West Point Thoroughbreds

STEWART: MACHO AGAIN “READY TO ROLL” FOR CLARK – The heavy lifting is all done and according to trainer Dallas Stewart, Macho Again is “ready to roll” for Friday’s 135th running of the $400,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (Grade II) at Churchill Downs.

“I feel good about our chances,” Stewart said of Macho Again, who is owned by West Point Thoroughbreds. “I like where we are, he loves this track and he worked great yesterday (five furlongs in 1:01.20).”

Macho Again has compiled a record of 5-3-1-0 at Churchill Downs with his biggest victory coming in June’s Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) in which he defeated likely Clark rivals Einstein (Brz) and Bullsbay.

The Clark will be Macho Again’s first start since finishing fourth in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (GI) on Oct. 3.

“There was no pace in that race and things just didn’t pan out that day,” Stewart said.

Macho Again came down with a cough after the Jockey Club that forced Stewart to cancel a trip to Santa Anita for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI). Since recovering from the brief setback Macho Again has had three five-furlong works.

The 4-year-old colt’s top effort of 2009 in which he also won the New Orleans Handicap (GII) was a runner-up effort to Kentucky Oaks (GI) winner and top Horse of the Year contender Rachel Alexandra in the Woodward (GI) at the Clark Handicap distance of 1 1/8 miles.

“That was a great race,” Stewart said of the Saratoga race in which Macho Again came the closest of any horse this year to Rachel Alexandra in falling a head short. “One more jump … that would have made my year.”

Stewart said that Macho Again would ship with his barn to the Fair Grounds at the end of the meet with the initial plans for 2010 being the Sunshine Millions Classic at Santa Anita on Jan. 30 or the Donn Handicap (GI) on Feb. 6 at Gulfstream Park.

GIANT OAK MAKES BELATED RETURN TO CHURCHILL DOWNS – After running second in last fall’s Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) here Giant Oak appeared on many watch lists as a contender for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI).

However, instead of running here on the first Saturday in May, Giant Oak will make a belated encore appearance beneath the Twin Spires on the last Friday in November in the Clark Handicap.

  “We had bad luck with him in New Orleans,” said Drew Coontz, assistant to trainer Chris Block. “In the Risen Star (GIII), that was a train wreck. A narrow track with 13 head and no pace. Then two hours before the Louisiana Derby (GII) there was a major downpour.”

Giant Oak went on to run second in the Illinois Derby (GII) under Shaun Bridgmohan, but Block pulled the colt from Kentucky Derby consideration because he did not feel he was seasoned enough for the Run for the Roses.

Owned by the Virginia Tarra Trust, Giant Oak spent the summer running on the grass at Arlington Park where he had made a spectacular debut as a 2-year-old. Giant Oak returned to the dirt in the Indiana Derby (GII) on Oct. 3 in which he ran second.

“Chris had wanted to try him back on the dirt,” Coontz said. “He ran very well in the Indiana Derby and we were very pleased.”

However, after the Indiana Derby, bumps in the road continued to emerge for Giant Oak.

“Five days after the Indiana Derby, he stepped on an Allen’s wrench with his right front,” Coontz said. “We shipped him to Keeneland a week before the Fayette (on Oct. 31). I flew in Thursday night and the next morning we were going to train and he was off in the left front and we had to scratch him.”

Giant Oak shipped directly to Churchill Downs instead of returning to his home base in Chicago and had three works, the most recent being Saturday morning, a bullet five furlongs in :59.80 with Bridgmohan up.

“He’s been doing great since he got here,” Coontz said. “He has worked well and this morning I got him in a minute.”

ONE CAROLINE SIDELINED; DERBY WEEK RETURN EYED – One Caroline, the talented 4-year-old daughter of Unbridled’s Song who won her first five career starts, has been sidelined by an injury that occurred during a third-place finish to Malibu Prayer in the Nov. 7 running of the Chilukki (GII).

“When she wasn’t nominated to the Falls City (Handicap), I figured somebody would be calling,” trainer Rusty Arnold said. “She got hurt in the Chilukki, has had surgery and is now on the farm.”

Owned by G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and the Louise Ireland Humphrey Revocable Trust-2008, One Caroline suffered her first career loss in the Louisville Distaff (GII) here on May 1. Shortly after that, she suffered an injury that sidelined her until the Chilukki.

“It is not the same injury and she has not been retired,” Arnold said of One Caroline, who ran third in the Chilukki. “The plan is to have her join the barn in Florida in February and try to run her (at Churchill Downs) Derby Week.

“The goal is to run in the Louisville Distaff, the same race she ran in this year.”

One Caroline suffered her first career defeat in that Kentucky Oaks Day race when she ran second to Miss Isella.

BARN TALK – For the followers of leading riders Calvin Borel and Julien Leparoux, mutual clerks were printing money on Friday at Churchill Downs. Borel and Leparoux, who have opened considerable daylight in the race for leading rider, combined to sweep the early Pick 4 resulting in payoffs that boggled the mind. Leparoux won the opener on Next May ($18.40), Borel won the second on Unreachable Star ($23) and third on Misleader ($10.60) and Leparoux took the fourth on Turfiste ($10.20). The rolling doubles came back $225.20, $199.80 and $72.20; the rolling Pick 3s returned $1,619.20 and $1,024; and, the Pick 4 returned $5,825.20 for a $2 bet. Borel added two more victories on the Friday card – Cielo Classic ($12.60) in the eighth and Haven’s Honey ($15) in the ninth for a $71.20 double – to open an 18-16 lead on Leparoux. Shane Bridgmohan is third with 12 victories.

WORK TAB – Dubious Miss was on the track a little after 6 a.m. Saturday with jockey Calvin Borel up to work five furlongs in 1:01 over a fast track in preparation for Friday’s Clark Handicap. “I got him in :26 the first part and :35 the last three-eighths,” trainer Paul McGee said. “Perfect.” McGee also worked Demarcation a half-mile in :50.80 for a probable start in Friday’s River City Handicap (GIII). Also working toward the River City was Pleasant Strike, who covered a half-mile in :48.60 for trainer Todd Pletcher. … Pocahontas (GIII) winner Sassy Image worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 for trainer Dale Romans in readying for next Saturday’s Golden Rod (GII). Other juveniles working five furlongs toward a likely closing-day stakes engagement on the “Stars of Tomorrow II” card were Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) nominees Callide Valley (1:00.60) for trainer Eddie Kenneally and Mr. Saturdaynight (1:01.80) for Romans. … Working at the Trackside Training Center for trainer Mike Maker were Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (GI) winner Furthest Land (half-mile in :50.40) and Kentucky Jockey Club probable William’s Kitten, the eighth-place finisher in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI), who worked a bullet five-eighths in 1:00.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

West Point Thoroughbreds’ Macho Again, last in the early going, made a strong move on the far turn to reach contention and then drew clear to win Saturday’s 28th running of the $660,000 Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I) at Churchill Downs by a length over Asiatic Boy (ARG).

Einstein (BRZ), bidding to become the first horse to win three consecutive Grade I races on three surfaces, finished a nose back in third.

            In giving West Point its second Stephen Foster win in three years -- Flashy Bull won in 2007 -- Macho Again gave jockey Robby Albarado his third consecutive Foster triumph. Albarado won last year on Horse of the Year Curlin.

Finallymadeit set the early fractions of :24.13, :48.13 and 1:12.71 with Researcher and Alphabet Magic in closest pursuit. Julien Leparoux had Einstein in three path about mid-pack while Macho Again lagged at the back of the eight-horse field.

Leaving the backstretch, Albarado swung Macho Again wide and kept him in the clear turning for home and avoiding a tightly bunched pack to his inside. Macho Again, now three for five at Churchill Downs, opened a clear lead in the stretch and had enough left to hold off Asiatic Boy, who was making his U.S. debut.

Trained by Dallas Stewart, Macho Again covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.75 over a fast track, carrying 117 pounds five fewer than Asiatic Boy. The victory was worth $396,924 and increased the 4-year-old Florida-bred son of Macho Uno’s earnings to $1,475,247.

            Macho Again, who won the 2008 Derby Trial here, returned $17.40, $6.20 and $3.60. Asiatic Boy returned $7 and $3.80 with Einstein, carrying top weight of 124 pounds, paying $2.10 to show. Arson Squad and Bullsbay dead-heated for fourth, a neck behind Einstein, and were followed in order by Researcher, Finallymadeit and Alphabet Magic.

POST-RACE QUOTES – THE STEPHEN FOSTER HANDICAP

DALLAS STEWART, trainer of MACHO AGAIN (winner)

            “He ran great, you know. He’s a great horse. We had a great rider. We put it all together today. You know he’s not an in and out horse like most people think. He got the money today on a dry track today at Churchill. He proved himself. I think we’ve got a lot of good things ahead of us. He’s won major races on major tracks from down in New Orleans to Saratoga to here. He’s all dirt horse is what he is.”

            Q: What might be next?

            “The Whitney (the Grade I, $750,000 Whitney Handicap for 3-year-olds and up over 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga on Saturday, Aug. 8) will be our next goal.”

ROBBY ALBARADO, jockey of MACHO AGAIN (winner)

            “The race set up great for us today. We had an outside trip and got a clear run. It’s not by design that I wanted to go around that wide, but I just put him in a path where he can run around horses. That’s just where he wants to be. You just hope that you don’t have to go too wide. He just prevailed to be the best today.”

TERRY FINLEY, co-owner of MACHO AGAIN (winner)

            “He’s not a big, imposing horse but he’s well balanced. He’s a sound horse, obviously. He’s danced a lot of dances. For a horse like this you’ve got to be a Grade I winner to be a Kentucky stallion. That was the reason we brought him back this year. We fully intend, if everything stays on track . . . we’re in the racing business and we love the game. We really think that in 2010, if everything stays on track, we’d love to come back and defend our title in the Stephen Foster.”

            Q: What about the rest of this year?

            “We’re going to try and get the money in the Whitney. We’ll talk to the partners and try to knock out the Jockey Club (Gold Cup) at Belmont and try to get to the Breeders’ Cup Classic.”

JULIEN LEPAROUX, jockey of EINSTEIN (third as the favorite)

“I’m on the horse to beat, so of course they’re trying to beat me. I had nowhere to go; I just had to wait.  I was in a pretty good spot, but I had nowhere to go.  So I just waited and when he got room at the eighth pole, he finished strong.  He was probably the best horse, but that’s horse racing.  Sometimes you get a tough trip and that’s that.”

HELEN PITTS-BLASI, trainer of EINSTEIN (third as the favorite)

“He ran huge, it was just bad racing luck.  They did all they could to get him beat, but that’s just part of racing I guess.  He gallops out in front.  What can you do?”

-30-

WOOLLEY CHARTS COURSE FOR MINE THAT BIRD: WEST VIRGINIA DERBY AND TRAVERS – Trainer Chip Woolley said Friday morning that the West Virginia Derby (Grade II) at Mountaineer Park would be the next start for Kentucky Derby (GI) winner Mine That Bird.

    “The West Virginia Derby fits our schedule the best and that’s the main thing,” Woolley said. “From there we will go to the Travers with the ultimate goal being the Breeders’ Cup Classic.”

    The $750,000-guaranteed West Virginia Derby will be run at 1 1/8 miles at Mountaineer on Aug. 1. The $1 million Shadwell Travers (Grade I) will be run at 1 ¼ miles on Aug. 29 at Saratoga.

    After the Travers, the route to the Breeders’ Cup to be run Nov. 7 at Santa Anita remains uncharted.

    “The Breeders’ Cup is 10 weeks after the Travers,” Woolley said. “He does not need an out on the Pro-Ride. He has been on the artificial and he won four in a row over the synthetic last year at Woodbine. I’d like to fly him in there two or three weeks before and have two breezes over the track, but we can sneak a race in there if we need it.”

    Owned by Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine, Mine That Bird walked the shedrow at Barn 42 on Friday, a day after he returned to the track for the first time since his third-place finish to Summer Bird in last Saturday’s Belmont Stakes (GI).

    “I may jog him Saturday rather than wait until Sunday because he is so fresh,” Woolley said. “I’d rather have him like that than the other way. I may go every other day, because I don’t want him to hurt himself.”

    Woolley had planned to track Mine That Bird one day and then walk two.  He said that Mine That Bird would resume full training next Sunday.

    “That way he would have had two full weeks off,” Woolley said. “We may stay here all the way (before the West Virginia Derby) and then go straight up to Saratoga.”

    Woolley, who has been on crutches since tearing his right leg up in a motorcycle accident this winter, was able to put a shoe on his right foot Thursday.

    “First time I have done that in three months and three weeks since Feb. 22,” Woolley said. “The doctor said I can put 20 to 40 pounds off pressure on it and it feels good to be able to walk a little on it.”

RESEARCHER BEATS THE RAIN IN FIRST DASH AT THE DOWNS – Rutledge Farm’s Researcher beat the rain Thursday upon arriving at Churchill Downs. Now, the question is can he beat seven other rivals in Saturday’s 28th running of the $660,000 Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I).

“We had just unloaded him at the barn at six o’clock when the rain started,” trainer Jeff Runco said. “We didn’t hit any rain at all coming in.”

Listed as the co-third choice at 4-1 on the morning line for the Foster, Researcher shipped in from his home base at Charles Town (W.Va.) for his first venture into Kentucky. Researcher will break from post position five under Calvin Borel, who won the 2006 Stephen Foster aboard longshot Seek Gold.

The Foster will be Researcher’s first start since he won the Charles Town Classic at 1 1/8 miles on April 18 in which he defeated $1.9 million earner Commentator and eight others.  Runco would have preferred a race for Researcher between the Classic and the Foster, but couldn’t find the right spot for the 5-year-old Virginia-bred gelding.

    “There was no race that would fit and then come back here in a timely fashion,” Runco said of Researcher, who has compiled a career record of 17-10-3-2 for earnings of $676,809.  He shipped to New York to win last fall’s Queens County (GII) at Aqueduct.

    Runco, who rode at Churchill Downs but never has saddled a starter as a trainer, explained Researcher’s only off-the-board finishes.

    “The day he ran eighth in his third start, a horse bumped him and he hit the rail and came back with a nasty cut,” Runco said. “In the Stymie (in which Researcher was fifth), he was picking up nine pounds off a layoff and he had to steady two or three times and just flattened out.”

    Researcher has a record of 8-4-3-0 at the Foster distance of 1 1/8 miles.  Although he dodged Thursday’s rain, Runco would not mind seeing some more showers Saturday.

    “He likes the mud,” Runco said. “Two races back when he won by 22, he broke the track record.”

MACHO AGAIN INDICATES HE COULD BE FOSTER FACTOR – After West Point Thoroughbreds’ Macho Again won last year’s Derby Trail, trainer Dallas Stewart told one and all that the colt was sitting on a big effort going into the Preakness (GI).

    Macho Again then ran second to Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown in the second jewel of the Triple Crown, one of the highlights in a year that produced three victories and two seconds from 10 starts and earnings of $731,427.

    Fast forward a year to Saturday’s Stephen Foster Handicap at 1 1/8 miles and there is Macho Again, sitting with two bullet works in his holster.

    “When he is on top of his game, he will show you,” Stewart said. “He has been doing great since the Alysheba and his last two works have been exceptional.”

    A 4-year-old son of Macho Uno, Macho Again has a 4-2-1-0 record at Churchill Downs with his only off-the-board finish coming in the Grade III Alysheba on May 1, when he finished sixth, beaten 4 ¼ lengths by Stephen Foster rival Bullsbay.

    “There was no pace in the race (:48.60 for a half and 1:13.40 for three-quarters), plus it was a mile and a sixteenth,” Stewart said. “He’s better at a mile and an eighth.”

    Macho Again, who won the New Orleans Handicap (GII) earlier this year, will break from post position under Robby Albarado and will carry 117 pounds.

“We’re getting 7 pounds from Einstein,” Stewart said, referring to the likely race favorite and starting high weight. “He’s going to be tough and he’s been looking real good galloping.”

BEAUTICIAN MAY BE FOLLOWING IN BIG HOOFPRINTS – A couple of weeks ago, trainer Ken McPeek called Take Charge Lady “probably my favorite horse that I’ve had.”

    A possible successor to the “Lady” may have been unveiled at Churchill Downs last Friday when Beautician won at first asking in taking a 5 ½-furlong race by 2 lengths in 1:04.71, one of the fastest times of the meet for the distance.

    “She could be any kind of horse,” McPeek said, adding that Beautician could show up in the Debutante (Grade III), a six-furlong race for 2-year-old fillies on June 27.

    Take Charge Lady, who posted a career record of 22-11-7-0 with earnings of $2,480,377, is a daughter of Dehere out of the Rubiano mare Felicita. Beautician is also a daughter of Dehere out of the Rubiano mare Caroni.

    “I picked them both out at Keeneland sales,” said McPeek, who got Take Charge Lady for $175,000 and Beautician for $110,000. “I had that (the breeding) in mind when I got her (Beautician). The two have a lot of the same qualities other than the coloring.”

    Take Charge Lady, who was owned by Select Stable, is a bay and Beautician, owned by Peter Callahan, is a gray/roan.

    The runner-up as the favorite to eventual 3-year-old filly champion Farda Amiga in the 2003 Kentucky Oaks, Take Charge Lady’s wins included Keeneland’s Ashland (GI) and Spinster (GI), and won the latter twice.  She also won the Fair Grounds Oaks (GII) and Alcibiades (GII), and scored Grade III wins in the Dogwood, Silverbulletday, and. Arlington Matron.

MILESTONE WATCH – Greg Foley moved closer to the 300-win mark at Churchill Downs on Thursday when he bookended the card with Gerivello in the opener and Speak of Kings in the nightcap. Foley, now with 297 Churchill Downs victories, is third in the trainer standings with 12 victories this spring, He has one horse entered Friday: Valentine Fever in the fourth.

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

    Trainer Bill Connelly, who has saddled 998 winners in his career, has two horses entered in Friday’s sixth race: Button Dancer and Princesa Marin.

Jockey Calvin Borel, whose two victories Thursday gave him 924 winners in his career at Churchill Downs, is named on eight mounts Friday. He needs one victory to equal Don Brumfield’s total of 925 for second all time at Churchill Downs behind Pat Day (2,482).

WORK TAB – Adele Dilschneider’s Terrain, working toward the Iowa Derby on June 26 at Prairie Meadows, worked five furlongs in 1:01.80 over a track labeled as “good” on Friday morning. The move was the sixth fastest of 27 at the distance.

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BE FAIR / TWEETER – Thomas Van Meter and Charles Kidder’s Be Fair galloped an unspecified distance.  Trainer D. Wayne Lukas says it’s up to the others to “figure out” how far she went.

Lukas says Be Fair will likely work Sunday or Monday.

Marylou Whitney Stables Tweeter is being pointed toward Oaks 135 according to trainer Lukas.  She’s lightly raced with just three lifetime starts.  Her lone win came in her most outing, a maiden special weight event at Keeneland on April 3, where she led from gate to wire.

Tweeter worked five furlongs in :59.80 on Thursday, the best of 30 at the distance.

FITZ JUST RIGHT / JUSTWHISTLEDIXIE – West Point Thoroughbreds’ Justwhistledixie and Fitz Just Right put in their final works for the Kentucky Oaks with a matching set of :49 breezes Friday morning with exercise rider Danny Wright handling both moves.

Justwhistledixie, winner of five straight races, was first out and put up fractions of :12.60, :24.40, :37 and out five furlongs in 1:02.20. Next came Fitz Just Right, who posted fractions of :12.40, :24.20, :36.60 and out in 1:02.40 according to Churchill Downs clockers.

However, after the work, Fitz Just Right was found to have a chip in her right front ankle and was declared out of the Oaks by trainer Kiaran McLaughlin.

“When she came back, she was not 100 percent ,” McLaughlin said. “We x-rayed the ankle and discovered the chip. She will get some time off. She is going to the Woodford Clinic in Versailles with Dr. (William) Baker.”

McLaughlin liked what he saw from the fillies in the works.

“They did it very nice and easy. I got Fitz Just Right in 48 and 4, so I might have missed it a tick,” McLaughlin said. “It was just a maintenance work because they worked fast last week together (1:00 for five furlongs at Keeneland).”

Julien Leparoux has the riding assignment on Justwhistledixie, who came out of her work fine according to McLaughlin.

FLYING SPUR – Mike Rutherford’s Flying Spur galloped Friday morning with exercise Joanna Trout up.

Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, the Churchill Downs’ all-time leader in victories and stakes scores, will be going after his initial Oaks victory with Flying Spur on Friday and try for a first Kentucky Derby win the following day with Hold Me Back.

Mott plans to work Flying Spur on Monday. Garrett Gomez, who won the 2007 Kentucky Oaks on Rags to Riches, is slated to ride Flying Spur on Friday.

GABBY’S GOLDEN GAL – Arnold Zetcher’s Gabby’s Golden Gal galloped a mile and a half under George Alvarez.

Trainer Bob Baffert plans to work the Sunland Park Oaks winner on Sunday. Victor Espinoza has the Oaks riding assignment.

NAN – J. Paul Reddam’s Nan working in company with Mizzen’s Wake, drilled five furlongs in 1:00.20 with Jesus Castanon aboard for the work.

Breaking off six lengths behind Mizzen’s Wake, Nan caught her workmate at the wire to record the fastest move of 39 at the distance for the morning.

“She went great,” said Aimee Dollase, the assistant trainer and sister of trainer Craig Dollase.  Her brother is at his home base at Hollywood Park and not expected to attend the Oaks. Corey Nakatani has the Oaks mount.

RACHEL ALEXANDRA – Likely Kentucky Oaks favorite Rachel Alexandra walked the shedrow at Barn 30 on Friday as a regular day off according to trainer Hal Wiggins.

Calvin Borel has the Oaks riding assignment and is scheduled to work Rachel Alexandra on Monday. L and M Partners LLC owns the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro.

West Point Thoroughbreds’ Macho Again rallied past favored Kodiak Kowboy in the final 50 yards to post a half-length victory Saturday in the $115,200 Derby Trial, the opening day feature of the 52-day Churchill Downs Spring Meet that will be highlighted by the 134th running of the $2 million guaranteed Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) on May 3.

Ridden by Julien Leparoux, Macho Again rated off the pace set by Eaton’s Gift, who took the field of nine through fractions of :22.59 and :45.14 and was still on top at the head of the stretch before being surrounded.  Fujita punched through on the inside to grab a brief advantage while Macho Again and Kodiak Kowboy moved as a team on the outside and began to draw clear of the field at the sixteenth pole.

Trained by Dallas Stewart, Macho Again completed the 7 ½ furlongs over a “fast” track in 1:28.45. A Florida-bred son of Macho Uno out of the Wild Again mare Go Donna Go, Macho Again improved his record to 8 3-2-0 with earnings of $143,761.

Sent off as the fifth choice, Macho Again returned mutuels of $14.20, $5.60 and $3.80. Vinery Stables’ Kodiak Kowboy, ridden by Corey Lanerie, returned $4 and $3 after finishing two lengths ahead of My Purple Haze Stables’ Fujita, who paid $5 to show under Calvin Borel.

Completing the field in order of finish were Majestic Warrior, Da’ Tara, Iron Works Pike, Eaton’s Gift, Turf War and Lemon Spice. Zulu Magic was scratched.

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 conduct the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 3, 2008. The track’s 2008 Spring Meet is set for April 26 through July 6. Churchill Downs has hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships a record six times. Information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at www.churchilldowns.com.

POST-RACE QUOTES

JULIEN LEPAROUX (winning rider, MACHO AGAIN):
“He broke good and was in good position.  As they made the run into the stretch, we got bumped a little bit between the eighth and sixteenth (pole). When he got bumped, it made him go again.

“I rode him before around two turns and he was not the same. Around one turn, that’s the kind of distance he needs.”

DALLAS STEWART (winning trainer of MACHO AGAIN):
“Can we get him in the Derby? Make this race $300,000.

“He’s a really honest colt. He had a little bit of trouble at the quarter-pole. Kodiak Kowboy dug in tough at the sixteenth pole and Macho had to work hard to get by him and he finished up really well.

“He loves the track. He likes the dirt. We’ve just got to keep him off the Polytrack. He trains well over it, but he just doesn’t get down and run on it.

“There are a ton of good 3-year-old races coming up, so we’ll see. This horse still has to mature a little bit, but he’s got a lot of fight in him.

“He had a little bit of a setback at the Fair Grounds. He had a little problem in the hind after the LeComte. We had to work on him with some therapy and he responded really well and came back and won his next start. We put him in the LeComte thinking we’d get him on the Derby trail, but he had that little setback in the hind leg.”

COREY LANERIE (rider of KODIAK KOWBOY, 2nd):
“We got to bumpin’ and slidin’ a little bit on the turn, but it wasn’t too bad. In the end it was a good trip. I got through and he gave it a good run. He just got a little tired at the end. He ran hard and he ran a good race.”

CALVIN BOREL (rider of FUJITA, 3rd):
“He ran his heart out. We had the good trip; down inside and saving the ground. I was pleased with him. He ran his heart out.”