Bennie

MINE THAT BIRD BACK-TRACKS OVER CHURCHILL DOWNS MUD – Kentucky Derby (Grade I) winner Mine That Bird returned to the racetrack for the first time since finishing third in last Saturday’s Belmont Stakes (Grade I) by leisurely back-tracking once around early Thursday morning under exercise rider Charlie Figueroa.

"He is fresh as a daisy this morning,” trainer Chip Woolley said as Mine That Bird pranced off the Churchill Downs track that had been rendered sloppy by overnight and morning rain.

The break from the track was the longest for Mine That Bird “since we brought him back last December off the layoff from the Breeders’ Cup,” Woolley said. “He will walk the next two days and go back to the track Sunday.

Owners Mark Allen of Double Eagle Ranch and Dr. Leonard Blach are scheduled to arrive in Louisville from New Mexico on Friday and, along with Woolley and jockey Calvin Borel, receive their Kentucky Derby trophies on Saturday.

“I am going to get with Mark and Doc when they get here and right now I am aiming for Monday for a decision on what we are going to do,” Woolley said. “We have six options that we are looking at.”

TIME MAY BE RIGHT FOR WARRIOR’S REDWARD IN NORTHERN DANCER – For A. Stevens Miles Jr.’s Warrior’s Reward, the road to the Kentucky Derby hit a dead end in Tampa, Fla., with an eighth-place finish behind Musket Man in the Tampa Bay Derby (Grade III) on March 14.

    “He didn’t get the best of rides that day and it might have been a blessing for him,” trainer Ian Wilkes said. “He made some noise in that race and had a little throat surgery after that has been good since. Maybe it was not our time yet.”

    Fast forward nearly three months and it appears the time may be at hand for the son of Medaglia d’Oro who figures to be an overwhelming favorite in Saturday’s 12th running of the $100,000-added Northern Dancer (Grade III) at 1 1/16 miles on the main track. Warrior’s Reward will break from post position three under Calvin Borel.

    Warrior’s Reward returned to the races on May 1 and won a seven-furlong allowance test by 2 ¼ lengths over Munnings. All Munnings did in his next start was romp in last Saturday’s Woody Stephens Stakes (Grade II) at Belmont Park.

     “I was pleased to see that,” said Wilkes, whose summer goals for Warrior’s Reward include the Jim Dandy (Grade II) and the Travers (Grade I) at Saratoga.

    Warrior’s Reward tuned up for the Northern Dancer with a bullet, five-furlong work in the mud of 1:01.60 on June 4. He worked in company with Miss Isella, who figures to be the favorite in Saturday’s 35th running of the $200,000-added Fleur De Lis Handicap (Grade II) at 1 1/8 miles on the main track.

   Miss Isella has won four of her six starts at Churchill Downs and will be ridden Saturday by Borel, who has been aboard in all five of the 4-year-old filly’s victories.

    “She just loves this track,” said Wilkes of Miss Isella, who has won the Grade II Louisville Distaff and Falls City Handicap (Grade II) in her two most recent Churchill Downs races. “The only track she doesn’t seem to like is Gulfstream Park and I have never figured that out.”
    
ARSON SQUAD RELISHING RETURN TO THE DIRT – If horses could talk, one would imagine that Jay Em Ess Stable’s Arson Squad’s succinct appraisal of synthetic surfaces would go something like this: “NAY!”

    “The dirt turned him right around,” said Michelle Nevin, assistant to trainer Rick Dutrow, of Arson Squad, who joined the barn late last summer following a run of seven consecutive off-the-board finishes over Southern California’s three synthetic race tracks.

    In his first start for Dutrow, Arson Squad won the Meadowlands Cup Handicap, the third Grade II victory of his career. All three of those victories have come at 1 1/8 miles, the distance he will be asked to run Saturday in the 28th running of the $600,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I).

    Arson Squad last ran in $6 million Dubai World Cup (Grade I) on March 28 in which he finished 11th, placing 3 ¼ lengths in front of fellow Foster rival Asiatic Boy. Once back from Dubai, Arson Squad has run of a string of five bullet works at Aqueduct.

    “I was on some of those; we spread it around,” said Nevin, who served as the regular exercise rider for 2008 Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown. “His last work there on June 3 in company with Kip Deville was lights out. Hopefully he will like it here.”

    That five-furlong move with the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Mile (Grade I) winner was accomplished in 1:00.

    Arson Squad arrived at Churchill Downs on Monday on the same flight that brought Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird back to Louisville from his third-place effort in the Belmont Stakes. With Nevin up, Arson Squad worked a half-mile after the break in :49.60, the 17th fastest of 31 at the distance.

    Arson Squad, who will break from post position four under Garrett Gomez, will carry 118 pounds, six fewer than probable Stephen Foster favorite Einstein. It makes a 3-pound shift in Arson Squad’s favor from the most recent matchup of the two in the Jan. 31 Donn Handicap (Grade I) at Gulfstream Park in which Einstein finished 3 ¼ lengths ahead of Arson Squad.

WHIRLIE BERTIE BACK IN ACTION FOR MARGOLIS – When Whirlie Bertie zoomed through her conditions here last spring and summer, her opportunities appeared limitless. But after leaving Churchill Downs she ran third in the Monmouth Oaks (Grade III) and then faded badly in the Oct. 3 Indiana Oaks (Grade II) at Hoosier Park.

    Owned by Richard, Bertram and Elaine Klein, Whirlie Bertie has not been seen at the races since, but that will end Friday in the fourth race when she returns in a seven-furlong, allowance optional claiming event.

    “She got hot that day and after that race we sent her to Rood and Riddle (in Lexington) to check her out,” trainer Steve Margolis said. “She had a little bit of a fracture in her right hind leg. No surgery was required and it healed well on its own and she stayed here all winter.”

    All of Whirlie Bertie’s win have come around two turns and Margolis is not quite sure what to expect in Friday’s sprint.

    “It will be interesting. I was looking to run a mile and a sixteenth, but there was nothing for her,” Margolis said. “She has been training good and we’ve done a lot of schooling with her. The outside spot (post five of six) should be good and (jockey) Shaun (Bridgmohan) knows her and has won on her.”
    
MILESTONE WATCH – Jockey Calvin Borel, who has ridden 922 winners in his career at Churchill Downs, is named on five mounts Thursday. He needs three victories to equal Don Brumfield’s total of 925 for second all time at Churchill Downs behind Pat Day (2,482).

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

    Also closing in on the 300-win mark at Churchill Downs is trainer Greg Foley. Currently tied for third in the trainer standings with 10 victories this spring, Foley has a career total of 295 here. He has two horses entered Thursday: Gerivello in the first and Speak of Kings in the ninth.

BARN TALK – Fleur De Lis Handicap contender Miss Isella will now run under the ownership of Elaine Jones.

    Stephen Foster Hadicap favorite Einstein is scheduled to school in the paddock with horses in Thursday’s second race for trainer Helen Pitts-Blasi.

Nominations close Saturday for the 109th running of the Debutante (Grade III) for 2-year-old fillies going six furlongs on the main track on June 27. Garden District won the 2008 Debutante by a half-length over Rachel Alexandra.

    Training hours will begin at 5 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday to give horsemen the opportunity to train under the lights that will be used for the three night cards this meet. The first of those nights is Friday, June 19, followed by June 26 and Thursday, July 2.

CORRECTION – An item in the May 31 Barn Notes incorrectly stated that Lady On Holiday was bred to Jump Start. She was bred to 2008 Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown and is in foal.

WORK TAB – Jake Wil Gallop, winner of the USA Stakes at Lone Star Park on May 25 in his most recent start, worked three furlongs over a sloppy track in :38.60 in advance of Saturday’s Jefferson Cup (Grade II).

MINE THAT BIRD WORKS HALF-MILE IN :50 FOR BELMONT – Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s Mine That Bird put in his final major preparation for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes (Grade I) by working a half-mile in :50 under jockey Calvin Borel on Monday at Churchill Downs.
    The winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) came on the fast Churchill Downs track shortly after 8:30 a.m. (all times EDT) when the track reopened after the morning renovation break. Borel backtracked Mine That Bird to the frontside and then loped around to the backstretch for the work that clockers caught in splits of :13.80, :26.60, :38.40, the half in :50 with a five-eighths gallop out time of 1:02.20 and six furlongs in 1:15.
    The time for the half-mile was the 32nd fastest of 57 at the distance.
“He picked it up good the last quarter,” said trainer Chip Woolley, who before the work said he was looking for something in the 49 to 49.20 range. “The main thing was the last quarter in 23 and 2. The important part was finishing strong and galloping out without weakening.”
    After the work, Borel was ecstatic about the work and Mine That Bird’s chances in the Belmont.
    “We’re gonna win, no questions asked,” Borel said. “He worked in :50 and out in 1:02, just like before the Derby. He is doing everything the same. After those two hard races (the Derby and Preakness), I think the colt is very happy.”
    Woolley continued to the perfect fit that has become horse and rider.
    “You watch when he comes out on the track with (exercise rider) Charlie (Figueroa) or anybody else and he has his head up and is looking around,” Woolley said. “With Calvin, he just drops his neck and knows it is time to go to work. He knows the difference, maybe it’s because Calvin is lighter.”
    Woolley is going to look in on Mine That Bird early Tuesday morning before catching a 7:15 flight to New York with Mine That Bird flying the following day.
    “I think we are in good shape going into the Belmont,” Woolley said. “The horse is doing good and probably training better than he did going into the Derby.
    “It is going to be a tough race and, how many do I fear? How many are in there? Wayne’s horse (Flying Private for trainer D. Wayne Lukas) is on the improve and Kiaran’s horse (Charitable Man for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin) is a sheer monster and he likes that racetrack.”
    Woolley said that Mine That Bird would return to the track early Wednesday morning to backtrack to the paddock runway and go around the track 1 ½ times. Mine That Bird would go to the track at Belmont on Thursday and Friday “but not on Saturday unless he is getting rattled.”
    Tentative plans call for Mine That Bird to return to Churchill Downs next Monday and remain here at least for a week.
    “All of our stuff is here and so is the trailer,” Woolley said. “We’ll see how he does up there and how he comes out of the race but the plan now is we’ll stay here at least through the Stephen Foster (June 13) and then decide on where we’ll go.”

RACHEL ALEXANDRA WORKS SOLID FIVE FURLONGS – Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick’s Rachel Alexandra, winner of Preakness (Grade I) and Kentucky Oaks (GI), breezed a solid five furlongs on Monday in her first serious training move since majority owner Jess Jackson announced that she would bypass Saturday’s Belmont Stakes.
    Regular exercise rider Dominic Terry was in the irons aboard the Steve Asmussen-trained daughter of Medaglia d’Oro covered the distance over a “fast” track in 1:01.60.  Churchill Downs clockers timed Rachel Alexandra in fractions of :13, :25.20, :37 and :49.20.  She galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.60.
    As the filly worked around 6:30 a.m. (EDT), trainer Steve Asmussen and Barbara Banke, Jackson’s wife, looked on.
    “She’s a beautiful filly and travels tremendous,” said Asmussen.  “She’s got a gorgeous stride on her and she seemed very comfortable.  I thought Dominic did a great job with her as usual.”
    Asmussen said no firm target has been selected for Rachel Alexandra’s return to racing after her historic win over males in the May 16 Preakness at Pimlico.
    “I think everybody gets to take a step back and take a deep breath,” he said.  “We’ll take a little bit of the pressure off her and just enjoy her.  We were very pleased with how she went.  We’ll see what sort of energy she comes out of it with.  As always, we’ll be talking with Jess and communicating where we feel she is.”
    Rachel Alexandra has a record of 8-2-0 in 11 races and has earned $1,618,354.

WORK TAB (Track: FAST) – Helen Alexander and Helen Groves’ Acoma breezed four furlongs in :48.40.  The winner of the Mrs. Revere (GII) and Dogwood (GIII) is scheduled to run next in the Early Times Mint Julep (GIII) on the Matt Winn Turf Course … Derby Trial (GIII) runner-up Kensei breezed a half-mile in :48.40 for Asmussen in preparation for a run in Saturday’s Riva Ridge (GII) on the Belmont Stakes undercard at Belmont Park . … Northern Dancer (GIII) candidate Omniscient breezed six furlongs in 1:14 … Fleur De Lis (GII) candidate Copper State breezed six furlongs in 1:13.40 … Eight Belles (GIII) winner Four Gifts worked four furlongs in :51.80.

OWNERS DROP IN TO CHECK OUT MINE THAT BIRD – Mine That Bird’s entourage grew a bit Sunday morning as Mark Allen and Dr. Leonard Blach, the New Mexico-based co-owners of the Kentucky Derby (Grade I) winner, made a quick stop in Louisville en route to New York for Saturday’s Belmont Stakes (GI).
“We’re leaving later today for New York so we can get settled in and ready for everything,” said Allen, who never has been to Belmont Park where Mine That Bird will try to take down the 1 ½-mile final jewel of the Triple Crown.
Sunday marked the first time Allen had seen Mine That Bird since the gelding’s runner-up finish to Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness Stakes (Grade I) on May 16.
“It looks like he has put on a little weight,” said Allen, whose first Belmont Stakes recollection was Secretariat’s 31-length romp in 1973 when he was 15 and grooming horses at Santa Fe. “For as hard as he has run and the shipping, I am real happy with the way he looks.”
With regular exercise rider Charlie Figueroa up, Allen led Mine That Bird to the track around 7:30 a.m. Figueroa backtracked Mine That Bird to the paddock runway and then galloped 1 ½ miles.
“He was a little more into the bit today,” trainer Chip Woolley said. “That should set him up for his breeze tomorrow. He’ll work a half-mile and gallop an eighth past the wire with Calvin (Borel) on him right after the break..”
Woolley leaves for New York early Tuesday morning and Mine That Bird flies out the next day.
Also scheduled to work Monday is Rachel Alexandra, who went twice around the main track early Sunday morning with exercise rider Dominic Terry up.
 
BOLD START HAS RESTFUL MORNING DAY AFTER ARISTIDES WIN – Lawrence Carroll’s Bold Start had an easy morning at Barn 6 after his 2 ¾-length victory over Semaphore Man in Saturday’s Grade III Aristides.
    “I don’t know what it is, but he loves this track,” said Billy Wright, assistant to trainer Ken McPeek. “I told Paul McGee (who saddled Success Success in the Aristides) that they’d have to run 1:09 to beat him and he won in 1:09 flat.”
    The 5-year-old son Jump Start has posted a main track record of 4-2-2 in nine races with earnings of $202,902. Bold Start’s only off-the-board finish came in his racing debut when he ran fifth on June 4, 2006. For good measure, Bold Start won both of his starts over the Matt Winn Turf Course.
    Bold Start isn’t the only family member to run well at Churchill Downs. His half-sister, Lady On Holiday, never lost beneath the Twin Spires in three starts with two wins coming on the main track and one on the turf.
Lady On Holiday fractured a sesamoid this winter at Gulfstream Park and was retired and bred to Jump Start, which will make the resulting foal a three-quarters sibling to Bold Start.

APPRENTICE REYES ROLLING IN FIRST SEASON AT CHURCHILL DOWNS – Christian Santiago Reyes did not waste any time in finding the winner’s circle when he began his riding career in April at Gulfstream Park. The 19-year-old native of Puerto Rico won on his second mount on April 12.
    Instead of staying in Florida, Reyes came north to Kentucky where he rode in two races at Keeneland.  When the Lexington track wrapped up its meet, he traveled to Churchill Downs where Reyes has won 10 races from 73 mounts.
    “Wesley Ward asked me to come up here and I will go anywhere with him,” said Reyes, whose first win came for Ward at Gulfstream Park.
    Before coming to the United States in January, Reyes attended the jockey school in Puerto Rico for two years.
 Reyes, who has ridden mainly for Ward and Joe Woodard, admits to being surprised by his early success here and has paid particular attention to the riding styles of Calvin Borel, Jesus Castanon and Miguel Mena.
    Has he adapted the Borel knack for riding the rail?
    “Not yet,” Reyes said with a laugh. “Not yet.”
    After the Churchill Downs meet closes on July 5, Reyes does not have a specific track to move his tack to but he has an idea.
    “Wherever Wesley Ward goes, I will go,” Reyes said.

PURE CLAN ASSIGNED TOP WEIGHT FOR EARLY TIMES MINT JULEP – IEAH Stable, Lewis Lakin and Pegasus Holding Group Stables’ Pure Clan has been assigned top weight of 122 pounds by racing secretary Ben Huffman for Saturday’s 33rd running of the $100,000-added Early Times Mint Julep Handicap (GIII) at 1 1/16 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course.
    Trained by Bob Holthus, Pure Clan has won four of six career starts on grass and
her only start over the local turf course was a victory in last year’s Regret (GIII).
    Second high weight is Helen Alexander and Helen Groves’ Acoma, who was assigned 120 pounds. Trained by David Carroll, Acoma also is 1-for-1 on the Churchill Downs lawn by virtue of her victory in the Grade II Mrs. Revere last fall.
    Darley Stable’s Tizaqueena, winner of the May 2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile (Grade II), was assigned 119 pounds.
    The three top weights are considered as “probable” for the Mint Julep by Huffman, along with Closeout (116), Communique (116) and Absolutely Cindy (113).
Entries will be drawn Wednesday.

MILESTONE WATCH – Trainer David Vance came up just short in his bid to become the 11th Churchill Downs trainer with 300 victories when Kiss Mine was overhauled late in Saturday’s ninth race by Keertana and Robby Albarado.  The race provided Albarado with his 4,000th career victory. Vance has no horses entered Sunday.
Trainer Bill Connelly remained two victories shy of the 1,000-win career plateau Saturday night at Indiana Downs as his two runners finished third and fourth. Connelly has no horses entered at Churchill Downs on Sunday, but has one entrant Monday night at Indiana Downs: Megalos in the first race.

BARN TALK – Calvin Borel rode two winners on Saturday’s card to boost his career total at Churchill Downs to 919. Borel, who is named to ride in all 10 races Sunday, needs six victories to tie Don Brumfield for second place all time at Churchill Downs. Pat Day, with 2,482 wins, is the all-time Churchill Downs leader.
    Borel’s agent, Jerry Hissam, said that Borel has secured the mount on Rutledge Farm’s Researcher for the Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I) on June 13. A winner of 10 of 17 career starts, Researcher won the $500,000 Charles Town Classic on April 18 in his most recent start for trainer Jeff Runco.
Shaun Bridgmohan will have the mount on Pure Clan in Saturday’s Early Times Mint Julep. Regular rider Julien Leparoux will be riding Flying Private for trainer D. Wayne Lukas that afternoon in the Belmont Stakes (Grade I).
Jon Court also added two victories to his Spring Meet total on Saturday, scoring with T.C. Champ ($52.80) in the fourth and Finish in Style ($19.20) in the sixth. The average win payoff for Court’s 13 victories is $24.40, the highest for any rider with three or more victories.
    Tara Murty, an assistant to  trainer Nick Zito, was back at work at Barn 36 on Sunday morning after being injured in a traffic accident last Monday morning. Murty had sustained numerous injuries in the collision at Fourth and Central near the track.

WORK TAB (Track: FAST) – Midnight Cry Stable’s Einstein, two-time winner of the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (GI), continued his preparation for the $600,000 Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) on the main track on June 13 by working five furlongs in 1:00.40 with trainer Helen Pitts-Blasi up.
    The move, accomplished early during training hours Sunday, was the fastest of 30 at the distance.
    “He went great.” Pitts-Blasi said, adding that she would likely handle Einstein’s scheduled half-mile breeze next Sunday.
    Einstein was runner-up to two-time “Horse of the Year” Curlin in last year’s Foster, then won the Clark Handicap (GII) on the main track in the Fall Meet.
    Also working Sunday morning was James Spence’s Flying Pegasus, runner-up to Belmont Stakes contender Charitable Man in last year’s Grade II Futurity at Belmont. Trained by Ralph Nicks, Flying Pegasus worked a half-mile in :49.40, the 20th fastest of 54 at the distance.  
    James Spence’s homebred son of 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus has not raced since a sixth-place finish behind Friesan Fire in the Louisiana Derby (GII).  He was second to that rival in his 2009 debut in the Risen Star (GIII) at Fair Grounds.

WIN BY ACTION SEEKER PUTS WHITING IN SELECT COMPANY – Veteran trainer Lynn Whiting was all smiles Saturday as he accepted congratulations for his 300th Churchill Downs win, a milestone achieved by JoAnn and Alex Lieblong’s Action Seeker in the eighth race.
    “I thought he had a chance once he got clear,” Whiting said of Action Seeker, who rallied to collar Duke of Pearl in deep stretch to win by a head.
    The victory made Whiting only the 10th trainer to post 300 career victories in 135 years of racing at Churchill Downs.
    “My first year here was 1979,” said Whiting, who began training in 1969. “I spent my first couple of years in Rhode Island at Lincoln and Narragansett and then the next eight winters in Maryland.”
    Whiting’s biggest Churchill Downs winner was W.C. “Cal” Partee’s Lil E. Tee, who captured the 1992 Kentucky Derby (Grade I) under Hall of Famer Pat Day. The trainer has a couple of other favorites to go with his Derby winner.
    “Big Pistol had the three fastest times here in the 1980s at six furlongs, 7 ½ furlongs and a mile and an eighth,” Whiting said of his sprint star who won five races at Churchill Downs, three of them stakes events. “At the Threshold (a two-time Churchill Downs winner) ran third in the 1984 Derby. All of those were owned by Mr. Partee.”
    
MINE THAT BIRD CONTINUES PREPARTIONS FOR BELMONT STAKES RUN – As Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird headed to the track Saturday morning, he and jockey Calvin Borel crossed paths.
    Borel walked up to Mine That Bird, tousled his mane, gave him a couple of pats on the neck and planted a big smooch on the gelding’s forehead.
    Trainer Chip Woolley could only grin at the exchange between horse and rider who will be reunited on the Triple Crown trail next Saturday in the $1 million Belmont Stakes (GI) at New York’s Belmont Park.”
    “Calvin really likes him and the horse likes him too,” Woolley said as he watched Mine That Bird gallop twice around before the renovation break under exercise rider Charlie Figueroa.
    Borel rode Mine That Bird to victory in the Kentucky Derby, but was aboard Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness in which the filly beat Mine That Bird. On Friday, the connections of Rachel Alexandra announced that the filly would pass on the third jewel of the Triple Crown, thus freeing Borel to return to Mine That Bird.
    “It was a relief, but I never believed she would run,” Woolley said. “In my mind, I thought I had him (Borel) all along. I am glad to have it all ironed out.”
    Woolley was called by Rachel Alexandra’s majority owner Jess Jackson about the decision not to run.
    “It was good that he called me first so I was ready for the barrage (of questions),” Woolley said. “I called (owners) Mark (Allen) and Doc (Leonard Blach) and they were happy.”
    Mine That Bird will gallop again Sunday morning and then is scheduled to work five furlongs after the break Monday morning with Borel up. Tuesday would be a walk day and Mine That Bird would fly to New York on Wednesday. Woolley is leaving for New York on Tuesday.
    Rachel Alexandra backtracked to the frontside and then galloped about a mile and a half under exercise rider Dominic Terry. Rachel Alexandra is scheduled work for trainer Steve Asmussen early Monday morning.

KAELIN ENJOYING BEST SPRING MEET IN YEARS – Last fall, veteran trainer Forrest Kaelin could not buy a win at Churchill Downs. Six months later, Kaelin has six winners from 17 starters and is enjoying one of his best Spring Meets beneath the Twin Spires in years.
    “I have no idea for the big turnaround,” Kaelin said Saturday morning. “It was just one of those falls. (D. Wayne) Lukas, Frankie (Brothers) and (Bob) Holthus couldn’t win a race either. I told folks to wait until we go to Tampa and we won 15 there.”
    Kaelin, 74, began his career at the track as a rider in 1952 and has been a Churchill Downs training fixture since the 1960s.  He won the first two runnings of the Stephen Foster Handicap, long before it achieved its current Grade I status, with local favorite Vodika Collins in 1982 and ’83.
“You go through things like that,” Kaelin said of the winless fall. “I had one year at Ellis when I was riding and I only had two winners and 20-something seconds. It gets to you.”
Kaelin picked up his sixth victory of the spring Friday when Nick’s Girl won the fourth race.
    “She has some issues, but she’s got a big heart,” Kaelin said. “But she got claimed from me by (Wayne) Catalano.”
    Kaelin, who has 14 horses here, has 312 career wins at Churchill Downs, eighth most in track history. The six wins equal Kaelin’s total from 1989 when he was 6-for-48 and he is en route to having his best season here since he saddled 16 winners in the spring 1985 meet.
    “Things have just come around,” said Kaelin, who has been stabled in Barn 46 for 40 years. “Sometimes that old worm gets in a hole and eventually has to come up for air.”

ONE CAROLINE SIDELINED BY INJURY -- G. Watts Humphrey Jr.’s One Caroline, who suffered her first career loss in six starts when she ran second to Miss Isella in the Louisville Distaff (Grade II) on May 1, will not get a rematch with that rival in the June 13 Fleur De Lis (Grade II).
    “She suffered a slight injury yesterday and she will be out for 60 days,” trainer Rusty Arnold said. “It is not major and she will be back in the fall. If you had to ask me now, I’d say we’d look for Churchill Downs in the fall.”
One Caroline worked five furlongs in 1:01 on Friday at Keeneland and the injury was detected afterward.
“It is not career threatening, just a bump in the road,” Arnold said. “I feel sorry for Churchill, because we wanted to come back and meet (trainer) Ian Wilkes’ filly (Miss Isella) again. It looks like that is going to be a nice little rivalry.”

MILESTONE WATCH – Robby Albarado has eight mounts at Churchill Downs on Saturday as he continues his pursuit of 4,000 career victories. Albarado has 3,998 wins.
David Vance will go for Churchill Downs victory No. 300 in Saturday’s ninth race with Kiss Mine. Ten trainers have won 300 races at Churchill Downs, the most recent being Lynn Whiting, who achieved the feat on Friday.
Bill Connelly, who has 998 career victories, will saddle two horses Saturday night at Indiana Downs in his bid to reach 1,000. The two horses are Hard Rock Man in the seventh and Go Lydia Go in the eighth.

BARN TALK – Trainer D. Wayne Lukas has named Julien Leparoux  to ride Robert Baker and William Mack’s Flying Private in next Saturday’s Belmont Stakes. Lukas’ other Belmont prospect, the Marylou Whitney Stables’ Luv Gov, will be ridden by Miguel Mena. The horses will leave for Belmont Park at 2 a.m. (EDT) Sunday.
The Kentucky Derby-winning team of trainer Chip Woolley and jockey Calvin Borel will join New York-based trainer Gary Contessa in ringing the opening bell on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday morning, June 4.
Nominations close Saturday for the five stakes that make up the June 13 Reunion Day card, highlighted by the $600,000-added Stephen Foster (Grade I) at 1 1/8 miles on the main track. Other stakes that day are the $200,000-added Fleur De Lis (Grade II) for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 1/8 miles on the main track, the $150,000-added Jefferson Cup (Grade II) for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course, the $100,000-added Northern Dancer (Grade III) for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16th miles on the main track and the $150,000-added Regret (Grade III) for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles on the turf.

WORK TAB – Three-time Churchill Downs stakes winner Pure Clan put in her final major prep for next Saturday’s Early Times Mint Julep (Grade III) by working five furlongs in 1:01.80 over a fast track after the renovation break under exercise rider Steve Schmelzel. The move was the second fastest of 25 at the distance.
    The Mint Julep will be Pure Clan’s first start since a loss to champion Forever Together in the Oct. 24 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (GI) at Santa Anita.
    “I am eager to get her going again,” trainer Bob Holthus said. “She is the best filly I have had. I want to see how she comes out of this one. She is nominated to the Modesty (Grade III on July 11) and the Beverly D. (Grade I on Aug. 11) at Arlington Park.”
    Terrain, in his first work since finishing seventh in the Preakness, worked a half-mile in :47.60, the second fastest of 71 at the distance. Trainer Al Stall Jr. is pointing Terrain toward the Iowa Derby on June 26 at Prairie Meadows.
    Undefeated Hull worked a half-mile in :49.60 as his final tuneup for next Saturday’s Woody Stephens (Grade II) at Belmont Park.

With firm knowledge that the Preakness (Grade I)-winning filly Rachel Alexandra would pass on a possible run in the third jewel of the Triple Crown, trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr. and jockey Calvin Borel are both enthusiastically looking forward to the Belmont Stakes and a bid to take two-thirds of the crown with Kentucky Derby (GI) winner and Preakness runner-up Mine That Bird.

    Owner Jess Jackson of Stonestreet Stables, co-owner of Rachel Alexandra with Harold McCormick, announced Friday afternoon via press release that the winner of the Preakness and the Kentucky Oaks (GI) would skip the Belmont Stakes on June 6 at New York’s Belmont Park.  Jackson’s statement said that the filly was “healthy,” but “deserves a well-earned vacation.”  Jackson’s statement freed Borel, who had ridden Mine That Bird to victory in the Kentucky Derby but chose to ride Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness, to return to the saddle aboard the Derby winner for the 1 ½-mile “Test of the Champion” next week at Belmont Park.

    Woolley was signing autographs in a gift shop Churchill Downs and Borel was riding at the Louisville track when each received the news.  Woolley got a personal telephone call from Jackson, while the news was relayed to Borel by agent Jerry Hissam after he talked by telephone with Jackson.

    “It showed a lot of class on Mr. Jackson’s part,” said Woolley.  “We really appreciate him letting us known and letting us make our decision.  Now we’re just looking forward to going on to the Belmont.”

“Whatever Mr. Jackson wanted to do, I was a hundred and ten percent behind,” said Borel.  “But I think he did the right call.  I think Mr. Jackson is all about the horse, not the races.  It’s not money – it’s his horse.  I think he has more confidence in his horse and he wants to keep her safe and make sure she’s healthy and everything.  She run hard the other day.  She struggled a lot, like I said when I come back (from the Preakness).  I think he did it for the horse.”

Woolley said the call from Jackson was not a complete surprise.  He thought there was a chance the Steve Asmussen-trained Rachel Alexandra would pass on the Belmont.

“You know it’s grueling to put these races back-to-back,” said Woolley.  :”She run one day earlier than I did in the Derby, but it’s hard to put these races back-to-back and even harder on a filly.  So that really didn’t surprise me and it’s one reason I’ve held out for Calvin, thinking possibly that she might not run.”

    Borel worked Mine That Bird last Monday and said he was very happy with the effort by the Kentucky Derby winner.  He will be the saddle again when Mine That Bird has his final pre-Belmont Stakes work on Monday.

    “With three races back-to-back like that, you just want him to go into the race happy and I think Chip’s got him happy,” Said Borel.  “So we’re to hope for the best and have a good trip and, like I said, I want to thank them for putting me back on the colt and giving me this much time, and thank Mr. Jackson for announcing it today.”

Woolley said the gelded son of Birdstone would work after the break for track maintenance on Monday, June 1.  Mine That Bird is scheduled to fly to New York on Wednesday, June 3.
    
BENNIE “CHIP” WOOLLEY JR. – trainer of MINE THAT BIRD
“Mr. Jackson called me personally prior to releasing it to the media to inform me that they had decided not to run Rachel in the Belmont, and that would release Calvin from any conflict. So, when he called me I called Jerry Hissam (Calvin Borel’s agent) and he’d already talked to Jerry.  He was going to release it to the media, so we gave it a little while before we told anybody else to give him the opportunity.  It showed a lot of class on Mr. Jackson’s part.  We really appreciate him letting us known and letting us make our decision.  Now we’re just looking forward to going on to the Belmont.”
Q: Chip were you surprised to hear that Rachel wouldn’t run and that you’d get Calvin back for the Belmont?
“I actually wasn’t too surprised.  I wondered whether she would go on and run the mile and a half.  You know it’s grueling to put these races back-to-back.  She run one day earlier than I did in the Derby, but it’s hard to put these races back-to-back and even harder on a filly.  So that really didn’t surprise me and it’s one reason I’ve held out for Calvin, thinking possibly that she might not run.”
Q: Let’s talk about your horse and having Calvin back in the saddle for the Belmont…
“You know, we’re tickled with that.  Calvin’s done us a great job.  He won us a Derby and we were committed to letting him ride for us, if possible.  So we’re really glad to have him back.”
Q: Was it a relief to get the call today…would it have mattered to wait three or four more days?
“It wouldn’t really have mattered to wait two or three more days.  One thing that was for sure was the people that were open today would have been open in two or three days.  So, that wasn’t so much of a problem.  We’re just tickled to have Calvin and tickled to have this behind us and move on to the Belmont.”

Q: Your horse just seems to look better and better in the mornings…
“You bet.  He’s looking super.  I actually thought this morning was probably the best day he’s had on the racetrack since he’s been here.  We’re real tickled with him.  He’s just marchin’ around there and feelin’ good.”
Q: You still plan to work him Monday after the maintenance break?
“We’ll work him after the break on Monday, then we’ll ship him Wednesday on an airplane to Belmont.  Calvin will work him Monday right after the break.”

CALVIN BOREL – jockey on MINE THAT BIRD
Q: How did you get the news?
“Jerry was the one that told me.  Mr. Jackson got in touch with him.  First of all, I want to thank Chip and the owners of Mine That Bird for hanging in there.  I want to thank Mr. Jackson for coming out as soon as he did, because I didn’t think we’d get an answer until next Monday and I probably would have sat out the race.  I just want to thank Mr. Jackson for coming out as early as he did with the announcement, and thank Chip and the owners for an opportunity to ride the colt back.  We’re gonna get the job done.”
Q: You had said before that you would like to ride Mine That Bird…did you think you’d be able to do it again?
“It was just a matter of timing.  Chip loves the way I fit the colt.  I couldn’t see why he wouldn’t let me ride the colt back, because I fit him a hundred and ten percent.  I love the filly – she’s the greatest thing in the world, I think.  And I just want to thank Mr. Jackson for making the decision this early so I can give chip an answer at the right time.”
Q:  What about Mine That Bird in the Belmont – it’s a different kind of race, a mile and a half, big turns, big racetrack…
“I’m just going to ride it like it comes up, you know.  It’s nothing different – just turn left when you get in the turns.  It’s like any other racetrack.  I’ll tell you what, the colt worked really good the other morning.  I was very happy with his work.  I worked him real easy and he was bouncin’ – he was a happy camper.  That’s all you want.  With three races back-to-back like that, you just want him to go into the race happy and I think Chip’s got him happy.  So we’re to hope for the best and have a good trip and, like I said, I want to thank them for putting me back on the colt and giving me this much time, and thank Mr. Jackson for announcing it today.”
Q: Were you disappointed that Rachel is not going into the Belmont?
“Whatever Mr. Jackson wanted to do, I was a hundred and ten percent behind.  But I think he did the right call.  I think Mr. Jackson is all about the horse, not the races.  It’s not money – it’s his horse.  I think he has more confidence in his horse and he wants to keep her safe and make sure she’s healthy and everything.  She run hard the other day.  She struggled a lot, like I said when I come back (from the Preakness).  I think he did it for the horse.”
Q: Was it a relief to get the call today:
“It was a big relief.  You know, for Chip and them, to let them know because they sat chilly.  They’ve been good to me and I’ve just got to thank ‘em again.”

Fred Bradley’s homebred Brass Hat did not stick around Churchill Downs very long Saturday after his victory in the Louisville Handicap.
    “After he cooled out, we took him back to the farm (in Frankfort),” trainer William “Buff” Bradley said. “I took him out to his paddock at 6:30 this morning. He is doing great and we will keep him here the next five to seven days.”
    It was a day of firsts for Brass Hat and for Bradley, who trains the 8-year-old gelding for his father. It was the first grass victory in eight starts for Brass Hat and first win in 609 days, dating back to the Sept. 22, 2007 Massachusetts Handicap. For Buff Bradley, it was also his first stakes victory at Churchill Downs.
    “I believe it was my first stakes win there,” said Bradley, who saddled his first winner in 1993 at Churchill Downs. “It was pretty exciting with the home crowd cheering him on. It was a big boost to the whole barn and for my dad having the patience with him. There are not many 8 year-olds out there running.”
    After the victory, Bradley mentioned the $750,000 United Nations Handicap (Grade I) at 1 3/8th miles on July 4 at Monmouth Park as the next possible target for Brass Hat.
    “That would work out pretty good time-wise,” Bradley said. “The (Stephen) Foster in three weeks is too quick, plus you know that Einstein would be in there. We are not trying to run him (Brass Hat) in the ground.”

WOOLLEY EAGER TO TAKE NEXT STEP WITH MINE THAT BIRD – The countdown to the Belmont Stakes (Grade I) is on for trainer Chip Woolley and his Kentucky Derby (GI) winner Mine That Bird.
“I am definitely looking forward to it,” Woolley said of the June 6 Belmont Stakes. “He is starting to bloom already again. He is going to stretch his legs in the morning, working an easy three-eighths.”
Calvin Borel, who rode Mine That Bird to victory in the Kentucky Derby, could be aboard for the work.  Mine That Bird is scheduled to work after the mid-morning break for track maintenance.
 After his Kentucky Derby victory, Mine That Bird ran second to Kentucky Oaks (GI) winner Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness in an effort that validated his Derby score to many.
Woolley already was convinced the Derby victory was no mirage.
“It was not a fluke in my mind,” said Woolley, sporting a huge new belt buckle acknowledging the Derby victory. “He got past 18 super horses in a quarter of a mile. That validated him to me. That was not impossible, but right next to it.
“The only other trainer I heard say it was not a fluke was Bob Baffert. He said flukes don’t win the Derby.”
Woolley is comfortable with Mine That Bird’s conditioning heading into the Belmont and not feeling any pressure.
“(Owners) Mark (Allen) and Doc (Leonard Blach) told me that at this point it is just a race at a time,” Woolley said. “Everything is gravy from here on out and just enjoy it.”

PREAKNESS, OAKS WINNER RACHEL ALEXANDRA SET FOR MONDAY WORK – Stonestreet Stable and Harold McCormick’s Rachel Alexandra, winner of the Preakness (GI) and Kentucky Oaks (GI) in her last two starts, is scheduled to work for the first time since her May 16 Preakness victory on Monday at Churchill Downs.
    The 3-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro is scheduled to head to the track with the second set of horses for trainer Steve Asmussen around 6:15 a.m.
     Rachel Alexandra galloped early Sunday morning under exercise rider Dominic Terry.  
    The filly’s status for the June 6 Belmont Stakes has not been decided.  She has won six consecutive races.  All of those wins came in stakes events in a string that started with last fall’s Golden Rod (GII) at Churchill Downs.

EINSTEIN RETURNS TO WORK TAB WITH DRILL FOR FOSTER – Midnight Cry Stable’s Einstein (BRZ) worked a half-mile in :49.40 with jockey Julien Leparoux up before the renovation break over a fast track on Sunday morning. It was Einstein’s first work since winning the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (Grade I) on May 2.
    “He was ready to do something,” trainer Helen Pitts-Blasi said. “This was perfect this morning. He’ll work again next Sunday.”
    The work, the first of three in preparation for the June 13 Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I),  was the highlight of the weekend for Pitts-Blasi, who celebrated a birthday Saturday and nearly got a victory in the final race when Fundy ran second in a maiden special weight race.
    So, Helen, which was the most exciting aspect of the weekend: celebrating her birthday or watching Einstein work?
    “Watching him work,” Pitts-Blasi said without hesitation.
    In the Foster, Einstein will be trying to achieve a unique feat of sweeping three consecutive Grade I events on different surfaces. He won the Santa Anita Handicap on March 7 over a synthetic surface and took the Derby Day race on turf. The Stephen Foster is run on the main track.
    That first-ever sweep of consecutive races on the different surfaces would also make Einstein only the second horse to collect Grade I victories on traditional dirt, turf and a synthetic surface.  Lava Man is the only horse to achieve that feat.
    Einstein finished second to two-time “Horse of the Year” Curlin in last year’s Foster and returned in November to win the $500,000 Clark Handicap (GII) on dirt.
    
APPRENTICE LENCLUD MAKES U.S. DEBUT – Freddy Lenclud officially joined the Churchill Downs riding colony on Saturday when he made his United States debut aboard Causation in the seventh race. Causation, at 76-1 odds, finished sixth in the eight-horse field.
    “It was fun,” said Lenclud, a 22-year-old native of France. “He ran OK. The trainer (Phil Thomas) said to sit back and finish down the lane.”
    Lenclud, who won a couple of apprentice races last year in England, is working as an exercise rider for trainer Ian Wilkes.
    “I came over here on holiday last year to visit a friend of mine, Florent Geroux, at Arlington Park,” Lenclud said. “I spent three months there and worked horses for Bill Mott. I really liked it and got to know some trainers. I came back in December and started working for Ian at Gulfstream.”
    Lenclud would like to stick around Kentucky and ride later this year at Ellis Park and Turfway Park.

MILESTONE WATCH – Veteran Churchill Downs conditioners Lynn Whiting and David Vance moved to within one victory of joining the 300-win club beneath the Twins Spires on Saturday. Whiting won the opener with Keepinonestepahead for his 299th win and Vance equaled that two races later with Citizen John.
Vance sends out Silver Light in today’s second race in his bid for No. 300. On Monday, Vance will send out Pinpoint in the fourth and Silver Bayer in the seventh. Whiting has no starters today. Nine trainers have 300 victories or more at Churchill Downs.
Whiting’s most notable victory under the Twin Spires came with W.C. Partee’s Lil E. Tee in the 1992 Kentucky Derby.  Vance’s most notable win was an upset by Carl Pollard’s Caressing in the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI).
Robby Albarado’s victory in Saturday’s fifth race aboard Tizsilk gave him 3,997 for his career. Albarado has six mounts today in his bid to become the 56th North American rider to reach 4,000 wins.
Ken McPeek, who has 999 career victories, goes for No. 1,000 in today’s seventh race with Cobbler’s Reef.

BARN TALK – Calvin Borel’s five-win day Saturday moved him past Larry Melancon and into third place all-time at Churchill Downs with 909 victories. Melancon has 907 wins. Next in Borel’s sights is Don Brumfield, who rose 925 winners at Churchill Downs. Pat Day is the all-time Churchill Downs leader with 2,482 victories.
Dolphus Morrison’s Abbott Hall, winner of the Happy Ticket last September at Louisiana Downs, was injured during her third-place finish in a turf allowance race at Churchill Downs last Friday. “She is at a clinic in Lexington and the vet over there said it is chunk, not a chip in her right front knee,” trainer Hal Wiggins said. “They might have to put a screw in it just to keep her comfortable.”
    Nominations close Saturday for the five stakes that make up the June 13 Reunion Day card, highlighted by the $600,000-added Stephen Foster (Grade I) at 1 1/8 miles on the main track. Other stakes that day are the $200,000-added Fleur De Lis (Grade II) for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 1/8 miles on the main track, the $150,000-added Jefferson Cup (Grade II) for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course, the $100,000-added Northern Dancer (Grade III) for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16th miles on the main track and the $150,000-added Regret (Grade III) for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles on the turf.
 
WORK TAB – Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) runner-up Stone Legacy worked a half-mile in :49.20 over a fast track Sunday morning for trainer D. Wayne Lukas. The move was the 13th fastest of 62 at the distance. Owned by the Marylou Whitney Stable, Stone Legacy had finished sixth in the Black-Eyed Susan (Grade II) at Pimlico on May 15. … James Spence’s Flying Pegasus continued on the comeback trail with a half-mile work in :49.40 for trainer Ralph Nicks. The work was the second for Flying Pegasus since he was sidelined by a lung infection after finishing sixth in the Louisiana Derby (Grade II).

GENERAL ELECTRIC PARTNERS WITH CHURCHILL FOR MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND GIVEAWAY – Churchill Downs has partnered with General Electric to giveaway GE stainless steel products in an on-track sweepstakes offer that continues through Monday’s finale of the three-day Memorial Day holiday weekend.
  A prize drawing is being conducted daily afterr the seventh race and that daily winner will take home his or her choice of a new refrigerator, range, dishwasher or microwave oven, courtesy of GE. Registration for the drawings is being conducted in a tent in the paddock area.  The first 5,000 entrants each day will receive a free GE koozie.
Sunday, May 24 is “GE Day at the Races” at Churchill Downs. Employees of General Electric who show their employee ID badge at Gate 10 will receive complimentary admission for themselves and their guests, as well as reserved seating in either Sections 115-116 or Millionaires’ Row 6.

JUNIOR JOCKEY CLUB ACTIVITIES FOR MEMORIAL DAY HOLIDAY – Churchill Downs’ Junior Jockey Club for children 3-10 continue through Monday’s final racing session of the Memorial Day holiday weekend. Special activities between 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. include decorating “Triple Crowns” on Sunday, and outdoor games on Monday.
The Junior Jockey Club is located near the Guest Services Booth inside Gate. 10. Coloring books, crayons, individual games and reading material are available as well, and Churchill Downs’ mascot Churchill Charlie will be on hand each day for photographs between 2-2:30 p.m.

NO LIVE RACING THIS  TUESDAY-THURSDAY, FREE ADMISSION TO THURSDAY SIMULCASTS – Following Monday’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 May 26-27. Churchill Downs will be open for simulcast wagering 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.

BRASS HAT SEEKS ELUSIVE FIRST TURF WIN IN LOUISVILLE HANDICAP – When Fred Bradley’s homebred Brass Hat made his turf debut in 2004, four of his rivals in Saturday’s Louisville Handicap (Grade III) had not been foaled.
    “Four of them? That’s pretty neat, I’ve got to tell my dad,” said trainer William “Buff” Bradley of the popular 8-year-old gelding who has yet to win in seven career turf tries.
    The Louisville Handicap will mark the fourth race back for Brass Hat since he suffered a strained suspensory ligament in his left leg last summer.
    “He has been playing when he comes off the track, which is great for an 8-year-old,” Buff Bradley said. “He is training like a 4- or 5-year-old. It is amazing how he keeps coming back. You don’t ever count him out.”
    After breaking his maiden in the Rushaway Stakes at Turfway Park in March 2004, Bradley put Brass Hat on the grass in the Forerunner at Keeneland.
    “He is bred for the grass (by Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Prized) and he ran second to (eventual Jefferson Cup winner) Prince Arch,” Bradley said. “He was beaten only five lengths by Kitten’s Joy here in the American Turf, and Kitten’s Joy was a champion that year. He has been competitive against top horses on the grass.”
    Brass Hat’s second of three Matt Winn Turf Course tries came two years later in his first start after suffering a condylar fracture in his right front ankle a year earlier in the Lone Star Derby. Brass Hat ran seventh that day, his worst turf showing ever.
    “The rail was out that day and the first thing (jockey) Willie (Martinez) said was, ‘He’s good. Don’t worry about it.’ ” Bradley said.
    Fourth in the Louisville Handicap last year behind Lattice, Brass Hat enters Saturday’s race off a third-place finish in the Grade II Elkhorn at Keeneland.
    “I thought he ran huge at Keeneland,” Bradley said. “Maybe he flattened out a little bit at the end. (Jockey) Calvin (Borel) keeps saying I should run him on the dirt the way he is training.
    “I am not completely off the dirt with him. I’d like to go back to the Mass Cap (a race Brass Hat won in 2007). But you get in a cycle and if I had gone in the New Orleans Handicap (instead of the Mervyn Muniz Jr. Memorial) which may have been better for him, I would have gone in the Alysheba (on May 1). I thought the surface (grass) would be kinder for him and the distance (a mile and a half) would make it so he would not have to run so hard the whole way.”
    Brass Hat has a career record of 8-5-2 in 29 races with earnings of $1,825,814.

WOOLLEY’S WONDERFUL RIDE ENTERS SECOND MONTH – On April 21, Chip Woolley was a little known trainer from New Mexico who came to Churchill Downs with modest expectations for a Kentucky Derby hopeful named Mine That Bird.
    One month, a Kentucky Derby (GI) victory and runner-up finish in the Preakness (GI) later, life has totally changed for Woolley.
    “I wouldn’t change a thing,” Woolley said as he watched Mine That Bird gallop twice around the main track before the renovation break Thursday morning. “When we came here, we had planned on going on to the Belmont after the Derby.”
    But what Woolley did not count on was an extended stay personally in Kentucky and tending to one horse instead of 25, which are being overseen by Woolley’s older brother Bill in New Mexico.
    “Bill can gallop and do everything and if I stay here after the Belmont, I might let him come in for a while and I’ll fly home for a week,” Woolley said.
    Despite all the notoriety from the Triple Crown run, Woolley yearns a bit for the regular routine of a full barn.
    “With 25 head, there is something new every day,” Woolley said. “There are a lot of things going on. This (watching Mine That Bird gallop) is the highlight of my morning right now and with my leg, I can’t do a lot of stuff.”
    In addition to Mine That Bird, all other Churchill Downs-based Preakness runners were on the track Thursday morning headlined by Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra, who galloped under Dominic Terry.
    Returning to the track for the first time since their Pimlico excursions were Flying Private (fourth) and Luv Gov (eighth) for D. Wayne Lukas, seventh-place finisher Terrain for Al Stall Jr. and ninth-place finisher General Quarters for Tom McCarthy.
    
PURE CLAN HAS FIRST TURF WORK OF 2009 – Three-time Churchill Downs stakes winner Pure Clan worked six furlongs around the “dogs” in 1:14.60 under exercise rider Steve Schmelzel on Thursday morning.
    “It was a pretty good work around the dogs,” trainer Bob Holthus said as he prepares Pure Clan for her 2009 debut in the June 6 Early Times Mint Julep (Grade III). “This will probably be her only turf work.”
    Winner of two races on the dirt in the fall of 2007 as a 2-year-old, Pure Clan moved to the grass last summer to win Churchill Downs’ Grade III Regret, then headed to California to win the American Oaks Invitational (Grade I) at Hollywood Park.
    Nominations for the Early Times Mint Julep, worth $100,000-added for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going a mile and a sixteenth on the Matt Winn Turf Course, close on Saturday, May 23

FIELD OF SEVEN PROBABLE FOR MONDAY’S WINNING COLORS – The 2-3 finishers from the May 2 Humana Distaff (Grade I), Temple Street and Dubai Majesty, are among seven fillies and mares expected to pass the entry box Friday for Monday’s sixth running of the $100,000-added Winning Colors (Grade III) at six furlongs on the main track.
Among the other probables according to stakes coordinator Allison De Luca are Keep the Peace, Lady Chace, Nadeshiko, Tar Heel Mom and Tiz to Dream.
Two stakes scheduled for May 30, the Dogwood and the Aristides, drew 25 and 21 nominations, respectively.
Heading the probables on De Luca’s list for the Dogwood is Rainbow Miss Stakes winner Affirmed Truth, a stablemate of sixth-place Kentucky Derby finisher Summer Bird trained by Tim Ice. Other probables for the $100,000-added Dogwood for 3-year-old fillies going a mile on the main track are Hightap, Lady’s Laughter and Slides Choice.
Two-time Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (Grade III) winner Semaphore Man heads the list of probables for the $100,000-added Aristides for sprinters 3-years-old and up going six furlongs. Other probables include Bold Start, Cassoulet, Garfine, Grand Sensation, Knights Cross and Vicarian.
Entries for both stakes will be drawn Wednesday.

CLASSIC WINNER BOREL JOINS JILL BYRNE FOR SATURDAY’S “GET IN THE GAME” SEMINAR – Popular Kentucky Derby and Preakness-winning jockey Calvin Borel will be racing analyst Jill Byrne’s special guest during Saturday’s free “Get in the Game” Handicapping Seminar at Churchill Downs.
The new weekly series takes place every Saturday in the paddock area at noon (EDT) and features informative and in-depth analysis of races and handicapping topics. Among Borel’s scheduled mounts on the day is a ride aboard veteran Brass Hat in the $100,000-added Louisville Handicap.

BARN TALK – Julien Leparoux, who entered Thursday’s card with a six-win lead (24-18) over Miguel Mena in the race for leading rider, will be out of town on Memorial Day to ride at Lone Star Park. Leparoux’s major mount that day will be trainer Marty Wolfson’s It’s a Bird in the $400,000 Lone Star Park Handicap (Grade III).
    Robby Albarado entered Thursday’s card with 3,995 career victories. He has five mounts Thursday and five more on Friday as he bids to become the 56th North American rider to reach the 4,000-win plateau.
    Also approaching milestones are trainers Ken McPeek and Bill Connelly. McPeek, with 999 career wins, has one horse entered Thursday (Sandstorm Cat in the eighth). Connelly, with 998 career wins, sends out two runners – Dancing Lydia in the fifth and Talkin Indian in the eighth.
    Mambo in Seattle, runner-up in the 2008 Travers (Grade I) worked a half-mile Thursday in :48.40 before the renovation break, fourth-best of 31 at the distance. Also working a half-mile Thursday was Sam P., ninth-place finisher in the 2007 Kentucky Derby, who covered the distance in :51.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND KICKS OFF WITH ‘FRIDAY HAPPY HOURS’ – This week’s “Dress to Impress” Friday Happy Hours at Churchill Downs will showcase live music by Radio Radio. The popular Spring Meet promotion, which takes place most Fridays from 4-7 p.m. in the paddock area, also features $2 Budweiser Select, $2 select specialty drinks and $2 hot dogs. Also, one female in the crowd will be chosen as “best dressed” and win a $250 gift certificate to a Louisville area boutique.
    Churchill Downs has partnered with General Electric to giveaway GE stainless steel products in an on-track sweepstakes offer over the three-day Memorial Day weekend (Saturday, May 23 through Monday, May 25). Each day, there’ll be a daily prize drawing after the seventh race with one daily winner who’ll take home their choice of either a new refrigerator, range, dishwasher or microwave oven, courtesy of GE. Registration for the drawings will take place at a tent in the paddock area, where the first 5,000 entrants each day will receive a free koozie.
    Sunday, May 24 is “GE Day at the Races” at Churchill Downs. Employees of General Electric who show their employee ID badge at Gate 10 will receive complimentary admission for themselves and their guests, as well as reserved seating in either Sections 115-116 or Millionaires’ Row 6.

It was a day for racing royalty at Churchill Downs on Wednesday as Preakness (Grade I) and Kentucky Oaks (GI) winner Rachel Alexandra returned to track for a gallop and Mine That Bird, winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) and a fast-closing runner-up in the Preakness,  continued to show his spirit during his first gallop since Saturday’s race.

    Rachel Alexandra, the first filly in 84 years to win the Preakness and the second Kentucky Oaks winner in three years to defeat males in a Triple Crown race in her next start, galloped a mile over a “fast” track for trainer Steve Asmussen.  It was her first trip from the track since her dazzling victory in Saturday’s Preakness at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course and her return to Churchill Downs on Sunday.  

    Assistant trainer Scott Blasi said Rachel Alexandra would stand in the starting gate before she gallops on Thursday, so she will go to the track around 7:15 a.m.  (all times EST).  She normally heads to the track with Asmussen’s second set of horses around 6:15 a.m.

    Rachel Alexandra is scheduled to work on Monday, May 25.

    Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s Mine That Bird galloped 1 ½-miles in his second trip to the one-mile oval at Churchill Downs since he returned to the scene of his greatest triumph Monday evening.  Exercise rider Charlie Figeuroa was in the irons as the Birdstone gelding went through his energetic gallop and appeared to be none the worse for wear after huge efforts in the first two races of the Triple Crown.

    “The horse is just doing super – he’s on his game,” said trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr.  “We’re really surprised that he’s as fresh as he is after two good, hard races.  The fortunate this for us is he only runs three-eighths of a mile, so he doesn’t use himself as hard as a lot of horses.  So we’re pretty happy with where we’re at.”

    Mine That Bird has been playful in both trips to the track since his return from Baltimore and Woolley said the Derby winner clearly loves his surroundings at Churchill Downs.

    “Yesterday we just jogged him backwards and he was fresh and bright-eyed,” said Woolley.  “But today he was really froggy out there, wanting to buck and play.  And that’s kind of unlike him, because he’s more of a laid-back kind of horse.  But I think he’s just really on his game right now and feels good.  So we’ll figure out this week, and let him be the judge, and set up a work here pretty soon.”

    Woolley said Mine That Bird would not work before early next week.

    Regarding his search for a rider for the June 6 Belmont Stakes, the third jewel of the Triple Crown, Woolley said he and co-owners Mark Allen and Dr. Leonard Blach have decided to wait until early next week before they make that choice.  Calvin Borel was aboard for his 6 ¾-length romp in the Kentucky Derby, but chose to ride Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness.  Mike Smith rode Mine That Bird in the Preakness, but has a previous commitment on June 6 that will knock him out of the Belmont.

    Mine That Bird is set to return to the track for a gallop on Thursday.  He usually heads to the track between 7:15 and 7:30 a.m., which would put him on the track at approximately the same time as Rachel Alexandra during Thursday’s training.

After two days off and a 9 ½-hour van ride from Baltimore, Kentucky Derby (Grade I) winner Mine That Bird returned to the track at Churchill Downs for a light jog on Tuesday.
    Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s gelded son of Birdstone had regular exercise rider Charlie Figueroa in the saddle as he headed to the track around 7:15 a.m. (all times EDT).  It was Mine That Bird’s first trip to the track since his runner-up finish to the Kentucky Oaks-winning filly Rachel Alexandra in Saturday’s Preakness.  
    Trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr. said Mine That Bird jogged one mile the wrong way over a “fast” surface.
    “He went good, he looked good,” Woolley said.  “He was bucking and playing a little, so we’re in good shape I think.”
    Woolley said Mine That Bird would on gallop on Wednesday as the Kentucky Derby winner continues his preparation for the $1 million Belmont Stakes (GI), the third jewel of racing’s Triple Crown.  There is no set schedule for Mine That Bird’s next work.
    The trainer’s phone continues to ring with offers from agents of jockeys who hope to pick up the mount on Mine That Bird for the Belmont Stakes.  Mike Smith, who rode Mine That Bird in the Preakness, cannot ride because of a previous commitment in California.  Calvin Borel, who was aboard for his 50-1 upset in the Derby, is committed to ride Rachel Alexandra, but her status for the Belmont Stakes (GI) has not been decided by majority owner Jess Jackson and trainer Steve Asmussen.
    Woolley said he would discuss the issue with Mine That Bird’s owners and they hope to have a decision in “a couple of days.”
    The runner-up finish in the Preakness improved Mine That Bird’s career record to 5-2-0 in 10 races and lifted his earnings to $2,011,581.
    Meanwhile, Rachel Alexandra walked under Asmussen’s shedrow on her second day back at Churchill Downs following her historic win in the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
    Rachel Alexandra is scheduled to return to training on Wednesday.  Asmussen said the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro would go to the track with his second set of horses around 6:15 a.m.
    Her Preakness victory marked the sixth consecutive win for Rachel Alexandra, who has a record of 8-2-0 in 11 races with earnings of $1,618,354.

KENTUCKY DERBY CONTENDER ADVICE WORKS – WinStar Farm’s Advice, winner of the Coolmore Lexington (GII), turned in his first serious training move since his 13th-place finish in Kentucky Derby 135 when he worked four furlongs around the dogs on Tuesday at Churchill Downs.
    The Todd Pletcher-trained son of Chapel Royal had exercise rider Kevin Willey in the saddle as he covered the distance on “firm” turf in :50.80.  The move ranked fifth out of seven at the distance on the Matt Winn Turf Course.
    Among the possible near-term options for Advice would be a run in the $150,000-added Jefferson Cup (GII) on the Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) undercard on June 13.
    Other stars who worked on the Matt Winn Turf Course on Tuesday include three-time Louisville Handicap (GIII) winner Silverfoot.  The 9-year-old son of With Approval breezed six furlongs in 1:15.40 as trainer Dallas Stewart guides the veteran toward his 2009 racing debut.
    Demarcation, a dead-heat winner of last fall’s River City Handicap (GIII) for trainer Paul McGee, breezed five furlongs in 1:01.80, which tied for second among eight works on the turf at that distance.
    Tuesday workers on the “fast” main track included Silverton Hill’s 2007 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (GI) winner Dominican, who covered four furlongs in :47.80.  The quick move was the second-fastest of 33 at the distance.
    Keep the Peace, who figures to be among the favorites in the upcoming $100,000 Winning Colors (GIII) for older fillies and mares, breezed a half-mile for trainer Eddie Kenneally in :47.40, which was the fastest work of the day at the distance.
    Be Fair, fourth in the Kentucky Oaks (GI) for trainer D. Wayne Lukas, breezed four furlongs in 1:01, which was the third-fastest move at the distance.
    Golden Yank breezed a half-mile in :51.

Stostreet Stables and Harold McCormick’s Preakness Stakes (Grade I) and Kentucky Oaks (GI) winner Rachel Alexandra returned to trainer Steve Asmussen’s Barn 38 at Churchill Downs on Sunday morning following a flight from Baltimore.
Scott Blasi, Asmussen’s chief assistant, accompanied the 3-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro on the flight.  Blasi led her off the van at 10:20 a.m. (all times EDT) and back to barn, where she was walked and bedded down in Stall 24.
“She traveled great,” Blasi said. “She’ll be left alone the rest of the day; that’s what she wants. She’ll definitely walk for three days so the earliest she’d go back to the track would be Wednesday. We’ll just continue to evaluate her and keep our options open.
Rachel Alexandra, ridden again by Calvin Borel, defeated Kentucky Derby winner Mine that Bird by a length in the second jewel of racing’s Triple Crown.
“We’re very pleased with how she ate last night and her attitude is good and she’s physically in good shape. We’re just very fortunate to be in this position. She’s all class and all heart. All of the credit goes to her.”
The Preakness marked Rachel Alexandra’s first start for Asmussen, and the victory over males lifted her career record to 8-2-0 in 11 races with earnings of $1,618,354. The Preakness victory came just shy of a year after her career debut on May 22, 2008 at Churchill Downs, when he finished sixth in a field of nine 2-year-old fillies in the only poor effort of her career.  She has now won six consecutive races, a string that started in late November with a 4 ¾-length romp in the Golden Rod (GII).
Rachel Alexandra became the second Kentucky Oaks winner in three years to defeat males in a Triple Crown race in her next start.  Rags to Riches won the 2007 Oaks and returned to defeat the Asmussen-trained Preakness winner and eventual two-time “Horse of the Year” Curlin in the Belmont Stakes (GI).
Asmussen was due back in Louisville Sunday afternoon and was scheduled to saddle horses in Churchill Downs’ Races 8 and 10. Meanwhile, winning jockey Calvin Borel had six mounts, starting with Race 4.

WIGGINS WATCHES PREAKNESS AT CHURCHILL, BEAMS OVER RACHEL AND STAFF – She had been out of his barn for just over a week, so it was clearly a bittersweet experience for veteran trainer Hal Wiggins as he watched Rachel Alexandra, his horse of a lifetime, become the first filly in 84 years to win Saturday’s Preakness, the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
    Wiggins had just saddled Lucky Trio Stable’s Betty Bye to finish fourth in the 11th race at Churchill Downs – a race won by the Steve Asmussen-trained Girls Do Rule, which should have been the “Omen of the Day.”  Then Wiggins settled into the Horseman’s Service Center adjacent to the paddock to watch Rachel Alexandra’s bid for history.
    “When the gates opened, I was pulling for her,” Wiggins said.  “Down the backstretch I was expecting her to be behind a horse or two, but she just bounded out of there.  Where she was, I just thought she was in perfect position.
    “I’m just really, really proud of her and Calvin. Racing is real fortunate to have him out there like that.  There’s nothing phony about him – it’s all genuine.   People see that and they realize that, and I’m just tickled for him.  I’ll tell you, if anyone deserves it he does.”
    Wiggins was also impressed by Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, who closed strongly to lose by only a length to Rachel Alexandra.
    “I’ll tell you what, I was really proud of that Derby horse,” Wiggins said.  “Some of those guys were saying he might be a one-race wonder and that the wet track (on Derby Day) might have had something to do with it, but he showed he was legitimate.  He really did.”
    Rachel Alexandra’s new trainer, Steve Asmussen, has praised Wiggins’ work in the development of Rachel Alexandra, whose final race for Wiggins was her record-smashing 20 ¼-length victory in the Kentucky Oaks on May 1.  Asmussen did so again on NBC Sports’ national telecast of the Preakness on Saturday.
    “I appreciate that,” Wiggins said.  “It’s a tribute to the crew here at the barn.  I appreciate that, I really do.”

MATT WINN DUO WELL AFTER STIRRING FINISH – The respective camps of Capt. Candyman Can and Cash Refund reported that both horses were doing well on the morning after their stirring stretch duel in Saturday’s $106,900 Matt Winn Stakes.
    Joseph Rauch and David Zell’s Capt. Candyman Can rallied in the stretch to wear down Richard, Elaine and Bert Klein’s previously unbeaten Cash Refund to win the seven-furlong race for 3-year-olds by three-quarters of a length.  The winning time over a “fast” track was 1:09.75.
    Capt. Candyman Can, who was ridden by Javier Castellano, won his fourth stakes race – and third this year – for trainer Ian Wilkes.  Earlier wins came in the Hutcheson (GII) at Gulfstream Park and the Bay Shore (GIII) at Aqueduct, and Wilkes said his hard-fought win in the Matt Winn had earned the gelded son of Candy Ride a rest.    
    Saratoga’s $300,000 NetJets King’s Bishop (GI) at seven furlongs on Aug. 29 remains the top near-term objective for Capt. Candyman Can.  
    “I may just go to Saratoga with him, I may not run him beforehand,” Wilkes said.  “He runs so hard for me.  I think I’ve got to fill his tank a little.”
    Capt. Candyman Can remained unbeaten in races shorter than a mile and perfect in three starts at seven furlongs.  His career record improved to 5-0-1 in eight races with earnings of $410,423.
    Cash Refund lost for the first time in three career races, but impressed in his stakes debut as he battled for the lead throughout and was determined in the run through the stretch before he gave way late to the winner.  Trainer Steve Margolis said the Petionville gelding walked on Sunday and was “bright and alert” on the morning after the first real test of his young career.  
    Cash Refund had won his first two races by a combined 13 ¾-lengths.  The Klein homebred went off as the narrow favorite in the Matt Winn, mostly due to a dazzling allowance victory on the first day of the Spring Meet when he won by seven lengths and earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 110.  The winner earned a Beyer Figure of 99 on Saturday.
    “It was a good effort,” said Margolis.  “He fought all the way to the end.  He was on the inside and it took him a little longer to put away the Holthus horse (Dance Caller, who faded to finish last of five), and when Ian’s horse came as a challenger, he didn’t just lay down.  That horse was already a proven three-time stakes winner, so I don’t think it was any disgrace at all to lose to him.”
    Margolis said Cash Refund would probably appear next in the $200,000 Jersey Shore (GIII), a six-furlong race for 3-year-olds at Monmouth Park on July 5.
    A victory in the Matt Winn by the promising gelding would have been a boost to the Kleins, but it would also have provided Margolis with an elusive milestone: his first stakes victory at Churchill Downs.
    “I had that horse Request for Parole and was second in a couple of stakes races with him, and Change Up was second and third,” Margolis said.  “So I’ve got to get that elusive first stakes win at Churchill.  Hopefully we can do that soon.”
    Margolis’ next bid for a local stakes win will come next week when he saddles Gold Square’s Lady Chace in the Winning Colors (GIII).  That six-furlong race for older fillies and mares will be the highlight of the Memorial Day racing program on May 25.

BARN TALK – James C. Spence’s homebred Flying Pegasus, idled by an infection since a sixth-place finish in the Louisiana Derby (GII), returned to serious training with an easy three-furlong breeze in :38 over a “fast” track on Sunday.  The Ralph Nicks-trained son of 2000 Kentucky Derby Fusaichi Pegasus finished second to Friesan Fire in the Risen Star (GIII) in his only other start this year and was a runner-up to Charitable Man in last year’s Belmont Futurity (GII). … Zayat Stables’ Z Fortune, 10th to Big Brown in the 2008 Kentucky Derby, breezed five furlongs on Sunday in 1:01.80 … Leading jockey Julien Leparoux returns Sunday after two days of Preakness Weekend riding at Pimlico with a diminished lead in the battle for leading rider of the Spring Meet.  Leparoux led the surging Miguel Mena 22-18 heading into Sunday’s racing.  … Two-time Preakness-winning trainer Steve Asmussen won two races on Saturday at Churchill Downs to open an 8-6 lead over Bill Mott, Greg Foley and Wesley Ward in the race for “Leading Trainer”.  … With no live racing on Wednesdays for the remainder of the Spring Meet, Churchill Downs will offer free general admission for ITW simulcast wagering on Wednesdays through the remainder of the Spring Meet.