Greg Foley

OUR TEKELA ROSE FOLLOWS IN FAMILIAR FOOTSTEPS – A year ago, trainer Hal Wiggins introduced Kentucky Oaks (GI) and Preakness (GI) winner Rachel Alexandra to the racing public with a runner-up effort in the $100,000-added Debutante Stakes (Grade III).

    On Saturday, Wiggins and his son Lon will send out GTS Racing’s Our Tekela Rose in the 109th running of the $100,000-added Debutante at six furlongs on the main track. Corey Lanerie has the mount on Our Tekela Rose, who will break from post position four in the field of nine.

    Out of the first crop of millionaire sprinter Kela, Our Tekela Rose won at first asking on the Polytrack at Arlington Park on May 24 and soon after was shipped to Wiggins’ barn at Churchill Downs.

    “She has been here about three or four weeks and breezed twice,” Hal Wiggins said. “It is hard to tell if she will be better on the dirt. The first time she worked was not that swift (five furlongs in 1:03.20 on June 10) but she went nice on Sunday (:49.60 for a half-mile). She was a lot better the second time.”

    Our Tekela Rose was an $11,000 purchase last September at Keeneland and from there she went to Texas to learn her early lessons.

    “She was at the same farm in Texas as Rachel Alexandra, the Diamond D Ranch in Lone Oak,” Wiggins said. “Ed and Scooter Dodwell do a great job down there and they said she could run.”

    Should Our Tekela Rose prevail on Saturday, look for a crowded winner’s circle.

    “There are 27 or 28 people in the syndicate that own her and they are renting a bus to come down here from Chicago,” Wiggins said. “Some of them are driving down early for the Friday night racing. They were all at Keeneland when she was bought and then when she won first time out, there were maybe 60 people in the winner’s circle.”

GALLEGOS ADDS MINE THAT BIRD TO HIS MORNING RESUME – Exercise rider Rudy Gallegos joined some rare company this week when he began a pinch-hit role as the morning partner of Kentucky Derby (GI) winner Mine That Bird.

    Regular exercise rider Charlie Figueroa left Wednesday afternoon to return home to New Mexico for the first time since Mine That Bird left Sunland Park for Churchill Downs on April 20. Figueroa returns Monday afternoon and in the interim comes Gallegos, who served as the regular exercise rider for Rachel Alexandra when she was trained by Hal Wiggins.

    This makes Gallegos the first exercise rider to be aboard different Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners since Joanne McNamara was the morning partner in 1995 for Kentucky Derby winner Thunder Gulch and Preakness winner Timber Country for trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

    Gallegos took Mine That Bird twice around Thursday morning on a fast track and covered 1 ½ miles on a sloppy track Friday morning.

    “He’s awesome, totally focused,” Gallegos said. “He switches leads easily and when he sees another horse ahead of him wants to go get him. Just looking at him, he looks small, but when you are on top of him, he really fills out and is wide. He is all muscle and very confident.”

    Gallegos was Rachel Alexandra’s morning rider for nearly a year, being with the filly when she won the Kentucky Oaks. Rachel Alexandra won the Preakness in her next start for new ownership and is scheduled to run Saturday in the Grade I Mother Goose at Belmont Park.

“When I first got on her last summer, I was telling everybody that she’ll win the Oaks, but then everybody talks like that,” he said. “But she went out and proved it.”

So, if the two Classic winners were sitting in an automobile dealer’s showroom, what models would they be?

    “Rachel would be a Lamborghini,” Gallegos said. “It would be like when you’d go to shift gears, everything would be so smooth, so precise. Mine That Bird would be a Ferrari, just pure class.”

    Trainer Chip Woolley has scheduled a half-mile work for Mine That Bird on Monday morning after the renovation break   Jockey Calvin Borel will be up in Mine That Bird in his first work since a third-place finish in the Belmont Stakes (Grade I) on June 6. Mine That Bird’s next scheduled start is the $750,000 West Virginia Derby (Grade II) on Aug. 1 at Mountaineer.

CASH REFUND SIDELINED UNTIL FALL – Richard, Bertram and Elaine Klein’s Cash Refund, second in the Matt Winn Stakes on May 16, will be sidelined until the fall according to trainer Steve Margolis.

    “We took him up to Rood & Riddle in Lexington and there is a minor issue,” said Margolis, who was pointing Cash Refund to the $200,000 Jersey Shore (Grade III) at Monmouth Park on July 5.

    “He will be off in July and August and we will start him back the middle of September. He is on the farm now and we will try to make the fall meet here with him.”

    Cash Refund has won two of three career starts.

A LITTLE EARLY RAIN CAN’T PUT DAMPER ON “DOWNS AFTER DARK” – The rain came down in buckets overnight and, for a normal race day, things could have been dicey for Churchill Downs Track Superintendent Butch Lehr and his crew.

“We got between two and three inches of rain in some areas of town,” said Lehr of the storms that left parts of the barn area under water when training began at 6 a.m. (all times EDT).

“We had sealed the track last night to keep the moisture in. It was a blast furnace out there yesterday and we watered between every race. This morning there was a little washout, but we fixed it at 5 o’clock and opened for training on schedule.”

By mid-morning, the sun was out with a steady breeze blowing to help dry things out for the second “Downs After Dark” program that was scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

“We didn’t have a full crew this morning because of the late start,” Lehr said. “We are going to open the drains on the turf course and roll it. We have a lot of time to work on it.”

“GET IN THE GAME” HANDICAPPING SEMINAR TO FEATURE JON COURT – Popular rider Jon Court will be racing analyst Jill Byrne’s special guest during Saturday’s “Get in the Game” Handicapping Seminar.

    The half-hour session, free with general admission, will begin at noon in the paddock area and will feature informative and in-depth analysis of select races and other handicapping topics.

    Court, 48, has ridden 22 winners this meet, seventh best in the standings. Court returned to Churchill Downs this spring after riding the past five years in Southern California. Court has ridden 331 winners at Churchill Downs, which ranks 17th all-time under the Twin Spires. He will be riding Tidal Pool for trainer D. Wayne Lukas in Saturday’s $100,000-added Debutante Stakes (Grade III).

MILESTONE WATCH – Greg Foley became the 12th trainer in track history to saddle 300 winners at Churchill Downs when Izzy Ali won Thursday’s fifth race under Shaun Bridgmohan. Foley, 51, won his first race at Churchill Downs when he was 23 during the 1981 Spring Meet. Izzy Ali’s victory was the 15th of the meet for Foley, good for third in the trainer standings.

William Connelly, who has 999 career victories, failed in his bid to reach 1,000 when Hungry Tigress ran fourth in Thursday’s eighth race. Connelly’s next chance to reach 1,000 will come Saturday night when he sends out Bred to Win in the seventh race at Indiana Downs.

BARN TALK – Coach Billy G., named for former University of Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie, makes his racing debut in Friday night’s 11th race, a six-furlong, maiden special weight test. A son of Storm Cat, Coach Billy G. is owned by Donald Adam’s Courtlandt Farm. “Mr. Adam’s farm is in Bryan, Texas, and he is a friend of Gillispie’s from when Gillispie coached at Texas A&M,” trainer Jim Baker said.
 Calvin Borel rode two winners on Thursday’s card and narrowed his deficit to three (56-53) in his bid to overtake Julien Leparoux for the riding title. Borel is named on 10 mounts Friday night and can gain ground as Leparoux will be riding at Prairie Meadows in Iowa. The earnings from Borel’s Thursday mounts pushed his meet total to a record $3,501,524, surpassing Rafael Bejarano’s $3,460,332 total in 2006.

    With seven days remaining in the meet, Steve Asmussen holds a 23-16 lead over Mike Maker in the chase for leading trainer. Asmussen has won five Churchill Downs training titles, two spring (2004 and 2007) and three fall (2001, 2004 and 2007). Maker has won one training title, that coming last fall with a record 31 wins.

WORK TAB – Fred Bradley’s Brass Hat worked six furlongs over a sloppy track in 1:14.40 on Friday morning with jockey Calvin Borel up. “He worked good this morning,” trainer William “Buff” Bradley said. “My dad and I are going to talk again today and we’ll make a decision by Sunday on which race we’ll go to.” Winner of the May 23 Louisville Handicap (Grade III) last time out, Brass Hat  is being pointed to the $750,000 United Nations Handicap (Grade I) at 1 3/8 miles at Monmouth Park on July 4 or the $200,000 Arlington Handicap (Grade III) at 1 ¼ miles at Arlington Park on July 11.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Weights for the Firecracker will be released on Saturday.

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

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

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

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

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

Weights for the Locust Grove will be announced Sunday.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

THREE-WIN DAY BOLSTERS HERNANDEZ’S SPIRITS – It has been a frustrating meet so far for jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., but things started to turn around a bit on Saturday when he enjoyed his first three-day win of the meet.

    “You hope to have more days like yesterday,” said Hernandez, a 23-year-old native of Lafayette, La.

    Hernandez took the Saturday opener on Cat Island and followed with scores on Gather All in the second and Darboy in the fourth. The three wins gave him 14 for the meet to go with 27 runner-up finishes.

    “The 20-something seconds get old in a hurry,” he said. “You start trying to figure out what you are doing wrong, but a lot of the time your horse is just second best.”

    The one day that stands out for Hernandez as being symbolic of the meet was May 7. He won two races but also lost three photo finishes, two by a nose.

    “Every photo that day I lost,” Hernandez said. “It seemed like I got beat a nose every time.”

    When the meet ends in two weeks, instead of staying in Kentucky and riding at Ellis Park, Hernandez is planning on heading east.

    “I am going to go to Delaware Park,” Hernandez said. “I never have been there.”

SEVEN FILLIES CONSIDERED PROBABLE FOR SATURDAY’S DEBUTANTE – Westrock Stables’ Decelerator, Clifford Grum’s Brown Eyed Baby and Lewis Lakin and Diane and Roger Stanton’s Wild Forest Cat, all maiden winners this spring at Churchill Downs, are among seven 2-year-old fillies considered as “probable” starters in Saturday’s 109th running of the $100,000-added Debutante (Grade III).

Of the three, only Decelerator won at first asking, taking a five-furlong dash on a sloppy track on May 14. Decelerator is trained by D. Wayne Lukas, who has won the Debutante a record six times.

Other undefeated probables for the Debutante include GTS Racing’s Our Tekela Rose, a one-length winner going 4 ½ furlongs on the Polytrack at Arlington Park on May 24, Mary Bonham’s Phone Marybe, a 9 ½-length winner going 4 ½ furlongs at Calder on May 7, and Katierich Stables and Dan Beaton’s Henry’s Posse, a 7 ½-length winner going 4 ½ furlongs at Pimlico on May 2.

Also considered as probable for the race is Ross Yelverton’s Send Rose Thecheck, a 1 ½-length winner at 4 ½ furlongs in her second start at Evangeline Downs on May 22.

    Entries for the Debutante will be taken Wednesday.

MILESTONE WATCH – Greg Foley inched closer to the 300-win mark at Churchill Downs when Oh Charlie Boy rallied late to take Saturday’s fifth race for Foley’s 299th victory beneath the Twin Spires. Foley’s first bid to become the 12th trainer in track history to reach the 300-win mark fell short on Saturday when Cajun Prize finished fifth in the 10th. Foley, who saddled his first winner at Churchill Downs during the 1981 Spring Meet, has two horses entered on Sunday: Q Mac’s Phone in the sixth and Hickory Dee in the 10th.

    Churchill Downs-based trainer William Connelly, who has saddled 998 winners in his career, will try to reach 1,000-win milestone north of the Ohio River this week when he sends out four horses on Monday and Tuesday at Indiana Downs. Connelly has Just Memories in the second race and Hard Rock Man in the third race on Monday and It’s a Rap in the second and Megalos in the sixth on Tuesday.

BARN TALK – Kentucky Derby (GI) winner Mine That Bird jogged once around the wrong way early Sunday morning with Charlie Figueroa up and is slated to go back to work on Monday. “He will resume his two-mile gallops on Monday. He is ready to do something,” said trainer Chip Woolley, who gave Mine That Bird two weeks of light activity after his third-place finish in the June 6 Belmont Stakes (Grade I). Mine That Bird’s next start is scheduled to be the West Virginia Derby (Grade II) on Aug. 1.

Ryan Pacheco, a product of Chris McCarron’s North American Racing Academy in Lexington, Ky., made his riding debut Saturday afternoon, finishing sixth on Tiki Sweet (PER) in the sixth race. Pacheco is a native of Toronto and became the second Academy product to ride at Churchill Downs in the past two weeks. Ben Creed, from Taylorsville, Ky., made his Churchill Downs debut on June 11, finishing fourth on Galaxy Lady in that day’s first race. Creed also rode Saturday, finishing fifth on Dancer’s Secret in the opener. Creed, who has ridden at River Downs and Indiana Downs, has posted one victory in 11 mounts: Iron Id on June 16 at Indiana Downs.

    Larry Sterling Jr. posted his first stakes victory on Saturday since breaking his wrist last September at Kentucky Downs. Sterling won aboard Juliet’s Spirit for trainer Steve Asmussen in the Lady Charles Town Stakes at Charles Town, W.Va.

WORK TAB – With owner Lewis Lakin looking on, multi-graded stakes winner Pure Clan worked five furlongs after the renovation break over a fast track in 1:00.60. Second in the Early Times Mint Julep (Grade III) in her 2009 debut, Pure Clan is being pointed to the Modesty Handicap (Grade III) at Arlington Park on July 11. … B. Wayne Hughes’ My Pal Charlie worked a half-mile in :49.60 for trainer Al Stall Jr. in preparation for Saturday’s Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Breeders’ Cup Handicap (Grade II) in Iowa. … Team Valor International’s King of the Roxy, a two-time Grade II stakes winner who has not run since April 2008, worked a half-mile in :48, second fastest of 69 at the distance, in his third work since rejoining the Todd Pletcher barn in May.

DOWNS AFTER DARK RECEIVES STRONG REVIEWS – The talk of the backstretch Saturday morning was all about the night before … the debut of night racing at Churchill Downs that brought out a crowd of 28,011.

    “The racing department did a fine job and everything was smooth on that end. It pumped us up having all the people come out to see us,” said trainer William “Buff” Bradley, whose lone starter of the night came in the 11th race that went off at 11:11 p.m. “I wish it could be like that every day.”

    “I knew it would be popular and I am sure they will address any glitches that occurred,” trainer Neil Howard said.

. “I ran at 7:30 and it wasn’t dark yet,” said veteran Kentucky-based trainer Steve Penrod. “I like to walk over with my horses and I can usually count the people in the stands. I couldn’t do that last night.  I hope they all come back.”

Chip Woolley, trainer of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird who is based in New Mexico, liked what he saw.

“I thought for the first time, they did an awesome job. It was a great, great deal,” Woolley said. “I got here about 7 o’clock and when I turned the corner driving in I saw all the people on the balconies and it looked just like Derby Day.”

Robby Albarado, who rode two winners on the card, was back out working horses Saturday morning despite the late finish to the program.

“I usually go to bed between 11 and 11:30, but I didn’t procrastinate too long when I got home last night,” Albarado said. “It was a little bit different for us with the people and the lights. It was a nice crowd, a young crowd and hopefully a lot of them will come back.”

MISS DIANE MAKES FAVORABLE FIRST IMPRESSION FOR SCHERER – For $27,000, trainer Merrill Scherer plucked a 2-year-old Montbrook filly out of the April sale at Ocala for himself, Centaur Farms and Dan Lynch. On Friday night, he got to see what he had in the filly named Miss Diane.

What he saw was the fastest 4 ½ furlongs of the meet when Miss Diane outdueled Ad Litem by a neck in :50.99.

“She fought horses off two times in the race that was impressive,” Scherer said. Not many 2-year-olds can do that. She kept trying.”

The :50.99 clocking included a final sixteenth of a mile in 5.67 seconds.

“I didn’t know it was the fastest time of the meet, but she might have broken the track record if she had broken from the gate,” Scherer said. “She shot up like a skyrocket at the break and then she re-broke again.”

Miss Diane had two solid works at Churchill Downs before the debut, including a bullet move of :47 for a half-mile on June 5.

“She was fast every time I worked her and just ready to run,” said Scherer, who was surprised to come away with the filly for only $27,000. “I just got her papers the day before, which is why I entered both (Yes It’s Valid also was entered) in case they didn’t get here.”

So, what’s next for Miss Diane?

“Not a clue,” Scherer said.

OCEAN COLORS DAZZLES IN TURF DEBUT – Expectations have always been high for Ocean Colors, the next-to-last foal of 1988 Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors. The expectations heightened when she romped at first asking last June at Churchill Downs.

    Owned by Gainesway Thoroughbreds, Ocean Colors made her grass debut Friday night and it was a smashing success as she won the five-furlong sprint in :57.10 by 2 ½ lengths.

    “She ran big last night and she’s fine this morning,” said Scott Blasi, assistant to trainer Steve Asmussen. “I am not sure what we are going to do next with her, because there are not that many races that fit her at five and five and a half furlongs.”

MILESTONE WATCH – Greg Foley, who has 298 career victories at Churchill Downs, can become the 12th trainer in track history to reach the 300-win mark on Saturday with two horses entered: Oh Charlie Boy in the fifth and Cajun Prize in the 10th. Foley, who saddled his first winner at Churchill Downs during the 1981 Spring Meet, also has two horses entered on Sunday: Q Mac’s Phone in the sixth and Hickory Dee in the 10th.

BARN TALK – Saturday is the deadline for nominations for the final three stakes of the Spring Meet. Closing that day will be the $100,000-added Bashford Manor (Grade III) for 2-year-olds going six furlongs on the main track to be run July 3, the $150,000-added Firecracker Handicap (Grade II) at a mile on the Matt Winn Turf Course for 3-year-olds and up on July 4, and the $100,000-added Locust Grove Handicap (Grade III) for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up also going a mile on the turf on closing day July 5.

WORK TAB – Luv Gov and Flying Private, fifth and sixth respectively in the June 6 Belmont Stakes (Grade I) for trainer D. Wayne Lukas, returned to the work tab Saturday morning with half-mile works. Working over a track labeled “good”, Luv Gov was clocked in :48.60 with Flying Private, fourth to Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness (GI),  posting a :50.60 time. … Terrain, working toward a Friday start in the Iowa Derby at Prairie Meadows, covered a half-mile in :49.60 for trainer Al Stall Jr. Also heading to Iowa on Wednesday for Stall will be My Pal Charlie for the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Breeders’ Cup Handicap (Grade II) and Bear Now for the Iowa Distaff Breeders’ Cup. … Debut winner Beautician, nominated to next Saturday’s Debutante (Grade III), worked a half-mile in :49 over a sloppy track for trainer Ken McPeek, the seventh fastest of 70 at the distance.

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).