Wesley Ward

LIFELONG RACETRACKER FOLEY ON CUSP OF CHURCHILL MILESTONE – The question brought a chuckle from trainer Greg Foley.

“The first time my dad brought me to the race track? I guess I was 3 or 4,” the 51-year-old Foley said. “When I was 5 or 6, I was walking hots.”

The son of trainer Dravo Foley, Greg Foley enters Thursday’s card with 299 career victories beneath the Twin Spires and he has two horses entered on Thursday’s card in his bid to become the 12th trainer to achieve 300 victories at Churchill Downs.

Foley was 23 when he won his first race at Churchill Downs during the 1981 Spring Meet and he won his only training title here in the 1991 Spring Meet when he saddled 17 winners. All of his early hands-on experience was learned in his father’s barn.    “Take care of the horse first. He drilled that in me from the word ‘go,’ ” Foley said of the best advice he received from his father. “There are no shortcuts when it comes to taking care of horses. Have them fit before they run and keep them happy.”

The best horse Foley had was Champali, who accounted for three of the four stakes Foley has accrued at Churchill Downs. Champali won the 2002 Iroquois (Grade III), 2003 Northern Dancer and the 2004 Aristides (GIII), the latter in a 4-year-old campaign that took Foley to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (GI) at Lone Star Park.  Champali finished seventh in that race.

In his barn today, Foley cares for six offspring of Champali.

“I have three 2-year-olds and three 3-year-olds by Champali.” Foley said. “They are all sound horses and I have won some races with them. He was like that and a very easy horse to train.”

Foley’s first shot at 300 will come in the fifth race with Izzy Ali, a 3-year-old son of Champali. He also will send out Lil’ Moor Dixie in the seventh.

“I hadn’t really thought much about it (300 wins), but not a lot of guys have done that and it would be pretty neat,” Foley said. “This has been our home track, so it would be special.”

Foley could become the fourth trainer to reach the 300-win milestone this meet, joining Tom Amoss, Lynn Whiting and David Vance.

DEFENDING CHAMPION THORN SONG TOPS LIST OF FIRECRACKER NOMINATIONS – Zayat Stables’ Thorn Song, winner of the 2008 Firecracker Handicap (Grade II), headlines a list of 43 nominees for the 19th running of the $150,000-added one-mile test scheduled for July 4 over the Matt Winn Turf Course.

    Trained by Dale Romans, who also won the Firecracker in 2005 with Kitten’s Joy, Thorn Song showed a return to top form by getting his second Grade I victory in his most recent start, the Shoemaker Mile at Hollywood Park on May 25. In addition to the Firecracker, Thorn Song also won the Shadwell Turf Mile (Grade I) last fall at Keeneland.

    Thorn Song worked five furlongs on the firm turf Thursday morning in 1:01.40 around the “dogs.”
The only other Grade I winner among the nominees is Circle E Racing’s Mr. Sidney, who captured the Maker’s Mark Mile this spring at Keeneland for trainer Bill Mott.

    Also included among the nominees are three horses who have enjoyed considerable success over the Matt Winn Turf Course.

    Heiligbrodt Racing Stable’s Inca King has won three stakes on the grass here, the Opening Verse in 2008, the Commonwealth Turf and the Grade II Jefferson Cup in 2007; Chrysalis Stables’ Silverfoot, a three-time Louisville Handicap (Grade III) winner who is 5-for-7 over the Matt Winn Turf Course; and, Michael Cooper and Pamela Ziebarth’s Tizdejavu, 3-for-3 on the course including victories in the American Turf (Grade III) and Jefferson Cup in 2008.

    Weights for the Firecracker will be released on Saturday.

CLOSING-DAY LOCUST GROVE ATTRACTS 33 NOMINATIONS – Helen Alexander and Helen Groves’ Acoma, winner of the Early Times Mint Julep (Grade III) on June 6, tops a list of 33 nominations for the 28th running of the $100,000-added Locust Grove Handicap (Grade III).

    The Locust Grove, for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going a mile on the Matt Winn Turf Course, serves as the centerpiece of the closing-day program on July 5.

    Trained by David Carroll, Acoma added the Mint Julep score to her victory in last fall’s Grade II Mrs. Revere on the turf. Acoma is 4-for-4 overall at Churchill Downs and undefeated in six starts in the state of Kentucky.

    Two of the fillies who chased Acoma in the Mint Julep are included in the Locust Grove nominees.
 Darley Stable’s Tizaqueena finished third to Acoma, but earlier in the meet won the Grade II Distaff Turf Mile here. Glen Hill Farm’s Closeout was fifth in the Mint Julep in her 2009 debut off a nearly eight-month layoff.

James Barry’s Genuine Devotion (IRE) won the 2008 Locust Grove in the first running of the race at the mile distance on the turf.

Weights for the Locust Grove will be announced Sunday.

TWENTY 2-YEAR-OLDS NOMINATED TO BASHFORD MANOR – Fillies have won the $100,000-added Bashford Manor (Grade III) three times and two 2-year-old fillies have been nominated to this year’s edition, which will be run on July 3.

    Fiesty Ex and Kinsolving, both from the Heiligbrodt Racing Stable, are among the four nominees for trainer Steve Asmussen to the six-furlong event at on the main track. Asmussen, who has won the Bashford Manor twice, also nominated Grand Slam Andre and Western Smoke, both owned by J. Kirk Robison.

    Fiesty Ex broke her maiden at first asking on April 30 and Kinsolving finished sixth the same day in the Kentucky Juvenile (Grade III) after winning her April 17 debut at Keeneland.  Kinsolving is entered in Saturday’s Debutante (Grade III) for fillies.

Western Smoke was fourth in the Kentucky Juvenile and recently finished second to fellow Bashford Manor nominee Brassy Boy in a June 11 allowance race here. Grand Slam Andre broke his maiden in his second try in winning by 7 ¾ lengths on June 4.

    Other first-time maiden special weight winners nominated to the Bashford Manor are Gold Mark Farm’s Backtalk, a half-brother to graded stakes winner Bsharpsonata, and Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Satisfied Mind, who is trained by Wesley Ward.

Ward saddled the 1-2 finishers, Aegean and Jealous Again, in the Kentucky Juvenile. He took those fillies to England last week and each scored victories in stakes races at the famed Royal Ascot meet.
    Fillies to win the Bashford Manor are Miss Patience (1933), Royal Pam (1938) and Miss Ra He Ra (1993). The race was open to fillies from 1932-38 and reopened to both sexes in 1989.

BARN TALK – Woodford Racing LLC’s Manners became the first offspring of Rock Hard Ten to reach the races when the 2-year-old filly ran 10th in Sunday’s eighth race. Rock Hard Ten, who retired from racing in 2005 with a record of 11-7-1-1 with earnings of $1,870,380, did not have enough graded stakes earnings to make the 2004 Kentucky Derby, a race won by Smarty Jones. Rock Hard Ten ran second to Smarty Jones in the Preakness and concluded his career with five graded stakes victories including Grade I scores in the Malibu and Santa Anita Handicap.

    Entering the final eight days of the meet, Julien Leparoux has a 55-51 advantage on Calvin Borel in the chase for leading rider. Leparoux has five mounts and Borel six on Thursday’s card. Leparoux has won four riding titles at Churchill Downs and Borel two. Both riders will be out of town for part of the weekend and miss one program: Leparoux rides Friday night at Prairie Meadows on Nursery Rhyme in the Saylorville Stakes and Moonport in the Iowa Derby, both for trainer Ian Wilkes. Borel, who is named on 10 mounts Friday night, will be at Belmont Park on Saturday to ride Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) and Preakness (Grade I) winner Rachel Alexandra in the Grade I Mother Goose. Other Churchill Downs regulars riding Friday night at Prairie Meadows are Robby Albarado, Miguel Mena and Shaun Bridgmohan. Leparoux and Albarado will return to Iowa on Saturday night for stakes engagements after riding at Churchill Downs that afternoon.

MILESTONE WATCH – Churchill Downs-based trainer William Connelly moved closer to the 1,000-victory plateau on Monday night when Just Memories gave him win No. 999. Just Memories, a 3-year-old filly, broke her maiden in a five-furlong turf sprint in the second race at Indiana Downs. Connelly can hit the milestone on Thursday’s card when he sends out Hungry Tigress in the eighth race.

RACHEL ALEXANDRA WORKS HALF-MILE IN :50.20, NO DECISION ON BELMONT
 – With majority owner Jess Jackson of Stonestreet Stables looking on, Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) and Preakness Stakes (Grade I) winner Rachel Alexandra worked a half-mile in :50.20 under exercise rider Dominic Terry over a sloppy track Monday morning at Churchill Downs.
    Accompanied by a pony with assistant trainer Scott Blasi aboard, Rachel Alexandra came on the track shortly before 6:30 and walked around to the paddock runway. At 6:35, with rain starting to pelt down, Rachel Alexandra eased her way down the half-mile pole and reeled off fractions of :12.60, :25, :37.20 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:04.20. The :50.20 clocking was the 10th best of 38 at the distance.
    After the work, Jackson declined to name Rachel Alexandra a starter for the June 6 Belmont Stakes (Grade I).
    “As I have said before, it is up to her,” Jackson said. “We are still considering the Belmont or the ($300,000, Grade I) Mother Goose (at 1 1/8th miles on June 27), which would give her a little more time.
    “She is recovering nicely from the Preakness. She is going to progress. She is not in top shape right now, but she will blowout next Monday and that will tell us more. The key thing is her attitude. She thinks she can run through a brick wall. We need to pull her back a little bit, because she wants to run.
    “My primary concern is the horse herself. I’d like to keep her around and let the public enjoy her. She is special. I don’t want to push her past her limits.”
    Calvin Borel rode Rachel Alexandra to victory in the Kentucky Oaks and Preakness and won the Kentucky Derby on Mine That Bird, who is considered a definite starter for the Belmont.
    “Calvin is a great jockey and I hope he’d be willing to go with her,” Jackson said. “He has to make his decision for himself and if we’re in there together and he’s not on our horse it’ll probably be Robby Albarado, who was with us with Curlin.”   
    Trainer Steve Asmussen described Rachel Alexandra’s work, her first serious training move since her historic victory over males in the Preakness as “beautiful.”  The Eclipse Award-winning trainer was pleased by the way the filly handled changing weather conditions as the clouds opened with a brief, but heavy, rain shower during the half-mile move.  The move was uncharacteristically slow for Rachel Alexandra prior to her move to her new home in the Asmussen stable, but fairly routine for the Asmussen stable, which rarely sends its horses out for fast works.
    “It was very odd,” Asmussen said.  “When she broke off, it wasn’t raining and she kind of broke-off into the rain and that aided Dominic a bit there.  She looked beautiful moving, went under the wire well and came back very happy.”
Jackson was asked about a possible match-up later in the year with the undefeated Zenyatta, the reigning champion older or filly or mare who ran her record to 10-for-10 with a victory Saturday in the Milady (Grade II) at Hollywood Park.
    “I look forward to facing Zenyatta,” Jackson said. “But I want to keep her (Rachel Alexandra) on the East Coast. If Zenyatta wants to come east, come on. I don’t want to run a horse on synthetic (surfaces).”
    So, does this mean Rachel Alexandra would not go to the Breeders’ Cup World Championships that will be held Nov. 6 and 7 on the Pro-Ride surface at Santa Anita?
    “Unless there is no other frontier to conquer. If she runs on the plastic, she can beat the boys in the Classic … not the Ladies’ Classic,” said Jackson, whose two-time Horse of the Year Curlin ran fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic last year at Santa Anita.
    
MINE THAT BIRD WORKS “PERFECT” HALF-MILE IN :51 UNDER BOREL – Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird worked a half-mile in :51 over a sloppy track after the renovation break under jockey Calvin Borel.
    Walking to the track without a pony and equipped with four new shoes that were put on Sunday afternoon, Mine That Bird backtracked to the paddock runway and then went about his business, posting fractions of :13.60, :26.40, :38.40 and galloping out five-eighths in 1:04.20 and six furlongs in 1:18.40. The 51-second clocking for a half-mile was the 16th fastest of 38 at the distance.
    “It was perfect,” trainer Chip Woolley said. “I didn’t want anything like the :49 of before the Preakness. The work was super and Calvin really happy with it. He had a little more wrap on him this time.
    “I just wanted him to stretch is legs a bit. He will step it up next Monday and then fly to New York on Wednesday. He will walk tomorrow and then go back to the track the next day.”
    Woolley is facing the same rider dilemma he faced before the Preakness in not knowing if he would have the services of Borel, who rode Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness. Rachel Alexandra has not been confirmed for the Belmont, leaving Borel’s status up in the air.
    “I am going to hold off a few more days out of respect for Calvin,” Woolley said. “I am going to talk with (owners) Mark Allen and Doc (Leonard Blach) and give it a little more time and see how things develop. It is possible I could wait until next Monday.”
    Both Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra are scheduled to work here next Monday.
    “I’d like to have closure on this, but it is the nature of the business,” Woolley said. “You’ve got two good horses vying for the same rider. Nobody likes to be in this situation. Both horses are at the top of their game and it is a tough choice for the rider and it is tough for the trainers.”

BARN TALK – Trainer Wesley Ward is planning a trip this summer to England’s famed Royal Ascot meet and the 2-year-olds he plans to take on that international journey worked over the turf course at River Downs between races during the Cincinnati track’s Sunday program.  Heading that group were Aegean and Jealous Again, the fillies who finished 1-2 in the Kentucky Juvenile (GIII) at Churchill Downs on April 30. Those fillies worked three furlongs in company over “firm” turf in :34.80.  … Stonestreet Stables and Gulf Coast Farm’s Derby Trial (GIII) runner-up Kensei breezed six furlongs in 1:13 over a sloppy track on Monday.  The 3-year-old son of Mr. Greeley is being pointed toward a rematch with unbeaten Trial winner Hull in the Woody Stephens (GII) on the Belmont Stakes undercard on June 6 at Belmont Park.  Kensei worked in company with stablemate Omniscient, who finished with an identical clocking. … Helen Alexander and Helen Groves’ Selva, runner-up to War Kill in Keeneland’s Beaumont (GII) last time out, breezed a sharp half-mile in :47 over Monday’s sloppy going.  The move was the fastest of 38 works at the distance for trainer David Carroll’s daughter of Forest Wildcat. … Monday’s Memorial Day feature at Churchill Downs is the $100,000-added Winning Colors (GIII), a race for older fillies and mares at six furlongs named in honor of the 1988 Kentucky Derby winner, the most recent of only three fillies to win the “Run for the Roses.”  So it was a lovely bit of serendipity when Ocean Colors, a 3-year-old daughter of the Derby winner, showed up on the Monday work tab at Churchill Downs with a half-mile breeze in :51.20.  The Steve Asmussen-trained Orientate filly looked like something special when she scored a dazzling victory in her career debut on June 13 of last year at Churchill Downs.  Her 2-year-old campaign ended when she finished last of nine as the favorite in her next start in Saratoga’s Schuylerville (GIII), and her lone start at three was a fourth-place finish in an allowance race on the Polytrack surface at Keeneland.   By the way, Ocean Colors was not the only impressive 2-year-old filly to break her maiden on last June’s Friday the 13th card.  There was another race in that division on the card that day and it was won by Rachel Alexandra.

NO LIVE RACING THIS  TUESDAY-THURSDAY, FREE ADMISSION TO THURSDAY SIMULCASTS – Following today’s special Memorial Day racing program, Churchill Downs will be dark on Tuesday, May 26; Wednesday, May 27; and Thursday, May 28.
There will be no on-site simulcast wagering on Tuesday and Wednesday, but Churchill Downs will be open for simulcasting on Thursday, May 28.and will offer free general admission for patrons to place wagers on outlets around the country in the ITW area on the second floor of the clubhouse.

Six debut winners at Keeneland, a record-setting filly from Maryland and a West Coast invader highlight a field of nine 2-year-olds entered Sunday for Thursday’s 21st running of the $100,000-added Kentucky Juvenile (Grade III) at Churchill Downs.

    The five-furlong event, which has been won seven times by fillies, serves as the first graded stakes of 2009 for 2-year-olds. Five fillies have been entered for Thursday’s race, including Jealous Again and Gator Prowl.

    Jealous Again, owned by Robert Abrams, Mitch Dutko and Wesley Ward and trained by Ward, won the first 2-year-old race of the recently concluded Keeneland meet by 11 ¼ lengths on April 3. Rene Douglas will be aboard Thursday and break from post position two.

    Gator Prowl, owned by Danny Divver and John Salzman Jr. and trained by Salzman, won her debut at Laurel Park on April 9 by 11 ½ lengths and broke a 45-year-old track record in the process for the 4 ½-furlong distance with a clocking of :52.11. Jonathan Joyce, who was aboard for that win, has the riding assignment on Thursday.

    Other debut Keeneland winners in the field are Steven Bell’s Aegean, Heiligbrodt Racing Stable’s Heavenville and Kinsolving, Twin Creek Racing Stable’s Mission Impazible and J. Kirk Robison’s Western Smoke. Aegean and Kinsolving are fillies.

    Coming in from Southern California is Elizabeth and Patrick Everard’s Kitty in the Bag, a 3 ¼-length winner at Santa Anita over two furlongs on April. The filly is trained by veteran Mel Stute and will be ridden by Joe Talamo from post position three.

    Trainer Steve Asmussen, who has saddled the Kentucky Juvenile winner five times, will be represented by Heavenville, Kinsolving and Western Smoke. Two-time race winners Robby Albarado and Shaun Bridgmohan will be aboard Heavenville and Kinsolving, respectively.

    The field for the Kentucky Juvenile, from the rail out, is as follows: Aegean (Elvis Trujillo, 117 pounds), Jealous Again (Rene Douglas, 117), Kitty in the Bag (Joe Talamo, 117), Western Smoke (Brian Hernandez, 120), Kinsolving (Shaun Bridgmohan, 117), Heavenville (Robby Albarado, 120), Mission Impazible (John Velazquez, 120), Seattle Court (Calvin Borel, 118) and Gator Prowl (Jonathan Joyce, 117).

(May 25, 2008) – Indian Ashton, the 8-5 favorite in a field of 10 three-year-olds and up, broke fast from the gate and never looked back en route to a one-length victory over Probation Ready in Sunday’s $50,400 turf sprint feature at Churchill Downs.

Indian Ashton, a 4-year-old gelding trained by Wesley Ward, ran five furlongs on “firm” turf in :56.92 under jockey Elvis Trujillo. Ward also co-owns the California-bred with Brian O’Laughlin and Sanjesh Sharma.

The triumph was Indian Ashton’s fifth in 11 career starts. The $23,808 winner’s share increased his earnings to $208,198. Previously, the son of Tribal Rule finished fourth in the $100,000 Aegon Turf Sprint (Grade III) on the May 2 Kentucky Oaks undercard.

Indian Ashton returned $5.40, $4 and $2.60. Probation Ready, a 22-1 outsider who rallied belatedly along the turf course hedge, edged Prosico for second and paid $12.60 and $5.80. Prosico, the 3-1 second choice, returned $3.40.

Live racing resumes Monday at Churchill Downs with a special 11-race Memorial Day card that begins at 1:15 p.m. ET. The holiday action is topped by the $100,000-added Winning Colors Stakes (GIII), a six-furlong sprint for fillies and mares that will go as Race 10 at approximately 5:51 p.m. ET.

The Winning Colors field from the rail out (with jockeys and morning line odds): Gem Sleuth (Jesus Castanon, 12-1); defending champ Miss Macy Sue (Eusebio Razo Jr., 2-1); Adhrhythm (Corey Lanerie, 8-1); multiple stakes winner Pretty Jenny (Jaime Theriot, 7-2); two-time 2008 stakes winner Graeme Six (Julien Leparoux, 5-2); and 2006 Pocahontas Stakes champ Change Up (Robby Albarado, 3-1).

There also will be a Pick 6 carryover of $20,883.97 on Races 6-11.

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