Paul Pompa Jr.

Paul Pompa Jr.’s Mary’s Follies rolled to a 1 ½-length victory over Keertana in stakes-record time to win the 19th running of the $206,500 Mrs. Revere (Grade II) for 3-year-old fillies on Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs.

    Ridden by Kent Desormeaux for trainer Rick Dutrow, Mary’s Follies covered the 1 1/16 miles on a firm Matt Winn Turf Course in 1:41.73 to shave more than a second off the stakes mark of 1:42.86 set by Snow Dance in 2001.

    Desormeaux gave Mary’s Follies a ground-saving trip in the field of 14 as War Kill and Romacaca led the field through fractions of :24.23, :48.57 and 1:12.50. Leaving the far turn, Mary’s Follies angled off the hedge and hit the top of the stretch three wide with a clear shot at the leaders.

    Mary’s Follies breezed past Romacaca in the upper stretch, spurted clear and had more than enough to hold off Keertana, who was ridden by Jesus Castanon. Romacaca, ridden by E. T. Baird, held on for third another length back and finished a neck ahead of favored Hot Cha Cha, ridden by James Graham.

    A Kentucky-bred daughter of More Than Ready, Mary’s Follies’ victory was worth $116,509 and increased her earnings to $317,889. Now 2-for-2 on the grass, Mary’s Follies improved her career record to 9-4-3-1.

    Mary’s Follies rewarded her backers with mutuels of $20.80, $11.40 and $8.40. Keertana returned $14 and $7.80 with Romacaca paying $10.80 to show.

    Racing resumes Sunday with a 10-race program headlined by the sixth running of the $100,000-added Commonwealth Turf (GIII) for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course. First post time Sunday is 12:40 p.m. (all times ET) with the Commonwealth Turf going at 4:37 p.m. as the ninth race.

    There is a 10-day carryover of $164,755.24 in the Pick 6 that requires bettors to pick the winners in Races 5-10. Also, there is a $10,273.67 carryover in the Super Hi-5 that requires bettors to select the first five finishers in order in the 10th race.

POST-RACE QUOTES – THE MRS. REVERE

RICK DUTROW, trainer of MARY’S FOLLIES, winner (via telephone from a New York apartment): “She was training unbelievable for the last month. It looks like she might be just a grass horse. She’s a nice little filly. The jock gave her a great ride, and she had a great trip. All good there.”

KENT DESORMEAUX, jockey of MARY’S FOLLIES, winner: “When I was in the paddock before the race I was told that I had a loaded gun underneath me. All I had to do was aim and pull the trigger. She (Mary’s Follies) put me into a great position. She broke very smart and put us into a very energetic spot, and that set us up very well for the rest of the trip. She was really full of run when crossing under the wire today. She was really breathing fire today. This one really seems to have found herself on the turf. We beat a very good bunch of proven horses. She is just a very nice filly.”

TOM PROCTOR, trainer of KEERTANA, runner-up: “You can’t be five-wide on both turns and the winner be on the fence – and that’s not cussing the jockey, that’s cussin’ the post position.  The winner gets through on the fence and mine on both turns was four-or-five wide.  That’s the way it goes.
    “This was a tough race and the reason this race came up like this is that everybody had their horse running all year long.  And kudos to whoever was in this race, because a lot of them had run at a high level all year long, and that’s why the race came up so tough.  Usually you don’t see that – you see one or two of those come in like that, but all these trainers kept their horses around all year long.  
    “She’ll get a break similar to what we did last year.  We’ll go to Ocala (Fla.) and give her a couple of months off, then we’ll start back up and have her ready for Keeneland, hopefully.”

JESUS CASTANON, jockey on KEERTANA, runner-up: “She ran good.  We talked this morning, Tom (Proctor) and me, and we figured there was going to be a little more speed and the pace was going to be a little tough in the beginning.   But everything just went the opposite way and I was up there close.
    “I really can’t take anything away from her – she really gave me a nice race.  It was just one of those deals.  This horse responds really good when you get to the stretch – she really kicks in.  My filly was chasing the winner, but she just got through on us.”

PHILIP SIMS, trainer of HOT CHA CHA, fourth as the favorite: “She ran well, she just had a little traffic trouble.  And the pace was a little slow.  I was expecting (a half-mile) in :46 or :47, but they went in :48-and-change and three-quarters in (a minute) 12, and I thought ‘Uh-oh.’  But they finished up in a pretty fast time.”
Q: She’s had a great year … “She’s been a lot of fun this year.  She’ll get a little time off and come back here next spring.”

JAMES GRAHAM, jockey on HOT CHA CHA, fourth as the favorite: “I might have taken her back a little bit too far.  I thought they were going to go a little quicker, but I was already committed to sitting on her.  I should have asked her a little earlier, but that’s racing today.  She run a good race – it just wasn’t her day today.”

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(May 16, 2008) – Louisville-based UPS employees are expected to deliver strong support for their namesake Big Brown on Saturday at Churchill Downs as the historic racetrack hosts a “UPS Day at the Races” in conjunction with a simulcast of the Preakness Stakes from Pimlico Race Course.

Unbeaten Kentucky Derby 134 champ Big Brown is the 1-2 morning line favorite against 11 rivals in the 133rd running of the $1 million Preakness Stakes (Grade I) and will continue his attempt to become horse racing’s first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978.

On Saturday at Churchill Downs, UPS employees and their guests will receive free general admission at a Gate 10 registration table located next to a UPS truck. Sections 115 and 116 will be available for UPS employees and their guests to enjoy a day at the races.

Employees also will have an opportunity to choose between a free program, a complementary food voucher or to enter prize drawings for either a trip to the June 7 Belmont Stakes in New York if Big Brown wins the Preakness or a unique Kentucky Derby 134/Big Brown gift basket.

Also, ESPN will broadcast live “cut-ins” of UPS employees and Kentucky racing enthusiasts celebrating the day from the Churchill Downs paddock area during their Preakness Day telecast at approximately 2:30 p.m. (all times Eastern) and 4:45 p.m.

Admission gates will open at 11:30 a.m. Saturday and the first of 10 live races is 1:15 p.m. The simulcast of the Preakness Stakes is set for 6:15 p.m. following the final live race of the day.

Last week, UPS announced a marketing agreement with jockey Kent Desormeaux and IEAH Stables, the majority ownership group for Big Brown, to make UPS the exclusive marketing partner of the “Big Brown” team.

Big Brown, named after the world’s largest package delivery company, will fly the UPS colors in the Preakness. Minority owner Paul Pompa Jr., who operates the Truck-Rite Corp. in Brooklyn, N.Y., named the colt after renewing a contract with UPS Freight in 2007.

“Big Brown circles the track almost as fast as UPS aircraft circle the globe,” said UPS spokesman Mike Mangeot. “We’re a great combination, a solid exacta box, and we’re proud to be sponsoring the Big Brown team in the Preakness. Our own Big Brown team will be coming out in force to cheer our horse to victory.”

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