Fleur De Lis

CHAMPION RACHEL ALEXANDRA WELL AFTER FLEUR DE LIS VICTORY – Reigning Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra was reported by trainer Steve Asmussen to be doing well on Sunday following her 10 ½-length victory in the $200,000-added Fleur De Lis Handicap (Grade II) on the Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) undercard.

The win by the 4-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro owned by Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick was her first in three races in 2010.  Her previous victory had been a narrow win over older males in the Woodward (GI) at Saratoga to complete her championship campaign at three.  It was the first victory by a female of any age in that prestigious race, but she opened this year with narrow losses to Zardana (BRZ) in the New Orleans Ladies at Fair Grounds and Unrivaled Belle in the La Troienne (GII) on Kentucky Oaks Day at Churchill Downs.

While Rachel Alexandra appeared to come out of the race well, Asmussen was concerned about whether there was any lingering impact from Saturday’s sultry weather conditions.  Temperatures on the humid day climbed to above 90, and the heat index hovered around 100 degrees.

“It was a very humid, oppressive type of afternoon,” Asmussen said.  “We’ll see if she shows any residual effect from the weather when she goes back to the track.”

If all continues to go well, Rachel Alexandra should resume her training on Wednesday. 

Rachel Alexandra covered the 1 1/8-mile distance in a faster time than the winning time for Adele Dilschneider and Claiborne Farm’s Blame in the 4-year-old colt’s three-quarter length victory in the $600,000 Stephen Foster Handicap.  The winning time for Rachel Alexandra was 1:48.78, while Blame covered the nine furlongs in 1:49.37.

The win improved the career record for Rachel Alexandra 12-4-0 in 17 races and she has earned $3,206,730.  The champion has a record of 4-3-0 in eight races at Churchill Downs.

SARATOGA AWAITS STEPHEN FOSTER WINNER BLAME – Adele Dilschneider and Claiborne Farm’s Blame got to spend an extra day at Churchill Downs on Sunday as his Keeneland workmate Apart was entered in Sunday’s eighth race.

“They will both go back to Keeneland on Monday,” trainer Al Stall Jr. said Sunday morning as he watched Blame walk the shedrow at Barn 47.

Blame rallied to overcome a four-length deficit on Battle Plan to win the Stephen Foster and give Stall his second Grade I victory at Churchill Downs. Joyeux Danseur won the Turf Classic for Stall here in 1998.

“He overcame a slow pace and a bad post (11) yesterday,” Stall said of Blame, now a winner of seven of 10 starts. “There was only mild pressure on the leader (Battle Plan), but he started to bear down and when Battle Plan switched leads at the eighth pole, I figured that was it.”

Stall said he was not sure how long he would keep Blame at Keeneland before shipping to Saratoga, where the next objective for Blame is the $750,000 Whitney (GI) at 1 1/8 miles on Aug. 7.

“Right now, we are just thinking about the Whitney,” Stall said. “It is tough to run two races like that at Saratoga (with the Woodward on Sept. 4 being the other). You can throw the Hawthorne Gold Cup (GII) into the mix. That’s a mile and a quarter on the same day (Oct. 2) as the Jockey Club Gold Cup (at Belmont Park) and we could ship up from Keeneland and back and that sets you up for November (and the Breeders’ Cup on Nov. 6 at Churchill Downs).”

Despite the Stephen Foster victory, Stall found out that Blame was not the big story of Saturday.

“A friend of mine on the East Coast sent me a text saying that I win a Grade I, but Rachel Alexandra is on the cover of Monday’s Daily Racing Form,” Stall said.

PLETCHER ENJOYS ALMOST PERFECT 24 HOURS IN LOUISVILLE – Trainer Todd Pletcher flew into Louisville from New York shortly before noon on Saturday and was headed back to the Big Apple before noon Sunday. In that time span, his horses won three races at Churchill Downs, including two stakes, and trainer also picked up his trophy for winning the Kentucky Derby with Super Saver.

So, on a scale of one to 10, how did the brief stay in Louisville rate?

"It was a nine,” Pletcher said with a laugh. “If Battle Plan wins the Stephen Foster it is a 10. It was just about perfect.”

In his first Grade I test, Battle Plan surrendered late to Blame in losing by three-quarters of a length to have his four-race win streak snapped.

“I thought he gave a big effort yesterday for his first race over the surface,” Pletcher said. “The track had dried out a bit from earlier in the day and it was a bit cuppier. At the five-sixteenths pole, (jockey) Javier (Castellano) asked him for a bit more and the ground broke out from under him.”

Pletcher said that Battle Plan would return to New York on Wednesday and a schedule would be mapped out to keep Battle Plan and stable star Quality Road on separate paths.

Pletcher, whose day started with a victory by the 2-year-old maiden Blue Orleans in the fifth race, said that Northern Dancer (GIII) winner Colizeo and Regret (GIII) winner Caminadora would remain at Churchill Downs for the time being.

Regarding the 2-year-old Razmataz, a winner Friday night who gave Pletcher his 100th victory at Churchill Downs, the trainer said the July 3 Bashford Manor (GIII) “is a possibility. I want to see how he bounces back from Friday.”

BARN TALK – Owner-trainer Tom McCarthy said that third-place Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) finisher General Quarters remained on track for a return to the turf this summer at Arlington Park. “That’s the plan right now,” McCarthy said of the Arlington Handicap (GIII) on July 17 and the Arlington Million (GI) on Aug. 21. McCarthy said General Quarters was affected by the heat Saturday. “(Jockey) Alex (Solis) said the heat got him at the sixteenth pole,” McCarthy said. “He always finishes up well, but he got back here and ate all his supper last night and his breakfast this morning.” …

Trainer Tony Reinstedler reported all was well with Jefferson Cup (GIII) winner Gleam of Hope on Sunday morning. “Arlington Park is next,” Reinstedler said referring to the American Derby (GII) on July 17 and then the Secretariat (GI) on Aug. 21. Gleam of Hope signaled his readiness for the Jefferson Cup with a work last Sunday in company with Giant Oak, who ran fourth in Saturday’s Stephen Foster Handicap. “We changed things up a little bit because he can be lackadaisical and he worked in blinkers,” Reinstedler said. “The idea was to get him to settle and finish up well. He worked well in them and that gave us confidence going in.” …

    Drew Coontz, assistant to trainer Chris Block, said that Giant Oak would head back to Arlington Park on Wednesday. “He’s fine this morning,” Coontz said of Giant Oak, who finished 4 ½ lengths behind Blame. “He ran great for the company he was with.” …

    Trainer Paul McGee said that Demarcation, fifth in the Stephen Foster, and Worldly, runner-up in the Northern Dancer, were doing well Sunday morning. “I was pretty happy with him and so were the owners (Mr. and Mrs. John Amerman),” McGee said of Demarcation, who was a head behind Giant Oak. “He ran well in the Clark here last fall beaten only 6 ½ lengths, but he is just a cut below those horses.” McGee is not sure when Worldly, beaten a neck by Colizeo, would run next. “I will be running quite a bit at Arlington Park, but I would prefer to keep him on dirt rather than the Polytrack.” …

    Trainer Wally Dollase said he would have an idea “in a day or two” as to what would be next for Distinctive Dixie, runner-up to Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra in the Fleur de Lis (GII). Distinctive Dixie got to within a half-length of Rachel Alexandra nearing the top of the stretch, but could get no closer as Rachel Alexandra drew off to a 10 ½-length victory. “For a fleeting moment there …” Dollase said of the upset possibility. “Did you hear my wife (Cincy) scream? I know I sure did! I’m proud of my filly. She hadn’t run in some time (six weeks) and she held on to get second over Jessica Is Back, who is a nice filly.”

WORK TAB – Tap Tap Tapping, runner-up in the Dogwood (GIII), worked five furlongs in 1:03.40 over a fast track. … Backtalk, winner of last spring’s Bashford Manor (GIII) and unraced since finishing last in the Kentucky Derby, worked six furlongs in 1:12.60.

DUKE OF MISCHIEF GETS ANOTHER SHOT AT GRADE I GLORY – Trainer David Fawkes had four options in mind for Duke of Mischief after the 4-year-old colt won the Oaklawn Handicap (Grade II) on April 3.

“We were looking at the Stephen Foster (GI) for a long time,” said Fawkes, who co-owns Duke of Mischief with Marilyn McMaster and Alex and Joann Lieblong. “We also considered the Lone Star Park Handicap (run May 31), the Cornhusker (Handicap, run June 26 at Prairie Meadows) and the Salvatore Mile (run July 3 at Monmouth Park).

“But with Quality Road running in the Met Mile and Rachel Alexandra maybe not at her best, the Stephen Foster looked like a good opportunity to win a Grade I with him.”

And so it was that Duke of Mischief vanned in to Churchill Downs from his home base at Calder Race Course in Miami. Regular rider Eibar Coa will be aboard Saturday when Duke of Mischief, the fourth choice at 6-1 on the morning line, breaks from post position four under 116 pounds in the 1 1/8-mile Stephen Foster.

Churchill Downs will mark the ninth track at which Duke of Mischief has run in what will be his 13th start. Duke of Mischief debuted in July 2008 as a 2-year-old but came out of that race “with just some baby stuff and we gave him some time off after that,” Fawkes said.

Seven months later, Duke of Mischief returned on the turf and broke his maiden.

“I owned his half-brother, Lord Robyn, and he liked the weeds,” Fawkes said of putting Duke of Mischief on the turf. “I ran him next in a stake and he probably should have won. A couple races after that, the race came off the turf and he ran really fast (winning by 11 ¾ lengths) and after that we started thinking about the Iowa Derby.”

A five-length victory in the Iowa Derby propelled Duke of Mischief to the Haskell Invitational (GI) and a fifth-place finish behind Rachel Alexandra.

“He got slammed into the rail early in the race by Summer Bird and lost a shoe,” Fawkes said.

Sub-par efforts in the Pennsylvania Derby (GII) and Oklahoma Derby followed to conclude Duke of Mischief’s 2009 campaign.

“He had an entrapped epiglottis,” Fawkes said. “He had surgery to correct that after the Oklahoma Derby and I know it had to be bothering him in Pennsylvania, too.”

After a three-month break, Duke of Mischief returned with a neck victory in the Fort Lauderdale Handicap (GIII) before hooking Quality Road in the Donn Handicap (GI).

“He always runs better with time off,” Fawkes said. “I am a big believer in the (Ragozin) sheets, and the numbers say he fits well here in this race.”

DISTINCTIVE DIXIE LINES UP TO TRY RACHEL ALEXANDRA AGAIN – If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.

And so it is that Bob and Beverly Lewis Trust’s Distinctive Dixie will try again for a graded stakes victory and in the process take on reigning Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra for a second time in Saturday’s 36th running of the $200,000-added Fleur de Lis Handicap (GII).

Fifth in the Fleur de Lis behind Miss Isella last year, the Wally Dollase-trained Distinctive Dixie ran fourth in the La Troienne (GII) on April 30, finishing 13 lengths behind Rachel Alexandra, who lost by a head to Unrivaled Belle.

“She has been training really well (since the La Troienne) and she worked gangbusters last week (a bullet :59.20 for five furlongs),” Dollase said. “She is definitely coming into the race better than last year. I would not run her if I didn’t think so.”

Second in the Bayakoa at Oaklawn Park the past two years, Distinctive Dixie has compiled a career mark of 15-4-5-2 for earnings of $231,596.

“She has had an excuse for when she doesn’t run her better races and we have always figured out why,” Dollase said, pointing to a leisurely :48.80 half-mile in the La Troienne as a factor in the 5-year-old Distinctive Dixie’s previous start.

Robby Albarado, who has ridden Distinctive Dixie to one of her two victories at Churchill Downs, will have the mount Saturday.

“Robby has also worked her before and he likes her,” Dollase said. “We think she is a special filly and deserves a chance in here.”

JOHARMONY BRINGS DELACOUR BACK TO CHURCHILL DOWNS ON HER OWN – “I have been in this barn many times, but this is the first time with my own horse,” trainer Leigh Delacour said as she got Joharmony settled into the stakes barn for Saturday’s 41st running of the $125,000-added Regret (GIII) for 3-year-old fillies.

A former exercise rider and assistant to Graham Motion, Delacour traveled often with Motion’s horses and one of her regular traveling companions was Film Maker, who closed her career with a runner-up finish to Ouija Board in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (GI) at Churchill Downs.

Delacour was with Motion for a decade before going out on her own with her husband Arnaud in 2007 with a public stable.

“I got my exercise rider’s license when I was 15 before I got my driver’s license and my mom drove me to Laurel to work,” Delacour said.

In Joharmony, Delacour has a filly riding a four-race win streak that includes an allowance score at Keeneland and then a victory in the Hilltop Stakes at Pimlico on May 14. A daughter of Johar out of the Dynaformer mare Dynamia, Joharmony debuted last September at Laurel, but then didn’t race again until January at Tampa Bay Downs.

“There was a lot of rain last fall and the turf season (in the Mid-Atlantic region) ended early,” Delacour said. “We shipped to Tampa, and they had a lot of rain there early and her first race was taken off the turf.”

After a turf win, Delacour tabbed Keeneland as the next stop for Joharmony.

“We wanted to go to Keeneland to get her some earnings, plus I thought she fit,” Delacour said. “A lot of times, horses from Tampa Bay get excluded from races as opposed to those who have run at Gulfstream and have more money.”

Joharmony passed her Keeneland test by a neck and then won the Hilltop by 4 ½ lengths, both times under Javier Castellano who will be aboard Saturday.

“Javier has gotten to know her and trusts her,” Delacour said. “She deserves an opportunity against graded company and we are cautiously optimistic.”

The Delacours, married in 2007, traveled many of the same circuits as Arnaud was an assistant to Christophe Clement. When Leigh was traveling with the $2 million earner Film Maker, Arnaud often traveled with Snowdrops (GB), a six-time stakes winner and earner of nearly $600,000.

“Dr. (John) Chandler, who bred Joharmany, owned and bred her dam Dynamia and he sent us a DVD of her races,” Delacour said. “We started playing it and there was she racing against Film Maker and the next race against Snowdrops, which means she ran against some top mares.”

BARN TALK – Stephen Foster Handicap second morning-line choice Blame arrived at Churchill Downs at 10 a.m. Thursday from Keeneland. Also arriving Thursday was No Advantage, runner-up to Blame in the W.D. Schaefer (GIII) at Pimlico on May 15. …

California invader Made for Magic, one of four challengers for Rachel Alexandra in Saturday’s Fleur de Lis Handicap, made her first visit to the main track at Churchill Downs Thursday morning after arriving on Wednesday afternoon. Made for Magic is scheduled to school in the paddock during Thursday’s sixth race.

Newly elected Hall of Famer Randy Romero will be signing copies of his biography, “Randy Romero’s Remarkable Ride,” on Sunday in the Paddock Pavilion. …

 Nominations close Saturday for the 110th running of the $100,000-added Debutante (GIII) for 2-year-old fillies going six furlongs on the main track. Last year’s Debutante was won by Decelerator for trainer D. Wayne Lukas. …

Dale Romans, third in the trainer standings with 11 victories this meet, will have four chances Friday to become the second Churchill Downs conditioner with 500 victories at the track. Sitting on 499 wins, second only to Bill Mott’s 630, Romans has no entries Thursday but Friday night will send out Why Us in the third, Ride On Josephine in the fifth, Peruvian Hero in the seventh and Yate’s Black Cat in the 10th. …

 Also closing in on a Churchill Downs milestone is Shaun Bridgmohan, currently the second-leading rider at the meet with 23 victories. Bridgmohan has 289 career wins at Churchill Downs and would become the 19th rider to hit the 300-victory plateau.

KENTUCKY DERBY LEGENDS OF THE 1970S TO SHINE ON ALUMNI DAY – Saturday is Kentucky Derby Alumni Day at Churchill Downs, saluting connections of some of the stars from the 1970s.

There will be a commemorative print giveaway sponsored by GE that will be distributed to the first 5,000 guests through the gates that open at 11 a.m. (EDT).  From 1-3 p.m. in the Paddock Pavilion, connections of some of the Kentucky Derby winners from the 1970s will be on hand signing the print.
Connections on hand for the autograph session will be:

• 1970 – Dust Commander: Trainer Don Combs and jockey Mike Manganello.
• 1972-73 – Riva Ridge and Secretariat: Owner Penny Chenery and jockey Ron Turcotte.
• 1974 and 1976 -- Cannonade and Bold Forbes: Jockey Angel Cordero Jr.
• 1975 – Foolish Pleasure: Jockey Jacinto Vasquez.
• 1977 – Seattle Slew: Trainer Billy Turner and jockey Jean Cruguet.
• 1978 – Affirmed: Owners Patrice Wolfson and Steve Wolfson Sr. and jockey Steve Cauthen

Others scheduled to attend include: Don Brumfield (1966, Kauai King), Pat Day (1992, Lil E. Tee), Seth Hancock of Claiborne Farm (1984, Swale), Chris McCarron (1987, Alysheba; 1994 Go for Gin); Bobby Ussery (1967, Proud Clarion; 1968, Dancer’s Image) and Lynn Whiting (1992, Lil E. Tee).

Also, this year’s winning jockey Calvin Borel, trainer Todd Pletcher and owners/breeders Bill Casner and Kenny Troutt of WinStar Farm will be on hand to collect their Kentucky Derby trophies in a winner’s circle ceremony after the fifth race.

ASHER TO SPECIAL “GET IN THE GAME” TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE -- John Asher will host a special edition Saturday of the “Get in the Game” seminar in which he will talk to the winning connections and discuss their historic journey through their Triple Crown victories and Kentucky Derby wins in the 1970s.
“Get in the Game” will be located in the paddock starting at 11:30 a.m. and will be featured on all in-house monitors.

Fans also will be able to save up to 50 percent on discounted products from the Official Art of the Kentucky Derby Collection starting at 11:30 a.m. and lasting until 6 p.m.

JOCKEY TRADING CARD GIVEAWAY, AUTOGRAPH SESSION SLATED SUNDAY -- The first 2,500 guests to arrive on Sunday, June 13 will receive a free set of jockey trading cards. Gates will open at 11 a.m. (EDT) on Sunday with the trading cards being distributed at Gates 1, 10, and 17.

The cards feature a mixture of current and Hall of Fame jockeys not limited to Churchill Downs’ current jockey colony. Churchill Downs jockeys will be available for an autograph session in the Paddock Pavilion from 11 a.m. to noon.

OFFICIAL LIMITED EDITION RON TURCOTTE BOBBLEHEAD SALES SET SUNDAY -- Official limited edition Ron Turcotte bobbleheads will be on sale between the Churchill Downs store and Gate 17 from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 13.

Turcotte, who won the Triple Crown aboard Secretariat in 1973, will be on site to autograph and sell his limited edition bobbleheads.

Only 1,973 of these bobbleheads were manufactured with 500 being available for purchase at $50 each. A portion of the funds raised from the sale will be donated to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Domino Stud of Lexington’s Miss Isella will go for her third consecutive Grade II stakes victory at Churchill Downs on Saturday when she totes high weight of 122 pounds in the 35th running of the $200,000-added Fleur De Lis Handicap (Grade II).

            The Fleur De Lis, for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 1/8 miles on the main track, is one of four graded stakes Saturday on Reunion Day Featuring the 28th running of the $600,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I).

            In addition to the Stephen Foster and the four other graded stakes, the connections from Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra will receive their Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks trophies, respectively. First post time for Saturday’s 11-race card is 12:45 p.m. (all times Eastern) and grandstand admission gates open at 11:30 a.m.

            Trained by Ian Wilkes, Miss Isella made her graded-stakes debut in last fall’s Falls City Handicap (Grade II) here, winning by a length over Skylighter at 1 1/8 miles. On May 1, Miss Isella handed One Caroline her first career defeat in six starts in winning the Louisville Distaff.

            Regular rider Calvin Borel will be aboard Saturday and break from post position three. Miss Isella will concede from 1-9 pounds to her eight rivals in the Fleur De Lis, which goes as the ninth race on the card at approximately 4:59 p.m.

The second high weight in the race is Southern Equine Stable’s Santa Teresita at 121 pounds. Trained by Eric Guillot, Santa Teresita won the Grade I Santa Maria Handicap this winter at Santa Anita and most recently ran second in the Sixty Sails Handicap (Grade III) at Hawthorne on April 18. Aaron Gryder will ride Santa Teresita and break from post position four.

            Hystericalady won last year’s Fleur De Lis.

          The field for the Fleur De Lis, from the rail out (with jockey, assigned weight and morning line odds): Unforgotten (Robby Albarado, 115 pounds, 15-1), Distinctive Dixie (Jesus Castanon, 114, 10-1), Miss Isella (Calvin Borel, 122, 2-1), Santa Teresita (Aaron Gryder, 121, 3-1), Copper State (Shaun Bridgmohan, 115, 6-1), Temple Street (Julien Leparoux, 113, 8-1), French Kiss (Joe Johnson, 113, 20-1), Swift Temper (Garrett Gomez, 117, 8-1) and Kiss With a Twist (Miguel Mena, 115, 6-1).

The other Grade II on Saturday’s card is the 34th running of the $150,000-added Jefferson Cup for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course. The Jefferson Cup is the first stakes race on the card and goes as the seventh race at approximately 3:57 p.m.

          Trainer Rusty Arnold, who won this race in 1982 with Wavering Monarch and in 1990 with Divine Warning, will send out one of the favorites in El Crespo.

            Owned by G. Watts Humphrey Jr., El Crespo captured the Grade III Palm Beach at 1 1/8 miles this winter at Gulfstream Park and has a turf record of 4-2-1-1.  Julien Leparoux will ride El Crespo and break from post position five under the top impost of 121 pounds.

          Also expected to draw interest at the windows in the race won last year by Tizdejavu are WinStar Farm’s Advice, who will be making his turf debut as the 5-2 morning line favorite after finishing 13th in the Kentucky Derby, and Darley Stable’s Florentino (JPN), who was scratched out of last Friday’s Hill Prince (Grade III) at Belmont Park when it was rained off the turf.

          The field for the Jefferson Cup, from the hedge out: Advice (Garrett Gomez, 117 pounds, 5-2), Jake Wil Gallop (Tuffy Collier, 117, 10-1), No Inflation (Robby Albarado, 117, 7-2), Florentino (Alan Garcia, 117, 3-1), El Crespo (Julien Leparoux, 121, 3-1), Har D Boy (Shaun Bridgmohan, 117, 12-1) and Bruce N Autumn (Miguel Mena, 117, 10-1).

          The filly companion to the Jefferson Cup is the 40th running of the $150,000-added Regret (Grade III), which goes as the day’s final race at 5:58 p.m.

          Silverton Hill LLC’s Excelente (IRE) and Glen Hill Farm’s Prytania, second and fourth, respectively, in the American 1,000 Guineas at Arlington Park on May 23, help comprise an evenly matched field of 11 in the Regret.

 Miguel Mena, who rode Excelente (IRE) for the first time at Arlington, has the call again Saturday and will break from post position one.

          Pure Clan won the 2008 Regret and used that victory as a springboard to victory in the American Oaks Invitational (Grade I) three weeks later at Hollywood Park. Julien Leparoux, who rode Pure Clan to victory last year and scored in the Regret in 2006 on Lady of Venice, rides Prytania for trainer Tom Proctor.

          Proctor, who won the race in 2005 with Rich In Spirit, also sends out Keertana who gave jockey Robby Albarado his 4,000th career victory on May 30. Albarado has the call Saturday.

The field for the Regret, from the hedge out: Excelente (Miguel Mena, 116 pounds, 5-1), The Best Day Ever (Corey Lanerie, 116, 8-1), Rena (Garrett Gomez, 116, 8-1), Satans Quick Chick (Jeremy Rose, 116, 30-1), Banker’s Choice (Calvin Borel, 116, 9-2), Oculuna (Alan Garcia, 116, 6-1), Hot Cha Cha (Jesus Castanon, 116, 8-1), Super Poni (Tony Farina, 116, 50-1), Keertana (Robby Albarado, 116, 5-1), Prytania (Julien Leparoux, 116, 7-2) and Kiss Mine (Jon Court, 116, 20-1).

          The 12th running of the $100,000-added Northern Dancer (Grade III) for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16 miles on the main track drew a field of eight, headed by A. Stevens Miles Jr.’s Warrior’s Reward. The Northern Dancer is the eighth race on the card at approximately 4:29 p.m.

          Trained by Ian Wilkes, Warrior’s Reward has won two of four career starts, including an impressive allowance triumph May 1 over Munnings, who came back to win the Woody Stephens Stakes (Grade II) last Saturday at Belmont Park. Calvin Borel has the mount on Warrior’s Reward, who will break from post position three.

          Trainer Steve Asmussen, who won the Northern Dancer last year with Pyro and also in 2001 with Compendium, will send out two starters in Heiligbrodt Racing’s Stable’s Dumar and Stonestreet Stables’ Omniscient.

          The field for the Northern Dancer, from the rail out: Omniscient (Robby Albarado, 116 pounds, 9-2), Successful Dan (Julien Leparoux, 116, 7-2), Warrior’s Reward (Calvin Borel, 116, 6-5), Dumar (Shaun Bridgmohan, 116, 8-1), Final Judgement (Aaron Gryder, 116, 15-1), Broad Stone (Jeremy Rose, 116, 20-1), Parade Clown (Miguel Mena, 116, 8-1) and Gresham (Garrett Gomez, 116, 10-1).

- 30 -

WITH 4,000 VICTORIES, ALBARADO AIMS FOR NEXT MILESTONE – With one milestone behind him, jockey Robby Albarado took time out the other morning to reflect on some of the magic moments en route to 4,000 career victories, mark he achieved at Churchill Downs on Saturday.
    “Obviously, the very first one I won in 1990,” Albarado said of One Little Point at Evangeline Downs on June 29 as he began to click off a top five.
    “The other four would have to be with Curlin and Mineshaft. Those were great moments there and getting my first Grade I was pretty special with Joyeux Danseur here in the (1998)  Early Times (now Woodford Reserve) Turf Classic.”
    Albarado got his milestone victory in Saturday’s ninth race aboard Keertana. Earlier in the day in the third race at Philadelphia Park, Jose Luis Flores got his 4,000th victory, which made Albarado the 57th North American rider to reach that plateau.
    Albarado, who turns 36 in September, was asked what the first race would be that he would pop into a VCR many years down the road of Robby’s greatest hits to share with the grandkids.
    “The first race in the VCR probably would have to be Preakness,” Albarado said of Curlin’s victory over Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense. “My first Triple Crown win was pretty special there. It was a proud moment in my career.”
    There are 24 North American riders with more than 5,000 victories with another 16 active riders, including Albarado, in the 4,000 club in pursuit of the next milestone.
    Albarado was asked what he would like to add to his list of memorable victories when No. 5,000 rolled around.
    “Oh, that’s easy. The Derby, of course,” Albarado said. “Hopefully between now and the next thousand if I get there, I’ll have at least one Derby. That would be special.”

EINSTEIN HEADS LIST OF 20 NOMINATIONS FOR STEPHEN FOSTER HANDICAP – Midnight Cry Stable’s Einstein, runner-up to “Horse of the Year” Curlin in last year’s renewal of the Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I), tops a list of 20 nominees for this year’s renewal, which will be run Saturday, June 13.
    Weights for the $600,000 Stephen Foster, to be run at 1 1/8 miles on the main track, will be announced Saturday.
    Einstein will be seeking to join Lava Man as the only horse to win Grade I races on dirt, grass and synthetic surfaces. Unlike Lava Man, Einstein will attempt to create his own triple in consecutive races.
    Trained by Helen Pitts-Blasi, Einstein won the Santa Anita Handicap on Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride surface on March 7 and the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on May 2 in his two most recent starts.
    Einstein is one six horses considered as probable for the Stephen Foster by Churchill Downs stakes coordinator Allison De Luca. Other probables include Arson Squad, winner of last fall’s Meadowlands Cup (Grade II), Bullsbay, winner of the May 1 Alysheba (Grade III) here, 2009 New Orleans Handicap (Grade II) winner Macho Again, Charles Town Classic winner Researcher, multi-South Florida graded-stakes winner Finallymadeit and Dubious Miss. Considered as “possible” is $3 million earner Asiatic Boy, who has not run since he finished 12th to Well Armed in the $6 million Dubai World Cup on March 28.

BIG NAMES DOT REUNION DAY NOMINATIONS – Dual Grade II Churchill Downs stakes winner Miss Isella, Coolmore Lexington (Grade II) winner Advice and the promising Warrior’s Reward highlight the list of nominees considered as “probable” to participate on the June 13 Reunion Day Featuring the Stephen Foster Handicap card.
    Two Grade II and two Grade III stakes will serve as the appetizers leading up to the 28th running of the Stephen Foster.
    Miss Isella, winner of the Louisville Distaff in her most recent start on May 1, tops a list of five probables and two possibles for the 35th running of the $200,000-added Fleur de Lis Handicap (Grade II), a1 1/8th-mile main track test for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up. Weights for the race will be announced Saturday.
    In addition to Miss Isella, other probables for the race according to stakes coordinator Allison De Luca are Distinctive Dixie, Kiss With a Twist, Santa Teresita, Swift Temper and Unforgotten. Considered as possible are All Smiles and Temple Street.
    Advice, who followed up his Coolmore Lexington victory with a 13th-place finish in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I), is poised to make his grass debut in the 34th running of the $150,000-added Jefferson Cup (Grade II) at 1 1/8 miles. Other probables include El Crespo, Jake Wil Gallop and No Inflation.
    Warrior’s Reward, a stylish allowance winner here on May 1, is one of five probables for the 12th running of the $100,000-added Northern Dancer (Grade III) for 3-year-olds going 1 1/16th miles on the main track.
    Other Northern Dancer probables include Gresham, Omniscient, Parade Clown and Successful Dan.
    Five 3-year-old fillies are considered as probable starters for the 40th running of the $150,000 Regret (Grade III) at 1 1/8 miles on the turf. The quintet includes Banker’s Choice, Oculuna, Prytania, Super Poni and The Best Day Ever with Keertana, who gave jockey Robby Albarado his 4,000th victory last Saturday, considered as a possible starter.
    Entries for all five stakes on the Reunion Day card will be drawn Wednesday.

AMOSS JOINS BYRNE FOR SATURDAY’S ‘GET IN THE GAME’ SEMINAR – Trainer and television racing analyst Tom Amoss will discuss the Belmont Stakes and more when he joins Churchill Downs’ Jill Byrne for her weekly “Get in the Game” handicapping seminar on Saturday, June 6.
    Amoss, a New Orleans native who is a two-time leading trainer at Churchill Downs, also serves as a racing analyst for TVG and will offer his perspective on Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird’s bid for the second jewel of the Triple Crown.
    Byrne’s recent guests in the seminar have included two-time Derby-winning jockey Calvin Borel and Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr., trainer of Mine That Bird.

MILESTONE WATCH – David Vance, one of 22 North American trainers with more than 3,000 career victories (3,011), will try to become the 11th conditioner at Churchill Downs to have 300 victories beneath the Twins Spires in Thursday’s third race.
Vance, who has 299 wins here, sends out Chief Waterbury in the third. Vance has two horses entered on Friday’s 11-race card: My Little Connor in the second and Closetoaten in the ninth.
    Trainer Bill Connelly, two wins shy of 1,000 for his career, sends out Sweetasnails in Thursday’s ninth race. On Friday, Connelly’s Sinus Rhythm is on the also-eligible list in the 10th race.

BARN TALK – Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) winner General Quarters, who ran 10th in the Kentucky Derby and ninth in the Preakness Stakes (Grade I) will be out until late fall after having a small chip removed from his right front knee.
    “He is doing well,” owner-trainer Tom McCarthy said. “I’d like to have him ready for the Clark Handicap if possible.
    “After the Derby we noticed a little filling, but there was no heat or discomfort. It was not a major thing. After the Preakness, I took him to Rood & Riddle in Lexington and had it x-rayed. There was not much there but we went ahead and took it out.”
    McCarthy has an idea of when the injury may have occurred in the Derby.
    “We went back and looked at pictures of the race, and there was one in which he had three feet up and the right front was on the ground,” McCarthy said. “He got bumped at that time and he might have twisted it then.” …
    Training hours will be adjusted the mornings of Monday, June 15 and Tuesday June 16 to begin at 5 a.m. to give trainers an opportunity to train under the lights in advance of the debut of night racing at Churchill Downs on Friday, June 19.        

WORK TAB (Track: Good, then MUDDY) – Trainer Ian Wilkes sent out two of his aces for the June 13 Reunion Day card for five-furlong works over a “muddy” Churchill Downs main track. Northern Dancer candidate Warrior’s Reward covered the distance in 1:01.60, the fastest of eight at the distance. Likely Fleur De Lis favorite Miss Isella covered the distance in 1:02.60.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Eclipse Award winning-jockey Garrett Gomez hand-rode Hystericalady to a 7 ½-length triumph over Initforthekandy in Saturday’s $321,900 Fleur de Lis Handicap (Grade II) at Churchill Downs.

The 5-year-old mare, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer, ran 1 1/8 miles on a “fast” main track in 1:50.88 en route to the fifth graded stakes victory of her 19-race career.

Overall, it was Hystericalady’s ninth win for owners Rancho San Miguel, Tom Clark, George Todaro and Hollendorfer. The $199,578 winner’s share of the purse pushed her lifetime earnings to $1,510,556.

Hystericalady, the 1-2 favorite in the field of five fillies and mares, pressed the early pace set by Initforthekandy, who ran the first quarter-mile in :24.78 and the half in :49.69. Into the far turn, Gomez urged Hystericalady to the front and the daughter of Distorted Humor responded nicely. She passed the six-furlong marker in 1:13.67, and drew off when asked in upper stretch.

Hystericalady paid $3 and $2.20. Initforthekandy, the longest shot at 15-1 under John McKee, held second and returned $7.20.

Kathleens Reel, Aspiring and Peach Flambe completed the order of finish. Cowgirls Don’t Cry was scratched.

Hystericalady, the Northern California invader who finished second to champion Ginger Punch in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Distaff (GI), returned to Churchill Downs Saturday for the third time in her career. Last year, she won the Humana Distaff (GI), then finished third in this year’s renewal on the May 3 Kentucky Derby undercard.

She has now won two of four starts this year. Her 2008 campaign also includes a victory in the Azeri Stakes (GIII) at Oaklawn Park.

STAKES QUOTES: THE FLEUR DE LIS HANDICAP

GARRETT GOMEZ (jockey, Hystericalady) – “This is the first time I have ridden her and she is a nice, nice mare. I thought there might be one or two more horses go for the lead. I eased her out at the half-mile and she moved on. At the head of the stretch, she gave me a little more kick than I was expecting.”

JERRY HOLLENDORFER (trainer, Hystericalady) – “This worked out good for us. I am not sure when her next race is going to be, but it probably won’t be at Del Mar. I would think she may run two more times before the Breeders’ Cup."

(Regarding running on a synthetic surface at Santa Anita in the Breeders’ Cup, on a surface she never has won on): “I can say that it is not her best surface, but she still has run well on it. Hopefully we will be around at the year of the year and get back to Santa Anita.”

JOHN MCKEE (jockey, Initforthekandy) – “She ran a really big race.  (Trainer Jeff) Talley had here well-conditioned going into it.  At the top of the lane when she (Hystericalady) came by, she (Initforthekandy) dug in.  But I knew she was just too much for me.  She ran up on to get second and she was determined.”

 

Stonestreet Stable and Midnight Cry Stable’s reigning “Horse of the Year” Curlin heads a star-studded roster of veteran racing stars nominated to the 27th running of the Churchill Downs’ $750,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I) on Saturday, June 14 at Churchill Downs.

The 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds and up is the main event on a schedule of six stakes races on “Stephen Foster Super Saturday” and could carry a record purse of $1 million if the field includes one or more winners of a previous Grade I stakes event. Churchill Downs has offered to supplement $250,000 from its marketing account to the Stephen Foster purse if at least one Grade I winner starts in the race.

Curlin, a 4-year-old son of Smart Strike, won the $6 million Dubai World Cup (GI) on March 29 at Nad Al Sheba and last fall’s $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic Powered by Dodge (GI) at Monmouth Park. The Steve Asmussen-trained chestnut finished third to Street Sense in the 2007 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) at Churchill Downs, but avenged that setback in the Preakness (GI) and also won the Jockey Club Gold Cup (GI) at Belmont Park during the campaign in which he also earned an Eclipse Award as 3-year-old champion.

Curlin, who has won eight of 11 races and earned $8,807,800, opened his 4-year-old campaign with a pair of victories in Dubai highlighted by his 7 ¾-length romp in the Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest race.

Other Grade I winners among the 29 older stars nominated to the Stephen Foster Handicap include Stonecrest Farm’s homebred Perfect Drift, who upset eventual “Horse of the Year” Mineshaft to win the 2003 Foster and has career earnings of $4,699,321; Millennium Farms’ Student Council, the winner of the recent Pimlico Special (GI) and last year’s Pacific Classic (GI) who has career earnings of $1,307,731; Fred Bradley’s homebred Brass Hat, a career earner of $1,761,814 who won Donn Handicap (GI) at Gulfstream Park in 2006; J. Paul Reddam’s Great Hunter, who won the Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity (GI) at Keeneland in 2006; and Midnight Cry Stable’s Einstein, winner of the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (GI) and two-time winner of the Gulfstream Park Turf (GI) who has earned $1,107,931.

Other notables nominated to the 2008 Stephen Foster Handicap include the Allen E. Paulson Living Trust’s A.P. Arrow, winner of the 2007 Clark Handicap (GII) at Churchill Downs; Stronach Stable’s Giant Gizmo, winner of the Alysheba (GIII) at Churchill Downs and the Lone Star Park Handicap (GIII) in his last two starts; William S. Farish and E.J. Hudson’s Grasshopper, winner of the Mineshaft Handicap (GIII) and runner-up to Street Sense in the 2007 Travers (GI); Michael Langford’s Jonesboro, winner of the Razorback Handicap (GIII); Mike Willman’s McCann’s Mojave, winner of the Berkley Handicap (GIII) at Golden Gate Fields and a career earner of nearly $1.5 million; and Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Zanjero, winner of the 2006 Indiana Derby (GII) and West Virginia Derby (GIII) who has earned more than $1.3 million.

The five major stakes races that share the spotlight with the Stephen Foster Handicap on the “Stephen Foster Super Saturday” racing program also attracted strong rosters of nominees.

The 34th running of the $300,000-added Fleur De Lis (GII) for fillies and mares ages 3 and up at 1 1/8 miles boasts Stronach Stable’s Ginger Punch and Rancho San Miguel, George Todaro and Jerry Hollendorfer’s Hystericalady among its 18 nominees. Ginger Punch capped a stellar 2007 campaign with a victory in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Distaff (GI) at Monmouth Park. She also won the Ruffian (GI) and Go for Wand (GI) on her way to an Eclipse Award that honored her as America’s top older filly or mare. She won the Louisville Stakes (GII) at Churchill Downs in her most recent start.

Hystericalady burst to prominence last year with a victory in the $300,000-added Humana Distaff (GI) at Churchill Downs and finished a close second to Ginger Punch in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

Other major stakes winners nominated to the Fleur De Lis include Bear Now, Leah’s Secret, Spring Waltz, Tough Tiz’s Sis and Tessa Blue.

Thirty-two 3-year-olds were nominated to the 31st running of the $200,000-added Jefferson Cup (GII) at 1 1/8 miles on the turf. Prominent members of that roster of nominees include Michael Cooper and Pamela Ziebarth’s Tizdejavu, winner of the $150,000-added Crown Royal American Turf (GIII); Ashbrook Farm’s Wicked Style, winner of the Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity (GI) at Keeneland; Sarah and Jon Kelly’s Calder Derby (GIII) and Palm Beach (GIII) winner Sporting Art; Arlington Classic winner Meal Penalty; and Cradle winner Old Man Buck.

The 39th running of the $200,000-added Regret (GIII) for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course includes the versatile Pure Clan among its nominees. Owned by IEAH Stable, Lewis Lakin and Pegasus Holding Group, the daughter of Pure Prize finished third to Proud Spell in the 134th running of the $500,000-added Kentucky Oaks (GI). Trainer Robert Holthus plans to make the Regret a return to the grass for Pure Clan, who won her first two races on turf before she switched to the dirt to win Churchill Downs’ $250,000-added Golden Rod (GII) and $100,000-added Pocahontas (GIII).

Others nominated to the Regret include Zayat Stables’ Edgewood winner Zee Zee; Koolmen Racing Stable’s A to the Croft, a recent allowance winner on turf at Churchill Downs who ran seventh in the Kentucky Oaks and was Grade I-placed on the dirt at two; Absolutely Cindy, who ran 10th in the Kentucky Oaks, but defeated males in the John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park for owner/trainer Keith Kinmon; Charles Laloggia’s Clearly Foxy, winner of Woodbine’s Natalma (GIII) as a 2-year-old; Sands Point (GII) and Calder Oaks runner-up Life is Sweet; and celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s Hollywood Starlet (GI) runner-up Grace and Power.

At least two horses that chased unbeaten Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) are expected to compete in the seventh running of the $175,000-added Northern Dancer (GIII) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on the main track. Louie Roussel III and Ronnie Lamarque’s Recapturetheglory, who was fifth in the Kentucky Derby, and Winchell Thoroughbreds’ Pyro, who was eighth in the “Run for the Roses,” are among the 26 3-year-olds nominated to the Northern Dancer.

Other Derby veterans on the roster of Northern Dancer nominees include Cool Coal Man (15th in the Derby) and Visionaire (12th). Coolmore Lexington (GII) winner Behindatthebar; Louisiana Derby (GII) runner-up My Pal Charlie; Hollywood Prevue (GIII) winner Massive Drama; Racecar Rhapsody, the fourth-place finisher in the Preakness; and Gotham (GIII) runner-up Texas Wildcatter are also nominated.

Thirty-eight older fillies and mares were nominated to the 32nd running of the $150,000-added Early Times Mint Julep Handicap (GIII) at 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Major stars in that group include Frank Calabrese’s multiple turf stakes winner Dreaming of Anna, the champion 2-year-old filly of 2006; Jacks or Better Farm’s Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile (GIII) winner Bayou’s Lassie; Joseph Allen’s Kentucky Cup Distaff (GIII) winner Danzon; Lawrence Goichman’s My Charmer (GIII) winner J’ray; and IEAH Stable and WinStar Farm’s Lake Placid (GIII) winner Sharp Susan.