to click off a top five.
    “The other four would have to be with Curlin and Mineshaft. Those were great moments there and getting my first Grade I was pretty special with Joyeux Danseur here in the (1998)  Early Times (now Woodford Reserve) Turf Classic.”
    Albarado got his milestone victory in Saturday’s ninth race aboard Keertana. Earlier in the day in the third race at Philadelphia Park, Jose Luis Flores got his 4,000th victory, which made Albarado the 57th North American rider to reach that plateau.
    Albarado, who turns 36 in September, was asked what the first race would be that he would pop into a VCR many years down the road of Robby’s greatest hits to share with the grandkids.
    “The first race in the VCR probably would have to be Preakness,” Albarado said of Curlin’s victory over Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense. “My first Triple Crown win was pretty special there. It was a proud moment in my career.”
    There are 24 North American riders with more than 5,000 victories with another 16 active riders, including Albarado, in the 4,000 club in pursuit of the next milestone.
    Albarado was asked what he would like to add to his list of memorable victories when No. 5,000 rolled around.
    “Oh, that’s easy. The Derby, of course,” Albarado said. “Hopefully between now and the next thousand if I get there, I’ll have at least one Derby. That would be special.”

EINSTEIN HEADS LIST OF 20 NOMINATIONS FOR STEPHEN FOSTER HANDICAP – Midnight Cry Stable’s Einstein, runner-up to “Horse of the Year” Curlin in last year’s renewal of the Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I), tops a list of 20 nominees for this year’s renewal, which will be run Saturday, June 13.
    Weights for the $600,000 Stephen Foster, to be run at 1 1/8 miles on the main track, will be announced Saturday.
    Einstein will be seeking to join Lava Man as the only horse to win Grade I races on dirt, grass and synthetic surfaces. Unlike Lava Man, Einstein will attempt to create his own triple in consecutive races.
    Trained by Helen Pitts-Blasi, Einstein won the Santa Anita Handicap on Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride surface on March 7 and the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on May 2 in his two most recent starts.
    Einstein is one six horses considered as probable for the Stephen Foster by Churchill Downs stakes coordinator Allison De Luca. Other probables include Arson Squad, winner of last fall’s Meadowlands Cup (Grade II), Bullsbay, winner of the May 1 Alysheba (Grade III) here, 2009 New Orleans Handicap (Grade II) winner Macho Again, Charles Town Classic winner Researcher, multi-South Florida graded-stakes winner Finallymadeit and Dubious Miss. Considered as “possible” is $3 million earner Asiatic Boy, who has not run since he finished 12th to Well Armed in the $6 million Dubai World Cup on March 28.

BIG NAMES DOT REUNION DAY NOMINATIONS – Dual Grade II Churchill Downs stakes winner Miss Isella, Coolmore Lexington (Grade II) winner Advice and the promising Warrior’s Reward highlight the list of nominees considered as “probable” to participate on the June 13 Reunion Day Featuring the Stephen Foster Handicap card.
    Two Grade II and two Grade III stakes will serve as the appetizers leading up to the 28th running of the Stephen Foster.
    Miss Isella, winner of the Louisville Distaff in her most recent start on May 1, tops a list of five probables and two possibles for the 35th running of the $200,000-added Fleur de Lis Handicap (Grade II), a1 1/8th-mile main track test for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up. Weights for the race will be announced Saturday.
    In addition to Miss Isella, other probables for the race according to stakes coordinator Allison De Luca are Distinctive Dixie, Kiss With a Twist, Santa Teresita, Swift Temper and Unforgotten. Considered as possible are All Smiles and Temple Street.
    Advice, who followed up his Coolmore Lexington victory with a 13th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I), is poised to make his grass debut in the 34th running of the $150,000-added Jefferson Cup (Grade II) at 1 1/8 miles. Other probables include El Crespo, Jake Wil Gallop and No Inflation.
    Warrior’s Reward, a stylish allowance winner here on May 1, is one of five probables for the 12th running of the $100,000-added Northern Dancer (Grade III) for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16th miles on the main track.
    Other Northern Dancer probables include Gresham, Omniscient, Parade Clown and Successful Dan.
    Five 3-year-old fillies are considered as probable starters for the 40th running of the $150,000 Regret (Grade III) at 1 1/8 miles on the turf. The quintet includes Banker’s Choice, Oculuna, Prytania, Super Poni and The Best Day Ever with Keertana, who gave jockey Robby Albarado his 4,000th victory last Saturday, considered as a possible starter.
    Entries for all five stakes on the Reunion Day card will be drawn Wednesday.

AMOSS JOINS BYRNE FOR SATURDAY’S ‘GET IN THE GAME’ SEMINAR – Trainer and television racing analyst Tom Amoss will discuss the Belmont Stakes and more when he joins Churchill Downs’ Jill Byrne for her weekly “Get in the Game” handicapping seminar on Saturday, June 6.
    Amoss, a New Orleans native who is a two-time leading trainer at Churchill Downs, also serves as a racing analyst for TVG and will offer his perspective on Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird’s bid for the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
    Byrne’s recent guests in the seminar have included two-time Derby-winning jockey Calvin Borel and Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr., trainer of Mine That Bird.

MILESTONE WATCH – David Vance, one of 22 North American trainers with more than 3,000 career victories (3,011), will try to become the 11th conditioner at Churchill Downs to have 300 victories beneath the Twins Spires in Thursday’s third race.
Vance, who has 299 wins here, sends out Chief Waterbury in the third. Vance has two horses entered on Friday’s 11-race card: My Little Connor in the second and Closetoaten in the ninth.
    Trainer Bill Connelly, two wins shy of 1,000 for his career, sends out Sweetasnails in Thursday’s ninth race. On Friday, Connelly’s Sinus Rhythm is on the also-eligible list in the 10th race.

BARN TALK – Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) winner General Quarters, who ran 10th in the Kentucky Derby and ninth in the Preakness Stakes (Grade I) will be out until late fall after having a small chip removed from his right front knee.
    “He is doing well,” owner-trainer Tom McCarthy said. “I’d like to have him ready for the Clark Handicap if possible.
    “After the Derby we noticed a little filling, but there was no heat or discomfort. It was not a major thing. After the Preakness, I took him to Rood & Riddle in Lexington and had it x-rayed. There was not much there but we went ahead and took it out.”
    McCarthy has an idea of when the injury may have occurred in the Derby.
    “We went back and looked at pictures of the race, and there was one in which he had three feet up and the right front was on the ground,” McCarthy said. “He got bumped at that time and he might have twisted it then.” …
    Training hours will be adjusted the mornings of Monday, June 15 and Tuesday June 16 to begin at 5 a.m. to give trainers an opportunity to train under the lights in advance of the debut of night racing at Churchill Downs on Friday, June 19.        

WORK TAB (Track: Good, then MUDDY) – Trainer Ian Wilkes sent out two of his aces for the June 13 Reunion Day card for five-furlong works over a “muddy” Churchill Downs main track. Northern Dancer candidate Warrior’s Reward covered the distance in 1:01.60, the fastest of eight at the distance. Likely Fleur De Lis favorite Miss Isella covered the distance in 1:02.60.

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.

Jockey Calvin Borel is not assured of having a mount in the June 6 Belmont Stakes (Grade I), but the leadup to the third jewel of the Triple Crown will have his fingerprints all over it.
    Borel’s agent, Jerry Hissam, has a lot more on his plate these days than just lining up mounts for the popular rider.
    “He is going to New York on Tuesday June 2 to tape the ‘Late Show with David Letterman’ that will air June 5,” Hissam said. “CNN is shooting something this week for Belmont Day. NYRA has something on June 2 at Madison Square Garden and after the Belmont, ’60 Minutes’ is coming to shoot a 10- to 12-minute segment that is supposed to air in September.”
    All this action was made possible by Borel’s victories aboard Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) and Rachel Alexandra in the Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) and Preakness Stakes (Grade I).
 Borel has first call on Rachel Alexandra, but her connections have not commited to run in the Belmont. Trainer Chip Woolley of Mine That Bird is hoping to get Borel back if the filly doesn’t run and is expected to name a rider Monday.
Borel could become the first jockey to sweep the Triple Crown riding different horses, but to Hissam, his rider already has achieved a Triple Crown.
“He won the Oaks, Derby and Preakness,” Hissam said. “If he wins the Belmont, what would that be?”
Let’s call it a “Calvin Slam.”
Only one other rider has won the same three races in the same year as Borel and that was Don Brumfield in 1966. Brumfield rode Native Street to victory in the Oaks and then won the Derby and Preakness aboard Kauai King before finishing fourth aboard the Derby winner in the Belmont Stakes.

FANS HAVE CHANCE TO HEAR CALVIN WITH JILL BYRNE SATURDAY’S “GET IN THE GAME” SEMINAR – Popular Kentucky Derby and Preakness-winning jockey Calvin Borel will be Racing Analyst Jill Byrne’s special guest during Saturday’s free “Get in the Game” Handicapping Seminar at Churchill Downs.
The new weekly series takes place every Saturday in the paddock area at noon (EDT) and features informative and in-depth analysis of races and handicapping topics. Among Borel’s scheduled mounts on Saturday is a ride aboard veteran Brass Hat in the $100,000-added Louisville Handicap (GIII).

DERBY WINNER MINE THAT BIRD COULD WORK MONDAY – Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s Kentucky Derby Mine That Bird galloped two miles before the renovation break under exercise rider Charlie Figueroa.
    Trainer Chip Woolley said Mine That Bird may work Monday, “something light, like three-eighths. If he works, I’ll probably wait until after the break.”
    Also scheduled to work Monday is Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra, who galloped early Friday morning with Dominic Terry up.
    Woolley plans to give Mine That Bird his serious Belmont tune-up the following Monday, June 1, and send the gelding to New York by plane on Wednesday, June 3.
    Originally sold as a yearling for $9,500, Mine That Bird was purchased by his current connections for $400,000 last fall. His Derby victory and runner-up showing in the Preakness have attracted more interest.
    “We have had a couple of inquiries,” Woolley said.
    In recent Kentucky Derby lore, the highest price paid for a gelding was $750,000 by J.E. Jumonville Sr. for Real Dare in 1982. A sensation in his home state of Louisiana, Real Dare finished last in the Derby won by Gato Del Sol.

SUNDAY FEATURE HAS STAKES QUALITY FEEL – The Memorial Day Weekend offers two Grade III stakes in the Louisville Handicap on Saturday and Monday’s Winning Colors. Sunday’s feature, an allowance optional claiming race at 1 1/16th miles on the main track, offers up a salty field that includes five stakes winners.
    With the $600,000 Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I) looming in three weeks, Sunday’s test could serve as a springboard to that event.
    “It’s a prep for something,” said Gary Thomas, trainer of Golden Yank. “I don’t know about the Foster; maybe the Cornhusker (on June 27 at Prairie Meadows).”
    Golden Yank has been idle since finishing ninth in the March 14 Mervyn Muniz Jr. Memorial (GII) on turf at Fair Grounds.
    “He got beat up and knocked around at New Orleans and we gave him some time off,” Thomas said. “Same thing happened when he ran here last year in the Jefferson Cup and in the million dollar race (the Delta Jackpot) at Delta (Downs) when he got hit from both sides.”
    Golden Yank’s most recent start on dirt came in a runner-up finish in Oaklawn Park’s Essex Handicap.  He lost to Prom Shoes, who also shows up in Sunday’s race.
    “We are just looking for a spot to run,” trainer William “Jinks” Fires said of Prom Shoes. “We’ll see how he comes out of it (before making a decision on the Foster).”
    Prom Shoes ran eighth in the Grade III Alysheba here on May 1 and Fires is looking for a better effort Sunday.
    “He didn’t run too good the last time,” Fires said. “There was no pace in the race and he needs pace to run at. I haven’t looked at the race yet, but I hope to see some pace in there Sunday.

BARN TALK – Robby Albarado moved one victory closer to the 4,000-win plateau on Thursday with a score on Handlethetruth in the fifth race. Albarado had 3,996 wins heading into Friday’s 11-race program.  He was scheduled for five mounts on Friday in his bid to become the 56th North American rider to reach 4,000 wins.
    Ken McPeek, with 999 career victories, will have two chances this afternoon to get No. 1,000. He saddles Chapel Affair in the fifth and Our Dahlia in the 10th.
    Bill Connelly, who has 998 career victories, saddles Mr. Brutus in the opener and Hungry Tigress in the 10th. Connelly also has a starter tonight at Indiana Downs, Patchen Prince in the sixth.

WORK TAB – Trainer Ian Wilkes had a couple of hopefuls for the Stephen Foster Super Saturday card turn in identical five furlong works of 1:02.40 over “fast” footing. Miss Isella, winner of two consecutive Grade II events under the Twin Spires – last November’s Falls City Handicap and the May 1 Louisville – prepped for the $200,000 Fleur De Lis (Grade II) and Warrior’s Reward, a Kentucky Oaks Day allowance winner, tuned up for the $100,000-added Northern Dancer (Grade III),

The current stars of the 3-year-old crop – headed by Kentucky Derby (Grade I) winner Mine That Bird, Kentucky Oaks (GI) filly Rachel Alexandra and Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile – are among 13 three-year-olds doing battle in the 134th running of the Preakness (GI) at Pimlico.
 While several of those horses figure to be major players in the crop of Kentucky Derby-aged horses through the rest of the year, others that could be significant factors in the division are in the wings at Churchill Downs and awaiting their chance.
One is A. Stevens Miles Jr.’s Warrior’s Reward, an impressive winner over a strong allowance field on Kentucky Oaks Day.  Another is James C. Spence’s homebred Flying Pegasus, a strong runner-up to beaten Kentucky Derby favorite Friesan Fire in the Risen Star at Fair Grounds but idle since a poor effort behind that same rival in the $600,000 Louisiana Derby (GII) on March 14.  
The Ian Wilkes-trained Warrior’s Reward breezed four furlongs in :49.40 over a
“sloppy” track on Saturday at Churchill Downs.  The son of Medaglia d’Oro is being pointed toward a run in the $100,000-added Northern Dancer (GIII) for 3-year-olds on the Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) undercard on June 13.  
Flying Pegasus, a son of 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus trained by Ralph Nicks, is finally ready to return to serious training after falling ill just after a disappointing eighth-place run in the slop in the Louisiana Derby.
Warrior’s Reward has been just below the radar of the 3-year-old picture after he
scored a 30-1 upset in his career debut on Jan. 31 at Gulfstream Park over a race that marked the racing debut of Nicanor, the full-brother to ill-fated 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro.  He followed that with a runner-up finish to Dunkirk, the eventual runner-up in the Florida Derby (GI) who finished 11th in the Kentucky Derby.
    Wilkes gave Warrior’s Reward a chance to place himself on the Kentucky Derby trail with a run in the Tampa Bay Derby, but he finished eighth that day behind the victorious Musket Man, who would finish third in the Kentucky Derby; runner-up Join in the Dance, seventh in the Derby; and General Quarters, who would win the Toyota Blue Grass (GI) before running 10th in the “Run for the Roses.”
    Warrior’s Reward had a round of throat surgery to correct a breathing problem after the race at Tampa Bay, and then returned with his sparkling 2 ½-length allowance win over the well-regarded Munnings and Reynaldothewizard on Oaks Day.
    “To win the Derby you’ve got to be right on the first Saturday in May, and I wasn’t quite there,” Wilkes said.  “My horse didn’t get a race last year and that really hurt.  But things happen for a reason, and maybe that race at Tampa happened for a reason.”
    Warrior’s Reward has earned $58,980 while compiling his 2-1-0 record in those four races.  If all goes well, the 1 1/16-mile Northern Dancer will serve as a springboard to bigger races in the second half of the year.
    “There are plenty of races,” said Wilkes.  “I know there’s only one Derby, but it was probably the best thing that ever happened to him.  I gave him a little break, we did a little throat surgery on him and he’s a better horse now.”
    Meanwhile, Flying Pegasus is scheduled to return to serious training with a light breeze on Sunday that will be his first work since the Louisiana Derby.  Nicks said his colt fell ill after the Louisiana Derby and it took a while for Flying Pegasus to get back to the track.  
    Nicks can’t be sure, but Flying Pegasus is doing so well now he believes the infection that hit him a couple of days after the Louisiana Derby could have affected him in the race.
    “The last few days going into the Louisiana Derby, he got a little quiet,” said Nicks.  “It wasn’t enough to make you think anything was wrong, and we thought he might have just been settling.  But it’s obvious now that whatever hit him was coming.  He never had a fever or nothing until two days later.”
    Nicks said the infection proved to be stubborn, which extended his colt’s stay on the sidelines.
    “It took him forever,” he said.  “It just kept coming back.”
    Nicks had high hopes for Flying Pegasus from the moment the bay colt entered his barn and he won at first asking in a Churchill Downs maiden race on July 2.  He followed that with an allowance win at Delaware and then a second to recent Peter Pan (GII) winner Charitable Man in the Belmont Futurity (GII).  Friesan Fire finished third in that race.  
    It would prove to be the last start of the year for Flying Pegasus, who fractured a hind cannon bone in training after that race and underwent surgery to place a screw in the injured bone.  
    He returned from a five-month break with a strong runner-up effort behind Friesan Fire in the 1 1/16-mile Risen Star (GIII) at Fair Grounds that fueled hopes in his camp that the colt would make the Kentucky Derby, but those hopes were dashed by the Louisiana Derby run and the illness that followed.
    “We were scrambling the whole time trying to get to where we were,” Nicks said.  “I’m not too sure the Risen Star didn’t knock him out a little bit and lead to everything that happened.  But you’ve got the 3-year-old hype and do what you’ve got to do to get to the ‘big dance’.  Fortunately he got through it, but we’re dealing with some repercussions from it.”
    Although Nicks has had to be patient with Flying Pegasus, he is ready to get his colt back in competition and Sunday’s breeze will be the first step.  
    “He’ll have that little light breeze tomorrow and we’ll see where we go from there,” he said.  “He’s been galloping, so it won’t take him a long time to get ready.”

VETERAN BRASS HAT SHARP IN FINAL DRILL FOR LOUISVILLE – Fred Bradley’s homebred Brass Hat has never been known for dazzling speed in his morning workouts, but a sharp work on Saturday by the 8-year-old veteran could indicate the old boy is sitting on a big effort in next week’s $100,000-added Louisville Handicap (GIII).
    Brass Hat tuned up for that 1 ½-mile turf test with a five-furlong breeze over a sloppy t rack in 1:01.  The work was a ‘bullet’ move under jockey Charles Woods Jr. as it ended up as the fastest of 20 at the distance.
    “He worked really well,” trainer William “Buff” Bradley said. “Charlie said he worked ‘awesome,’ and then said, ‘How’d he get beat?’  But that’s just Charlie.  He said he just sat on him the whole way, and that he just picked it up, put his head down and then galloped out good.”
    Brass Hat won the Grade I Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park in 2006 and finished second in the $5 million Dubai World Cup (GI) on dirt before being disqualified for a medication infraction.  Despite the loss of that $1 million runner-up purse in Dubai, Brass Hat has won eight of 29 races and earned $1,825,814.
    He has yet to win in seven tries on the turf, but is coming off a good third-place finish to Spice Route in the Elkhorn (GIII) at Keeneland.  And he had very little luck in last year’s running of the Louisville in which he dropped far off a slow pace under jockey Calvin Borel, but rallied wide to finish fifth and was beaten only 2 ½ lengths by the victorious Lattice.  Borel will return to the saddle aboard Brass Hat next week.
    “Calvin took the blame last year – he had him too far back off that slow pace,” Bradley said.  “I’ve got to tell Calvin not to ride him like Mine That Bird – ride him like Rachel.”
    Brass Hat will bid to snap a 10-race losing streak in the Louisville.  He last visited the winner’s circle in the $500,000 Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs in September 2007.

PREAKNESS HORSES DUE BACK ON SUNDAY – A plane carrying Preakness (GI) contenders Rachel Alexandra, Pioneerof the Nile and Terrain is due to land at Louisville International Airport on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. (EDT).
    Scheduled to make the trip from Baltimore-to-Churchill Downs by van are Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, General Quarters and the D. Wayne Lukas-trained duo of Flying Private and Luv Guv.

BARN TALK – Domino Stud’s Miss Isella, upset winner over previously unbeaten One Caroline in the Louisville Distaff (GII) on Kentucky Oaks Day, breezed four furlongs on Saturday in :50.20 over a “sloppy” track.  The Ian Wilkes-trained daughter of 1997 Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm is scheduled to run next in the $200,000-added Fleur De Lis (GII) on the June 13 Stephen Foster Handicap undercard.  One Caroline, who is in training at Keeneland for trainer Rusty Arnold, is being pointed toward a rematch with Miss Isella in the 1 1/8-mile race. … Gold Square’s Lady Chace, a candidate for next week’s $100,000-added Winning Colors (GIII), breezed five furlongs in 1:02.20 over a “sloppy” track on Saturday for trainer Steve Margolis. The Tiznow filly finished third in the recent Giant’s Causeway on the Keeneland turf.  Others expected to run in the Winning Colors include Tiz To Dream, Keep the Peace, Marina Ballerina, Nadeshiko and Tar Heel Mom. … Also showing up on the Saturday work tab was 2008 Travers (GI) runner-up Mambo in Seattle.  The Neil Howard-trained son of Kingmambo, fifth behind Bullsbay in the Alysheba (GIII) on Derby Day, breezed five furlongs over “sloppy” going on Saturday in 1:03.80. … Miguel Mena took advantage of the absence of Julien Leparoux, Jamie Theriot and Calvin Borel – the top three riders in the Spring Meet heading into Friday’s racing program – to score four wins during the 10-race program.  Mena’s big day enabled him to slide past Theriot into second place in the Spring Meet jockeys’ race.  Leparoux has a meet-leading 22 wins, while Mena (17) and Theriot (16) are second and third.  Leparoux, Theriot and Borel were at Pimlico on Friday to ride in Preakness weekend races, and the Churchill trio was to be joined Saturday in Baltimore by Robby Albarado. … With no live racing on Wednesdays for the remainder of the Spring Meet, Churchill Downs will offer free general admission for ITW simulcast wagering on Wednesdays through the remainder of the Spring Meet

Domino Stud of Lexington’s Miss Isella squeezed through a narrow opening along the rail in defeating 1-2 favorite One Caroline by three-quarters of a length  to win the 24th running of the $379,700 Louisville Distaff (Grade II) on Friday afternoon at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Ian Wilkes, Miss Isella gave Borel his fifth victory in the Louisville Distaff.

One Caroline, who had won her first five career starts with two victories at Churchill Downs, shot to the lead out of the gate under Edgar Prado and led the field of six through fractions of :23.96, :47.65 and 1:11.72.

Turning for home One Caroline was challenged on the rail by Miss Isella and Swift Temper on the outside.

The trio raced as a team to the eighth pole when Swift Temper dropped back, leaving One Caroline and Miss Isella to battle it out with the latter drawing clear at the sixteenth pole.

Miss Isella returned mutuels of $19.40, $4.40 and $3.20. One Caroline paid $2.20 and $2.10 in finishing 8 1/4 lengths clear of Swift Temper, who paid $3.40 to show under Garrett Gomez.

Miss Isella, who closed 2008 with a victory in the Grade II Falls City Handicap at Churchill Downs, covered the mile and a sixteenth on a “sloppy” track in 1:42.75.

Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Moss’ Zenyatta, the undefeated 2008 Eclipse Award-winning mare, was scratched from the race by trainer John Shirreffs because of track conditions.

The victory was worth $235,414 and increased Miss Isella’s earnings to $438,157 with her fifth win in 14 starts and fourth at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE DISTAFF QUOTES

CALVIN BOREL (rider of winner Miss Isella) – “I don’t know if (One Caroline) finished the way (Edgar Prado) thought she would or she wasn’t handling the track or whatever, but she went nice and comfortable on the lead. But my filly loves this racetrack. She’s an incredible filly on this track. She’s a totally different filly on this track and any other track. The whole track was fine. I just couldn’t get out of (the inside) with two horses outside of me. He got his filly relaxed two or three (paths) off the fence and I took the opportunity to move on in there and go on.”

IAN WILKES (trainer of winner Miss Isella) – Home-court advantage? “I think so. We have a muddy track and our filly loves the mud. Rusty’s (Arnold) filly ran good. She’s a nice filly.  Let’s give her all credit. She did all the work up front and we had a cozy little trip.”

EDGAR PRADO (rider of second-place finisher One Caroline) – “We were in tight there coming for home, but it wasn’t a case of a foul. I knew he was there and there was just enough room for him to get through. My filly tried hard. She just couldn’t get it done today.”

RUSTY ARNOLD (trainer of second-place finisher One Caroline) – “I don’t know who was doing what, but they were in there pretty tight. It’s horse racing. I’m not surprised the way the race played out. She got out there easy on the lead and was coasting right along. The other filly just ran a big race. Give her credit.”

GARRETT GOMEZ (rider of third-place finisher Swift Temper) – “I had a good trip. I saved all the ground around the first turn and I was in a good spot. She gave it her best. She couldn’t quite get there today.”