Thiskyhasnolimit

PREAKNESS RUNNER-UP FIRST DUDE BACK AT CHURCHILL, SET FOR NEXT STOP IN BELMONT STAKES – Donald Dizney’s First Dude did not win the second jewel of the Triple Crown, but trainer Dale Romans could not have been much happier had he managed to hold off Lookin At Lucky in Saturday’s $1 million Preakness (Grade I) at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course.

The Churchill Downs-based First Dude sprung from post 11 in a field of 12 3-year-olds in the 1 3/16-mile Preakness to grab the lead and the rail from Super Saver, winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI), heading into the first turn.  He set strong early fractions under Ramon Dominguez then battled the victorious Lookin At Lucky through the stretch to fall three-quarters of a length short of picking up his second victory in seven starts, but the imposing son of Stephen Got Even immediately established himself as a major contender for the Triple Crown’s final jewel: the 1 ½-mile Belmont Stakes (GI) on June 5 at Belmont Park.

The connections of Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver and Preakness champ Lookin At Lucky confirmed Sunday that neither horse would run in the Belmont Stakes, so Romans believes First Dude could well be the horse to beat in the big race three weeks down the road.

“I think so, and so does Ramon,” Romans said Sunday.  “The mile and a half should help him.”
    First Dude returned to Churchill Downs on Sunday morning following a flight from Baltimore.  Also on the plane was stablemate Paddy O’Prado, Donegal Racing’s third-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby on May 1 who finished sixth in Saturday’s Preakness.

Romans said the Belmont is the clear goal for First Dude, while the immediate future is less clear for Paddy O’Prado, a versatile winner on turf and synthetic surfaces who did not fire at Pimlico.

“He came out of it good,” said Romans of Paddy O’Prado.  “I’ll talk with Jerry (Donegal Racing managing partner Jerry Crawford) later in the day and see what we want to do with him.”

The Preakness bid by First Dude, while it fell just short, served as validation for high hopes Romans and his staff has held for the colt since his arrival in the barn.

"We are proud of him,” Romans said.  “We kept thinking all along that he was this kind of horse, but he just had circumstances that kept him from running a big, big race.  Finally nothing went wrong and he put it all together and he got beat by a champion.”

OTHER BELMONT HOPES AT CHURCHILL DOWNS – With word that neither Super Saver nor Lookin At Lucky would compete in the third jewel of the Triple Crown, a large field of contenders is beginning to take shape for the June 5 race at Belmont Park.

First Dude is one of at least four Churchill Downs-based horses that could run in the Belmont.  The others include the D. Wayne Lukas-trained Dublin, Robert Baker and William Mack’s son of Afleet Alex who finished fifth in the Preakness following a horrible start; Thomas and Jack Conway’s Stately Victor, winner of the Toyota Blue Grass (GI) and eighth in the Kentucky Derby; and Richard, Elaine and Bert Klein’s Stay Put, a winner of an allowance race at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day.

Trainer Steve Margolis said the Louisville-based Klein family is, at this point, pointing Stay Put toward the third jewel of the Triple Crown.

“We’ve been talking about it over the last week or 10 days,” Margolis said of Stay Put’s Belmont bid.  “As long has he stays healthy and well, he’s got two more breezes and we’re gonna go.”

Stay Put, a homebred son of Broken Vow, has won three of seven career starts, but finished fifth in both the Louisiana Derby (GII) and the Risen Star (GII) at Fair Grounds in his only efforts in stakes competition.

“There’ll be some tough horses in there in (Derby runner-up) Ice Box, (Dwyer winner) Fly Down and (Dwyer runner-up) Drosselmeyer,” Margolis said of the Belmont.  “But we’re running good, and as long as we stay healthy and good and are training good, we’ve got to take a shot.”

BLAME BOUND FOR STEPHEN FOSTER FOLLOWING RETURN VICTORY IN PIMLICO’S SCHAEFFER – Adele Dilschneider and Claiborne Farm’s Blame looked like a horse with a big future when he whipped older rivals to win Churchill Downs’ Clark Handicap (GII) as a 3-year-old in late November.

The anticipated return to racing by the now 4-year-old homebred son of Arch did nothing to diminish those expectations when Blame rolled to an easy 1 ½-length victory in Saturday’s William Donald Schaefer Handicap (GIII) on the Preakness undercard at Pimlico on Saturday.  With that successful return to competition behind the colt, trainer Al Stall Jr. will now point Blame to his next goal: a run in the $600,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) on June 12 at Churchill Downs.

“He’s a good horse and it’s really good to get that one under his belt,” Stall said.  “It was definitely time for him to go run, and you just don’t know what’s going to happen.  Sometimes they don’t come back like you think and sometimes they’re not as ready as you think they are, so there was a little more anxiety than in a regular race.”

That case of race-day nerves aside, Stall said Blame had blossomed during his training over the synthetic Polytrack course at Keeneland in recent weeks and he felt the colt was ready for a good effort.

“In the last three or four weeks he just really let you know that it was time,” Stall said.  “He’s a great looking horse, but he really just started looking phenomenal.  He just was really good to go.”

Now Stall will focus completely on the 1 1/8-mile Foster, a race in which Blame is expected to face the likes of defending winner Macho Again and Alysheba (GIII) Arson Squad.

"We’ve got four weeks, to the day almost, to the Foster,” said Stall.  “I can map out sort of a simple schedule to get him there.  It gives you something to get out of bed for, that’s for sure.”

The Schaeffer victory improved Blame’s career record to 6-1-2 in nine races – including a 2-1-0 slate in three starts at Churchill Downs, which will also be the host track for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 6.  Blame has earned $676,747.

THISKYHASNOLIMIT IMPRESSES IN RETURN TO RACING IN MATT WINN – He had been on the sidelines for a good while, but a sharp victory Bob and Cathy Zollars and Mark Wagner’s Thiskyhasnolimit in Saturday’s ninth running of Churchill Downs’ $108,000 Matt Winn Stakes had it look as if the colt had never been away.

The 3-year-old son of Sky Mesa, away from racing since late November, rallied from fourth and wore down favored Cool Bullet to win the seven furlong race for 3-year-olds by three-quarters of a length.  He covered the distance over a fast track in 1:22.29.

The victory by Thisskyhasnolimit was the third in the Matt Winn for trainer Steve Asmussen, but, despite the long layoff, it came as no surprise to assistant Scott Blasi, who oversees Asmussen’s Churchill Downs stable.

"He had been training like a bear,” Blasi said Sunday morning.  “The way he was training I would have surprised if he hadn’t won.”

Thiskyhasnolimit had not run since a sixth-place finish as the favorite in the $150,000-added Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) on Nov. 28 – a race won by WinStar Farm’s future Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver.

"We just gave him some time,” said Blasi.  “I don’t remember any specific problem.  He was just a big, immature colt   He’s doing good this morning.  Steve will get together with the owners and we’ll see where we go next with him.”

The victory improved the winner’s career record to 3-1-1 in seven races and increased his career earnings to $204,439.

While disappointed by the loss, trainer Steve Margolis was upbeat about the effort by Robert and Lawana Low and Winmore LLC’s Cool Bullet,

“The horse ran a big race and got a great trip,” Margolis said.  “He fought on game, but the other horse just had a little more.”

It was the second consecutive runner-up finish in the Winn for Margolis, who saddled Richard, Elaine and Bert Klein’s Cash Refund for a second place Winn finish behind Capt. Candyman Can in its 2009 renewal.d

Margolis said Cool Bullet could run next in the $175,000 Jersey Shore Breeders’ Cup (GIII) on July 4 at Monmouth Park.

BARN TALK – Gold Mark Farms LLC’s Backtalk returned to serious training on Sunday following his run in the Kentucky Derby.  The Tom Amoss trainee, who finished last in the Derby field of 20 3-year-olds, breezed four furlongs over a fast track in :51.80. … Owner/trainer Tom McCarthy said Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (GI) winner General Quarters is scheduled to work on Monday, but McCarthy is keeping an eye on the weather and the plan could change because of track conditions.  General Quarters has now won Grade I races on turf and synthetic surfaces.  He took the 2009 Toyota Blue Grass (GI) over the Polytrack surface at Keeneland before running 10th over the main track at Churchill Downs in the 135th Kentucky Derby (GI).

Thiskyhasnolimit, returning from six months on the sidelines because of injury, rallied in the stretch under jockey Shaun Bridgmohan to wear down favored Cool Bullet to win the ninth running of the $108,000 Matt Winn Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs at Churchill Downs.

    Cathy and Bob Zollars and Mark Wagner’s son of Sky Mesa had not raced since Nov. 28, when he finished sixth as the favorite to eventual Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver in the Grade II, $150,000 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs.  Thiskyhasnolimit won by three-quarters of a length and paid $5.80, $3 and $2.40 as the second betting choice in a field of six horses.  Cool Bullet, the favorite ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., was well clear of the rest of the field for the runner-up spot and paid $2.80 and $2.20.  Privilaged, the pacesetter ridden by Jon Court, paid $2.80 to show.

    Trained by Steve Asmussen, who won the Matt Winn for the third time in its nine runnings, Thiskyhasnolimit, covered the seven-furlong distance over a fast track in 1:22.29.  The victory improved the winner’s career record to 3-1-1 in seven races and increased his career earnings to $204,439.

    Thisskyhasnolimit broke sharply and momentarily grabbed the early lead before he surrendered the lead to Privilaged and settled into fourth under Bridgmohan.  Privilaged held the advantage into the far turn, leading the field through fractions of :22.40 for the first quarter and :45 to the half-mile, when he drew off from longshot Southern Danger and Cool Bullet started to move on the leader.  Cool Bullet moved three-wide to grab the lead in the stretch, but was quickly challenged to his outside by Thiskyhasnolimit , who surged past that rival with an eighth of a mile to run and slowly edged clear in the run to the finish.
    
    Vow to Wager rallied from last to finish fourth, and was followed by Silver Craft and Southern Danger.

    The race is named for Kentucky Derby and Churchill Downs legend Col. Matt Winn, who served as president and general manager of the historic track from 1902-49.  Known by the media as “Mr. Derby,” Winn is credited with building the Kentucky Derby into America’s greatest race and one of the world’s great sports events.

MATT WINN QUOTES

SHAUN BRIDGMOHAN (jockey, THISKYHASNOLIMIT, winner): “I had a wonderful trip. My horse ran good. He’s a real nice horse and he’s been training really well. I did expect that type of effort.”

SCOTT BLASI (assistant trainer, THISKYHASNOLIMIT, winner): “He has been training well and thought he would run well today. He is definitely moving in the right direction after the layoff from his last race. We will see how he cools out before deciding on a race for him, but we would like to keep him between seven-eighths to a mile.”

BRIAN HERNANDEZ JR. (jockey, COOL BULLET, second): “We had a perfect trip. We had the two horses get hooked up in front of us and we sat outside behind them and got by both of them pretty easy. (In the stretch) we didn’t bump (with Thiskyhasnolimit); they just came together and didn’t even brush. Neither horse got off stride.”

STEVE MARGOLIS (trainer, COOL BULLET, second): “He (Cool Bullet) ran a good race, [Thiskyhasnolimit] had a little more today. Brian [Hernandez Jr.] rode a great race, no complaints. I’ll talk it over with the owners to see where he runs next, but we will take a look at the Jersey Shore at Monmouth Park.”

NOTES: Trainer Steve Asmussen collected his third Matt Winn victory. He also won the race in 2003 with Posse and in 2005 with Razor. . .Thiskyhasnolimit was clocked in a stakes record 1:22.29. It was only the second year the race has been run at the seven furlong distance and his time eclipsed Capt. Candyman Can’s 1:22.89 in 2009. . .Jockey Corey Lanerie won four races at Churchill Downs for the first time on Saturday: “It was great, it always feel good when you win, especially when you win four. This is my first time winning four at Churchill Downs. I’ve done it before in Texas several times.”

Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will host the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 7, 2011 and the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, May 6, 2011. The track’s 2010 Spring Meet continues through Sunday, July 4. Churchill Downs is scheduled to host the Breeders’ Cup World Championships for a record seventh time on Nov. 5 and 6, 2010. Churchill Downs tickets are available at Tickets.ChurchillDowns.com or by calling (502) 636-4400. Additional information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at ChurchillDowns.com.

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BOREL HAPPY WITH SUPER SAVER, PREAKNESS POST – A winner of three of last four runnings of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I), jockey Calvin Borel will bid Saturday for his second consecutive victory in the $1 million Preakness, the second jewel of racing’s Triple Crown, aboard WinStar Farm’s Derby winner Super Saver.

Borel is scheduled to ride in eight of Thursday’s nine races at Churchill Downs, then boards a flight to Baltimore and Pimlico Race Course, where hopes to help keep the Triple Crown hopes of owner/breeder WinStar and trainer Todd Pletcher alive.  Super Saver was installed as the 5-2 favorite for the Preakness and the son of Maria’s Mon drew post eight in a field of 12 3-year-olds.

“I’m very happy,” Borel said Thursday at Churchill Downs.  “I worked him the other morning and Todd was very pleased.  “He galloped out good, switched leads perfect right at the eighth pole.  You can’t ask for a better place.”

Last year, Borel abandoned longshot Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird to ride Kentucky Oaks (GI)-winning filly Rachel Alexandra in the 1 3/16-mile second jewel of the Triple Crown.  Stonestreet Stable and Harold McCormack’s future Horse of the Year and Borel held off the late-running Mine That Bird to take the 2009 Preakness.  His 2007 Kentucky Derby winner, James Tafel’s Street Sense, was nipped at the Preakness finish by future two-time Horse of the Year Curlin.

Four of the horses that faced Super Saver at Churchill Downs – third-place Derby finisher Paddy O’Prado, beaten favorite Lookin At Lucky, Dublin and Jackson Bend – are back for another try at Borel’s Derby winner in the Preakness, with seven horses stepping into Triple Crown competition for the first time.

“We’ve got a couple of new shooters, but I don’t think they’ve got the class this horse has,” Borel said.  “What I like about this colt is he’s peaking.  He’s lightly-raced coming into here, but I think that’s a big plus.  It might not be, but in my opinion I think it is.”

Borel and agent Jerry Hissam continue to limit media opportunities for the popular rider in the days leading up to the Preakness.  Those limits are to allow Borel to maintain focus on Saturday’s goal: to win the Preakness and take dead aim three weeks later on the Belmont Stakes (GI) with a chance to become the first 3-year-old to sweep the elusive Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978.

“We’re going to go out there and try our damndest to win it,” Borel said.  “If we can get away with this one, we’ll worry about the next one.  But we’re just going to worry about this one now.”

Borel will ride at Pimlico on Friday and Saturday in a light schedule that includes the mount on favored Tidal Pool for trainer D. Wayne Lukas in Friday’s Black-Eyed Susan (GII) for 3-year-old fillies. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             HOT MARGOLIS HAS HIGH HOPES FOR COOL BULLET – One of the hottest trainers thus far at Churchill Downs hopes that playing it cool will pay off in Saturday’s featured ninth running of the $100,000 Matt Winn Stakes.

Steve Margolis started Thursday’s race with five victories – one win back of current leading trainer and two-time Eclipse Award-winner Steve Asmussen – and will look to improve that total Saturday when he saddles Robert and Lawana Low and Winmore LLC’s Cool Bullet in the seven-furlong Winn.

The gelded son of Preakness winner Red Bullet returns to competition six weeks after a 4 ½-length romp in the $50,000 Hansel at six furlongs on Polytrack at Turfway Park.  The victory was the third in seven races for Cool Bullet, who had tried the Kentucky Derby trail over the winter, but returned to one-turn distances following an eighth-place finish to Conveyance in Oaklawn’s Southwest (GIII) at 1 1/16 miles.

“We thought the Hansel would be a good race to get him back on course, as opposed to the [one-mile The Cliff’s Edge] Derby Trial (GIII) and it worked out really well,” Margolis said.  “He couldn’t be training any better.  We’ve had four really nice moves over the track.”

Calvin Borel rode Cool Bullet in the Hansel, but will be at Pimlico on Saturday to ride Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver in the Preakness.  Brian Hernandez Jr., who was aboard Cool Bullet in his first five starts, will be back in the saddle for the Matt Winn.  Cool Bullet’s five foes include Iroquois (GIII) winner Thiskyhasnolimit, winner of last fall’s Iroquois (GIII) at Churchill Downs and the beaten favorite in the $150,000 Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) won by Super Saver, and the John Sadler-trained Privilaged, a good third to D’Funnybone in Gulfstream Park’s Swale (GII) at the Winn distance of seven furlongs last out.
That’s a lot of quality in a six-horse field, but Margolis likes the chances of Cool Bullet in the Winn, a race Margolis just missed winning a year ago when he saddled Richard, Elaine and Bert Klein’s Cash Refund to a runner-up finish behind Capt. Candyman Can.

“He’s a nice little gelding,” Margolis said of Cool Bullet.  “He trains very good, he’s a very handy little horse and does everything right.”

Cash Refund, last year’s Winn runner-up, continues to train toward a run in the $100,000-added Aristides (GIII) at six furlongs.

Margolis is also looking at plans for the Kleins’ 3-year-old Stay Put, an allowance winner on Kentucky Derby Day that is being considered for a run in the Belmont Stakes (GI), the third jewel of the Triple Crown on June 5.  He said the Broken Vow colt is nominated to the $125,000 Northern Dancer (GIII) on June 12 at Churchill Downs, but a bid by the Kleins for the 1 ½-mile Belmont is very possible.

The horse is improving,” Margolis said.  “You only get so many chances to run in the Belmont.  We’re just going to wait and see what happens out of the Preakness.  We’ve got the Northern Dancer in our backyard, too, so we don’t really have to make any decisions now.”

VETERANS TOP LOUISVILLE HANDICAP NOMINATIONS - Former victors Brass Hat and Silverfoot top the 33 nominees for the 73rd edition of the $100,000-added Louisville Handicap (GIII) to be run Saturday, May 22 at 1 ½ miles over the Matt Winn Turf Course.

Fred F. Bradley’s Brass Hat will be looking for his first victory since taking the 2009 Louisville Handicap for trainer William “Buff” Bradley. Brass Hat recorded a second place finish in his last start, the Elkhorn Stakes (GII) at Keeneland on April 23.

Chrysalis Stables LLC’s Silverfoot, at age 10, looks to regain his winning form as a previous winner of this race in 2005 and ‘06. One of two three-time winners of the Louisville, the salty veteran is just $52,000 shy of hitting the $1 million mark with $948,365 in earnings for trainer Dallas Stewart.

Other notable nominees include Lothenbach Stables Inc.’s Bearpath, who two starts back took the Pan American (GIII) at Gulfstream Park, and Johanna L. Glen-Teven’s Musketier (GER), the winner of the Elkhorn Stakes.

PREAKNESS STAKES FESTIVITIES AT CHURCHILL DOWNS – Advanced wagering on the Preakness Stakes will be offered all day Friday at Churchill Downs, plus the Black-Eyed Susan/Preakness Double – similar to the Oaks/Derby Double – will connect Friday’s Grade II, $175,000 Black Eyed Susan and Saturday’s $1 million Preakness.

The pageantry of the Preakness Stakes will be featured prominently at Churchill Downs on Saturday with the simulcast of the second jewel of horse racing’s Triple Crown from Pimlico.

The first 5,000 fans attending Churchill Downs will receive a free Super Saver/Calvin Borel commemorative button in the paddock area while supplies last. Also, Black-Eyed Susan specialty drinks will be on tap at Churchill Downs at select locations, plus Dixieland and Big Band music will be performed in the paddock area and Millionaires Row 4 and 6.

Additionally, the Crab Derby returns as select customers will be in crab costumes competing in races throughout the day, with the final being held on the Matt Winn Turf Course immediately after Race 7.
Post time for the Preakness Stakes simulcast is 6:15 p.m. ET, which immediately follows the 11th and final live race at 5:58 p.m. ET.

SATURDAY’S SEVENTH RACE TO HONOR OLMSTEAD – For the second consecutive year, Churchill Downs will run the Chuck Olmstead Memorial on Preakness Stakes Day to honor the memory of the popular Louisville telvision newsman who passed away in March 2009 after an aneurysm ruptured in his brain.

The second annual Chuck Olmstead Memorial will be run as Race 7 on Saturday at approximately 3:57 p.m. ET.

Olmstead, who was a 34-year veteran at WHAS-11, was a longtime fan of Thoroughbred racing. Both he and his signature hat were broadcast fixtures in the Churchill Downs paddock on Kentucky Derby.
With tremendous encouragement from the community, Chuck’s widow, Candy Olmstead, has established a special fund in her husband’s memory through Norton Healthcare Foundation to support screenings and education provided by Norton Neuroscience Institute. These screenings will help detect aneurysms before they rupture, increase awareness of symptoms of ruptured brain aneurysms and, perhaps, save lives in the process.

More information can be found and pledges can be made online at ChuckOlmsteadFund.com.

TURN 3 TO PERFORM DURING FRIDAY HAPPY HOURS – This week’s “Dress to Impress” Friday Happy Hours from 4-7 p.m. in Churchill Downs’ paddock area will showcase live music by Turn 3, $2 Budweiser Select, $2 mojitos and $2 hot dogs. Also, one male and one female deemed “most stylish” will a $100 wagering voucher and $250 gift certificate to a local Louisville area boutique, respectively.

ASHER WILL BE SPECIAL ‘GET IN THE GAME WITH JILL BYRNE’ GUEST – Churchill Downs vice president of racing communications John Asher will be Saturday’s “Get in the Game with Jill Byrne” special guest. Byrne and Asher will provide insight and analysis of the Preakness Stakes plus select races at Pimlico Race Course and Churchill Downs. The half-hour program will begin at 11:45 a.m. in the paddock area and will be televised on television monitors throughout Churchill Downs.

WEEKLY HANDICAPPING CONTEST WILL OFFER PRIZE MONEY, TRIP TO HORSEPLAYER WORLD SERIES – This spring’s “Who’s the Champ?” Handicapping Contest at Churchill Downs will offer $4,000 in prize money each week and five prize packages to compete in the Horseplayer World Series in Las Vegas.

First prize each week will be $1,500 and a five-day, four-night trip to Las Vegas to compete in the Horseplayer World Series, which is scheduled for Feb. 16-19, 2011 at the Orleans Resort and Casino.
The popular handicapping contest will begin this Sunday and continue every Sunday through June 13.

The “Who’s the Champ?” Handicapping Contest is a game of skill that tests the player’s ability to handicap Thoroughbred racing. Each contestant will start the day with a $24 imaginary bankroll and may only wager exactly $2 to win and $2 to place on six designated races from Churchill Downs.

The contest costs $30 per entry ($25 for Twin Spires Club members) and is limited to 400 entries with a limit of three entries per person. Registration will be open Sundays between 11:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. in the Champions Club Lounge on the second floor of the clubhouse. 

BARN TALK – Churchill Downs based jockeys Robby Albarado (four mounts), Calvin Borel (three mounts including Super Saver in the Preakness), Garrett Gomez (eight mounts, including Dublin in the Preakness) and Julien Leparoux (eight mounts, including Pleasant Prince in the Preakness) will be riding at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday.

WORK TAB (Main: FAST … Turf: FIRM, dogs up) – Louisville Stakes (GII) winner Atta Boy Roy zipped four furlongs under jockey Calvin Borel in :47.20, the fastest work of 26 at the distance … Three-time Louisville Handicap (GIII) winner Silverfoot breezed five furlongs on turf in 1:03.20 … Lost Aptitude breezed four furlongs on turf in :49.40 for trainer Dale Romans … You Go West Girl breezed three furlongs on turf in :37.60 for trainer Tom Proctor.

The stables that have been the hottest of the opening two of weeks of Churchill Downs’ 42-day Spring Meet clash head-on Saturday when 2009 Iroquois Stakes (Grade III) winner Thiskyhasnolimit and Hansel Stakes winner Cool Bullet meet in Saturday’s ninth running of the $100,000-added Matt Winn Stakes for 3-year-olds at seven furlongs.

Cathy and Bob Zollars and Mark Wagner’s Thiskyhasnolimit represents trainer Steve Asmussen, who swept the 2009 Spring and Fall Meet training titles at Churchill Downs and has collected six wins during the opening 10 days of racing to top the “leading trainer” standings.  Owned by Robert and Lawanna Lowe and Winmore LLC, Cool Bullet will be saddled by Steve Margolis, who is just one back of Asmussen in search of his first training title beneath the venerable Twin Spires.  Thiskyhasnolimit and Cool Bullet are the 2-1 and 5-2 top choices, respectively, in oddsmaker Mike Battaglia’s morning line odds in the Matt Winn, which attracted a field of six.

The Matt Winn, named in honor of the legendary Churchill Downs general manager and president who built both the Kentucky Derby (Grade I) and Churchill Downs into international sports icons during his 1902-1949 tenure, is scheduled as the 10th of 11 live races on a Saturday racing program that also includes the simulcast of the Preakness (GI), the second jewel of the Triple Crown.  Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver heads a field of 12 in the 1 3/16-mile classic at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course. Post time for the day’s first race is 12:45 p.m. (all times Eastern).

Thiskyhasnolimit has not raced since Nov. 28, when the son of Sky Mesa finished sixth as the favorite to Super Saver in the $150,000-added Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) at Churchill Downs.  He has a record of 2-1-1 in six races – including a 2-1-0 slate in three Churchill Downs starts – with earnings of $138,149.  Shaun Bridgmohan will ride.

Cool Bullet is coming off an impressive 4 ½-length victory in the $50,000 Hansel Stakes over the Polytrack surface at Turfway Park on March 27.  Prior to that, the gelded son of 2000 Preakness winner Red Bullet had won the Sugar Bowl at Fair Grounds and finished a solid fourth to Ron the Greek in the $100,000 Lecomte at one mile and 40 yards at the New Orleans track.  Brian Hernandez Jr. will be in the saddle.

Others in the field include C R K Stable’s Privilaged, third to D’Funnybone in the Swale (GII) at Gulfstream Park and the 3-1 third choice for trainer John Sadler.  Donegal Racing’s Vow to Wager, winner of the John Battaglia Memorial via disqualification, is the 7-2 fourth choice for trainer Dale Romans.

The field for Saturday’s Matt Winn, from the rail out (with jockey, weight and morning line odds), includes: Silver Craft (Freddie Lenclud, 117, 8-1); Privilaged (Jon Court, 117, 3-1), Cool Bullet (Hernandez, 119, 5-2), Vow to Wager (Miguel Mena, 119, 7-2), Southern Danger (Corey Nakatani, 117, 15-1), and Thiskyhasnolimit (Bridgmohan, 119, 2-1).

CONVEYANCE REMOVED FROM PREAKNESS CONSIDERATION – Three-time Kentucky Derby (GI)-winning trainer Bob Baffert reduced his list of Preakness prospects in half Friday morning by declaring Zabeel Racing International’s Southwest Stakes (GIII) winner Conveyance out of the second jewel of the Triple Crown.

“He’s not going,” Baffert said of the Kentucky Derby pacesetter who finished 15th in the mile and a quarter classic. “The plan now for Conveyance is to win a stake somewhere in the country with him.”
Karl Watson, Mike Pegram and Paul Weitman’s Lookin At Lucky, the Kentucky Derby favorite who finished sixth behind Super Saver, galloped a mile and a half after the renovation break under Peter Hutton.

"I am just taking it day by day with him,” said Baffert, who has won the Preakness four times. “He is still 51 percent (to go).”

In addition to Lookin At Lucky, eight other horses eyeing the Preakness galloped Friday morning at Churchill Downs.

Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, owned by WinStar Farm, galloped a mile and a sixteenth under Kevin Willey. Dogwood Stable’s Aikenite galloped a mile and three-eighths under Willey and is scheduled to work Sunday. Both colts are trained by Todd Pletcher.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas’ two Preakness prospects, Robert Baker and William Mack’s Dublin and Westrock Stables’ Northern Giant, galloped a mile and a half before the renovation break with Arielle Witkowski handling both colts. Lukas plans to work both horses Sunday or Monday.

Donegal Racing’s Paddy O’Prado, third in the Kentucky Derby, and Donald Dizney’s First Dude each galloped 1 ½ miles for trainer Dale Romans. First Dude is scheduled to work Saturday morning with Tammy Fox in the saddle.

Robert LaPenta and Jack or Better Farm’s Jackson Bend, 12th in the Kentucky Derby, galloped a mile and three-eighths under Stacy Prior and Ike and Dawn Thrash’s Hurricane Ike, winner of The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial (GIII) on April 24, galloped a mile and a half shortly after the track opened at 6 a.m. Hurricane Ike is scheduled to work Monday.

APPRENTICE LENCLUD BAGS THURSDAY TRIPLE – Apprentice jockey Freddie Lenclud had an idea Thursday could be a good day at Churchill Downs.

"In the morning, I was looking at the paper and it looked like I had a couple of shots,” said Lenclud, a 23-year-old native of Lamdrecis, France. “I told my agent (Doc Danner) that three or four was a good number and he was laughing.”

When the day was done, Lenclud had three winners from seven mounts and became the first apprentice to win three races in a day at Churchill Downs since Julien Leparoux in the spring of 2006 when he won at least three races 11 times.

"To win three at Churchill Downs, that’s pretty good,” said Lenclud, who posted his first North American victory last July at Ellis Park. Lenclud rode 24 winners at the 2010 Oaklawn Park meeting, good for seventh in the rider standings, and rode five winners last month at Keeneland, good for a tie for ninth in a star-studded jockey colony.

“I’m not sure about the last time an apprentice rode three, but I am sure glad he did it yesterday,” said Danner, “because everybody was watching Churchill Downs.”

With a $947,641 Pick 6 carryover and a pool in the multiple-race wager that grew to $4,086,255, plenty of eyes were on Churchill Downs and two of Lenclud’s winners came in the Pick 6 sequence:  Dabossman ($10.40) in the sixth and Quiet by Seven ($5.80) in the seventh. The latter victory on the Matt Winn Turf Course was for trainer Michelle Nihei.

"I like a lot of things about him,” Nihei said of Lenclud, whom she uses often. “He works hard. He shows up in the mornings and I feel very confident that he knows the horses.

“He tries hard and he’s hungry. He works to get it done. He’s very patient and I think he’s got a little bit of ice in his veins and that’s important.”

IROQUOIS WINNER THISKYHASNOLIMIT HEADS NOMNEES TO MAY 15 MATT WINN – Cathy and Bob Zollars and Mark Wagner’s Thiskyhasnolimit, winner of last fall’s Iroquois (GIII) beneath the Twins Spires, heads a list of 20 nominations for the ninth running of the Matt Winn.

Scheduled for May 15, the $100,000-added Matt Winn is a seven-furlong sprint on the main track for 3-year-olds that was won last year by Capt. Candyman Can.

Idle since finishing sixth as the favorite in last year’s Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) that was won by Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, Thiskyhasnolimit is trained by Steve Asmussen. Asmussen has won the Matt Winn twice, scoring with Posse in 2003 and Razor in 2005.

Among the other stakes winners nominated to the Matt Winn training on the grounds are Robert and Lawana Low and Winmore LLC’s Cool Bullet and Donegal Racing’s Vow to Wager.

Cool Bullet, trained by Steve Margolis, won the Sugar Bowl this winter at Fair Grounds and in his most recent start won the Hansel at Turfway Park. Vow to Wager, trained by two-time Matt Winn winner Dale Romans, won the John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park in February via disqualification and ran second to Stay Put in an optional claiming race that opened the Kentucky Derby Day card.

Trainer John Sadler, who saddled Hurricane Ike to win the opening-day The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial (GIII), is pointing C R K Stable’s Privilaged to the Matt Winn. Privilaged ran third last out in the seven-furlong Swale (GII) at Gulfstream.

Entries for the Matt Winn will be taken Wednesday.

BARN TALK – Three-time Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Calvin Borel will be the Spring Meet’s first guest for “Get in the Game with Jill Byrne,” a regular Saturday interview and handicapping seminar hosted by the Churchill Downs racing analyst.

Saturday’s seminar is set for at 11:45 a.m. (EDT)  in the paddock.

Thiskyhasnolimit, winner of the Iroquois (Grade III) at Churchill Downs on Nov. 1, heads a field of nine 2-year-olds entered for Saturday’s 83rd running of the $150,000-added Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (GII) at 1 1/16 miles on the main track.

    The Kentucky Jockey Club, which serves as the co-feature on the closing-day “Stars of Tomorrow II” card devoted exclusively to 2-year-olds, will go as the 11th race on the 12-race card with an approximate post time of 4:27 p.m. (all times ET). First post time Saturday is 11:30 a.m.

    Trained by Steve Asmussen for owners Cathy and Bob Zollars and Mark Wagner, Thiskyhasnolimit broke his maiden at second asking at Churchill Downs this summer and then tackled Grade II stakes company in New York highlighted by a third-place finish in the Futurity at Belmont Park.

    Robby Albarado has the mount Saturday on Thiskyhasnolimit, who is the 2-1 favorite in oddsmaker Mike Battaglia’s Kentucky Jockey Club morning line odds and will break from post position three.

    Two other stakes winners are in the field for the Kentucky Jockey Club that was won last year by John C. Oxley’s Beethoven.

    The second choice at 5-2 in Battaglia’s Kentucky Jockey Club morning line is WinStar Farm’s Super Saver, a son of Maria’s Mon who finished a close fourth to Homeboykris in the $400,000 Champagne (GI) at Belmont Park.  The Todd Pletcher trainee was a seven-length maiden winner over a sloppy Belmont Park track in his previous outing and will be ridden by Calvin Borel from post two.

    A.C. and Clare Asbury’s Gleam of Hope (6-1) won the off-the-turf Cradle at River Downs for trainer Tony Reinstedler and in his first start back was fourth in the Iroquois. Corey Lanerie will ride and break from post position five.       Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s William’s Kitten (5-1) won the off-the-turf Sunday Silence at Louisiana Downs and enters the Kentucky Jockey Club off an eighth-place finish in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI) at Santa Anita. Miguel Mena will ride and break from post position four.

    The field for the Kentucky Jockey Club, from the rail out, is as follows: King Snake (L. Goncalves, 122 pounds, 15-1), Super Saver (C. Borel, 122, 5-2), Thiskyhasnolimit (R. Albarado, 122, 2-1), William’s Kitten (M. Mena, 122, 5-1), Gleam of Hope (C. Lanerie, 122, 6-1), Mr. Saturdaynight (G. Saez, 122, 8-1), Worldly (F. Torres, 122, 12-1), Callide Valley (J. Theriot, 122. 10-1) and Activity Report (T. Thompson, 122, 20-1).

The Grand Canyon, a $60,000-added overnight stake at 1 1/16 miles on the grass, will be run as the sixth race with a 1:58 p.m. post time.  Topping the field of 10 are homebred sons of turf champion Kitten’s Joy owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey: Dean’s Kitten and Kera’s Kitten, who will each tote 122 pounds and concede six pounds to their rivals.

Dean’s Kitten ran sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in his most recent start after having won the Vision Stakes at Belmont Park and is the 5-2 morning line favorite..  Kera’s Kitten, the 4-1 second choice in the Grand Canyon, is 2-for-2 in his career and won the El Joven Stakes at Retama Park in his most recent start.

The field for the Grand Canyon, from the hedge out, is as follows: Lost Aptitude (J. Court, 116 pounds, 5-1), Romans Reward (R. Albarado, 116, 8-1), Thunder Perfect (C. Borel, 116, 20-1), Cat Park (G. Saez, 116, 5-1), Kera’s Kitten (M. Mena, 122, 4-1), Letsgetitonmon (I. Ocampo, 116, 15-1), Mint Chip (C. Lanerie, 116, 10-1), Silenced (T. Thompson, 116, 15-1), Dean’s Kitten (E. Baird, 122, 5-2) and Our Douglas (J. Castanon, 116, 8-1).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You think?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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