Connie and Michael

MINE THAT BIRD BACK ON THE TRACK AT CHURCHILL DOWNS – It had been nearly 10 months, but on Friday morning 2009 Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird stepped back on the track where he became a household name in taking the Run for the Roses.

Owned by Mark Allen’s Double Eagle Ranch and Dr. Leonard Blach’s Buena Suerte Equine, Mine That Bird returned to Churchill Downs at 8 p.m. Thursday after a two-day van trip from Allen’s ranch in Roswell, N.M.

 “Same trailer as last year, just a different route,” Allen said. “Wednesday we drove 10 hours to just outside of Tulsa where we stayed overnight at the Rockin Z Ranch, and then 12 hours to Louisville.” Last year, Mine That Bird came to Kentucky via Dallas and a stopover at Lone Star Park.

Instead of going to Barn 42 as he did for last year’s Kentucky Derby and where he stayed until leaving for the last time last year on July 24 for the West Virginia Derby (GII), Mine That Bird went to Barn 44 with new trainer D. Wayne Lukas.

“The bigger challenge is with a horse with great potential that can’t run,” Lukas said shortly after Mine That Bird stepped off the trailer and walked around the shedrow. “We know this horse can run. He tailed off at the end of last year and now we can try to put him back on top.”

Mine That Bird closed out 2009 with a ninth-place finish behind unbeaten Zenyatta in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) on Nov. 7. Following the Breeders’ Cup, Mine That Bird returned to the ranch and did not resume training until March 15.

“We just let him be a horse back at the ranch,” said Charlie Figueroa, Mine That Bird’s regular exercise rider last year and morning companion this year at Roswell. “When he started back training, he had a different attitude from last year. It was a little more of a taking care of business thing.”

The ranch has a half-mile training track and before he left this week, Mine That Bird was up to a mile and a half a day galloping.

“Usually, I’d jog him one time around and then gallop another three times around, sometimes more,” Figueroa said. “It is a sandy track, and I learned from being on tracks like that in Arizona, that you cut back about 30 percent of what you usually do to get them fit.”

Lukas liked what he saw of Mine That Bird when he arrived.

“He has been training at altitude, and he may be fitter than a horse coming from Lexington,” Lukas said Thursday night. “I’m going to take him out and jog him in the morning.”

With the renovation break about to end Friday morning, Lukas, on his pony, had Mine That Bird ready to go on the track with exercise rider Arielle Witkowski in the saddle.

“OK, boy, this is where you became famous,” Lukas said, giving Mine That Bird a pat on the nose.

Allen and Figueroa looked on from the viewing stand at the six-furlong gap.

“Hey, Mark. Did he run in a white bridle last year?” Lukas asked Allen referring to his trademark bridles. “You know those move a horse up two lengths.”

“Well, if they move him up two lengths, we’re gonna have a good year,” Allen said.

With the track open, Mine That Bird jogged around to the sixteenth pole with Lukas alongside and then jogged back to the backstretch before finishing his morning exercise with a little time in the mile chute. Mine That Bird was on his toes as he walked back to Barn 44.

“First time I’ve ever been on a Derby winner,” Witkowski said with a smile.

“I think he looks better than I have ever seen him. I am very pleased with what I see,” Lukas said. “He will gallop tomorrow morning.”

Allen plans to stay in Louisville for “four or five days” and Figueroa may stay a bit longer to help with the transition of Mine That Bird from life on the ranch to the Lukas barn. However, Allen does have a side trip planned for Saturday to Presque Isle Downs in Pennsylvania to see Double Eagle’s Consul Romano (CHI) run that night.

The Breeders’ Cup Classic, to be run here Nov. 6, is the ultimate goal for Mine That Bird this year and Allen is hoping the gelding has at least three starts before the World Championships.

“We will work backward from the Breeders’ Cup to make sure we look good here,” Lukas said. “I’m sure the Whitney (Aug. 7) is going to jump out there and maybe the Suburban (July 3) at Belmont could be another possibility. Then they’ve got the Salvatore Mile (also July 3) at Monmouth Park, so there are plenty of options.”

SOLIS REMEMBERS “AN AMAZING HORSE” SNOW CHIEF – One of the top thoroughbreds of the mid-1980s, Snow Chief, died last Saturday at age 27, almost 24 years to the day he won the Preakness.
    Along for a great majority of the ride was jockey Alex Solis.

“I am very grateful to him,” Solis said. “He put me on the map in Southern California.”

Snow Chief compiled a record of 24-13-3-5 for earnings of $3,383,210. Solis was aboard 17 times, recording 10 victories with two seconds and four thirds. His only off-the-board finish on Snow Chief was in the 1986 Kentucky Derby when Snow Chief finished 11th.

“He just didn’t handle the track that day,” Solis said. “He beat everybody east and west, but the Derby was just one of those races. I knew at the half-mile pole. He got the lead for a little bit and usually he would fight, but not that day.”

Snow Chief had run three times as a 2-year-old before Solis got on board at the Del Mar meet.
“When I first got on him, he was not giving 100 percent all the time,” Solis said. “I suggested to (trainer) Mel Stute that blinkers might be the answer and he had them on from the end of his 2-year-old year on.”
The blinkers went on in the Hollywood Futurity and started a five-race win streak leading up to the Kentucky Derby. Along the way, Snow Chief won the El Camino Real Derby at Bay Meadows, the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park and the Santa Anita Derby.

Nine days after Snow Chief won the Preakness, he won the $1 million Jersey Derby at Garden State Park.
“He was an amazing horse with a lot of heart,” Solis said. “Horses like that don’t come around very often.”

CONNIE AND MICHAEL EYES MOTHER GOOSE – The Brooklyn Boyz Stables’ Connie and Michael expanded her resume Thursday afternoon at Churchill Downs by romping to a 5 ¼-length allowance victory in her dirt debut.

“She is pretty special,” trainer Ken McPeek said. “Her owner, Mr. (Anthony) Bonomo lives in Manhattan and wants to try to run her in New York, so she is headed to the Mother Goose.”

The Mother Goose (GI) is worth $250,000 and run at 1 1/16 miles on June 26.

Connie and Michael debuted last fall at Keeneland on Polytrack, winning by 7 ¾ lengths after breaking from post position 12. Three weeks later, she pressed the pace in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI) before fading to eighth, beaten less than five lengths. Three weeks after her Breeders’ Cup dsappointment Connie and Michael finished third, beaten a length, in the Grade III Miesque on turf.

Thursday’s victory marked her return to the races after a nearly six-month layoff. Connie and Michael turned back a challenge from Lady Etienne in the upper stretch before drawing off under Francisco Torres.

Connie and Michael is not the only talented 3-year-old filly in the McPeek barn. He also has Beautician, who ran fourth in the Kentucky Oaks (GI).

“Beautician has been working every Saturday on grass on my farm in Lexington,” McPeek said. “She is going to run in the Regret (at 1 1/8 miles on the grass June 12). “I’ve also got Striking Dancer for the Fleur De Lis (June 12) and My Baby Baby for the Early Times Mint Julep (June 5).”

Noble’s Promise, fifth in the Kentucky Derby (GI) after taking the lead entering the stretch for McPeek, is slated to leave June 3 for England where he is scheduled to run in the St. James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 15.

BARN TALK – A. Stevens Miles Jr.’s Warrior’s Reward, runner-up in the Churchill Downs (GII) on Derby Day, indicated his readiness for the Metropolitan Handicap (GI) at Belmont Park by blazing a bullet five furlongs over a fast track in :58.80 on Friday morning. With exercise rider Tracey Wilkes up, Warrior’s Reward recorded fractions of :12.60, :24.40, :36.20 and :47.40 with a six-furlong gallop-out time of 1:11.40 and seven-eighths in 1:25 before the renovation break.  “He had company for a while,” trainer Ian Wilkes said of Warrior’s Reward, who quickly made up a seven-length deficit on his companion. “It was a good work, and he galloped out strong, too.”  Warrior’s Reward is scheduled to leave for New York on Thursday and Wilkes indicated the colt may work again Wednesday before shipping out. …
Tom Walters’ Pretty Prolific, runner-up in the Grade I Humana Distaff on May 1, will bypass the Winning Colors on Memorial Day according to trainer Jim Baker. “She’s turned out at the farm,” Baker said. “We didn’t want to cut back to six furlongs (the Winning Colors distance) and we wanted to freshen her for a seven-eighths stake at Saratoga.” That would be the $250,000 Ballerina (GI) on Aug. 28.

WORK TAB – IEAH Stables and Resolute Group Stables’ Court Vision, runner-up in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (GI) in his most recent start, worked a half-mile in :49.80. It was the 22nd fastest of 42 at the distance.

HORSEMEN’S GOLF SCRAMBLE RETURNS ON JUNE 8 – The second annual Horsemen’s Golf Scramble will be held Tuesday, June 8 at the Glenmary Country Club in Fern Creek, Ky., to help raise funds for the Backside Learning Center at Churchill Downs. The cost of the golf outing is $100 per player with four players to a team. Players will be treated to an 11 a.m. lunch. The 18-hole tournament will begin with a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. There will be contests for the longest drive, closest to the pin, and a hole-in-one in which someone could win a 2010 Toyota Corolla from Oxmoor Toyota. Registration is due Friday, May 28 and entry forms can be found at the Backside Learning Center or by visiting www.derbymusuem.org/backsidelc.

BRASS HAT’S TRAINER ‘BUFF’ BRADLEY WILL BE SPECIAL ‘GET IN THE GAME WITH JILL BYRNE’ GUEST ON SATURDAY – Trainer William “Buff” Bradley, who conditions the popular 9-year-old gelding Brass Hat, will be Saturday’s “Get in the Game with Jill Byrne” special guest. Byrne and Bradley will discuss several topics including Saturday’s feature race, the 73rd running of the Grade III Louisville Handicap, where Bradley will send out defending champ Brass Hat. The weekly 30-minute seminars offer fans an insider look at the world of horse racing every Saturday in the paddock area starting at 11:45 a.m. Also, it will be televised on television monitors throughout Churchill Downs.

PRIZE MONEY, TRIP TO HORSEPLAYER WORLD SERIES UP FOR GRABS IN SUNDAY’S ‘WHO’S THE CHAMP?’ HANDICAPPING CONTEST – Churchill Downs’ “Who’s the Champ?” Handicapping Contest continues every Sunday through June 13 with $4,000 in prize money and a coveted prize package to compete in the Horseplayer World Series each week.

   The weekly first prize is $1,500 and a five-day, four-night trip to Las Vegas with round-trip airfare courtesy of American Airlines to compete in the Horseplayer World Series, which is scheduled for Feb. 16-19, 2011 at the Orleans Resort and Casino.

Ira Hopkins of Louisville was last week’s winner.

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

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

CONNIE AND MICHAEL WORKS FIVE FURLONGS FOR BREEDERS’ CUP START – With jockey Kent Desormeaux aboard, Anthony Bonomo Jr.’s Connie and Michael tuned up for her engagement in next Friday’s Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (Grade I) at Oak Tree at Santa Anita by working five furlongs in 1:01 over a “fast” track at Churchill Downs.

"She went out for a breeze with a capital B,” Desormeaux said after the work that occurred after the track re-opened after the morning renovation break. “She was just cruising out there and she galloped out strong.”

A daughter of Roman Ruler, Connie and Michael did not make her racing debut until Oct. 17 when she romped by 7 ¾ lengths after exiting the 12 hole in a seven-furlong Keeneland sprint. Connie and Michael is scheduled to fly to Santa Anita on Saturday to join the rest of trainer Ken McPeek’s Breeders’ Cup cast.

Other McPeek runners for the World Championships include Magdalena Racing’s House of Grace for the Juvenile Fillies Turf, Peter Callahan’s Beautician for the Juvenile Fillies, Melnyk Racing Stables’ Bridgetown for the Juvenile Turf and Chasing Dreams Racing 2008’s Noble’s Promise for the Grey Goose Juvenile.

Connie and Michael is one of nine Breeders’ Cup runners that Desormeaux is confirmed on as of today.

“I am going to be busy, and that’s how I like it,” said Desormeaux, a three-time Kentucky Derby-winning rider. “I’ll ride here Thursday and catch a plane after the card and get out there around 11 that night.”

Other World Championships mounts for Desormeaux, who has won three Breeders’ Cup races, according to his agent Mike Sellito are: Summer Bird (Classic), Mushka (Ladies’ Classic), Dynaforce (Filly & Mare Turf), Mr. Sidney (Dirt Mile), Gangbuster (Marathon), Piscitelli (Juvenile), Whatsthescript-IRE (Mile) and Interactif (Juvenile Turf).

LEPAROUX CONFIRMED ON NINE BREEDERS’ CUP MOUNTS – Of the four Churchill Downs-based riders other than Kent Desormeaux headed to next week’s Breeders’ Cup World Championships, Julien Leparoux figures to be the busiest.

According to agent Steve Bass, Leparoux is confirmed to ride in nine of the 14 races over the two days of the Championships that begin Friday.

Topping the list is defending Filly & Mare Turf (GI) winner and Eclipse Award filly and mare turf champion Forever Together. Other Leparoux mounts are Churchill Downs-based Einstein-BRZ (Classic), Informed Decision (Filly & Mare Sprint), She Be Wild (Juvenile Fillies), Rainbow View (Ladies’ Classic), Aspire (Juvenile), Becky’s Kitten (Juvenile Turf), Lisa’s Kitten (Juvenile Fillies Turf) and Silver Timber (Turf Sprint).

Also heading out to Southern California to compete in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships are Calvin Borel, Robby Albarado and Shaun Bridgmohan, who have a combined six confirmed mounts as of today.

Borel has one mount, Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird in the Classic.

Albarado is confirmed on Tapitsfly in the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Beautician in the Juvenile Fillies next Friday and on Court Vision on Saturday in the Mile.

Bridgmohan has two mounts for trainer Steve Asmussen: Jungle Tale in the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Kodiak Kowboy in the Sprint.

ACK ACK, CHILUKKI FIELDS TAKING SHAPE – Senior Vice President/Racing Donnie Richardson said that fields for next weekend’s two graded stakes, the Ack Ack (GIII) and the Chilukki (GII), both at a mile on the main track, are beginning to take shape.

The Ack Ack, scheduled to be run on Friday for 3-year-olds and up, closed with 30 nominations. Entries will be taken Tuesday and heading the list of probables for the $100,000-added Ack Ack is B. Wayne Hughes’ My Pal Charlie, trained by Al Stall Jr.

Winner of last year’s Super Derby (GII), My Pal Charlie is winless in eight starts in 2009. However, his best effort of the year came at Churchill Downs came on Derby day when he ran second in the Grade II Churchill Downs.

Also considered probable for the Ack Ack are Michael Cooper and Pamela Ziebarth’s Tizdejavu, a two-time graded-stakes winner on the grass at Churchill Downs, and Robert Yagos’ Spotsgone.

The $150,000-added Chilukki for fillies and mares is expected to mark the return to the races of One Caroline for trainer Rusty Arnold.

Owned by G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and the Louise Ireland Humphrey Revocable Trust 2008, One Caroline has not raced since finishing second to Miss Isella in the Grade II Louisville Distaff on May 1. It was One Caroline’s first loss after she opened her career with five consecutive victories. She was injured while preparing for the Fleur De Lis (GII) in June.

Also considered as “probable” to compete in the Chilukki, which will be run Saturday, Nov. 7, is Mark Stanley’s Swift Temper. Trained by Dale Romans, Swift Temper has won the Ruffian (GI), Delaware Handicap (GII) and the Sixty Sails (GIII) in 2009.

Other Chilukki probables include Westrock Stables’ Be Fair, Briland Farm’s Color Me Up and Michael Pressley, John Ferris, Mike Riley, Lee Robey and Barry Higgins’ Payton d’Oro. Listed as “possible” for the race are Richard, Bertram and Elaine Klein’s Whirlie Bertie and World Thoroughbred Racing’s Don’ttalktome

Entries for the Chilukki will be taken Wednesday.

WORK TAB – Tom McCarthy’s General Quarters worked three furlongs in :37.80, his second three-eighths breeze since returning for surgery to remove a chip in his right front knee. Winner of the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (GI) and 10th-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI), General Quarters was sidelined after a ninth-place finish in the Preakness (GI). … Martin Racing Stable and Dan Morgan’s Dubai Majesty, winner of the Buffalo Trace Franklin County at Keeneland in her most recent start on Oct. 16 and the Winning Colors (GIII) at Churchill Downs this spring, worked a half-mile in :49.80 for trainer Bret Calhoun.

2010 CHURCHILL DOWNS WALL CALENDAR GIVEAWAY ON OPENING DAY – The first 5,000 fans in attendance on Sunday, Nov. 1 – opening day of the 2009 Fall Meet – will receive a free 2010 Churchill Downs Wall Calendar, sponsored by Humana. The colorful calendar features major event listings and vivid and memorable images from the Kentucky Derby and around the historic racetrack.

Opening day of the anticipated 21-day stand doubles as “Stars of Tomorrow I” with 11 live races entirely devoted to rising 2-year-old stars who have aspirations of trail-blazing their way to next year’s Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks (GI). The featured events are the open Iroquois and the fillies’ Pocahontas, a pair of Grade III, $100,000-added events run at one mile on the main track.

The day will also will feature the debut a new free Sunday morning public workout program from 8-10 a.m. entitled “Daybreak at the Downs” and a special 2-year-old handicapping seminar and breakfast in the Paddock Pavilion from 9-11:30 a.m.

Admission gates will open at 11:30 a.m. and first post is 12:40 p.m. ET.

Churchill Downs 120th Fall Meet, featuring world-class horse racing, will continue for a four-week stand through Saturday, Nov. 28.

General admission is $3, but only $1 for senior citizens and members of the track’s free-to-join Twin Spires Club. Children 12 and under are admitted free when accompanied by an adult. Parking is free in the Longfield Avenue lot (Gates 10 & 12) and $3 in all other lots. Valet parking is $5.

For more information or to reserve seats, call (502) 636-4400 or visit www.ChurchillDowns.com.

SPECIAL 2-YEAR-OLD HANDICAPPING SEMINAR SET ON OPENING DAY FROM 9-11:30 A.M. – Churchill Downs will host its annual “Stars of Tomorrow” 2-Year-Old Handicapping Seminar on Sunday, Nov. 1 in the Paddock Pavilion from 9-11:30 a.m.

Churchill Downs racing analyst Jill Byrne will host this year’s seminar with jockey Jon Court, trainer Ian Wilkes and workout clocker John Nichols. The quartet will provide insight on how to improve handicapping skills for 2-year-old racing and in-depth analysis of the entire “Stars of Tomorrow I” racing program with a question and answer session.

One of the most attractive aspects of the seminar is a special trip to the saddling paddock for an up-close inspection of a 2-year-old and its confirmation, behavior and equipment.

The cost to attend is $25 and includes breakfast buffet, official program, Brisnet.com past performances, and a reserved seat in Skye Terrace 5. There also will be a raffle for door prizes, including a VIP day at the races, two rounds of golf at Belterra Casino Resort & Spa, signed framed photographs of past Kentucky Derby winners and a chance to watch a race from the Churchill Downs announcer’s booth with track commentator Mark Johnson.

Call (502) 636-4400 for reservations.

“WHO’S THE CHAMP?” HANDICAPPING TOURNAMENT RETURNS SUNDAYS & WEDNESDAYS – Churchill Downs’ popular “Who’s the Champ” Handicapping Tournament will return for the 2009 Fall Meet with contests every Sunday and Wednesday through Nov. 22.

Horse racing fans can pit their handicapping skills against the best Louisville has to offer for twice-weekly cash prizes and an invitation to the Sunday, Nov. 22 final. The top two finishers in the final will win coveted berths in the Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association Handicapping Championship XI scheduled for Jan. 29-30 at Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa in Las Vegas.

Prize money for each contest, which requires participants to place mythical $2 Win and Place wagers in Races 3-9, totals $4,000, including a $1,400 first prize.

The top 25 unique participants in each contest through Wednesday, Nov. 18 will be invited to the Nov. 22 final.

The participation fee for each contest is $30 and includes complimentary lunch. It’s discounted to $25 for Twin Spires Club members. Registration will take place in the Champions Club Lounge on the second floor of the clubhouse from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on contest days. Additional contest seating will be available in the Churchill Downs Lounge when necessary.

NEW “DAYBREAK AT THE DOWNS” FREE EVERY SUNDAY FROM 8-10 A.M. – “Daybreak at the Downs” – patterned after Kentucky Derby week’s well-attended “Dawn at the Downs” – will make its debut on opening day, Sunday, Nov. 1, and take place every Sunday from 8-10 a.m. throughout the 2009 Fall Meet.
Churchill Downs’ racing analyst Jill Byrne will host the program with select special guests and she’ll describe the on-track action and provide insightful commentary as hundreds of horses prepare for their upcoming races in morning workouts.

Daybreak at the Downs” is free to attend each Sunday. Complimentary coffee, donuts and milk will be served to attendees.

Interested patrons should park in the Longfield Lot and enter through Gate 10. The “Daybreak at the Downs” will be presented in Sections 116-117 of the clubhouse. Visitors are welcome to stay for a day at the races free of charge.