William

GONCALVES OFF TO FAST START IN RIDERS RACE – Trainer Buff Bradley has found that other trainers are taking notice of the riding talents of Leandro Gonvalves.

"I am not getting to ride him as much because he is getting more clients,” Bradley said of Goncalves, who sits in a four-way tie for second place in the rider standings with seven victories through the first eight days of the 21-day meet.

Goncalves, a 27-year-old native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, already has equaled his victory total from the Spring Meet in only 51rides, nearly half his spring total when he had 100 mounts.

“Everything is better,” Goncalves said of the difference between the two meets. “I am getting on better horses and more people are watching me ride.”

Goncalves won his first U.S. riding title at the September Turfway Park meet and followed that up with six victories at the Keeneland meet, good for a tie for eighth in the standings. He also picked up his first graded-stakes victory when he guided Satans Quick Chick to win the Raven Run (Grade II) on Oct. 24, part of a three-win day.

Represented by Steve Elzey, Goncalves will ride at Turfway Park after the current meet ends Nov. 28 and then move to Oaklawn Park for the first time early next year.

Bradley has been a big supporter of Goncalves.

“He’s a very patient rider and he puts horses in the right place in a race,” Bradley said. “He is very positive and a hard worker. He has a lot of good qualities and I think he’ll be a top rider.”

Goncalves does not pattern his riding style after any one jockey.

“I watch all of the riders,” Goncalves said. “But there are a couple that I really like, John Velazquez and Gary Stevens when he was riding.”
 
EIGHT DISTAFFERS CONSIDERED PROBABLE FOR CARDINAL – Weights for the 36th running of the $100,000-added Cardinal Handicap (GIII) will be announced Saturday and as of Friday eight fillies and mares were considered as probable for the race by Churchill Downs Racing Secretary Ben Huffman.

Topping the list for the 1 1/8-mile race to be contested over the Matt Winn Turf Course on Saturday, Nov. 21, is Helen Alexander and Helen Groves’ Acoma. Trained by David Carroll, Acoma has two graded-stakes wins over the Matt Winn Turf Course: the Mint Julep (GIII) in June and the Mrs. Revere (GII) last fall.

Other graded-stakes winners among the probables are Social Queen, winner of the Gallorette (GIII) at Pimlico in May, and Tizfiz, winner of the San Gorgonio (GII) at Santa Anita in January.

Other probables include Leamington, Lemon Chiffon, My Baby Baby, Polo Lounge and You Go West Girl.  
Three horses are considered as possible for the Cardinal including Long Approach, who ran second to Indescribable in last year’s race. Other possibles are Celtic Princess (Brz) and Finish in Style.

KELLY’S LANDING THRIVING IN NEW CAREER AS PONY – Even though millionaire Kelly’s Landing retired from the races in January, his career at the racetrack is far from finished.

The 8-year-old gelding, whose career highlight was a victory in the Dubai Golden Shaheen (GI) in 2007, is now serving as a pony for his former trainer Eddie Kenneally.

“We retired him after the Mr. Prospector in January at Gulfstream Park,” Kenneally said. “He retired sound. He just wasn’t running at the highest level.”

During his career, Kelly’s Landing amassed $1,853,831 in earnings with a record of 27-10-3-2. He won at least one race each year from 2004-08 with his most impressive Churchill Downs victory coming in the 2005 Aristides (GIII) when he set the track record for six furlongs in 1:07.59, a mark that stood for two years.

A son of Patton, Kelly’s Landing won four graded stakes in her career and competed in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (GI) twice.

“He is perfect for the job,” Kenneally said. “He began in May and is doing just super.”

BARN TALK – Apprentice Freddie Lenclud had a riding double Thursday, scoring on Sea Scamp ($5.60) in the third and Prince Will I Am ($93.80). Lenclud has five victories through the first eight days of the 21-day meet and already has equaled the 2008 total of leading fall apprentice Brandon Meier. … Bill Troilo, who retired from riding this past spring, was a visitor on the backside Friday morning. “I’m here in Louisville for steward’s school,” said Troilo, who retired with 2,514 victories and whose lone graded-stakes victory came here last fall aboard Karelian in the River City Handicap (GIII).

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.

OWNERS TURN DOWN OFFER FOR MINE THAT BIRD – Trainer Chip Woolley said Friday morning that an offer to purchase Mine That Bird, winner of this year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I), has been turned down by owners Mark Allen of Double Eagle Ranch and Dr. Leonard Blach of Buena Suerte Equine.

    “After considerable thought, Mark and Doc made the decision not to sell,” Woolley said. “I’m happy. I spent 25 years looking for this horse and I sure didn’t want to lose him.”

    Woolley did not identify the potential buyer nor disclose the size of the offer.

Woolley said he received a call Tuesday night saying Mine That Bird would be vetted on Wednesday, which he was. After Mine That Bird won the Kentucky Derby on May 2, the owners received several inquiries about the gelding but no offers had been made. Wednesday’s exam marked the first time Mine That Bird had been vetted.

    With regular morning partner Charlie Figueroa up, Mine That Bird back-tracked once around accompanied by a pony Friday. Woolley plans to have Mine That Bird walk Saturday and jog again Sunday before resuming regular training on Monday to begin preparation for the West Virginia Derby (Grade II) on Aug. 1.

    With Mine That Bird staying put, Woolley said he probably would keep the Derby winner at Churchill Downs another four weeks.

    “I’d like to get him up there (at Mountaineer in Chester, W.Va.) early enough to have two breezes over the track,” Woolley said. “We may leave around (July) 16th or 17th to give him time to gallop once there before he works.”

LANERIE ENJOYING SOLID SPRING MEET – If jockey Corey Lanerie did not envision having a solid spring in Kentucky, he might have gotten an inkling of what could happen on April 4, the second day of the Keeneland meet.

    “I was just sitting in the room an hour before the race (the Grade I Ashland) and fell into the garden spot,” said Lanerie, who picked up the mount on Hooh Why when Rene Douglas became ill and could not ride.

    Hooh Why upset Stardom Bound in the Ashland and Lanerie was off an running to a top-10 finish in the Keeneland rider standings with an average win mutuel of $44.40.

    Lanerie entered Friday night’s card with 25 victories during the current Churchill Downs meet, good for six in the rider standings.

    “Things are going great, I’m working hard and my agent (Terry Miller) is doing a good job,” said Lanerie, a 34-year-old native of Lafayette, La. “And, it helps to be lucky. I have ridden a lot of longshots.”

    Lanerie’s best meet here was Spring 2007 when he rode 28 winners on the heels of 27-win campaigns in the spring in 2005 and 2006.

    “I am on track to surpass my goal of 30,” Lanerie said. “Things are falling into place. I am getting on better horses and riding a lot more horses.”

    Lanerie’s best day was May 16 when he rode three winners and his top Churchill Downs victory came on Acoma in the Early Times Mint Julep Handicap (Grade III) on June 6. His average win payoff of $16.10 is surpassed by only Jon Court ($22.10) and Jesus Castanon ($17.90) among the top 10 riders in victories.
    After the Churchill Downs meet closes on July 5, Lanerie plans to spend the summer riding at Ellis Park.

VETERAN BRASS HAT SHARP IN FRIDAY DRILL – Fred Bradley’s millionaire Brass Hat  turned in a strong five-furlong work Friday morning over a fast Churchill Downs main track under Calvin Borel as he prepared for his next start.

“He went in 59 and 3 and out (six furlongs) in 1:12 and 4,” trainer William “Buff” Bradley said of the move that was the second fastest of 22 at the distance. “Calvin said he was hitting the ground good.”

The work was the second for Brass Hat since he won the Louisville Handicap (Grade III) on May 23. Brass Hat had worked five furlongs last Saturday in 1:00.40.

After the Louisville Handicap victory, Bradley sent Brass Hat to the family farm in Frankfort for a week off.
“He came back real good after the break,” Bradley said. “Usually after he runs, he goes right to the farm so we can let him be a horse for a while.”

The $750,000 United Nations Handicap (Grade I) at Monmouth Park at 1 3/8 miles on the turf on July 4 is one target Bradley is looking at for Brass Hat, who now has earned $1,892,360.

“We are leaning that way or the race a week later at Chicago,” Bradley said, referring to the $200,000 Arlington Handicap (Grade III) at 1 ¼ miles on the turf. “We have to make a decision soon on which way to go.”

MILESTONE WATCH – Badger Barry’s victory in Thursday’s seventh race gave trainer Greg Foley his 298th career winner at Churchill Downs. Foley has no horses entered Friday, but two on Saturday: Oh Charlie Boy in the fifth and Cajun Prize in the 10th and two on Sunday: Q Mac’s Phone in the sixth and Hickory Dee in the 10th. The victory was Foley’s 13th of the meet, marking his best spring since winning 14 races in 2007. His best spring came in 2006 with 18 winners.

    Bill Connelly, who has saddled 998 winners in his career, has Sweetasnails entered in Friday night’s 11th race.

BARN TALK – The victory by Tally Up in Thursday’s fifth race gave owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey their 16th win of the Spring Meet. Runaway leaders in their quest for a record-extending 15th meet title, the Ramseys sent out 20 winners last spring, one fewer than their top total achieved in 2006. The spring record is 27, established in 1984 by A.J. Foyt Jr. during a 93-day meet.

    Even though Calvin Borel trails Julien Leparoux by four victories (52-48) in the chase for leading rider, Borel is far in front in purse money won with $3,369,275. Leparoux is next in money won with $2,212,980. With 11 days of racing remaining in the 45-day Spring Meet, Borel should to surpass his total of $3,376,606 in earnings amassed in 2007 and could top Rafael Bejarano’s record total of $3,460,332 established in 2006. Borel will be out of town on Saturday to ride in three stakes at Arlington Park on the track’s Prairie State Festival card.

WORK TAB – Be Fair, fourth-place finisher in the Kentucky Oaks behind Rachel Alexandra, worked a bullet half-mile in :46.80, best of 41 at the distance, for trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Sam P., ninth behind Street Sense in the 2007 Kentucky Derby, worked five furlongs in 1:00.40, fifth best of 22 at the distance, for trainer Todd Pletcher.

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.

Fred Bradley’s veteran Brass Hat collared favored Spice Route (GB) in deep stretch and edged clear to win Saturday’s 72nd running of the $111,800 Louisville Handicap (Grade III)  by a half-length at Churchill Downs.
    In giving jockey two-time Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Calvin Borel his fifth victory of the afternoon and third in the Louisville Handicap, the 8-year-old Brass Hat snapped a 10-race losing streak and covered the 1 ½ miles on a firm Matt Winn Turf Course in 2:28.44. William “Buff” Bradley, the owner’s son, trains Brass Hat, who posted his first victory in eight starts on grass and notched his first win since taking the Massachusetts Handicap on Sept. 22, 2007, at Suffolk Downs.
    Thabazimbi, ridden by Julien Leparoux, bounded to an uncontested lead and took the field through early fractions of :24.76, :48.95, 1:13.72 and 1:38.96. Brass Hat was content to race back in fifth place and did not begin to pick up the pace until he approached the far turn.
Thabazimbi disposed of a challenge from Transduction Gold at the head of the stretch, but was soon tackled by Spice Route and jockey Shaun Bridgmohan. Borel and Brass Hat followed Spice Route and joined the leaders with an eighth of a mile to run. Thabazimbi was the first to fold at the sixteenth pole leaving the battle between Brass Hat and Spice Route, with the former prevailing in the final yards.
Sent off as the third choice in the field of nine, Brass Hat returned mutuels of $14, $4.80 and $3. Spice Route returned $2.60 and $2.10.  Thabazimbi finished another 2 ¼ lengths back in third and paid $2.40 to show. Completing the field in order were My Happiness (ARG), Silver Mountain, Gangbuster, Always First (GB), Transduction Gold and Why Tonto.
The victory, the ninth in 30 career starts for the homebred son of Prized out of the Dixie Brass mare Brassy, was worth $66,546 and raised Brass Hat’s career earnings to $1,892,360.
Borel equaled his second-best day in victories at Churchill Downs with his five wins. He won six races on July 5, 2007 and had a five-win day on Oct. 30, 1997. Borel’s other winners Saturday were Keepinonestepahead ($9.40) in the first, Dobra ($6.20) in the second, Lord and T. ($4.40) in the seventh and War Eagle Lady ($3.20) in the ninth. For the day from 10 mounts, Borel added two seconds and a third-place finish to his five victories.
    Racing resumes Sunday with a 10-race card beginning at 12:45 p.m. EDT.

LOUISVILLE HANDICAP POST-RACE QUOTES

CALVIN BOREL, jockey of BRASS HAT (winner)
“When [Always First] ran up to us on the final turn, I thought that we better go get ‘em. And he just ran them down. Class. He’s got so much class. You know, he ran a good race last time at Keeneland. He only got beat 2 ¼ lengths and he got a little tired. He needed that race. The ‘Old Man’ is now almost a hundred thousand from $2 million in career earnings! He’s all class.”
Q: How about the five-win day?
“It’s all in the hands.”

‘BUFF’ BRADLEY, trainer of BRASS HAT (winner)
“Walking through the grandstand, a lot of fans were excited to see the old horse back and doing well.”
Q: You had to be pleased with the pace scenario. . .
“All the way around. Fred and I were talking and we really though Calvin had him placed well. The only concern we had was when it was time to start going and he wasn’t really picking them up as fast as we thought he would. But he kept grinding it out and really showed his class and his heart to win. He’s just got so much desire to keep doing it right now; he’s just really into it.”
Q: What’s next?
“Right now, we’ve got to drink some Coronas and think about it. [The Grade I, $750,000 United Nations at 1 3/8 miles on turf at Monmouth Park on July 4] is a thought . . . The timing would be pretty good on that one. Of course, we’d love to stay at Churchill, our home track, but the [Grade I, $600,000 Stephen] Foster [on June 13] is in three weeks and it’d be awfully tough; we’d have to run against Einstein.”
Q: On owner Fred Bradley, Buff’s father:
“He’s given me all the time with him and that’s the reason he’s 8 years old and still running.”

SHAUN BRIDGMOHAN, rider of SPICE ROUTE (runner-up)
“I had a great trip.  I got to the inside and tried to save as much ground as I could from the position that I had.  I thought he tried hard.  He gave me what he had.”
Q: Did you feel the old boy Brass Hat coming at you on the outside?
“I could hear him breathing down my neck from a ways away.  I was just hoping that I could spurt away from him.  My horse tried hard and hung in there.”

JULIEN LEPAROUX, jockey on THABAZIMBI (third)
 “He’s got a big stride.  I didn’t really want to take a big hold on him.  Again, he has a big stride and he was comfortable, but he just wanted to do a little bit too much in the first part, and he got a little tired. A mile and a half might to a little too far, but I think they want to try him again. He ran big.  It was his first time against stakes horses, so it was good.”

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.

The current stars of the 3-year-old crop – headed by Kentucky Derby (Grade I) winner Mine That Bird, Kentucky Oaks (GI) filly Rachel Alexandra and Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile – are among 13 three-year-olds doing battle in the 134th running of the Preakness (GI) at Pimlico.
 While several of those horses figure to be major players in the crop of Kentucky Derby-aged horses through the rest of the year, others that could be significant factors in the division are in the wings at Churchill Downs and awaiting their chance.
One is A. Stevens Miles Jr.’s Warrior’s Reward, an impressive winner over a strong allowance field on Kentucky Oaks Day.  Another is James C. Spence’s homebred Flying Pegasus, a strong runner-up to beaten Kentucky Derby favorite Friesan Fire in the Risen Star at Fair Grounds but idle since a poor effort behind that same rival in the $600,000 Louisiana Derby (GII) on March 14.  
The Ian Wilkes-trained Warrior’s Reward breezed four furlongs in :49.40 over a
“sloppy” track on Saturday at Churchill Downs.  The son of Medaglia d’Oro is being pointed toward a run in the $100,000-added Northern Dancer (GIII) for 3-year-olds on the Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) undercard on June 13.  
Flying Pegasus, a son of 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus trained by Ralph Nicks, is finally ready to return to serious training after falling ill just after a disappointing eighth-place run in the slop in the Louisiana Derby.
Warrior’s Reward has been just below the radar of the 3-year-old picture after he
scored a 30-1 upset in his career debut on Jan. 31 at Gulfstream Park over a race that marked the racing debut of Nicanor, the full-brother to ill-fated 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro.  He followed that with a runner-up finish to Dunkirk, the eventual runner-up in the Florida Derby (GI) who finished 11th in the Kentucky Derby.
    Wilkes gave Warrior’s Reward a chance to place himself on the Kentucky Derby trail with a run in the Tampa Bay Derby, but he finished eighth that day behind the victorious Musket Man, who would finish third in the Kentucky Derby; runner-up Join in the Dance, seventh in the Derby; and General Quarters, who would win the Toyota Blue Grass (GI) before running 10th in the “Run for the Roses.”
    Warrior’s Reward had a round of throat surgery to correct a breathing problem after the race at Tampa Bay, and then returned with his sparkling 2 ½-length allowance win over the well-regarded Munnings and Reynaldothewizard on Oaks Day.
    “To win the Derby you’ve got to be right on the first Saturday in May, and I wasn’t quite there,” Wilkes said.  “My horse didn’t get a race last year and that really hurt.  But things happen for a reason, and maybe that race at Tampa happened for a reason.”
    Warrior’s Reward has earned $58,980 while compiling his 2-1-0 record in those four races.  If all goes well, the 1 1/16-mile Northern Dancer will serve as a springboard to bigger races in the second half of the year.
    “There are plenty of races,” said Wilkes.  “I know there’s only one Derby, but it was probably the best thing that ever happened to him.  I gave him a little break, we did a little throat surgery on him and he’s a better horse now.”
    Meanwhile, Flying Pegasus is scheduled to return to serious training with a light breeze on Sunday that will be his first work since the Louisiana Derby.  Nicks said his colt fell ill after the Louisiana Derby and it took a while for Flying Pegasus to get back to the track.  
    Nicks can’t be sure, but Flying Pegasus is doing so well now he believes the infection that hit him a couple of days after the Louisiana Derby could have affected him in the race.
    “The last few days going into the Louisiana Derby, he got a little quiet,” said Nicks.  “It wasn’t enough to make you think anything was wrong, and we thought he might have just been settling.  But it’s obvious now that whatever hit him was coming.  He never had a fever or nothing until two days later.”
    Nicks said the infection proved to be stubborn, which extended his colt’s stay on the sidelines.
    “It took him forever,” he said.  “It just kept coming back.”
    Nicks had high hopes for Flying Pegasus from the moment the bay colt entered his barn and he won at first asking in a Churchill Downs maiden race on July 2.  He followed that with an allowance win at Delaware and then a second to recent Peter Pan (GII) winner Charitable Man in the Belmont Futurity (GII).  Friesan Fire finished third in that race.  
    It would prove to be the last start of the year for Flying Pegasus, who fractured a hind cannon bone in training after that race and underwent surgery to place a screw in the injured bone.  
    He returned from a five-month break with a strong runner-up effort behind Friesan Fire in the 1 1/16-mile Risen Star (GIII) at Fair Grounds that fueled hopes in his camp that the colt would make the Kentucky Derby, but those hopes were dashed by the Louisiana Derby run and the illness that followed.
    “We were scrambling the whole time trying to get to where we were,” Nicks said.  “I’m not too sure the Risen Star didn’t knock him out a little bit and lead to everything that happened.  But you’ve got the 3-year-old hype and do what you’ve got to do to get to the ‘big dance’.  Fortunately he got through it, but we’re dealing with some repercussions from it.”
    Although Nicks has had to be patient with Flying Pegasus, he is ready to get his colt back in competition and Sunday’s breeze will be the first step.  
    “He’ll have that little light breeze tomorrow and we’ll see where we go from there,” he said.  “He’s been galloping, so it won’t take him a long time to get ready.”

VETERAN BRASS HAT SHARP IN FINAL DRILL FOR LOUISVILLE – Fred Bradley’s homebred Brass Hat has never been known for dazzling speed in his morning workouts, but a sharp work on Saturday by the 8-year-old veteran could indicate the old boy is sitting on a big effort in next week’s $100,000-added Louisville Handicap (GIII).
    Brass Hat tuned up for that 1 ½-mile turf test with a five-furlong breeze over a sloppy t rack in 1:01.  The work was a ‘bullet’ move under jockey Charles Woods Jr. as it ended up as the fastest of 20 at the distance.
    “He worked really well,” trainer William “Buff” Bradley said. “Charlie said he worked ‘awesome,’ and then said, ‘How’d he get beat?’  But that’s just Charlie.  He said he just sat on him the whole way, and that he just picked it up, put his head down and then galloped out good.”
    Brass Hat won the Grade I Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park in 2006 and finished second in the $5 million Dubai World Cup (GI) on dirt before being disqualified for a medication infraction.  Despite the loss of that $1 million runner-up purse in Dubai, Brass Hat has won eight of 29 races and earned $1,825,814.
    He has yet to win in seven tries on the turf, but is coming off a good third-place finish to Spice Route in the Elkhorn (GIII) at Keeneland.  And he had very little luck in last year’s running of the Louisville in which he dropped far off a slow pace under jockey Calvin Borel, but rallied wide to finish fifth and was beaten only 2 ½ lengths by the victorious Lattice.  Borel will return to the saddle aboard Brass Hat next week.
    “Calvin took the blame last year – he had him too far back off that slow pace,” Bradley said.  “I’ve got to tell Calvin not to ride him like Mine That Bird – ride him like Rachel.”
    Brass Hat will bid to snap a 10-race losing streak in the Louisville.  He last visited the winner’s circle in the $500,000 Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs in September 2007.

PREAKNESS HORSES DUE BACK ON SUNDAY – A plane carrying Preakness (GI) contenders Rachel Alexandra, Pioneerof the Nile and Terrain is due to land at Louisville International Airport on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. (EDT).
    Scheduled to make the trip from Baltimore-to-Churchill Downs by van are Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, General Quarters and the D. Wayne Lukas-trained duo of Flying Private and Luv Guv.

BARN TALK – Domino Stud’s Miss Isella, upset winner over previously unbeaten One Caroline in the Louisville Distaff (GII) on Kentucky Oaks Day, breezed four furlongs on Saturday in :50.20 over a “sloppy” track.  The Ian Wilkes-trained daughter of 1997 Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm is scheduled to run next in the $200,000-added Fleur De Lis (GII) on the June 13 Stephen Foster Handicap undercard.  One Caroline, who is in training at Keeneland for trainer Rusty Arnold, is being pointed toward a rematch with Miss Isella in the 1 1/8-mile race. … Gold Square’s Lady Chace, a candidate for next week’s $100,000-added Winning Colors (GIII), breezed five furlongs in 1:02.20 over a “sloppy” track on Saturday for trainer Steve Margolis. The Tiznow filly finished third in the recent Giant’s Causeway on the Keeneland turf.  Others expected to run in the Winning Colors include Tiz To Dream, Keep the Peace, Marina Ballerina, Nadeshiko and Tar Heel Mom. … Also showing up on the Saturday work tab was 2008 Travers (GI) runner-up Mambo in Seattle.  The Neil Howard-trained son of Kingmambo, fifth behind Bullsbay in the Alysheba (GIII) on Derby Day, breezed five furlongs over “sloppy” going on Saturday in 1:03.80. … Miguel Mena took advantage of the absence of Julien Leparoux, Jamie Theriot and Calvin Borel – the top three riders in the Spring Meet heading into Friday’s racing program – to score four wins during the 10-race program.  Mena’s big day enabled him to slide past Theriot into second place in the Spring Meet jockeys’ race.  Leparoux has a meet-leading 22 wins, while Mena (17) and Theriot (16) are second and third.  Leparoux, Theriot and Borel were at Pimlico on Friday to ride in Preakness weekend races, and the Churchill trio was to be joined Saturday in Baltimore by Robby Albarado. … 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

CURLIN ASSIGNED 128 POUNDS FOR GRADE I STEPHEN FOSTER HANDICAP – Stonestreet Stable and Midnight Cry Stable’s reigning “Horse of the Year” Curlin was assigned 128 pounds for next Saturday’s mile and one-eighth Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I) at Churchill Downs by Racing Secretary Ben Huffman.

The 128-pound impost would be two pounds more than Curlin carried in his victory in the Dubai World Cup (GI) in his most recent start on March 29.

Trained by Steve Asmussen, Curlin is scheduled to make his first start at Churchill Downs since finishing third to Street Sense in last year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI).

Sharing second highweight of 120 pounds are the Allen Paulson Living Trust’s A.P. Arrow, trained by Todd Pletcher, and Millenium Farms’ Student Council, both of whom are being pointed to the June 28 Suburban (GI) at Belmont Park.

Considered possible to challenge Curlin are Einstein (Brz) at 118 pounds, Grasshopper (117), Brass Hat (116), Delightful Kiss (114), Jonesboro (114), Barcola (113), High Blues (113), Red Rock Creek (113) and Sam P. (113).

Stronach Stable’s Ginger Punch, the 2007 Eclipse Award-winning mare for trainer Bobby Frankel, was assigned 124 pounds for the Fleur de Lis Handicap (GII) to be run at a mile and an eighth. Winner of the May 2 Louisville Handicap (GII), Ginger Punch has won three of four starts at Churchill Downs.

Rancho San Miguel, George Todaro and Jerry Hollendorfer’s Hystericalady, who was beaten a neck by Ginger Punch in last fall’s Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Distaff (GI) was assigned the second high weight of 121 pounds.

Frank Calabrese’s champion Dreaming of Anna was assigned top weight of 123 pounds for the Early Times Mint Julep Handicap (GIII) at a mile and a sixteenth on the turf. Trained by Wayne Catalano, Dreaming of Anna locked up her Eclipse Award in 2006 with a victory in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI) and in her most recent start ran second in the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile (GIII) on May 3.

Sharing 120 pounds as the second high weights are Ben McElroy’s Roshani, winner of the Gallorette Handicap (GIII) at Pimlico in her most recent start May 17 and the Graham Motion-trained Rosinka (Ire), who has not run since finishing second last fall’s Grade I Flower Bowl Invitational.

BRASS HAT WORKS FIVE-EIGHTHS ON DIRT FOR FOSTER BID – The question for trainer Buff Bradley to ponder Saturday morning was whether to aim his father’s homebred Brass Hat for the Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) next Saturday and tackle Curlin.

After watching Brass Hat work five furlongs in 1:00.40 under Calvin Borel, the fourth best of 30 at the distance over a “fast” track, Bradley was ready to render a verdict.

“I wanted him to pick it up late, and he did that,” Bradley said. “I started timing him at the three-quarter pole and had him going six furlongs in 1:14 and 2 (fifths), galloping out seven-eighths in 1:26 and 2 and out the mile in 1:40.”

Borel, who rode the seven-year-old son of Prized for the first time in the mile and a half Louisville Handicap (GIII) on the turf in his most recent start, was equally pleased with the work.

“I let him gallop out past the wire and he was strong,” Borel said. “They had better come with their running shoes on next week.”

For Borel, it will be his first shot at Curlin since finishing fourth aboard Street Sense in the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) at Monmouth Park in October.

Weights for the Foster were to come out Saturday afternoon and Bradley was asked how much weight he would like to receive from Curlin.

“About 20,” Bradley said with a laugh. “I know what we are up against and this is the Breeders’ Cup for us. I know he is good enough to run with Curlin; whether he can get past him is something else.”

Brass Hat ran fifth in the 2006 Stephen Foster, his poorest finish in four starts on the main track at Churchill Downs.

“I know he likes the dirt here; he has the track record for a mile and a sixteenth,” Bradley said. “He is 100 percent and feels good and I look for him to run his race.”

EINSTEIN TO WORK SUNDAY; MAY TAKE A SHOT AT FOSTER – Trainer Helen Pitts plans to work three-time Grade I turf winner Einstein (Brz) an easy five-eighths on the main track Sunday morning after the renovation break.

“It is just going to be an easy maintenance work to keep him happy,” Pitts said. “If he doesn’t run in the Foster, it will still give me time for the Firecracker (GII).”

Pitts said the makeup of the field at entry time Wednesday would influence her to decision to run more than the weights.

“I want to see who is going in there besides Curlin, obviously,” Pitts said. “If I think he can run one, two or three in a Grade I on dirt, yeah, I’ll take a shot.”

Winner of the Derby Day Turf Classic (GI) in his most recent start, Einstein also won the Gulfstream Park Turf (GI) on Feb. 23, three weeks after finishing sixth on the dirt in the Donn Handicap (GI) at Gulfstream Park.

ALBARADO GRABS LEAD IN RIDER STANDINGS WITH THREE-BAGGER – Robby Albarado’s fourth three-win day of the Spring Meet on Friday gave the veteran rider a two-win lead over Julien Leparoux in the race for leading rider after the 30th day of the 52-day meet.

Albarado, who also had a four-win day on May 24, has 37 victories this spring. His other three-win days came on April 29, May 18 and May 31.

Albarado scored with Halo Tigress ($15.80) for trainer Dale Romans in the second race, Highest Degree ($4.80) for trainer Ken McPeek in the third and Le Dauphin ($5.60) for trainer Bill Mott in the 10th. Albarado lost a fourth victory when I.M. Boomer was disqualified for interference in the ninth.

Albarado and Leparoux, who won one race Friday, will be in New York Saturday to ride in the Belmont Stakes. Their closest pursuer in the jockey’s race, Miguel Mena, had one winner Friday to raise his total to 34. Mena has nine mounts Saturday.

BARN TALK – J. Paul Reddam’s Barcola, trained by Mark Hennig, is considered as definite for the Stephen Foster according to Churchill Downs racing officials. A five-year-old son of Old Trieste, Barcola won the Brandywine Stakes at Delaware Park on May 10 in his first start since finishing 12th in the Godolphin Mile (GII) at Nad Al Sheba in Dubai in March. Hobeau Farm’s Delightful Kiss, trained by Pete Anderson, is considered a possible for the Foster, pending the weight assignments. … Team Valor International and Vision Racing’s Visionaire, who finished 12th in the Kentucky Derby, is headed back to Churchill Downs for the Northern Dancer Stakes (GIII) according to Churchill Downs officials. Trainer Michael Matz won the Northern Dancer last year with Centennial Farms’ Chelokee.

WORK TAB – Trainer Ken McPeek worked four horses Saturday morning with designs on next week’s Stephen Foster Super Saturday card. Sarah Lyn Stables’ C J’s Leelee, runner-up in last fall’s Golden Rod (GII) on the dirt, worked five furlongs in 1:00.60, the fifth best of 30 at the distance, in preparation for the $200,000-added Regret (GIII) at a mile and an eighth on the turf. McPeek also worked his three possibles for the $200,000-added Jefferson Cup (GII) at a mile and eighth on the turf. Lawrence Carroll’s Old Man Buck and Alien Farm’s Nistle’s Crunch covered five furlongs in 1:01.20, 12th best of 30, and Martin Stables’ Hard Strike covered the same distance in 1:01.40. … Also working toward the Regret were Charles Laloggia’s Clearly Foxy (1:03 for five furlongs) for trainer Mark Casse and the Bill Mott-nominated duo of Zayat Stables’ Zee Zee (a bullet five-eighths in 1:00) and Haras Santa Maria de Araras’s Scolara (a half-mile in :50). Casse also worked Woodford Racing’s Sprung five-eighths in 1:00.20 in preparation for the $150,000-added Early Times Mint Julep Handicap (GIII). … B. Wayne Hughes’ Ketchikan, runner-up in the 2007 Louisiana Derby (GII) worked five furlongs in 1:02 for trainer Al Stall. … Racecar Rhapsody, fourth to Big Brown in the Preakness (GI), breezed five furlongs in 1:01.20.

2008 SPRING MEET LEADERS

Through Friday, June 6 Jockeys Starts 1-2-3

Robby Albarado 147 37-19-21

Julien Leparoux 196 35-36-36

Miguel Mena 195 34-25-26

Calvin Borel 198 29-29-30

Shaun Bridgmohan 132 26-26-17

Jamie Theriot 138 22-21-10

Jesus Castanon 159 20-14-16

Elvis Trujillo 53 10-7-15

Corey Lanerie 118 9-17-11

Brian Hernandez Jr. 105 9-15-13

John McKee 92 8-13-16

Larry Sterling Jr. 63 8-7-9

Tracy Hebert 82 7-5-5

Trainers

Ken McPeek 44 19-7-4

Tom Amoss 47 19-6-8

Steve Asmussen 75 16-14-12

Ian Wilkes 33 10-6-5

Mike Maker 35 10-6-3

Dale Romans 78 8-17-16

Eddie Kenneally 39 8-8-7

Cody Autrey 41 7-8-7

Steve Margolis 28 7-5-5

Wesley Ward 23 7-4-4

Four (4) trainers tied with six (6) wins

Owners

Ken and Sarah Ramsey 32 11-4-5

Maggi Moss 18 9-2-3

Zayat Stables, LLC 31 6-6-7

Richard, Elaine & Bert Klein 26 6-6-3

Heiligbrodt Racing Stable 11 5-1-0

Padua Stables 7 4-1-0

Seven (7) owners tied with three (3) wins

(May 22, 2008) – Multiple graded stakes-winning geldings Brass Hat and Silverfoot headline a field of 11 older horses entered in Saturday’s 71st edition of the $150,000-added Louisville Handicap (Grade III) at Churchill Downs.

Seven-year-old millionaire Brass Hat will attempt to land his first win on grass, while 8-year-old Silverfoot pursues an unprecedented fourth triumph in the 1 ½-mile Louisville Handicap, a race he won from 2004-06.

Fred Bradley’s homebred Brass Hat, who’ll break from post 5 as starting high weight with 117 pounds, was deemed the mild 7-2 morning line favorite by Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia. Silverfoot, who landed post 9, is the 9-2 second betting choice and will carry 115 pounds.

The open turf marathon for 3-year-olds and up also attracted graded stakes winners Lattice, Transduction Gold and Birdbirdistheword, as well as Fort Harrod runner-up Save Big Money and Keeneland allowance winners Pickapocket and Biggerbadderbetter. Firerock Base, Lord Carmen and Spider Power-IRE complete the field.

Brass Hat’s résumé includes victories in the 2004 Ohio Derby (GII) and Indiana Derby (GII) at age three; the Donn Handicap (GI) and New Orleans Handicap (GII) in 2006; and $500,000 Massachusetts Handicap last September. He also finished second to Electrocutionist in the 2006 Dubai World Cup (GI) but was later disqualified because of a medication infraction.

Overall, Brass Hat boasts a record of 8-5-1 and earnings of $1,753,819 in 24 starts. He has yet to win in four races on turf, but finished third in his most recent outing over grass, the $200,000 Elkhorn Handicap at Keeneland on April 25.

“He can run on grass or dirt, it really doesn’t matter,” said trainer William “Buff” Bradley, the owner/breeder’s son. “We just feel like he likes the grass and we want to prove he can run on the grass.”

Calvin Borel, who piloted another three-time Louisville Handicap winner, Chorwon, to victories in 1997 and ’99, will take over the reins on Brass Hat, replacing Willie Martinez who rode the horse in his last 18 starts. Martinez is now based at Pennsylvania’s Presque Isle Downs.

Chrysalis Stables’ Silverfoot skipped last year’s Louisville Handicap after three consecutive wins in the race. He’s winless in four starts this year and finished fifth in the Elkhorn, a quarter-length behind Brass Hat. Four of his nine career wins have come over the Churchill Downs turf course for trainer Dallas Stewart.

Here’s the complete Louisville Handicap field from the rail out (with jockeys, assigned weight and morning line odds): Lattice (Robby Albarado, 114, 5-1); Biggerbadderbetter (Corey Lanerie, 113, 10-1); Spider Power-IRE (James Lopez, 113, 10-1); Transduction Gold (Miguel Mena, 114, 15-1); Brass Hat (Calvin Borel, 117, 7-2); Save Big Money (Shaun Bridgmohan, 113, 6-1); Pickapocket (Elvis Trujillo, 114, 8-1); Birdbirdistheword (Jesus Castanon, 113, 15-1); Silverfoot (Jamie Theriot, 115, 9-2); Lord Carmen (Larry Melancon, 114, 10-1); and Firerock Base (Julien Leparoux, 114, 10-1).

Melancon has a chance to win his fifth Louisville Handicap with his scheduled ride on Lord Carmen. The 52-year-old native of Breaux Bridge, La., shares the stakes record of four victories with Steve Brooks. He won his first Louisville Handicap 30 years ago on It’s Freezing in the 1978 renewal.

Trainer Ken McPeek, who is scheduled to saddle the duo of Biggerbadderbetter and Birdbirdistheword, has won the Louisville Handicap twice before: Pisces, who finished in a dead heat with Classic Par in 2002, and Drilling For Oil last year. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott (Pickapocket) won a division of the race in 1991 with Chenin Blanc. Trainer John Glenney (Transduction Gold) won the 2003 renewal with Kim Loves Bucky, who holds the stakes record of 2:14.09.

The Louisville Handicap will run as Race 10 at approximately 5:51 p.m. (all times Eastern) on an 11-race program that begins at 1:15 p.m. Churchill Downs admission gates will open Saturday at 11:30 a.m.

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