Nick Zito

RAVI’S SONG RETURNS TO DIRT IN THURSDAY’S FALLS CITY – Ravi’s Song, runner-up to Deluxe in the Cardinal Handicap (Grade III) on the Matt Winn Turf Course, will switch back to the dirt for $175,000-added Falls City Handicap (GII), the Thanksgiving Day racing centerpiece at Churchill Downs.

“I think she’s going to run well,” trainer Carl Bowman said. “She’s a three-time stakes winner on the dirt, so she’ll have no problem with the surface. I think she’ll show she can switch back-and-forth (between turf and dirt).”

A 5-year-old gray/roan daughter of Unbridled’s Song, Ravi’s Song has raced six times on the main track at Churchill Downs and sports a record of 2-1-1 with earnings of $93,683.  She has an assigned weight of 117 pounds for Thursday’s 96^th running of the 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares ages 3 and up.

“She’s run really well here (at Churchill Downs),” Bowman said. “The only bad race she ran was in the La Troienne (GII) on (Kentucky) Oaks Day, but she faced some pretty nice fillies that day in Blind Luck and Unrivaled Belle.”

Ravi’s Song, who was fourth to Dundalk Dust in last year’s Falls City, competed on turf for the first time in her runner-up finish to My Baby Baby in the Mint Julep Handicap (GIII) at Churchill Downs in June. She followed that strong grass debut with second-place finish to Romacaca in the Matchmaker (GIII) at Monmouth Park and was then given some time off before her run in the Cardinal.

“There was no scientific reason for putting her on the turf,” Bowman said. “She had trained well over it and there wasn’t a stake on dirt that really fit her. After she ran so well (in the Mint Julep), we decided to keep her on the grass for her next couple of starts. The purse money is better on the dirt and she will probably make her following start on the dirt at Fair Grounds, so that’s why she’s back on the main track.”

Mrs. Yoshio Fujita’s Ravi’s Song will remain in training following the Falls City; however, Friday will mark the end of her 5-year-old campaign.

“She’s definitely going to run as a 6-year-old,” Bowman said. “She’ll remain in training, but won’t make a start until next year. I gave her some time off after the Matchmaker, so she’s already had her break. We’ll find something for her at Fair Grounds in January or February.”

CASUAL TRICK HAS ZITO THINKING OF FIRST SATURDAY IN MAY – Flash back to a year ago and many Churchill Downs racing fans will easily recall an impressive racing debut by Robert LaPenta’s Dialed In, who overcame a poor start and significant traffic woes to win his first outing and immediately established himself as a horse to watch on the road to the 2011 Kentucky Derby.

Dialed In lived up to his strong early reviews and entered the starting gate as the betting favorite for Derby 137, but he finished eighth behind Team Valor International’s victorious Animal Kingdom.

So it should be no surprise that there was a tinge of déjà vu in the air during Friday’s “Downs After Dark” racing card when the Zito-trained Casual Trick carried LaPenta’s racing colors to an emphatic 2 ½-length win under jockey Jesus Castanon in a one-mile maiden race for juveniles.  It was the second career start for Casual Trick, who finished fifth after pressing the pace in his six-furlong debut at Saratoga on Aug. 27.

With two wins in the Kentucky Derby to his credit, Zito’s mind never wanders far from thoughts of Churchill Downs and the first Saturday in May.  So it was easy for the New York-born Hall of Fame trainer to connect the early fortunes of Dialed In and Casual Trick after the latter’s stylish win on Nov. 18.

“He was doing really well and we were looking for a shorter race, but the mile race came up and we decided to go in there,” Zito said.  “He ran a really good race and the fact that he won at a mile kind of puts us ahead of where we might have been with him.”

Casual Trick has a pedigree that suggests the Kentucky Derby could be right down the bay ridgling’s alley.  He’s by 2006 Preakness winner Bernardini out of Casual Look, a Red Ransom mare who took the 2003 renewal of Britain’s Group I Vodaphone Epsom Oaks for breeder William S. Farish.  Casual Look’s victory for the master of Kentucky’s Lane’s End Farm in the 1 ½-mile race for 3-year-old fillies came during Farish’s service in London as U.S. Ambassador to England.

“Bernardini is one of the hottest sires out there, and being out of one of Mr. Farish’s mares, you know there’s quality there,” Zito said.  “We like to bring our horses to Churchill Downs in the fall and it’s worked well for us.  Dialed In is a good example of why we like to come here.”

Dialed In’s Nov. 12 debut last year was the only race of his 2-year-old season.  He launched his 3-year-old campaign with a stretch-running victory in the Jan. 11 Holy Bull (GIII) at Gulfstream Park, and later won the Florida Derby (GI) over that track.  The son of Mineshaft went to the sidelines with an injury after a fourth-place finish to behind Shackleford and Animal Kingdom in the Preakness (GI).

Zito said Casual Trick would probably have a racing timetable similar to his campaign with Dialed In, with a first outing against winners likely sometime in January at Gulfstream.

Another Kentucky Derby hope for Zito could emerge in Saturday’s $150,000-added Kentucky Jockey Club (GII), the co-feature on the Nov. 26 Stars of Tomorrow II program devoted exclusively to 2-year-olds.  He plans to saddle Tracy Farmer’s homebred Saint Honore in the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club.

A son of Farmer’s Sun King, who finished 15^th to Giacomo as one of five Zito-trained runners in the 2005 Kentucky Derby, Saint Honore rallied to score a narrow maiden victory on Oct. 10 at Belmont Park.  Saint Honore’s win came at the Kentucky Jockey Club distance in the third start of his young career.

MCGEE HOPES FOR BIG WEDNESDAY AS HE NEARS 300 HOMETOWN WINS – Louisville-native Paul McGee has saddled 295 winners at Churchill Downs and could make substantial progress in his bid to reach a personal milestone of 300 wins at his hometown track when he saddles a strong group of starters beneath the historic Twin Spires on Wednesday.

McGee has six horses entered in five Wednesday races, including heavy hitters Infrattini, Worldly and Dubious Miss.  All have turned in strong performances at Churchill Downs during their careers.

Z Thoroughbreds LLC’s Infrattini could be McGee’s strongest chance on Wednesday.  The runner-up to Scotus in Churchill Downs’ Matt Winn (GIII), Infrattini enters a 1 1/16-mile allowance race on the main track off a fifth-place finish to Redeemed in the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park.  The 3-year-old son of Include is the 3-5 favorite in Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia’s morning line for the race.

“He’s a nice horse and he’s doing well,” McGee said. “After the Matt Winn, I sat on him for six weeks and then ran him in the West Virginia Derby (GII), and then waited again and ran in the Oklahoma Derby. There’s no reason for giving him a lot of time in-between races other than that we’ve just tried to pick our spots with him.”

Infrattini will break from post four under Corey Lanerie in Wednesday’s seventh race.

Two races later, McGee will saddle Jay Em Ess Stable’s Worldly for Wednesday’s featured ninth, a one-mile allowance race on the Matt Winn Turf Course. Worldly, a 4-year-old son of A.P. Indy and full-brother to multiple graded-stakes winner Suave, will be making his first start on turf since running second in an allowance on the Matt Winn Turf Course in May of 2010.  Worldly comes into Wednesday’s race off a disappointing ninth-place finish behind Headache in last month’s Hawthorne Gold Cup (GII) and a third-place run before that in the $100,000 Governor’s Cup at Remington Park.

“I was at the mercy of the condition book,” McGee said. “He’s still eligible for three other-than (allowances) and coming off his last two defeats I wanted to put him back in the allowance ranks to give him some confidence. The only three other-than on dirt (at Churchill Downs) is a one-turn mile and I don’t think that fits him. Also, he’s run well on the grass.”

If the race should be taken off the Matt Winn Turf Course, McGee would have another starter in the race with Dubious Miss, who is entered for the main track only. A 7-year-old gelded son of E Dubai, Dubious Miss has won eight races during a career that includes four wins on the main track beneath the Twin Spires.

“If the race comes off (the turf) then I would run both of them,” McGee said.

McGee’s other entries Wednesday include Pandering (Race 1, 4-1 morning-line), Even Forest (Race 6, 6-1) and High Quality (Race 8, 4-1).

The 49-year-old trainer, who does not have any horses entered Sunday, is confident in his entries on Wednesday and can see a 300^th win beneath the Twin Spires coming rather soon.

“I’ve got a good shot to do it before the meet ends,” McGee said. “We have about ten horses left to run and they all have a chance to win.”

WHO’S HOT – The hottest jockey over the last five racing days (Nov. 12-18) is Julien Leparoux (8-for-23). Dale Romans (4-for-11) and Ken McPeek (4-for-12) are the hottest trainers over the same period. No owner has more than one win in the last five racing days.

WORKTAB – John Oxley’s Golden History breezed four furlongs in :47.80 on a “good” Churchill Downs main track Sunday morning for trainer Mark Casse. The work was the sixth fastest of 38 at the distance. Golden History, fifth in the Pocahontas (GII) in her most recent start, is being pointed to Saturday’s Golden Rod (GII) at Churchill Downs. …

Pattons Creek Farm’s Will’s Wildcat, winner of the Jimmy V “Don’t Give Up…Don’t Ever Give Up!” at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4, breezed five furlongs in 1:00.80 for trainer Jimmy Baker. It was the seventh fastest work of 32 at the distance. …

Team Block’s Never Retreat, winner of the First Lady (GI) at Keeneland in her most recent start, breezed four furlongs in :48.20, the ninth-fastest half-mile breeze of the morning. Never Retreat will make her next start in Friday’s Matriarch (GI) at Hollywood Park.

RAVI’S SONG RETURNS TO DIRT IN THURSDAY’S FALLS CITY – Ravi’s Song, runner-up to Deluxe in the Cardinal Handicap (Grade III) on the Matt Winn Turf Course, will switch back to the dirt for $175,000-added Falls City Handicap (GII), the Thanksgiving Day racing centerpiece at Churchill Downs.

“I think she’s going to run well,” trainer Carl Bowman said. “She’s a three-time stakes winner on the dirt, so she’ll have no problem with the surface. I think she’ll show she can switch back-and-forth (between turf and dirt).”

A 5-year-old gray/roan daughter of Unbridled’s Song, Ravi’s Song has raced six times on the main track at Churchill Downs and sports a record of 2-1-1 with earnings of $93,683.  She has an assigned weight of 117 pounds for Thursday’s 96^th running of the 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares ages 3 and up.

“She’s run really well here (at Churchill Downs),” Bowman said. “The only bad race she ran was in the La Troienne (GII) on (Kentucky) Oaks Day, but she faced some pretty nice fillies that day in Blind Luck and Unrivaled Belle.”

Ravi’s Song, who was fourth to Dundalk Dust in last year’s Falls City, competed on turf for the first time in her runner-up finish to My Baby Baby in the Mint Julep Handicap (GIII) at Churchill Downs in June. She followed that strong grass debut with second-place finish to Romacaca in the Matchmaker (GIII) at Monmouth Park and was then given some time off before her run in the Cardinal.

“There was no scientific reason for putting her on the turf,” Bowman said. “She had trained well over it and there wasn’t a stake on dirt that really fit her. After she ran so well (in the Mint Julep), we decided to keep her on the grass for her next couple of starts. The purse money is better on the dirt and she will probably make her following start on the dirt at Fair Grounds, so that’s why she’s back on the main track.”

Mrs. Yoshio Fujita’s Ravi’s Song will remain in training following the Falls City; however, Friday will mark the end of her 5-year-old campaign.

“She’s definitely going to run as a 6-year-old,” Bowman said. “She’ll remain in training, but won’t make a start until next year. I gave her some time off after the Matchmaker, so she’s already had her break. We’ll find something for her at Fair Grounds in January or February.”

CASUAL TRICK HAS ZITO THINKING OF FIRST SATURDAY IN MAY – Flash back to a year ago and many Churchill Downs racing fans will easily recall an impressive racing debut by Robert LaPenta’s Dialed In, who overcame a poor start and significant traffic woes to win his first outing and immediately established himself as a horse to watch on the road to the 2011 Kentucky Derby.

Dialed In lived up to his strong early reviews and entered the starting gate as the betting favorite for Derby 137, but he finished eighth behind Team Valor International’s victorious Animal Kingdom.

So it should be no surprise that there was a tinge of déjà vu in the air during Friday’s “Downs After Dark” racing card when the Zito-trained Casual Trick carried LaPenta’s racing colors to an emphatic 2 ½-length win under jockey Jesus Castanon in a one-mile maiden race for juveniles.  It was the second career start for Casual Trick, who finished fifth after pressing the pace in his six-furlong debut at Saratoga on Aug. 27.

With two wins in the Kentucky Derby to his credit, Zito’s mind never wanders far from thoughts of Churchill Downs and the first Saturday in May.  So it was easy for the New York-born Hall of Fame trainer to connect the early fortunes of Dialed In and Casual Trick after the latter’s stylish win on Nov. 18.

“He was doing really well and we were looking for a shorter race, but the mile race came up and we decided to go in there,” Zito said.  “He ran a really good race and the fact that he won at a mile kind of puts us ahead of where we might have been with him.”

Casual Trick has a pedigree that suggests the Kentucky Derby could be right down the bay ridgling’s alley.  He’s by 2006 Preakness winner Bernardini out of Casual Look, a Red Ransom mare who took the 2003 renewal of Britain’s Group I Vodaphone Epsom Oaks for breeder William S. Farish.  Casual Look’s victory for the master of Kentucky’s Lane’s End Farm in the 1 ½-mile race for 3-year-old fillies came during Farish’s service in London as U.S. Ambassador to England.

“Bernardini is one of the hottest sires out there, and being out of one of Mr. Farish’s mares, you know there’s quality there,” Zito said.  “We like to bring our horses to Churchill Downs in the fall and it’s worked well for us.  Dialed In is a good example of why we like to come here.”

Dialed In’s Nov. 12 debut last year was the only race of his 2-year-old season.  He launched his 3-year-old campaign with a stretch-running victory in the Jan. 11 Holy Bull (GIII) at Gulfstream Park, and later won the Florida Derby (GI) over that track.  The son of Mineshaft went to the sidelines with an injury after a fourth-place finish to behind Shackleford and Animal Kingdom in the Preakness (GI).

Zito said Casual Trick would probably have a racing timetable similar to his campaign with Dialed In, with a first outing against winners likely sometime in January at Gulfstream.

Another Kentucky Derby hope for Zito could emerge in Saturday’s $150,000-added Kentucky Jockey Club (GII), the co-feature on the Nov. 26 Stars of Tomorrow II program devoted exclusively to 2-year-olds.  He plans to saddle Tracy Farmer’s homebred Saint Honore in the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club.

A son of Farmer’s Sun King, who finished 15^th to Giacomo as one of five Zito-trained runners in the 2005 Kentucky Derby, Saint Honore rallied to score a narrow maiden victory on Oct. 10 at Belmont Park.  Saint Honore’s win came at the Kentucky Jockey Club distance in the third start of his young career.

MCGEE HOPES FOR BIG WEDNESDAY AS HE NEARS 300 HOMETOWN WINS – Louisville-native Paul McGee has saddled 295 winners at Churchill Downs and could make substantial progress in his bid to reach a personal milestone of 300 wins at his hometown track when he saddles a strong group of starters beneath the historic Twin Spires on Wednesday.

McGee has six horses entered in five Wednesday races, including heavy hitters Infrattini, Worldly and Dubious Miss.  All have turned in strong performances at Churchill Downs during their careers.

Z Thoroughbreds LLC’s Infrattini could be McGee’s strongest chance on Wednesday.  The runner-up to Scotus in Churchill Downs’ Matt Winn (GIII), Infrattini enters a 1 1/16-mile allowance race on the main track off a fifth-place finish to Redeemed in the $400,000 Oklahoma Derby at Remington Park.  The 3-year-old son of Include is the 3-5 favorite in Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia’s morning line for the race.

“He’s a nice horse and he’s doing well,” McGee said. “After the Matt Winn, I sat on him for six weeks and then ran him in the West Virginia Derby (GII), and then waited again and ran in the Oklahoma Derby. There’s no reason for giving him a lot of time in-between races other than that we’ve just tried to pick our spots with him.”

Infrattini will break from post four under Corey Lanerie in Wednesday’s seventh race.

Two races later, McGee will saddle Jay Em Ess Stable’s Worldly for Wednesday’s featured ninth, a one-mile allowance race on the Matt Winn Turf Course. Worldly, a 4-year-old son of A.P. Indy and full-brother to multiple graded-stakes winner Suave, will be making his first start on turf since running second in an allowance on the Matt Winn Turf Course in May of 2010.  Worldly comes into Wednesday’s race off a disappointing ninth-place finish behind Headache in last month’s Hawthorne Gold Cup (GII) and a third-place run before that in the $100,000 Governor’s Cup at Remington Park.

“I was at the mercy of the condition book,” McGee said. “He’s still eligible for three other-than (allowances) and coming off his last two defeats I wanted to put him back in the allowance ranks to give him some confidence. The only three other-than on dirt (at Churchill Downs) is a one-turn mile and I don’t think that fits him. Also, he’s run well on the grass.”

If the race should be taken off the Matt Winn Turf Course, McGee would have another starter in the race with Dubious Miss, who is entered for the main track only. A 7-year-old gelded son of E Dubai, Dubious Miss has won eight races during a career that includes four wins on the main track beneath the Twin Spires.

“If the race comes off (the turf) then I would run both of them,” McGee said.

McGee’s other entries Wednesday include Pandering (Race 1, 4-1 morning-line), Even Forest (Race 6, 6-1) and High Quality (Race 8, 4-1).

The 49-year-old trainer, who does not have any horses entered Sunday, is confident in his entries on Wednesday and can see a 300^th win beneath the Twin Spires coming rather soon.

“I’ve got a good shot to do it before the meet ends,” McGee said. “We have about ten horses left to run and they all have a chance to win.”

WHO’S HOT – The hottest jockey over the last five racing days (Nov. 12-18) is Julien Leparoux (8-for-23). Dale Romans (4-for-11) and Ken McPeek (4-for-12) are the hottest trainers over the same period. No owner has more than one win in the last five racing days.

WORKTAB – John Oxley’s Golden History breezed four furlongs in :47.80 on a “good” Churchill Downs main track Sunday morning for trainer Mark Casse. The work was the sixth fastest of 38 at the distance. Golden History, fifth in the Pocahontas (GII) in her most recent start, is being pointed to Saturday’s Golden Rod (GII) at Churchill Downs. …

Pattons Creek Farm’s Will’s Wildcat, winner of the Jimmy V “Don’t Give Up…Don’t Ever Give Up!” at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4, breezed five furlongs in 1:00.80 for trainer Jimmy Baker. It was the seventh fastest work of 32 at the distance. …

Team Block’s Never Retreat, winner of the First Lady (GI) at Keeneland in her most recent start, breezed four furlongs in :48.20, the ninth-fastest half-mile breeze of the morning. Never Retreat will make her next start in Friday’s Matriarch (GI) at Hollywood Park.

Repole Stable’s Uncle Mo, the unbeaten 2-year-old champion of 2010 and winner of last fall’s Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Grade I) at Churchill Downs, is a strong individual favorite in the first of three betting pools in Churchill Downs’ 2011 Kentucky Derby Future Wager (“KDFW”).  But the mutuel field, or “All Others”, is expected to again be the bettors’ choice when the Feb. 18-20 pool completes its run early Sunday evening.

The mutuel field (#24), the betting interest that includes all 3-year-old Thoroughbreds other than the 23 individual horses in the three-day pool, has been the Pool 1 favorite in each of the previous 12 years of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which was launched in 1999. Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia installed “All Others” as the 5-2 morning line favorite to continue the trend, but the Todd Pletcher-trained Uncle Mo (#23) is a clear overall second choice at 9-2.  Among individual horses, the 3-year-old son of Indian Charlie is the clear favorite as the horses rated closed to the champion – co-second choices To Honor and Serve (#22) and Dialed In (#7) – were rated at odds of 10-1.

Uncle Mo showed every sign of being something special during his perfect 2-year-old season,” said Battaglia, who sets the morning line odds for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands and all races run at the Derby’s historic home track.  “He was an easy winner in each of his races, and those wins were incredibly appealing to the eye and very exciting on-paper for fans of speed figures and other handicapping data.  Uncle Mo is a horse with real star power and has good chance to close at odds lower than 9-2, but that makes this year’s opening Derby Future pool even more fun because the lower Uncle Mo’s odds go, the prices on other individual horses will rise and become more appealing.”

Betting on KDFW Pool 1 opens at noon (all times Eastern) on Friday, Feb. 18 and concludes at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 20..  Pool 2 mutuel payouts on Kentucky Derby Day will be determined by the odds in place at the conclusion of betting at North American racetracks, off-track betting facilities and advance deposit wagering outlets.

The Kentucky Derby Future Wager provides fans with opportunities to wager on potential Derby contenders odds that could be considerably more attractive than those available on the day of the respective race.  It offers win and exacta wagering, and all bets are $2 minimum wagers.  No refund will be made on any wager made during any Kentucky Derby Future pool.  If it is determined during the pool that any individual betting interest has suffered an illness, injury or other circumstance that would prevent the horse from competing in the race, wagering on that horse will be suspended immediately.

Last year’s winning payouts on WinStar Farm’s victorious Super Saver in all three pools of the 2010 Derby Future Wager were significantly larger than the $18 mutuel returned for a $2 wager on the Pletcher-trained colt in the race itself. A $2 Derby Future win wager on Super Saver returned $43.20 in Pool 1, $51.20 in Pool 2 and $73 in Pool 3.  The Derby Future bet’s $2 exacta in Pool 3 for the 1-2 Kentucky Derby finishers, Super Saver and Ice Box, returned $1,077.40 – a record payout in the brief history of the Derby Future exacta.  The Derby Day exacta returned $152.40.

Uncle Mo won his three 2010 starts by a combined margin of 23 ¼ lengths.  Along with his 4 ¼-length win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, the champion scored an easy win in the Champagne (GI) at Belmont Park.  He is one of two Pool 1 contenders owned by the stable of Mike Repole, who also races the Pletcher-trained Stay Thirsty (#18), runner-up in the Hopeful (GI) at Saratoga and fifth to his stablemate in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.  Pletcher, who also trains WinStar Farm’s unbeaten Sam F. Davis (GIII) winner Brethren (#3), is the only trainer who conditions more than one wagering interest in KDFW Pool 1.

The co-second choices in Battaglia’s morning line – Live Oak Plantation’s To Honor and Serve and Robert LaPenta’s Dialed In – have taken different approaches so far in their 3-year-old campaigns.  To Honor and Serve is training at Florida’s Payson Park in preparation for his 2011 debut for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott..  The son of Bernardini won three of four races last year, including the Remsen (GII) and Nashua (GII) at Aqueduct.  Dialed In, trained by Hall of Famer and two-time Kentucky Derby winner Nick Zito, won his racing debut at Churchill Downs in November and returned to competition in late January with a dazzling victory in the Holy Bull (GIII) at Gulfstream Park,

Several KDFW horses will compete in a trio of Kentucky Derby prep races scheduled during the upcoming Presidents Day holiday weekend.   Saturday’s $300,000 Risen Star (GIII) at New Orleans’ Fair Grounds has drawn a field of 10 3-year-olds that includes Decisive Moment (#6), Machen (#12), Mucho Macho Man (#13), Rogue Romance (#14) and Santiva (#15).  Sunday’s $150,000 San Vicente (GII) at Santa Anita is expected to attract The Factor (#20) and Indian Winter (#9).  Monday’s $250,000 Southwest at Oaklawn Park, which will be run the day after Pool 1 closes, will be headed by J P’s Gusto (#10).

Information on the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Derby Future Wager – including real-time KDFW Pool 1 odds – is available at the official event Web site at www.KentuckyDerby.com.

Wagering interests for the Kentucky Derby Future Wager are chosen by a three-member committee that includes Daily Racing Form national handicapper Mike Watchmaker and West Coast correspondent Brad Free, and John Asher, vice president of Racing Communications at Churchill Downs.

Two more KDFW pools will be conducted before the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby is run on Saturday, May 7.  Pool 2 is set for March 11-13 and the year’s final pool will run from April 1-3.

KENTUCKY DERBY FUTURE WAGER
Pool 1, Feb. 18-20

     
Program #    KDFW Pool 1 Wagering Interest    Morning Line Odds       
1    Anthony’s Cross    30-1       
2    Astrology    30-1       
3    Brethren    15-1       
4    Clubhouse Ride    50-1       
5    Comma to the Top (g)    20-1       
6    Decisive Moment    50-1       
7    Dialed In    10-1       
8    Gourmet Dinner    30-1       
9    Indian Winter    50-1       
10    J P’s Gusto (r)    20-1       
11    Jaycito    20-1       
12    Machen    30-1       
13    Mucho Macho Man    30-1       
14    Rogue Romance    30-1       
15    Santiva    30-1       
16    Silver Medallion    20-1       
17    Soldat    20-1       
18    Stay Thirsty    30-1       
19    Sweet Ducky    50-1       
20    The Factor    20-1       
21    Tiz Blessed    30-1       
22    To Honor and Serve    10-1       
23    Uncle Mo    9-2       
24    Mutuel Field (All Other 3-Year-Olds)    5-2       
(g) – gelding   (r) - ridgling       
Morning Line Odds by Mike Battaglia    

DIALED IN HAS ZITO LOOKING FOR BIG THINGS – When Robert LaPenta’s Dialed In broke his maiden at first asking on Friday afternoon, trainer Nick Zito was presented with a trophy signifying success in the third annual American Farm Mortgage Classic.

“I told ‘Stace’ (assistant Stacy Pryor) to leave it in the tack room and let’s hope next spring we can get the real hardware,” Zito said.

That’s real hardware as in Kentucky Derby-type hardware, something Zito has collected twice before in his Hall of Fame career.

"He is a horse that’s got a future,” Zito said. “I was very happy with him yesterday. He will go to Florida and we will do right by the horse and hope he gets enough points (graded-stakes earnings) for the first Saturday in May.”

Dialed In had shown a steady stream of works dating to July at Belmont Park and had had one local work before his debut.

“He is so big and he was not ready to run (earlier),” Zito said. “He’s a Mineshaft and you’ve got to give them time. We have had a lot of success with the Mineshafts; Cool Coal Man, Coal Play, Miner’s Reserve and don’t forget Fly Down, who broke his maiden here last fall.”

Fly Down, third to Blame and Zenyatta in last week’s $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI), won the Dwyer (GII) and was runner-up in the Travers (GI) and Belmont Stakes (GI) this year.

Dialed In overcame a bad start that left him last in the field of 12 in the 6 ½-furlong sprint and was rank in the run down the backstretch in which he was 11 ½ lengths behind the leader. Turning for home, jockey Julien Leparoux angled Dialed In out five wide for clear running and the colt got up in time to win by a half-length despite lugging in.

“If he is good enough, he will get his chances,” Zito said of running in major preps for the Kentucky Derby, a race he won in 1991 with Strike the Gold and in 1994 with Go for Gin.

Zito started three horses in last Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup races and earned healthy checks from all three with Fly Down running third in the $5 million Classic and Morning Line and Cool Coal Man finishing 2-4 in the $1 million Dirt Mile.

The latter two horses are nominated to the $500,000 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GI) to be run Nov. 26, but Zito said it was doubtful either would come back in less than three weeks. Zito did say that Our Dark Knight, also owned by LaPenta is a possibility for the Clark.

SIGN OF THE TIMES: ALBARADO GETS 900TH CD VICTORY – For the second time in two years, jockey Robby Albarado collected some signage signifying a milestone mark in his 21-year riding career.

On Friday, it was for career victory No. 900 at Churchill Downs. In June 2009, Albarado rode his 4,000th career winner here, with the milestone duly noted in a winner’s circle ceremony.

So, how many milestone reminders do you have at the house?

“None. I leave the signs in the (jocks’) room,” Albarado said. “I like to put Grade I’s in the house.”

Albarado is off to a fast start with 14 winners over the first nine days and a five-win lead in the race for leading rider. It marks a turnaround from the Spring Meet when Albarado led all riders with runner-up finishes with 56 and finished third in wins with 35.

“I am just riding the right horses at the right time,” Albarado said. “My agent, Lenny Pike, has been putting me on good horses and I just have to go out and execute. But the bottom line is that you have to have the horse.”
    Albarado added another winner to his total Friday after hitting No. 900 with Strike Impact in the sixth race. The 37-year-old Louisiana native ranks fifth all time at Churchill Downs in victories and is closing in on Larry Melancon (914) and Don Brumfield (925).

Only Pat Day (2,482) and Calvin Borel (1,030) are in the 1,000-victory club. And when would Albarado like to join that club and collect more signage?

“Hopefully next fall or the following spring,” said Albarado, who is second to Day all time in stakes wins with 66. “The next two or three meets.”

BARN TALK – Jockey Julien Leparoux will be headed to Hong Kong the week after the meet closes on Sunday, Nov. 28 for the Hong Kong Jockey Challenge in which he will represent the United States. Agent Steve Bass said that after the Challenge, which takes place Dec. 8, Leparoux will head to Florida for the winter on Dec. 15. Other riders scheduled to participate in the Challenge are Christophe Lemaire (France), Christophe Soumillon (Belgium), John Murtagh (Ireland), Ryan Moore (Britain), Anton Marcus (South Africa), Nash Rawiller (Australia), Hiroyuki Uchida (Japan), Joao Moreira (Singapore) and Douglas Whyte (Hong Kong). Leparoux, who has six victories so far this meet, is a couple of good days away from moving up two spots on the all-time rider standings at Churchill Downs.  Leparoux, who has 428 victories here, stands 14th all time. Willie Martinez is 12th with 434 victories and Keith Allen is 13th with 431 wins. …
Few bettors have warmed to jockey Rosemary Homeister Jr., but those that have have been rewarded with an average win payoff of $19.90 on Homeister’s seven winners. That payoff figure dwarfs the next highest average ($10.50) for Garrett Gomez’s eight winners among riders with five or more victories through the first nine days of the meet. …

Joining the riding colony for the final two weeks of the meet will be William Antongeorgi. The 23-year-old, who began his career in California and for the past couple of years has ridden in the Mid-Atlantic region, rode last month at Keeneland and plans to ride at Turfway Park when the meet closes and then go to Oaklawn Park for the winter.

WORK TAB – Two fillies nominated to Thanksgiving Day’s Falls City Handicap (GII), turned in Saturday morning works over a fast track. Quiet Temper worked five furlongs in 1:01, third fastest of 34 at the distance, for trainer Dale Romans and Ravi’s Song worked the same distance in 1:01.60 (12th best of 34) for trainer Carl Bowman.

Prominent Thoroughbred owner and breeder Robert LaPenta will honor one his most accomplished horses and boost the significance of the final major prep for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) after reaching an agreement with the historic track to sponsor this year’s 86th running of the $200,000-added The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial (GIII).

The 2010 renewal of the race, which was restored to Grade III status in 2009 by the American Graded Stakes Committee, will carry a purse of $200,000-added – which doubles the purse offered a year ago – and will return to its previous distance of one mile.  It was run at 7 ½ furlongs from 2007-09.  The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial, named in honor of LaPenta’s Grade I winner The Cliff’s Edge, is scheduled for Saturday, April 24 – opening day of the 42-day Spring Meet and one week before the Kentucky Derby – and is the final graded prep race before the famed “Run for the Roses” on Saturday, May 1.

The major increase in the purse for The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trail will undoubtedly make the race more attractive to some owners and trainers who hope to land a spot in the starting gate for the Kentucky Derby, which is limited to 20 starters with preference to horses who have compiled the highest total earnings in graded stakes races.

The Cliff’s Edge, who continues a breeding career as a member of the stallion roster at Margaux Farm in Midway, Ky., compiled a record of 4-5-2 in 13 career starts with earnings of $1,265,258.  Trained for LaPenta by two-time Kentucky Derby-winner Nick Zito, he won the 2004 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (GI) at Keeneland and swept Churchill Downs’ 2003 Fall Meet stakes races for the 2-year-olds, the Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) and Iroquois (GIII).  The Cliff’s Edge was the morning line favorite for the 2004 Kentucky Derby, but finished fifth to Smarty Jones following an eventful run over a “sloppy” track during which he lost both front shoes and suffered a bruised foot.

“Our sponsorship of The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial is very exciting in that it allows our racing operation to contribute to the success and allure of a race that has a wonderful tradition as a Kentucky Derby prep as we honor one of our more successful horses, The Cliff’s Edge, and provide a boost to his ongoing career as a stallion,” LaPenta said.  “Despite an unlucky run in the 2004 Kentucky Derby, The Cliff’s Edge enjoyed the finest moments of his racing career at Churchill Downs and in the state of Kentucky.  We look forward to seeing his name and legacy being an important part of the week leading up to the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby and the possibility that a major contender for this year’s Derby could emerge with a big effort in this final important prep.”

"We thank Robert LaPenta for his enthusiastic support of Churchill Downs racing and the Kentucky Derby,” said Kevin Flanery, president of Churchill Downs Racetrack.  “His sponsorship of The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial will significantly enhance the attractiveness and prestige of this historic final prep for America’s Greatest Race.  Graded earnings are an increasingly important factor as the field for the Kentucky Derby takes shape in the days before the race and we expect that Mr. LaPenta’s efforts, along with the boost in purse and adjustment in distance, will serve to make the 2010 renewal of The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial one of its most notable in years.”

The one-mile The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial has served as the final prep for an impressive group of 13 Kentucky Derby winners through the decades.  The race was first run in 1924 and that inaugural running was won by Black Gold, who returned to win the Derby.  Others who swept both races include Triple Crown winner Citation (1948), Hill Gail (1952), Dark Star (1953) and Tim Tam (1958).

Horses that failed to win the Derby Trial but won the Kentucky Derby include Triple Crown winners Whirlaway (1941) and Assault (1946), Lawrin (1938), Gallahadion (1940), Ponder (1949), Middleground (1950), Determine (1954) and Iron Liege (1957).  Assault and Iron Liege finished off-the-board in their respective runnings of the Trial, while the others were runners-up in their renewals.

The most recent Derby Trial winner to play a significant role in the Kentucky Derby was B. Wayne Hughes’ Don’t Get Mad, who finished fourth to Giacomo in the 2005 Derby.

Other notables to win The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial through the years include Ack Ack, Caveat, Key to the Mint, Hill Rise, Crozier, Federal Hill, Housebuster, Cherokee Run and Richter Scale.  Recent Trial winners include the then unbeaten Hull, who defeated Jim Dandy (GII) and Dwyer (GII) winner Kensei to take the 2009 renewal, and 2008 winner Macho Again, who later finished second in the Preakness (GI) and won the 2009 running of Churchill Downs’ Stephen Foster Handicap (GI).   

FLYING PEGASUS BEGINS THE ROAD BACK FRIDAY NIGHT – The road with Flying Pegasus has been anything but smooth for trainer Ralph Nicks, but he’ll saddle the promising 3-year-old for a return to action following a three-month break when he competes in a seven-furlong allowance test on Friday night at Churchill Downs.

    “With 3-year-olds, you hope they bounce back quick,” Nicks said of Flying Pegasus, who came down with a lung infection after running sixth in the Louisiana Derby (Grade II) on March 14.

    Owned and bred by James Spence, Flying Pegasus won his first career start on July 2 by 2 ¼ lengths at Churchill Downs and followed that up with an allowance win as the 3-5 choice five weeks later at Delaware Park. His 2-year-old campaign ended after a runner-up finish to Charitable Man in the Futurity (Grade II) at Belmont Park in September when he exited the race with a bone chip in a hind ankle.

    Nicks brought Flying Pegasus back to the races in February with a runner-up finish to Friesan Fire in the Risen Star (Grade III), but Kentucky Derby (GI) hopes for the son of 2000 Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus ended in at the Louisiana Derby.

    “I don’t want to say ‘confidence builder’, but we hope to use this race to go on to the next race that is not a graded stake,” Nicks said. “There are a lot of races for 3-year-olds in August and September.”
    
GETTING READY FOR SOME NIGHT MOVES – So, what do you do if you are saddling a horse in the nightcap, scheduled for 11:11 p.m. (all times EDT), in the historic debut of Churchill Downs’ “Downs After Dark” night racing?

“I guess I’ll sleep on the couch (at the barn) that night,” trainer William “Buff” Bradley said with a laugh.
Con Lover is in Friday’s finale and will be Bradley’s only starter on the 11-race card that begins at 6 p.m.  A regular on the Kentucky circuit, Bradley is a veteran of night racing at Turfway Park.

“I would usually stay up there if we were in a late race,” Bradley said. “I never thought I would see lights here, and if it works, fine. We need to do whatever we can to boost racing.”

One of the effects of the night card for Bradley will be adjusting work schedules, including barn star Brass Hat, winner of the recent Louisville Handicap (Grade III) and earner of more than $1.8 million.

“I am going to work him Friday instead of Saturday, and that (the night card) is one of the reasons,” Bradley said. “I have a few that will work longer and harder and then will walk for two days, so we won’t have so many going to the track Saturday.”

TRACK RECORD HOLDER HOT DIXIE CHICK TOPS DEBUTANTE NOMINATIONS – Grace Stables’ Hot Dixie Chick, who established a Churchill Downs track record for five furlongs (:56.48) in her second career start on June 13, tops a list of 23 nominations for the 109th running of the $100,000-added Debutante (Grade III).

    The six furlong race for 2-year-old fillies is scheduled to be run on June 27.

    Hot Dixie Chick is one of five fillies nominated to the Debutante trained by Steve Asmussen, a four-time winner of the race. Included among the quintet are two Churchill Downs maiden winners: Lewis Lakin and Roger Stanton’s Wild Forest Cat, and Heiligbrodt Racing Stable’s Fiesty Ex.

    D. Wayne Lukas, who owns the Debutante record as the trainer of six winners, has nominated four fillies including Westrock Stables’ Decelerator, who beat Hot Dixie Chick when they met on May 14. Decelerator worked a bullet five furlongs in 1:00.40 on a muddy track Tuesday morning.

    Silverbulletday, who will be inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame this summer, is the most recent Debutante winner to return the following spring and win the Kentucky Oaks. Silverbulletday achieved her double in 1998-99.

    Last year’s Debutante runner-up, Rachel Alexandra, won this year’s Kentucky Oaks and followed that with a win over the boys in the Preakness (GI).    

BARN TALK – Rapport, a $475,000 yearling purchase, will be the first runner from the Legends Racing Stable to make the races when she goes postward in Friday’s fifth race. Legends Racing Stable is a partnership between multiple Kentucky Derby-winning trainers D. Wayne Lukas, Nick Zito and Bob Baffert.  The three Hall of Fame trainers selected horses at public auction last year for owners who joined the Legends partnership and split those purchases between the three.  Rapport, a 2-year-old daughter of Songandaprayer, is one of 13 Legends horses stabled at Churchill Downs with Lukas. “They are a nice set of horses,” Lukas said. Legends, which purchased 38 horses at auction in 2008 for $15,285,000 plus one private acquisition, also has 13 horses each with Nick Zito and Bob Baffert.

Leading rider Julien Leparoux and Corey Lanerie will be at Colonial Downs on Saturday for the $500,000 Colonial Turf Cup (Grade II). Leparoux will be riding Lime Rickey and Lanerie is named on Final Count. Both riders have mounts in the $150,000 All Along (Grade III): Leparoux on Icon Project and Lanerie on Precious Princess.

Saturday, June 20 is the deadline for nominations for the final three stakes of the Spring Meet. Closing that day will be the $100,000-added Bashford Manor (Grade III) for 2-year-olds going six furlongs on the main track to be run July 3, the $150,000-added Firecracker Handicap (Grade II) at a mile on the Matt Winn Turf Course for 3-year-olds and up on July 4, and the $100,000-added Locust Grove Handicap (Grade III) for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up also going a mile on the turf on closing day July 5.

MILESTONE WATCH – Greg Foley, who has saddled 297 winners at Churchill Downs, has a chance Thursday to become the 12th trainer to achieve 300 victories beneath the Twin Spires. Foley is scheduled to send out Faithope in the second, Western Frontier in the fourth and Badger Barry in the seventh. Foley has no horses entered Friday, but two on Saturday: Oh Charlie Boy in the fifth and Cajun Prize in the 10th.

    Bill Connelly, who has saddled 998 winners in his career, has Buckeye Buddy entered in Thursday’s seventh race and Sweetasnails in Friday night’s 11th race.

WORK TAB – Aegon Turf Sprint (Grade III) winner Chamberlain Bridge worked a half-mile in :50 over a fast track, the 15th fastest of 31 at the distance. Tizdejavu, winner of the 2008 Jefferson Cup (Grade II), worked six furlongs in 1:16.20.

Steven C Mitchell’s Mitchell Ranch, Frank Lewkowitz and Joe Rice's Bullsbay, a five-year-old horse by Tiznow, rallied to win the $170,400 Alysheba Stakes (gr. III) at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks Day, Friday, May 1, 2009.  Bullsbay captured the Alysheba by three-quarters of a length under jockey Jeremy Rose.

Cool Coal Man, ridden by John Velazquez, finished second in the 1 1/16-mile race over a main track rated "good."  Finishing third was Star Guitar, ridden by Corey Lanerie.  The final time was 1:44.29.

The winner was trained by Nick Zito and returned $8.40, $4.60 and $3.60.  Cool Coal Man returned $5.60 and $4.40, while Star Guitar returned $7.80 to show.

As the clock winds down to the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands, use Churchill Downs as your one-stop location for all the latest details on training schedules, workouts and more.

ADVICE / DUNKIRK / JOIN IN THE DANCE – The Todd Pletcher Derby trio of Advice, Dunkirk and Join in the Dance were out early, exercised and back in Barn 38 before 7 a.m. Thursday, missing the rains that splashed down on Louisville a bit later in the morning.

Kevin Willey handled both Advice and Join in the Dance in their gallops, while Patti Barry was up for Dunkirk’s exercise.

“They all went about a mile and three eighths,” Pletcher said. “It’s all good.”

Just before 8 a.m., the trainer and his right-hand man, Mike McCarthy, each with a shank on one side, led Dunkirk from the barn to a patch of grass near Longfield Avenue for about 20 minutes of grazing. The tall colt with the distinctive white and pink facial markings, was feeling good and dove into the Kentucky grass with gusto, eliminating any need for lawn mowing in the general area of Barn 41.

Dunkirk will be making only the fourth start of his career in Saturday’s Derby 135. The $3.7 million yearling did not start as a 2-year-old. Advice has six starts under his belt, including a tally in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes (Grade II) April 18 at Keeneland. He started three times as a juvenile. Join in the Dance has been to the post eight times, five of them coming during his 2-year-old season.

Advice breaks from post four and will be ridden by Rene Douglas. Dunkirk will start from post 15 and be handled by Edgar Prado. Join in the Dance will leave from post nine with Chris DeCarlo aboard.

ATOMIC RAIN / WEST SIDE BERNIE – Both Atomic Rain and West Side Bernie went out before the break for easy one-mile gallops with trainer Kelly Breen aboard Thursday morning.

“They’re both doing fine,” Breen said. “Atomic Rain is doing quite well considering he worked in New Jersey on Tuesday and then sat on a van for 13 hours to get here yesterday. The way he’s acting, I don’t think the trip meant much to him.”

Breen had the No. 20 selection for West Side Bernie and the only spot in the gate left to him was No. 1. On the other hand, he had the No. 9 selection for Atomic Rain and took post 14 for the colt, who will be ridden by Joe Bravo.

“Atomic Rain is in a good spot,” said George Hall, who with wife Lori owns both colts. “It’s a good post for his style. West Side Bernie is in a tougher spot. Strategy is all up to Stew (jockey Stewart Elliott) when the gates open.”

Hall bought 20 yearlings at the 2007 Keeneland September sale, 10 fillies and 10 colts.

“It’s pretty amazing to have two starters in the Kentucky Derby from the 10 colts we got at the sale,” the owner said.

West Side Bernie, a son of Bernstein, was a $50,000 purchase, and Atomic Rain, by Smart Strike, cost $170,000.

“When Atomic Rain broke his maiden and then ran second in the Remsen as a 2-year-old, we expected a lot from him,” Hall said. “We’ve been disappointed in a number of his starts since then. But we still think he has a lot of talent, and will be able to show it.”

As a 3-year-old, Atomic Rain has run seventh in the Sam F. Davis (Grade III) and fourth in the Wood Memorial (Grade I). West Side Bernie was second in the Wood.

Hall said his wife Lori names all the horses, and West Side Bernie is all Broadway.

“He’s by Bernstein, so she immediately thought of Leonard Bernstein, who wrote ‘West Side Story,’ ” Hall said. “So that’s how Bernie got his name. They’re putting on a revival of ‘West Side Story’ now, and we’re involved in that as a fundraiser for the Hearing Center at New York University.”

CHOCOLATE CANDY – “Best morning I ever had with this horse.”

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was upbeat Thursday morning at Churchill Downs after overseeing business with his Kentucky Derby contender Chocolate Candy. The tall bay by Candy Ride went trackside shortly after 7 a.m. under regular exercise rider Lindsey Molina, stood in the gate briefly, then galloped a good mile and five-eighths before coming off the six-furlong gap looking like a happy horse.

“I messed him up yesterday and he didn’t like it,” the Northern California-based conditioner stated. “I got him out there when all those people were around (after the 8 a.m. renovation break) and he got a little hot. But today we put him back in his usual routine and he was back to his old self. I’m really pleased with how it went today. He galloped strong and he’s doing great.”

The late-running colt was bred by the late Sid Craig and his wife, Jenny, who is, of course, the weight-loss queen. He currently races in the silks of Craig Family Trust and Saturday will break from post 11 with Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith aboard.

Chocolate Candy will be making the 10th start of his career in Derby 135. Six of those outings came during his 2-year-old season.

DESERT PARTY / REGAL RANSOM – The Godolphin duo of Desert Party and Regal Ransom had a typical morning. Shortly after the track opened at 6 a.m. they were sent out to gallop what trainer Saeed bin Suroor said was a mile and three furlongs.

“They did it well,” bin Suroor said. “They’re in good form. Happy. Sound. Healthy. No problem at all with them.”

Bin Suroor said the colts schooled in the paddock before the seventh race Wednesday.

“Regal Ransom was sweating for about 10 minutes because he could see the horses racing and he got excited,” bin Suroor said. “But after that he was cool. Desert Party was fine.”

Bin Suroor said his colts are ready for the Derby.

"They are going into this race 110 percent fit," he said. "There is no excuse afterwards for fitness. I hope no excuses happen in the race.”

FLYING PRIVATE – Flying Private went to the Churchill Downs track for a morning gallop under exercise rider Taylor Carty on Thursday morning. The son of 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus has been rated at 50-1 in the morning line, but trainer D. Wayne Lukas hardly views him as a desperate longshot.

Flying Private, who will break from the No. 20 post position, has won only one of 10 starts, but his trainer knows what it takes to win the Kentucky Derby, having saddled four Derby winners: Winning Colors (1988), Thunder Gulch (1995), Grindstone (1996) and Charismatic (1999).

“He’s as good as some of them I brought here, including some of them who’ve won,” the Hall of Fame trainer said. “Charismatic went on to be Horse of the Year, but at this stage, I think he’s every bit as good as Charismatic, and I think he’s better than Grindstone.”

When questioned about his opinion on synthetic surfaces, Lukas said that the new surfaces such as Keeneland’s Polytrack don’t just pose problems to those horses who don’t run their best over it.

“I’m not a synthetic person. I think it’s caused a nightmare for the bettors. The very lifeblood of our industry is the gambling public, and I think they’ve been put at such a disadvantage trying to sort this thing out,” Lukas said. “I think it’ll run its course, and maybe in a couple years, they’ll dig them all up and get back to natural dirt.

“They have that Gamblers Anonymous for people who have that bad gambling habit. Polytrack will take care of that. They won’t need to worry about that anymore. People will quit gambling.”

FRIESAN FIRE – Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farm’s Friesan Fire galloped a mile after the renovation break with trainer Larry Jones aboard Thursday morning.

“It was a successful morning,” Jones said. “We got out around there and came back home. He was much more relaxed this morning than yesterday when he was a little anxious after the day off.”

Friesan Fire, who worked five furlongs under jockey Gabriel Saez on Monday morning, walked Tuesday and enjoyed a “goof-off” day Wednesday.

“Apparently some people didn’t get the memo on what we did yesterday,” Jones said. “I turned on the news last night and they were talking about Larry Jones’ unorthodox training methods.

“I galloped him to the gate and then galloped back to the paddock and he maybe did five-eighths (of a mile) total. He enjoyed it out there. I just let him play around a little and have a good time. Horses don’t have to go out and gallop a mile and a half every day.”

The fourth choice on the morning line at 5-1, Friesan Fire will break from post position six under Saez in Kentucky Derby 135.

GENERAL QUARTERS – Owner/trainer Tom McCarthy’s Toyota Blue Grass (Grade I) winner General Quarters jogged 1 1/2 miles Thursday morning under exercise rider Julie Sheets and was full of himself being led back to the barn by his 75-year-old trainer. Around a large gathering of well wishers, General Quarters enjoyed his bath and soaked in the surroundings.

“He likes people,” McCarthy said. “He sure enjoys the audience. That will help him Derby Day for sure, I’ll tell you that. A lot of people want to see him do well.”

The McCarthy stable handed out green General Quarters buttons to those who came by to visit the horse this morning, and among those who came by to check on the horse was Steve Bass, agent for General Quarters’ jockey Julien Leparoux and a former student of McCarthy’s in the Louisville school system.

HOLD ME BACK – Trainer Bill Mott sent WinStar Farm’s Hold Me Back out for a one-mile gallop Thursday morning.

“He had a good gallop,” Mott said. “We went early. The track was good. We went out before it was cut up. He went fine.”

Hold Me Back, the runner-up in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) following a victory in the Lane’s End (Grade II), will be ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux.

Desormeaux is a three-time Kentucky Derby winner and will be seeking to become to the first rider to win back-to-back Derbys since Eddie Delahoussaye in 1982 and 1983.

I WANT REVENGE – I Want Revenge went to the track for some light exercise at Churchill Downs on Thursday morning, jogging in the chute, galloping once around and schooling in the paddock.

The son of Stephen Got Even was installed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite for the 135th Run for the Roses, a turn of events that trainer Jeff Mullins couldn’t have envisioned while advising the colt’s breeder, David Lanzman, at the 2008 Barrett’s 2-year-olds-in-training sale. Lanzman had consigned I Want Revenge to the sale and considered buying him back when the bidding slowed.

“I was actually telling him to sell him. At that time, he was an ugly horse,” Mullins said. “He had a pot belly and long hair.”

Lanzman didn’t heed his trainer’s advice and bought back I Want Revenge for $95,000.

“If we all wanted to buy the same horse at a sale, then everybody would just try to buy the same horse and all the others would be bought back. I had a lot of people who loved the horse. The farm people are all here and they loved him. They told me he’s a racehorse,” Lanzman said. “We thought he was something. We signed the ticket and I handed it to Jeff. He looked at me and said, ‘I wouldn’t have bought him for one of my clients.’ ”

Lanzman would eventually sell a big chunk of I Want Revenge to IEAH Stables and Puglisi Racing while retaining control of the colt’s racing career. IEAH bloodstock agent Nick Sallusto subsequently sold “a minute share as a favor to Jeff Singer.”

MINE THAT BIRD – Mine That Bird, the 2008 Canadian champion 2-year-old, galloped two miles Thursday around 7:30 a.m. and gave New Mexico-based trainer Chip Woolley reason for optimism, despite a 50-1 morning-line assignment at Wednesday’s post position draw.

“He went super and really got over the ground well today,” Woolley said. “I’m trying to keep a level keel as Saturday approaches. It’s been exciting from Day One, and I’m just happy to be here. His (morning) line was right what I figured, which is fine with me. Besides, I’ve never bet a horse I’ve run in my entire life. I don’t ever want anyone to worry about that kind of stuff with me.”

Woolley said he will gallop Mine That Bird again Friday and then probably “backtrack” him on raceday morning and let him jog a bit.

Calvin Borel, winner of the 2007 Kentucky Derby aboard Street Sense, will have the mount Saturday.

MR. HOT STUFF – The Tiznow colt Mr. Hot Stuff galloped smartly Thursday morning at Churchill Downs, covering a mile and a half under exercise rider Paul Turner. Bowing his neck and grabbing the bit, the dark WinStar Farm homebred looked a picture when he went through his exercises shortly after 7 o’clock.

Half of the WinStar connections – Bill Casner, along with his wife Susan – looked on alongside their trainer, Eoin Harty.

“He’s more relaxed today,” the trainer said. “Today’s Day 3 (his third day at Churchill Downs since coming in from California) and he’s got it figured out now. He knows what’s going on.”

The conditioner said that he had paddocked Mr. Hot Stuff on Wednesday afternoon and would again Thursday during the races.

“He doesn’t need to go to the gate,” he said. “He’s fine in there.”

Mr. Hot Stuff will be making the eighth start of his career Saturday and will break from post three under John Velazquez. Three of his starts came during his 2-year-old campaign.

MUSKET MAN – The Yonaguska colt Musket Man was out early for a mile-and-a-half gallop Thursday morning as he eases into the Kentucky Derby.

“He’s doing fine,” trainer Derek Ryan said of his charge, who has won five of six lifetime starts and comes into the Kentucky Derby off consecutive victories in the Tampa Bay Derby (Grade III) and the Illinois Derby (Grade II).

Ryan had selection No.18 and few options left at the post position draw, and took post two for Musket Man.

“Strategy will be all up to the jockey (Eibar Coa),” Ryan said. “But I expect he’ll be somewhere behind the leaders in the second tier heading into the first turn.

“I don’t want him on the lead. He does his best when he has some horses to run at. I usually work him in company because he needs a target to do his best.”

Musket Man showed speed in his first three races, all sprints, but always sat off the pace before making a late move. In the Tampa Bay Derby, he got into a world of trouble early, and had to make a big wide run to get up. In the Illinois Derby, he gained command on the stretch turn and held stoutly to the wire.

“He’s got a high cruising speed,” Ryan said, “but the great thing about him is that he also has a real kick for an eighth of a mile.”

NOWHERE TO HIDE – Trainer Nick Zito’s eleventh-hour Derby 135 entrant met jockey Shaun Bridgmohan for the first time Thursday with a quarter-mile blowout down the lane in :25.20. Nowhere to Hide tugged hard for more as Bridgmohan worked overtime to get him pulled up, even midway down the backstretch.

“Shaun just got familiar with the horse this morning,” Zito said. “That’s all I wanted. The good thing is that he didn’t want to pull up.”

The two-time Derby-winning trainer and his owner, Len Riggio of My Meadowview Farm, have been accused of a case of Derby fever, but Zito reasoned that horse racing is the ultimate game of chance.

“No one has a lock on this game – no one,” he said matter-of-factly.  “He ran fourth three races in a row – the Risen Star, the Tampa Bay Derby and the Illinois Derby – and if he ran fourth in the Kentucky Derby, it would be all right by me,” Zito said. “We’ve been trying to get him here all along; we’ve taken him all over the country.”

PAPA CLEM – Arkansas Derby (Grade II) winner Papa Clem blew out three furlongs in :34 flat Thursday just before 7 a.m. with Derby 135 jockey Rafael Bejarano in the saddle.

In a true Stute family tradition, trainer Gary Stute said Papa Clem was now officially “Melvinized,” a term trainer Bob Baffert coined for the fast blowout works typically given by Stute’s father, Mel. The elder Stute was on hand to watch his son’s horse prepare for Saturday’s Run for the Roses and gave a smile of approval. It also brought good vibes to the younger Stute.

“You see me smiling, don’t you?” Gary Stute said. “If he gets beat, it’s all my fault.”

“He was so comfortable,” Bejarano said of the work, which drew splits of :11.20, :22.40 and a gallop-out of :47.20. “I didn’t have to push him or nothing. Past the wire, I just let him gallop out strong and stay up in the saddle.”

Thursday’s workout for Papa Clem perhaps stemmed the tide of a few unimpressive moves from the son of Smart Strike.

“Everyone has been criticizing his works,” Stute said, and then admitted, “I would have been worried if he didn’t work well today.”

Papa Clem will walk the shedrow for the next two days, Friday and race day. Stute indicated that if Papa Clem had worked slower this morning, he might have brought him to the track Saturday morning, but now feels they are ready to go.

PIONEEROF THE NILE – With owner Ahmed Zayat and trainer Bob Baffert watching from the gap closest  to the five-eighths pole, Pioneerof the Nile galloped about a mile and a half right after the track reopened at 8:30 a.m. following the renovation break.

The Santa Anita Derby (Grade I) winner stood patiently for several minutes while people snapped photos before walking onto the track.

Baffert said the Empire Maker colt was moving toward the race according to plan.

“Everything  is smooth and he looks good out there on the track,” Baffert said. “He’s been very relaxed. My whole mission was to get him here, keep the weight on him and keep his mind relaxed. He was getting a little racy on me at Santa Anita. I didn’t put any fast works into him, just decent works into him.

“He’s fit. He looks really fantastic, flesh-wise. His mind is great. He’s been handling everything. I want him to go up there and be a gentleman. I want him to walk into the gate. I don’t want him to get stirred up. So far, I haven’t seen that here. I’m really happy with that.”

Garrett Gomez will ride Pioneerof the Nile in the Kentucky Derby. Baffert used the fifth choice in the post position draw to select post 16.

SUMMER BIRD – Summer Bird, a lightly raced son of Birdstone, is one of the most relaxed horses on the Churchill Downs backside coming into the Kentucky Derby. Thursday morning the chestnut colt was lying down in his stall taking a nap at 7 o’clock because he wasn’t scheduled to go to the track until 8:30, after the break.

“He woke up early, ate up all his breakfast and then went back to sleep,” trainer Tim Ice said. “He is a very calm horse.”

Out on the track after the break, Summer Bird schooled in the gate, and then galloped one mile under jockey Chris Rosier.

Ice had selection No. 14 and chose post 17 for Summer Bird, who made his first start on March 1, broke his maiden on March 19, and finished third in the Arkansas Derby (Grade II) on April 11.

“Better 17 than post three,” Ice said. “I expect him to be mid-pack early, and make his way over toward the inside before the first turn. I think he’ll run well.”

Final preparations are underway for the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands.  Scroll down to see how your Derby favorite is training up to the big race!

ATOMIC RAIN – A late addition to the field for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I), Atomic Rain arrived at Churchill Downs at 2 a.m. Wednesday after a 13-hour van ride from Monmouth Park in New Jersey.

Trainer Kelly Breen was aboard when the Smart Strike colt went out for a one-mile jog this morning at 7 o’clock. Atomic Rain returned from the exercise bucking and snorting.

“He’s all full of himself this morning,” Breen said, “and he’s usually not like that. The van ride must have done him good.”

Atomic Rain worked a bullet Tuesday morning at Monmouth before getting on the van. He zipped a half-mile in :47.20, the best work at the distance.

Atomic Rain will give trainer Breen two Derby starters in his first appearance in the race. West Side Bernie has been at Churchill Downs for two weeks already after his second in the Wood Memorial (Grade I) gave him sufficient earnings to make the starting field. Both colts are owned by George and Lori Hall.

Atomic Rain finished fourth in the Wood, and last year was second in the Remsen (Grade II). He has not won since breaking his maiden at Monmouth last June.

Joe Bravo, who has been aboard in the colt’s past two starts, has the mount in the Kentucky Derby.

NOWHERE TO HIDE – My Meadowview Farm’s Nowhere to Hide was entered in Kentucky Derby 135 on Wednesday morning by trainer Nick Zito after the defection of Win Willy.

“I guess if the No. 20 spot is left open by the gods, you ought to at least enter,” Zito said with smile. “Shaun Bridgmohan will ride.”

A son of Vindication, Nowhere to Hide has compiled a record of 8-1-2-1 with earnings of $100,099, of which $55,500 are graded. Nowhere to Hide broke his maiden at Calder on Dec. 13 and then jumped into stakes company with fourth-place finishes in the Risen Star (Grade III), Tampa Bay Derby (Grade III) and Illinois Derby (Grade II).

“This horse has traveled a lot,” Zito said. “He was fourth to Friesan Fire at the Fair Grounds and he hasn’t been beaten that far. I told the owner (Leonard Riggio) we might be fourth here.”

Nowhere to Hide, who has been at Churchill Downs since the April 4 Illinois Derby, visited the starting gate and galloped Wednesday morning after the renovation break under Stacy Prior. Zito said that had Nowhere to Hide not been entered in the Derby, he was aiming for the Belmont Stakes (Grade I) on June 6 with a race in between.

My Meadowview Farm has had one previous Kentucky Derby starter, Noble Causeway, who finished 14th in the 2005 Run for the Roses.

WIN WILLY – Trainer Mac Robertson removed Win Willy from the Kentucky Derby field Wednesday morning after X-rays revealed what veterinarians termed a “suspicious” line in the colt’s left front ankle.

“We took precautionary X-rays yesterday,” Robertson said, “and there was a little line in the ankle on the X-ray. The two vets who read the X-ray said it was ‘suspicious.’ To me, it was a big stop sign.”

Win Willy, who broke his maiden last August, has been in serious training since the beginning of the year. He won an allowance race at Oaklawn Park in February, and then followed with a victory in the Grade II Rebel in March, and a fourth in the Grade II Arkansas Derby in April.

“He came a long way in 80 days, and it might have been too much, too fast,” Robertson said. “When he flattened out that way in the Arkansas Derby, I was afraid something was bothering him.  But he’s looked sound and clean-legged since then, and he even went to the track to train early this morning. He’s fine, actually, and he looks the same as always. But I’m not willing to take any chances with him.

“I always told myself that if I got a good horse like this that I wouldn’t push on with him if I suspected something. So I’m sticking to that. He’s too nice a horse to take chances with.”

Robertson said that Win Willy will walk for 30 days and then shedrow for 30 days, and then X-rays will be taken again.

“He had never been X-rayed before yesterday,” Robertson said. “But we decided to take precautionary X-rays because in the back of my mind I thought something had happened in the Arkansas Derby.”

Win Willy breezed twice after the Arkansas Derby on April 11. He went a half in :51.20 at Oaklawn on April 21, then worked five furlongs in 1:02.40 at Churchill Downs on April 27.

Tracy Farmer's Commentator, Elisabeth Alexander's Magna Graduate and Midnight Cry Stable's Einstein (BRZ), who have combined to earn $5,769,604 in their stellar careers, headline a field of eight for Friday's 134^th running of the $400,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GII) at Churchill Downs.

            The Clark Handicap, named for the family of Churchill Downs founder Meriwether Lewis Clark, was first run at the track's inaugural meet in 1875 and, like the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) and the Kentucky Oaks (GI), has been run annually without interruption since.  The 1 1/8-mile race over the main track will be the 11^th race on the 12-race card with an approximate post time of 4:29 p.m. (all times Eastern). Post time for the first race is 11:30 a.m. and admission gates open at 10 a.m.

            The 7-year-old Commentator has won 13 of 20 careers starts for earnings of $1,841,936 while racing for five years under the care of trainer Nick Zito. Ridden by John Velazquez in all five of his starts this year, Commentator has won four times, highlighted by a second victory in the Grade I Whitney at Saratoga, and enters the Clark off a 14-length victory in the Massachusetts Handicap on Sept. 20 at Suffolk Downs.

            The New York-bred gelding by Distorted Humor is enjoying the finest year of his career with four victories in five races and earnings of $1,025,700.  His only loss came in a runner-up finish to Divine Park in the Metropolitan Handicap (GI) at Belmont Park.  Commentator will carry top weight of 124 pounds and break from post position four under Velazquez.  He easily won his only previous start at Churchill Downs in 2004.

            Now trained by Steve Asmussen, the 6-year-old Magna Graduate has won 10 of 34 career starts with six seconds and six thirds for earnings of $2,561,237. Two of those victories have come at Churchill Downs, one in the 2005 Clark Handicap for former trainer Todd Pletcher and the other in this year's Grade III Ack Ack Handicap on Oct. 26.  Shaun Bridgmohan, who rode Magna Graduate in the Ack Ack, will be aboard Friday.  Magna Graduate will break from post position two and carry 120 pounds.

            The 6-year-old Einstein, trained by Helen Pitts, is a two-time Grade I winner on the grass this year and has built a career resume of eight wins in 21 starts for earnings of $1,366,431. Idle since finishing a troubled fifth in the Grade I Arlington Million on Aug. 9, Einstein last started on the dirt in the Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) at Churchill Downs on June 14 when he ran second to 2007 Horse of the Year Curlin.

            Julien Leparoux, who rode Einstein in the Stephen Foster, will ride Friday and break from post position three. Einstein will carry 119 pounds.

            Bidding for a return to form in the Clark will be Silverton Hill LLC's Dominican, winner of the 2007 Toyota Blue Grass (GI) at Keeneland.  The Darrin Miller-trained son of El Corredor defeated Street Sense by a nose over the Polytrack course that day, but finished 11^th to that rival on the dirt in the Kentucky Derby.  Dominican snapped a six-race losing streak in an allowance win over the synthetic Tapeta surface in July at Pennsylvania's Presque Isle Downs, and has since finished third to Delightful Kiss in the Turfway Fall Championship (GIII) and was runner-up to longshot Ball Four in the Fayette (GIII) at Keeneland.  Robby Albarado will ride.

            Three other graded-stakes winners on dirt in 2008 are in the Clark field: Four Roses Thoroughbreds' Anak Nakal, winner of the Grade II Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 1 at Philadelphia Park, World Thoroughbreds Racing's Wayzata Bay, winner of the Grade II Cornhusker Handicap at Prairie Meadows on June 28, and Hobeau Farm's Delightful Kiss, winner of the Turfway Park Fall Championship on Sept. 6 and the All American Stakes at Golden Gate on Sept. 27.  Delightful Kiss most recently finished fifth to Albertus Maximus in the $500,000 Breeders' Cup Marathon over the Pro-Ride course at Santa Anita.

            The field for the Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare, from the rail out, is as follows: Delightful Kiss (Calvin Borel, 116 pounds), Magna Graduate (John Velazquez, 120), Einstein (Julian Leparoux, 119), Commentator (John Velazquez, 124), Anak Nakal (Jesus Castanon, 118), Timber Reserve (Kent Desormeaux, 116), Wayzata Bay (Israel Ocampo, 117) and Dominican (Robby Albarado, 115).

            Appearing on the Clark Handicap undercard on Friday will be Robert LaPenta's Da' Tara, the upset winner of the Belmont Stakes (GI) who derailed Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown's bid for a Triple Crown.  The Nick Zito-trained son of Tiznow has lost three consecutive races since then, with the most recent setback coming in a sixth-place finish to Tale of Ekati in the Jerome Handicap (GII) at Belmont Park. 

Da' Tara will face seven rivals in the 1 1/16-mile allowance optional claiming race for 3-year-olds and up.  He will be the first Belmont Stakes winner to run at Churchill Downs since 1999 winner Lemon Drop Kid finished fifth to Tiznow in the 2000 Breeders' Cup Classic (GI).  Victory Gallop, the 1999 Belmont Stakes winner, won the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs the following year.