Corey Lanerie

WISE DAN IN PERFECT SHAPE MORNING AFTER CLARK ‘CAP VICTORY – Mort Fink’s Wise Dan had an easy morning after his impressive 3 ¾-length victory in the 137^th running of Churchill Downs’ $572,500 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (Grade I). The 4-year-old gelded son of Wiseman’s Ferry walked the shedrow and then grazed for an hour outside trainer Charlie Lopresti’s barn at Keeneland.

“He came out of the race in perfect shape,” Lopresti said. “He’s 100%.”

The Clark Handicap victory caps a phenomenal year for Wise Dan, who recorded stakes victories on turf, dirt and synthetic surfaces. Other than the Clark, he was also victorious in the Firecracker Handicap (GII), Presque Isle Mile and Fayette (GII), with the latter two on synthetic surfaces, Lopresti said Wise Dan would now get some well-deserved time off.

"We’ll let him wind down (at Keeneland) and then take him to our farm in Lexington,” Lopresti said. “He’ll have the whole month of December off and some of January and then we’ll start getting him ready for a 5-year-old campaign.”

While plans for Wise Dan’s first start next year are not definite, Lopresti does have a race in mind.

“He can run on any surface at different distances, so we have a lot of options with him,” Lopresti said. “Most likely we will bring him back in the Commonwealth (GII) at Keeneland like we did this year.”

Wise Dan won’t be the only talented horse racing from the Lopresti barn next year. Turallure, winner of the Woodbine Mile (GI) and second by a nose to Court Vision in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Mile (GI), is expected to race next year, as is Successful Dan, Wise Dan’s older half-brother who missed 2011 with a tendon injury. Successful Dan was disqualified from first and placed third in last year’s Clark.

“Successful Dan is at our farm and gallops about five days a week,” Lopresti said. “We’ll keep doing that for awhile and then get more serious with him in January or February. Look for him in the spring.”

With so many top horses in the barn, Lopresti will be faced with the tough task of keeping them apart from each other during their 2012 campaigns; however, he is unsure if that will even be possible.

“I was able to keep Turallure and Wise Dan apart this year, but I don’t know if I can keep them all apart next year,” Lopresti said. “It’ll be tough and a couple of them may have to go in the same race. But this is a good problem to have. It’s been a dream year and if next year is half as good as this one, then I’ll be thrilled.”

LEPAROUX, MAKER LOOK TO HOLD MEET LEADS ENTERING FINAL DAYS – With just two days remaining in the Fall Meet, the races for leading jockey and leading trainer are still wide open. Entering Saturday’s action, Julien Leparoux, seeking his ninth riding title at the Louisville track, holds a 31-to-26 lead over Corey Lanerie, who is seeking his first Churchill Downs riding title, and Mike Maker, the leading trainer at the 2008 Fall Meet, is leading Steve Asmussen, a 10-time leading trainer at Churchill Downs, 15 to 12. Below is a rundown of entries for the top two in the jockey and trainer standings for the final two days of the 2011 Fall Meet.

Julien Leparoux, Saturday, Nov. 26

• Race 1, Casa de Cambio (5-1 on morning-line)
• Race 2, La Capella (6-1)
• Race 3, Brando (8-1)
• Race 4, Soft Whisper (3-1)
• Race 5, Swaythisway (3-1)
• Race 6, Wayward Sailor (3-1)
• Race 7, Tito (8-1)
• Race 8, Voodoo Daddy (2-1)
• Race 9, Customer Base (7-2)
• Race 10, Daddy Nose Best (5-2)
• Race 11, Ever So Lucky (5-2)
• Race 12, Big John B (3-1)

Julien Leparoux, Sunday, Nov. 27

• Race 1, Chyhyryn, (3-1)
• Race 2, Romans Reward (4-1)
• Race 3, Bluegrass Summer (5-2)
• Race 4, Biogio’s Gift (5-1)
• Race 6, Hillary D (5-1)
• Race 7, Woodford Lady (7-2)
• Race 8, Eyeseeyou (5-1)
• Race 10, Gutsy Call (7-2)

Corey Lanerie, Saturday, Nov. 26

• Race 1, Mr Saturday (12-1)
• Race 2, Audington (10-1)
• Race 3, Charlie in Charge (6-1)
• Race 4, Yorona (15-1)
• Race 5, Bluegrass Rumor (12-1)
• Race 6, Burning Fire (12-1)
• Race 7, Battle Hardened (8-1)
• Race 9, Glinda the Good (5-1)
• Race 10, Salvatore G (15-1)
• Race 11, Africanist (10-1)
• Race 12, King Kid (8-1)

Corey Lanerie, Sunday, Nov. 27

• Race 1, Minestone (5-2)
• Race 2, Winkatdawat (8-1)
• Race 4, Preach Easy (3-1)
• Race 5, Tend (5-1)
• Race 6, Four Point (12-1)
• Race 7, Miz Ida (5-1)
• Race 8, Paladin’s Fury (12-1)
• Race 9, Accesorize (12-1)
• Race 10, Joes Blazing Aaron (5-1)
• Race 11, Ocean Bertie (2-1)

Mike Maker, Saturday, Nov. 26

• Race 3, Stevie Jones (8-1)
• Race 6, Tizanexpense (15-1) and Wayward Sailor (3-1)
• Race 10, Magical Season (8-1)
• Race 11, Mr. Prankster (10-1)
• Race 12, Big John B (3-1)

Mike Maker, Sunday, Nov. 27

• Race 1, Chyhyryn (3-1)
• Race 4, Biogio’s Gift (5-1)
• Race 10, Twinspired (8-1)

Steve Asmussen, Saturday, Nov. 26

• Race 1, Goingoingone (6-1) and Casa de Cambio (5-1)
• Race 2, La Capella (6-1)
• Race 3, Brando (8-1)
• Race 5, Tapajo (4-1)
• Race 6, Power Emblem (7-2)
• Race 7, Tito (8-1)
• Race 8, Voodoo Dancer (2-1)
• Race 9, Glinda the Good (5-1)
• Race 10, Daddy Nose Best (5-2)

Steve Asmussen, Sunday, Nov. 27

• Race 6, Miss Chloe H. (9-2)
• Race 8, Eyeseeyou (5-1) and Hunterwood Point (6-1)
• Race 10, Joes Blazing Aaron (5-1)

CHURCHILL JOCKEYS MAKE PLANS FOLLOWING SPRING MEET – With the conclusion of the Fall Meet at Churchill Downs coming on Sunday, the leading jockeys at the Louisville track are preparing to move their tack elsewhere for the winter and most are heading for warmer climates.

Jockeys expected to ride at Fair Grounds: Corey Lanerie, Brian Hernandez Jr., Shaun Bridgmohan, Robby Albarado and Miguel Mena.

Jockeys expected to ride at Gulfstream Park: Julien Leparoux, Calvin Borel, Jesus Castanon, Edgar Prado and Kent Desormeaux.

Members of the Churchill Downs jockey colony who will not be riding at either Gulfstream Park or Fair Grounds include Jon Court (Oaklawn Park), Leandro Goncalves (Tampa Bay Downs) and Roberto Morales (Turfway Park).

WHO’S HOT – The hottest jockey over the last five racing days (Nov. 19-25) is Corey Lanerie (11-for-43). Eddie Kenneally (4-for-6) and Mike Maker (4-for-17) are the hottest trainers over the same period. Ken and Sarah Ramsey (3-for-11) are the hottest owners.

BARN TALK – Twin Creeks Racing Stable LLC’s Mission Impazible came back from his runner-up effort to Wise Dan in Friday’s Clark Handicap (GI) in good order, according to assistant trainer Michael McCarthy. No definitive plans have been made regarding his next start. …

Clark Handicap favorite Flat Out, who finished third behind Wise Dan and Mission Impazible, also exited the race in good order, according to trainer Scooter Dickey. Preston Stables LLC’s Flat Out, who won the Jockey Club Gold Cup (GI) at Belmont Park in October, will ship to Dickey’s barn at Gulfstream Park on Monday afternoon and will be given a few weeks rest before being prepared for a 2012 campaign.

“I’ll work him on the turf at Gulfstream and if he works well then he could start the year in the Fort Lauderdale (GIII at 1 1/16 miles on the turf on Jan. 14),” Dickey said. If he doesn’t work well on the turf, then we’ll probably point to the Donn Handicap (GI at 1 1/8 miles on the dirt on Feb. 11).” …

Churchill Downs will offer free general admission to all fans on Sunday, Nov. 27, the closing-day of the 2011 Fall Meet. Also, be sure to bring the kids out to see Santa Claus, who will be in the Paddock Pavilion on Sunday.

WORKTAB – Stoneway Farm LLC’s Exfactor, winner of the Bashford Manor (GIII) at Churchill Downs in July, breezed five furlongs on the fast main track beneath the Twin Spires on Saturday morning in 1:01 for trainer Bernie Flint. The work was the fourth fastest of 34 at the distance. …

Stonestreet Stables LLC’s Hierro, who turned heads when he broke his maiden by 5 ¼ lengths in his most recent start at Churchill Downs, breezed five furlongs on the main track in 1:02.80 for trainer Steve Asmussen. The work was the 22^nd fastest of 34 at the distance. …

Kirk and Judy Robison’s Wine Police, third in the Hopeful (GI) as a 2-year-old and second in the Jimmy V “Don’t Give Up…Don’t Ever Give Up!” in his most recent start, breezed five furlongs in 1:03.20 for Steve Asmussen. It was the 25^th fastest half-mile work Saturday morning.

LANERIE WINS 300^TH AT CHURCHILL DOWNS; EYES FIRST RIDING TITLE – Jockey Corey Lanerie  added another highlight to his career when he captured his 300^th win beneath the Twin Spires in Sunday’s ninth race aboard Taptowne.

Lanerie is just the 20^th rider in Churchill Downs history to reach the 300-win plateau.

“It feels good, but I honestly didn’t know I had that many,” Lanerie said. “I’ve had a lot of good mounts and it makes it easy.”

The native of Lafayette, La., who will turn 37 Sunday, rode his first winner at Churchill Downs during the Fall Meet in 2000 and his list of victories at the Louisville track since then includes eight stakes wins.

“The stakes races I’ve won here stand out as highlights, but all of them are important to me,” Lanerie said.

The next goal for Lanerie is to capture a riding title at the home of the Kentucky Derby. He has finished second in the jockey standings in the past two Spring Meets to Calvin Borel in 2010 and Julien Leparoux in 2011.

“It’d be great (to win a riding title),” Lanerie said. “It’s a tough chore, but I’m definitely up to the task.”

Lanerie, who recorded his 3,000^th career victory in February at Fair Grounds, is off to a red-hot start at the 2011 Fall Meet with eights wins from 28 mounts. He is currently second in the jockey standings behind Leparoux, who has 10 wins from 52 mounts.

READY’S ROCKET GOES FOR 11^TH WIN BENEATH THE TWIN SPIRES – Fan-favorite Ready’s Rocket will return to his favorite track and in search of an historic 11^th win at Churchill Downs in Thursday’s sixth race.

Ready’s Rocket, who has recorded more wins beneath the Twin Spires than any horse since 1991, which was the first year detailed information was gathered by Equibase, will enter Thursday’s race off two third-place finishes on the synthetic Polytrack surface at Turfway Park.

“He ran well, but he probably shouldn’t have lost either race,” trainer Tim Glyshaw said. “He did okay this summer (at Ellis Park and Turfway Park), but this is definitely his favorite place.”

Ready’s Rocket will break from post 11 under Calvin Borel in the starter allowance and Glyshaw hopes  the race could set the 8-year-old gelded son of More Than Ready up a run in the upcoming Claiming Crown at Fair Grounds.

"If he runs well-enough tomorrow (Thursday) then I’ll probably run him in the Claiming Crown (Express) on Dec. 3,” Glyshaw said. “If he doesn’t run well then I’ll enter him in another starter allowance here (Churchill Downs) toward the end of the meet.”

Ready’s Rocket will enter the race off a near seven-week layoff due to a foot issue that was discovered shortly after his most recent start at Turfway on Sept. 23.

"He got an abscess on his right-front foot a few days after the race,” Glyshaw said. “It took him about ten days to get over it and that’s why we didn’t bring him to Keeneland. He’s doing fine now.”

Long-term plans for Ready’s Rocket have not been finalized; however, Glyshaw would like to bring him back as a 9-year-old.

“We’ll bring to Fair Grounds with us this winter and hopefully run him every six weeks or so,” Glyshaw said. “I’d love to bring him back for the Spring Meet (at Churchill Downs) next year. He still loves his job and we’ll keep him going, but he’ll tell us when enough is enough.”

Ready’s Rocket has a record of 19-8-11 from 67 career starts and earnings of $235,995.

MEET LEADERS AT A GLANCE – Through six days of the 21-day Fall Meet, jockey Julien Leparoux, trainer Steve Asmussen and owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey are the leaders in their respective categories at Churchill Downs. Below is a look at the divisional leaders entering Wednesday’s action:

Top Jockeys

1. Julien Leparoux (10-for-52, 19% win-percentage, $944,313 in earnings)

2. Corey Lanerie (8-for-28, 29%, $209,574)

3. Calvin Borel (4-for-27, 15%, $188,368)

3. Jon Court (4-for-17, 24%, $81,118)

3. Corey Nakatani (4-for-15, 27%, $1,836,830)

 

Top Trainers

1. Steve Asmussen (6-for-26, 23%, $1,876,049)

2. Bill Mott (5-for-11, 45%, $3,988,151)

3. Eddie Kenneally (4-for-9, 44%, $189,463)

4. Jinks Fires (3-for-5, 60%, $65,420)

4. Mike Maker (3-for-21, 14%, $1,207,012)

4. Steve Margolis (3-for-10, 30%, $296,400)

Top Owners

1. Ken and Sarah Ramsey (3-for-16, 19%, $601,423)

2. Fred Allor (2-for-2, 100%, $51,120)

2. Billy, Donna and Justin Hays (2-for-4, 50%, $19,590)

2. Richard, Bertram & Elaine Klein (2-for-7, 29%, $256,200)

2. Robert Lothenbach’s Lothenbach Stables Inc. (2-for-3, 67%, $77,754)

2. Kenny Troutt’s WinStar Farm LLC (2-for-3, 67%, $2,728,905) 

BARN TALK – Monastic, a half-brother to multiple graded stakes winner Keertana and stakes winner Snow Top Mountain, will make his fourth lifetime start in Wednesday’s second race for trainer Tom Proctor. The 2-year-old gelded son of Rock Hard Ten finished 10^th as the 2-1 favorite in the Bourbon (Grade III) at Keeneland in his most recent start. …

Nominations for four graded stakes to be run at Churchill Downs over Thanksgiving weekend will close today (Wednesday). The races include the 96^th running of the $175,000-added Falls City Handicap (GII) for fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on the main track on Nov. 24 (Thanksgiving Day), the 137^th running of the $500,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GI) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on the main track on Nov. 25, the 85^th running of the $150,000-added Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on the main track on Nov. 26 and the 68^th running of the $150,000-added Golden Rod (GII) for 2-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on the main track on Nov. 26. …

Ten $1,000 scholarships will be distributed to full-time students from colleges and universities throughout the country when Churchill Downs joins the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association for the annual College Scholarship Day on Friday, Nov. 11. College Scholarship Day will also feature a concert by Grammy-nominated country music artist David Nail. The concert will begin after Friday’s 10^th and final race and Nail is expected to perform from 5:30-7 p.m. EST. The concert is included in the track’s regular $3 admission price, but is complimentary for full-time students with a valid college ID.

WORKTAB – Gold Mark Farm LLC’s Culotte, winner of the Mountaineer Juvenile Fillies Stakes and Opelousas Stakes this year, breezed five furlongs Wednesday morning over a wet fast track beneath the Twin Spires in 1:01.80 for trainer Tom Amoss. …

At the nearby Trackside Training Center, Wayne Sanders and Larry Hirsch’s multiple stakes winner Gran Lioness breezed four furlongs on a fast track in :49.80 for trainer Bret Calhoun. The work was the fourth fastest of 15 at the distance. … Alpha Stables, Skychai Racing LLC and Sand Dollar Stable LLC’s Twinspired breezed five furlongs in 1:04.80 for trainer Mike Maker.

POOL PLAY WORKS, FLAT OUT POINTS TO BREEDERS CUP AFTER NEW YORK ROMP – William S. Farish Jr.’s Pool Play worked on Sunday morning at Churchill Downs in his first serious training move since his upset victory in the 30^th running of the $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I).

The 6-year-old son of Silver Deputy breezed five furlongs under regular exercise rider Melanie Giddings in 1:03 over a fast main track for trainer Mark Casse.

“We just wanted him to go nice and easy,” said assistant trainer Norman Casse, the son of the Woodbine-based trainer. “Everything went fine.”

Pool Play, whose Stephen Foster came in his debut over a traditional dirt surface, will likely have one more work beneath the Twin Spires before he heads to New York for the summer.

“We’ll give him another easy one (work) before going to Saratoga,” Casse said. “The plan right now is to ship (to Saratoga) on the tenth (of July) and work him a day before (on July 9). We’ll save the big works for when we get him up there.”

Bred in Canada by Windfields Farm, Pool Play has a career record of 6-6-5 from 28 starts with earnings of $909,556. He will be pointed to the Whitney Handicap (GI) at Saratoga on Aug. 6, with the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5 being the ultimate year-end goal.

Pool Play defeated an impressive group of older horses in the Stephen Foster that included Preston Stables LLC’s Flat Out, who traveled to New York on Saturday for a 6 ½-length romp in Belmont Park Park’s Suburban Handicap (GII) in his first start since his fifth-place run in the Foster.

"I think it proves how good the Stephen Foster field was this year,” Casse said. “It also further showed just how big Pool Play ran.”

Flat Out, a 5-year-old son of Flatter, received a Beyer Speed Figure of 113 for his demolition of his Suburban rivals.  That is the highest Beyer recorded this year for a race on traditional dirt at a mile or farther.

"We are really proud of him,” trainer Scooter Dickey said. “We really thought he would run well, but didn’t know he would whoop ‘em like that.”

Flat Out, who shipped to Dickey’s stable at Monmouth Park following his victory in Saturday’s Suburban, is also being pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“We still don’t know just how good he is,” Dickey said. “I talked to the owner and we decided we’ll find out how good he is in the Breeders’ Cup.”

Bred in Florida by Nikolaus Bock, Flat Out has a career record of 4-1-0 from nine starts and earnings of $359,713. No decision has been made regarding his next start.   Flat Out has been plagued by quarter cracks that have limited in racing and training over the past two years, but his feet are fine right now.

“There are a lot of options,” Dickey said. “I think we’ll look to run him at either Saratoga or Monmouth, but we really haven’t discussed it much.”

BOREL, LANERIE SIZZLE WITH LEPAROUX OUT OF TOWN AND JOCKEY RACE TIGHTENS – Leading jockey Julien Leparoux traveled to New York on Saturday for a successful raid on Belmont Park and a victory aboard George Bolton and Stonestreet Stable’s The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial (GIII) runner-up Dominus in the Grade II Dwyer.

But if Leparoux was keeping track of happenings back home in Louisville, the seven-time leading rider at Churchill Downs witnessed fireworks by Calvin Borel and a flurry of wins by Corey Lanerie, his closest pursuer in the battle for leading rider honors in Churchill Downs’ 38-day Spring Meet.

Borel, the three-time Kentucky Derby winner and three-time leading jockey at its home track, tallied five wins in Saturday’s 13 races.  The memorable was capped by a dazzling win aboard Stoneway Farm’s Exfactor in the 110^th running of the $100,000-added Bashford Manor (GIII) for 2-year-olds.

“It was an awesome day,” Borel said.  “I’m riding some good babies (2-year-olds) this year.  Even my brother, Cecil, has a good baby.  I think it’s going to be another good year.”

Cecil Borel trains Brown Eyed Jozi, an eight-length winner under Calvin Borel in the colt’s second career start at Churchill Downs on June 18.

Borel’s big day lifted his Spring Meet win total to 32, good for fourth place in the race for leading rider.

As Leparoux returned to Louisville to prepare for Sunday’s races, he should have been able to again feel Lanerie’s breath on his neck.  A blistering three-week hot streak by Leparoux had allowed the French-born rider to overcome what had one point had been an 11-win lead by Lanerie and surge to a seemingly comfortable six-win advantage in the race for top jockey.  But Lanerie, bidding for his first Churchill Downs riding crown, got out the gate quickly on Saturday with three wins in the day’s first four races.  That burst narrowed Leparoux’s lead to 49-46 with head-to-head competition over two days and 23 races remaining in the Spring Meet.

Leparoux was scheduled to ride in 10 of Sunday’s 12 races and has mounts in all 11 races on Monday’s closing day program.  Lanerie was set to ride in 11 races on Sunday and all but one of Monday’s races.

MCGEE AND JAY EM ESS STABLE: A WINNING COMBINATION – Louisville-native Paul McGee has enjoyed a long run of success for Mace and Samantha Siegel’s Jay Em Ess Stable since he started training for that California-based operation in the early 1990’s, and the ongoing 2011 Spring Meet has provided more of the same for the owner-trainer team.

McGee, who will celebrate his 49^th birthday on July 10, has saddled seven winners during the meet and six were owned by Jay Em Ess Stable. Two Jay Em Ess horses won Saturday when Shameless took Race 7 and Reserved Indian won the ninth.  Both winners were ridden by Calvin Borel.

“I’ve trained for the Siegels for a long time and they’re great people to train for,” McGee said.

McGee, who has 294 career wins beneath the Twin Spires, has trained several high-quality horses for the Siegels, including Miss Pickums and Suave. Miss Pickums, the dam of Shameless, won the Grade II Golden Rod at Churchill Downs in 2000 on her way to $376,809 in career earnings. Suave, a multiple graded stakes winner of over $1.3 million, captured Churchill Downs’ Grade III Northern Dancer (now the Matt Winn) and lost by a narrow head to Magna Graduate in the 2005 Clark Handicap, which was then a Grade II event.

Jay Em Ess Stable is currently second in the owner standings with six wins, two behind Midwest Thoroughbreds Inc., and will have their final starter of the Spring Meet with Ready to Taunt in Sunday’s eighth race, a maiden-special at 1 1/8-miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course.

“He was just second in the same race a few weeks ago (May 22) and so we’re running him right back,” McGee said. “He should have a good shot.”

It will be the fourth start for the 3-year-old gelded son of More Than Ready, who debuted in June of 2010 at Churchill Downs on the main track. Following a 10-month layoff, Ready to Taunt ran third in a $50,000 maiden claiming race on Keeneland’s Polytrack prior to his runner-up effort on the Matt Winn Turf Course at Churchill Downs.

Sunday’s eighth race has a post time of 4:25 p.m. and Ready to Taunt, who will be ridden by Corey Lanerie, is 6-1 on the morning line.

WISE DAN A ‘GO’ FOR TURF DEBUT IN MONDAY’S FIRECRACKER ‘CAP – With just over 24 hours to go before the turf debut of Morton Fink’s homebred Wise Dan in Monday’s $175,000-added Firecracker Handicap Presented by GE (GII), trainer Charles Lopresti reported that all systems were “go” for what could be a pivotal race for his veteran stakes winner.

Wise Dan tuned up for his turf bow last Tuesday when he worked four furlongs in :48.80 around the dogs on the Matt Winn Turf Course in his first experience on grass.  On the same day Preston Stables LLC’s Flat Out, who dominated his foes in Saturday’s Suburban Handicap (GII) on at Belmont Park, breezed a half-mile over the same surface in :50.20.

“He’s doing good,” Lopresti said by telephone from Lexington on Sunday.  “He came out of that breeze good and his blood work is good.  It just depends on whether he likes the grass or not.

A Firecracker victory by Wise Dan would make him the first horse in its 19 renewals on grass to win the one-mile test for 3-year-olds and up without the benefit of a previous race on grass.  The quality of last week’s work over the Matt Winn Turf Course encouraged Lopresti to think that the homebred son of Wiseman’s Ferry possesses the ability to be a major factor in the race.

“Everybody told me that it was really a phenomenal work,” Lopresti said.  “I was watching up in the clocker’s stand and down the backside he (Wise Dan) didn’t know what he was doing at first.  It was like, ‘What am I supposed to be doing on this thing?’  Then when he hit the half-mile pole and went around the turn, I saw Jon lower down and he said he kicked it for home.

"Jon said he eased him up, because I didn’t want him to do too much with him.  I kind of like my outside post, and it wouldn’t bother me if we got a little rain because there was a good cut in the course the other day when he worked.”

Wise Dan has a record of 4-0-0 in nine races, with his biggest win to date coming in last fall’s Phoenix (GIII) at six furlongs over synthetic Polytrack at Keeneland.  He followed that effort with a good sixth place finish in which he finished fewer than three lengths behind the victorious Big Drama in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (GI) at Churchill Downs.

He is 0-for-3 in 2011, but has a pair of good fourth-place finishes in tough races this season.  He ran fourth to Dogwood Stable’s Aikenite in the Commonwealth (GII) at Keeneland and that rival returned to win the seven-furlong, $300,000 Churchill Downs (GII) on Kentucky Derby Day in his next outing.  After an eighth-place run in his first attempt at a two-turn distance in the 1 1/16-mile Alysheba (GIII) at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks Day, Wise Dane rebounded with a good fourth-place finish in a seven-furlong allowance race on dirt at the Louisville track.  That stakes-quality race was won by multiple stakes winner Native Ruler and the runner-up was two-time Grade I winner General Quarters, the morning line favorite for Monday’s Firecracker.

The change in surface is a bit of a gamble by Lopresti, but a good run by Wise Dan will present new options for the 4-year-old gelding’s future.

“If he likes the grass, that’ll be good,” Lopresti said.  “It will be a pivotal race.  We’ll just figure out where to go from there.”

The field for the Grade II, $175,000-added Firecracker Handicap Presented by GE in post position order (with jockey, weight, and morning line odds) includes General Quarters (Jamie Theriot, 119, 3-1), Omniscient (Manoel Cruz, 113, 20-1), Mister Marti Gras (Shaun Bridgmohan, 115, 5-1), El Caballo (Corey Lanerie, 114, 9-2), Mystic (Jesus Castanon, 114, 12-1), Joshua Reynolds (Brian Hernandez Jr., 114, 30-1), Baryshnikov (Julien Leparoux, 117, 4-1), Plutonium (James Lopez, 112, 30-1), Strike Impact (Robby Albarado, 117, 8-1), Wise Dan (Court, 115, 6-1) and Lubash (Kent Desormeaux, 115, 12-1).

Mister Marti Gras is expected to scratch from the race, a move that would move Wise Dan down to post position nine in the Firecracker starting gate.

BARN TALK – Corey Lanerie, who rode Courtlant Farms’ Power World to a runner-up effort in the Grade III Bashford Manor on Saturday at Churchill Downs, hopped on a plane to Louisiana after that race to ride Brittlyn Stables Inc.’s Star Guitar in the $100,000 Louisiana Showcase Classic at Evangeline Downs for trainer Al Stall Jr.  Star Guitar won the race by 1 ¾ lengths at odds of 1-5. …

Leading rider Julien Leparoux recorded his 499^th Churchill Downs victory aboard Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC’s Raven Hawk in Friday’s eighth race for Steve Asmussen, the leading trainer of the Spring Meet. Leparoux will attempt to become just the tenth jockey to record 500 wins at Churchill Downs with one of his ten mounts Sunday (Races 1-6, 8-11). …

During the final two days of the Spring Meet, Churchill Downs will offer special all-day $1 Budweiser drafts and $1 hot dogs on the bricks of the paddock area to celebrate “Red, White, and Blues Weekend” Presented by GE. Also, there will be live blues music on the paddock stage between races each day from 2-6 p.m. V-Groove will play Sunday and Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons are set to perform on closing day, Monday, July 4. …

The 3^rd Annual Horsemen’s Golf Scramble at Glenmary’s Country Club on Monday, Aug. 29. Registration begins at 11 a.m. and the cost is $100 per player with four players to a team. Lunch will also begin at 11 a.m. and the shotgun start is at 12:30 p.m. Those interested may pick up a form from The Backside Learning Center and return it by Friday, Aug. 12.

WHO’S HOT – The hottest jockey over the last five racing days (June 25-July 2) is Calvin Borel (10-for-32). Bill Mott (4-for-8), Mike Maker (4-for-11) and Eddie Kenneally (4-for-13) are the hottest trainers over the same period. Mace and Samantha Siegel’s Jay Em Ess Stable (3-for-3) are the hottest owners.

WORKTAB – Ed Few’s Lil Cherokee, who won the Texas Thoroughbred Association Sale Futurity at Lone Star Park in his second career start, breezed five furlongs in 1:01.40 on a fast track under Brian Hernandez Jr. on Sunday morning at Churchill Downs for trainer Bret Calhoun. Lil Cherokee, a 2-year-old son of Cherokee Run, was scratched from Saturday’s Grade III Bashford Manor after the earlier scratch of Laurie’ Rocket placed him in the number one post for the race. “He’s perfectly healthy,” assistant trainer Dennis Geier said on Saturday.  “We just didn’t like the post.”

Dr. Joseph Witek’s homebred Joes Blazing Aaron breezed four furlongs in :51.80 on the main track for trainer Mike Maker on Sunday morning. A 3-year-old gelded son of Graeme Hall, Joes Blazing Aaron, who won the Palm Beach (GIII) at Gulfstream Park in March, was fourth in his most recent start, a 1 1/16-mile allowance race that was taken off the Matt Winn Turf Course because of rain and run over a “good” main track beneath at Churchill Downs on June 19.

WEATHER – Sunday: partly sunny with a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 91. Monday: partly sunny with a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 89. Tuesday: mostly sunny, 88. Wednesday: mostly sunny with a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 88. Thursday: partly sunny with a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 89. Friday: mostly sunny, 89. Saturday: mostly sunny, 89.

HOWARD LOOKS FOR SECOND BASHFORD MANOR WITH POWER WORLD - With 283 career wins beneath the Twin Spires, trainer Neil Howard is no stranger to the Churchill Downs winner’s circle.  One of his most important early wins came in the 1989 running of the Bashford Manor (GII) with Dogwood Stables’ Summer Squall, and he will bid for second win in the race Monday with Courtlandt Farms’  Power World.

The 2-year-old son of Distorted Humor endured a troubled start and rallied from 11 lengths back under jockey Corey Lanerie to win his 4 1/2-furlong debut at Churchill Downs on June 11.

"So far, I’m fairly optimistic about him,” Howard said. “He ran a good race in his last after getting the heck bumped out of him at the start. Given he had such a rough beginning, I think he put in a very mature effort.”

Running in Saturday’s Bashford Manor has brought back good memories of Summer Squall, who would run second to Unbridled in the 1990 Kentucky Derby (GI) and bounce back to beat the rival in the Preakness (GI) to provide Howard with his only victory in a Triple Crown race.

“Summer Squall was very, very precocious,” Howard said. “To be that precocious and then go on to win a classic is something special.”

Summer Squall and Power World appear to have different running styles, but the 62-year-old native of Riverdale, New York believes that will help the latter’s chances on Saturday.“Summer Squall had early speed and I don’t think Power World has that much of it,” Howard said. “It’s going to be a real slugfest on the front-end though and I’m glad that I won’t be a part of it. He’ll come running.”

One of the horses that will likely be close to the early pace is Klaravich Stables Inc. and William Lawrence’s Sum of the Parts, who has been installed as the 3-1 morning line favorite. A son of Speightstown, Sum of the Parts made an auspicious debut in a May 14 maiden race at Churchill Downs in which he defeated Stoneway Farm’s Bashford Manor contender Exfactor by 2 3/4 lengths.  The latter returned to score a 4 ½-length victory at 5 ½ furlongs in his next outing on June 9.

The six-furlong Bashford Manor is scheduled as the 12^th and featured event on a special 13-race program on the final Saturday of the historic track’s 38-day Spring Meet. Post time for the first race is 12:45 p.m. EDT and the Bashford Manor is set for a 6:23 p.m. start.

The field for the 110^th running of the Bashford Manor from the rail out with jockey and weight includes Laurie’s Rocket (Brian Hernandez Jr., 116), Lil Cherokee (Miguel Mena, 120), Power World (Lanerie, 118), Exfactor (Calvin Borel, 118), Chalybeate Springs (Jesus Castanon, 116), Bonaparte (Jon Court, 118), Sum of the Parts (Leandron Goncalves, 118), Hot Speed (Robby Albarado, 120), Tarpy’s Goal (Kent Desormeaux, 118), Green Mouse (Manoel Cruz, 118) and Friscan (Shaun Bridgmohan, 118).

BANNED SHARP IN WORK, SET FOR VIRGINIA DERBY – Glen Hill Farm’s Banned, a two-time graded stakes winner on turf, tuned up for a run in the $600,000 Virginia Derby (GII) with a sharp half-mile work on Churchill Downs’ Matt Winn Turf Course on Thursday.

The 3-year-old son of 2004 turf champion Kitten’s Joy, winner of American Turf Presented by Ram (GII) and the Jefferson Cup (GIII) during the Spring Meet, breezed four furlongs around the dogs over the firm going in :50.40 for trainer Tom Proctor.

"He’s a little keener than I’d like him to be at this point, but that’s okay it was still a good work,” Proctor said.

Proctor gave his rising star a bit of a breather after his Jefferson Cup win, but is now gearing Banned up for the July 16 Virginia Derby.

"I was thinking about working him Tuesday, but I wanted to give him an extra couple days because it’s the summer and hot and you don’t want to cook them,” Proctor said. “I probably could have worked him Tuesday though, because I don’t think he ran too hard in his last race.”

A big effort by Banned at Colonial Downs could convince Proctor to point him to a run in the 1 ¼-mile Secretariat (GI) at Arlington Park.

“We’ll have to see how he comes back from the Virginia Derby, but it’s a big possibility we will run in the Secretariat,” Proctor said. “I don’t know if he’s really bred to go that far and the bottom half of his pedigree says he can’t, but if you look at his action he looks like he could handle 1 ¼ miles.”

Bred in Kentucky by Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey, Banned has a career record of 4-0-1 from seven starts with earnings of $299,076.

LEPAROUX SURGES TO LEAD ATOP JOCKEY STANDINGS - Julien Leparoux will begin the closing week of Churchill Downs’ 38-day Spring Meet with 45-40 lead over Corey Lanerie in the race to be Churchill Downs’ leading rider.

Just 2 ½ weeks ago, Leparoux trailed Lanerie by 11 wins.

Through the first 25 days of the 38-day Spring Meet, Lanerie had a 34-24 lead over Shaun Bridgmohan with Leparoux in third at 23. Since June 12, Leparoux has gone on a 22-of-51 (43.1%) tear over the eight-day period, recording one five-win day (June 17), a trio of three-win days and four two-win days.

Meanwhile, Lanerie is 6-for-62 (9.7%) during than span and has been runner-up on 17 occasions. Ten of those seconds have been decided by a length or less, including five losses by a nose, head or neck. Also, Leparoux and Lanerie finished one-two five times during that period with the former on top in each occasion.

The French-born Leparoux, who will turn 28 on July 15, is seeking his eighth Churchill Downs riding title. He was leading rider at the Downs in 2006 Spring (87 wins), 2007 Spring (69 wins), 2007 Fall (27 wins), 2008 Fall (record 63 wins), 2009 Spring (62 wins), 2009 Fall (27 wins, tied with Calvin Borel) and 2010 Fall (28 wins).

Lanerie, a 36-year-old native of Lafayette, La., is pursuing his first local crown. In last year’s Spring Meet he finished second to Calvin Borel with 29 wins, which was Lanerie’s third top five finish in the Churchill Downs jockey standings. He won multiple riding titles in Texas before he moved to the Kentucky-Louisiana circuit in 2004. He was the leading rider at the 2010 Ellis Park meeting with 33 wins.

Elsewhere, Leparoux will begin Thursday’s action needing five wins to become only the 10^th jockey in Churchill Downs history to win 500 races beneath the historic Twin Spires. He took out his license to ride in 2005 and first rode at Churchill Downs during that year’s Fall Meet.

There’s also a tight race for leading trainer. Nine-time leading trainer Steve Asmussen (Fall 2001, Spring 2004, Fall 2004, Spring 2007, Fall 2007, Spring 2009, Fall 2009, Spring 2010 and Fall 2010) began the week with 15 wins, one more than two-time leading conditioner Tom Amoss (Spring 2002 and Spring 2008) and 2002 Fall training champ Ken McPeek. Asmussen is pursuing his fifth straight local title. Eddie Kenneally, seeking his first local title, was fourth with 12 wins, followed by eight-time champ Dale Romans (Spring 2000, Spring 2001, Spring 2002, Spring 2003, Fall 2003, Spring 2005, Fall 2005 and Spring 2006) with 11 wins and Fall 2008 leading conditioner Mike Maker with 10 victories.

Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds Inc. is looking to dethrone 17-time leading owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey (Spring 2000, Fall 2000, Spring 2001, Fall 2001, Spring 2002, Fall 2002, Spring 2003, Fall 2003, Spring 2004, Fall 2005, Spring 2006, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009 and Fall 2010). They have an 8-5 lead heading into the final week.

Below is a look at the rest of the leaders entering Thursday’s action:

Top Jockeys

1. Julien Leparoux (45-for-171, 26% win-percentage, $1,553,810 in earnings)

1. Corey Lanerie (40-for-207, 19%, $1,283,590)

3. Shaun Bridgmohan (29-for-163, 18%, $982,793)

4. Calvin Borel (25-for-181, 14%, $900,247)

5. Kent Desormeaux (21-for-110, 19%, $977,609)

Top Trainers

1. Steve Asmussen (15-for-96, 16%, $1,149,089)

2. Tom Amoss (14-for-39, 36%, $368,280)

2. Ken McPeek (14-for-57, 25%, $776,988)

4. Eddie Kenneally (12-for-45, 27%, $357,540)

5. Dale Romans (11-for-82, 13%, $884,000)

Top Owners

1. Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds Inc. (8-for-40, 20%, $167,147)

2. Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey (5-for-31, 16%, $157,163)

3. Donald Adam’s Courtlandt Farms (4-for-27, 15%, $293,602)

3. Robert Baker and William Mack (4-for-16, 25%, $78,649)

3. Martin Cherry (4-for-8, 50%, $67,953)

3. Tom Ludt’s Vinery Stables LLC (4-for-10, 40%, $140,368)

3. Merrill Scherer, Dan Lynch and Ken Sentel (4-for-19, 21%, $100,843)

BARN TALK – Preston Stables LLC’s Flat Out, sixth to Pool Play in the $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap Presented by Abu Dhabi (GI), will run in Saturday’s Suburban Handicap (GII) at Belmont Park. The Scooter Dickey-trained Flat Out had also been considered for Monday’s $175,000-added Firecracker Handicap Presented by GE (GII) on turf at Churchill Downs. …

Morton Fink’s homebred Wise Dan is now “likely” to run in the Firecracker.  Trainer Charles Lopresti worked the winner of Keeneland’s Phoenix (GIII) a half-mile over a firm Matt Winn Turf Course in :48.80 on Tuesday.  Lopresti said Wise Dan went back to the track at Keeneland on Thursday and appears ready to go.  “We drew some blood on him and if the blood work comes back good on him this (Thursday) afternoon we’re going to run,” Lopresti said.  Tuesday’s work was Wise Dan’s first experience on grass.

Horses under consideration for the 21^st running of the Firecracker Handicap (with trainer, weight) include Baryshnikov (Mike Maker, 117), El Caballo (Ralph Nicks, 114), General Quarters (McCarthy, 117), Joshua Reynolds (Ralph Nicks, 114), Lubash (James Ryerson, 115), Mister Marti Gras (Chris Block, 115), Mystic (Bill Mott, 114), Strike Impact (Pat Dupuy, 117) and Wise Dan (Lopresti, 115). …

Jerry Romans’ Sassy Image, winner of the Grade I Humana Distaff and Grade III Winning Colors at Churchill Downs this spring, breezed four furlongs in a “bullet” time of :46.20 over a fast main track beneath the Twin Spires on Tuesday. “She’s a fast horse,” trainer Dale Romans said. “We’re pointing her to the (Grade I) Princess Rooney (at Calder Race Course on July 9). We’ll see how she comes out of that and then maybe look at the (Grade I) Ballerina (at Saratoga on August 27). …

Joseph M. Cornacchia, co-owner of Kentucky Derby winners Strike the Gold (1990) and Go for Gin (1994) died Sunday in New York at the age of 78. Funeral services will be held at Immaculate Conception Church in Westhampton, New York on Friday. …

Join us for the 3^rd Annual Horsemen’s Golf Scramble at Glenmary’s Country Club on Monday, August 29^th. Registration begins at 11 a.m. EDT and the cost is $100 per player with four players to a team. Lunch will also begin at 11 a.m. and the shotgun start is at 12:30 p.m. Those interested may pick up a form from The Backside Learning Center and return it by Friday, August 12. …

The Churchill Downs Incorporated Foundation (“Churchill Charities”) will continue its new charitable initiative, Pony Up For Charity, this Friday, July 1, at Downs After Dark. Customers may elect to ask their server to add, or “Pony Up,” a dollar or more to their food and beverage tab, which will be designated to New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program. …

The first race for Friday’s “Downs After Dark” nighttime racing celebration at Churchill Downs has been moved up one hour to 5 p.m. because it is now a special 13-race program. Two “make-up” races originally scheduled for last Thursday were added to Friday’s card after an F1 tornado hit the Louisville track’s barn area last Wednesday night and forced a cancellation of the next day’s program. Admission gates will still open on the regular night schedule at 4 p.m. …

WHO’S HOT – The hottest jockey over the last five racing days (June 18-26) is Julien Leparoux (13-for-35). Ken McPeek (6-for-15) and Eddie Kenneally (4-for-9) are the hottest trainers over the same period. Kenneth L. and Sarah K. Ramsey (2-for-4) and Midwest Thoroughbreds Inc. (2-for-8) are the hottest owners.

WORKTAB – William S. Farish and Skara Glen Stables’ Close Ally, who ran second to Banned in the American Turf Presented by Ram (GIII) prior to finishing second in the Lone Star Derby (GIII) on dirt in his most recent start, breezed five furlongs over a firm Matt Winn Turf Course on Thursday morning for trainer Neil Howard.

Right Time Racing LLC’s Bouquet Booth, fifth in the Grade I Kentucky Oaks and third in the Regret Presented by Etihad Airways (GIII), breezed four furlongs on a fast main track at Churchill Downs in :49.80 for trainer Steve Margolis.

Mrs. Yoshio Fujita’s Ravi’s Song, who ran second in the Grade III Early Times Mint Julep to Magdalena Racing’s My Baby Baby, worked a “bullet” four furlongs in :47.60 on the main track on Thursday morning for trainer Carl Bowman.

WEATHER – Thursday: sunny, 87. Friday: mostly sunny, 92. Saturday: mostly sunny and hot, 96. Sunday: mostly sunny with a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 93. Monday: partly sunny with a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 91. Tuesday: partly sunny with a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 90. Wednesday: mostly sunny with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 92.

 

MARGOLIS SEEKS FIRST CD STAKES WIN WITH COOL BULLET ON FRIDAY - To say the previous couple of days have been eventful for trainer Steve Margolis would be putting things lightly. The 47-year-old trainer returned to the Churchill Downs backstretch on Wednesday night to find his Barn 23 nearly unrecognizable after a tornado tore its way through the stable area and spent most of Thursday relocating approximately 20 displaced horses that previously called that barn home.

One of those horses, Cool Bullet, was one of the last horses to escape from his tornado-damaged barn on Wednesday night, but Margolis hopes that he will be the first to cross the line in Friday night’s feature race at the historic Louisville track: the $76,660-added Kelly’s Landing stakes for 3-year-olds and upward at seven furlongs on the main track.

“He was one of the last horses that we got out of the barn (on Wednesday),” Margolis said. “He doesn’t have a scratch on him. If he would have had a nick on him or I felt like he had a traumatic experience then I would have passed on running him tonight (Friday), but he’s totally fine.”

Cool Bullet, a 4-year-old gelded son of Red Bullet, bids for his first win of 2011 in the Kelly’s Landing.

“His numbers may show that he’s a little better on synthetic tracks, but he did win the Rumson (at Monmouth) on the dirt and he’s run well here going seven-eighths (when finishing second in the 2010 Matt Winn),” Margolis said. “Hopefully he’ll run good.”

While the Florida-bred Cool Bullet will look for his fourth career stakes victory, his trainer is seeking his first stakes victory beneath the Twin Spires. Margolis, who has 105 career wins at Churchill Downs, is winless in 40 starts in stakes races at the Louisville track.

“We’ve run a lot of big races and have had a lot of seconds and thirds and hopefully we can finally get a win,” Margolis said. “We have Manny Cruz riding for us and he’s been riding good, so that will help.”

Robert and Lawana Low and Winmore LLC’s Cool Bullet will face a tough field in the Kelly’s Landing that includes such accomplished sprinters as Captain Cherokee and Here Comes Ben. Stonestreet Stables LLC’s Captain Cherokee has run second in three Grade II sprints this year and Marianne and Brandon Chase’s Here Comes Ben is the defending Kelly’s Landing champion and winner of the Grade I Forego at Saratoga last September. 

TEXAS-INVADER SHOCKTIME FACES TOUGH TEST IN DEBUTANTE – Wayne Sanders and Larry Hirsch’s unbeaten Shocktime has left little doubt that she was much the best in the first two starts of her career as the 2-year-old daughter of Langfuhr has won those races by a combined 21 ¾ lengths.

On Saturday the Texas-bred Shocktime will step up to face tougher company in the 111^th running of the Grade III, $100,000-added Debutante at Churchill Downs."She’s never done anything wrong in her life,” trainer Bret Calhoun said. “I don’t know what she’s beat, but she’s done it impressively.”

The Debutante will be Shocktime’s first race in open company after previously racing at Lone Star Park against Texas-breds. The homebred filly that shipped in from Texas on Tuesday won the $93,000 Texas Thoroughbred Association Sales Futurity on June 11 in her most recent start.

“We thought she was a nice filly from the beginning and the only reason she went there (Lone Star) was because she was eligible for the Texas-bred stakes,” Calhoun said. “We knew she wasn’t going to stay there.”

While Shocktime’s five furlong time of :58.61 in the TTA Sales Futurity was faster than the winning time turned in by stablemate Lil Cherokee one race earlier in the Futurity’s division for colts and geldings, Calhoun is confident the filly could have run even faster.

“I was watching TV last night and one guy said he was going to pick her, but decided not to because she ran the last eighth in 13 and change. He must not have been paying attention though because he (jockey Clifton Berry) was basically pulling her up the last sixteenth of a mile and she still won by 12.”

Shocktime will face a competitive field of eight in the Debutante, which includes Gold Mark Farm LLC’s Culotte and Stoneway Farm’s Queen Teuta, who ran 1-2 in the first race of their respective careers on May 13 at Churchill Downs.

“It’s a lot to ask her to step up and come back in two weeks, but we feel like she can handle it and that she fits in here well,” Calhoun said.

The six-furlong Debutante is the nation’s first graded stakes event for 2-year-old fillies and the featured 10^th race on the next-to-last Saturday program of the Churchill Downs Spring Meet. The field for the Debutante from the rail out with jockey and weight includes Five Star Momma (Corey Lanerie, 118), Queen Teuta (Calvin Borel, 118), Tippy Toes (Julien Leparoux, 116), My Due Process (Robby Albarado, 116), Flashy Lassie (Kent Desormeaux, 116), Shocktime (Miguel Mena, 120), Culotte (Leandro Goncalves, 118) and Defy Gravity (Wesley Ho, 118).

LEPAROUX TIES LANERIE FOR MEET LEAD WITH EIGHT RACING DAYS REMAINING – Corey Lanerie was tied atop the jockey standings with Shaun Bridgmohan through 15 days of the 38-day Spring Meet, but surged to a ten-win advantage at the completion of day 25.

At that point, Lanerie was eleven wins clear of Julien Leparoux in third, but recent days have been Leparoux’s time to surge.  The French-born star collected 12 wins last week and has now tied Lanerie for the meet lead with eight racing days remaining.

Leparoux, who has won with 14 of his last 29 mounts over the past five racing days at the Louisville track, had an easy explanation for his recent hot-streak.

“I’m drinking Red Bull and it’s giving me wings,” he said. “Seriously though, it has been an awesome week. I’ve read in a couple of places about how many I’ve won, but I’m not thinking about that too much.”

While Leparoux is tied for the most victories this meet, he is currently fourth in number of mounts with 149.  That total is 34 fewer than Lanerie.

“I’ve been away riding at other places a few days during the meet and it’s nice to still be at the top even though I’ve had less mounts than some of the others,” Leparoux said.

The 27-year-old native of Senlis, France is seeking his eighth riding title at Churchill Downs, while Lanerie is bidding his first beneath the Twin Spires.

“If I can’t win it then it would be nice for Corey (Lanerie) to win, but winning the riding title is always the goal,” Leparoux said. “I’m definitely trying to win it again.”

Lanerie and Leparoux will enter Friday’s 11-race Downs After Dark program with 37 wins each and both will be quite busy over the next three racing days. Lanerie has 26 mounts at Churchill Downs this weekend and Leparoux is scheduled to ride 25 horses.

MEET LEADERS AT A GLANCE – Through 30 days of the 38-day Spring Meet, jockeys Corey Lanerie and Julien Leparoux, trainer Steve Asmussen and owners Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds Inc. are the leaders in their respective categories at Churchill Downs. Below is a look at the leaders entering Friday night’s action:

Top Jockeys

1. Corey Lanerie (37-for-183, 20% win-percentage, $1,156,597 in earnings)

1. Julien Leparoux (37-for-149, 25%, $1,293,658)

3. Shaun Bridgmohan (26-for-152, 17%, $886,599)

4. Calvin Borel (22-for-162, 14%, $793,434)

5. Manoel Cruz (20-for-121, 17%, $789,364

Top Trainers

1. Steve Asmussen (14-for-88, 16%, $1,082,595)

2. Tom Amoss (13-for-35, 37%, $351,282)

2. Ken McPeek (13-for-50, 26%, $737,975)

4. Eddie Kenneally (10-for-39, 26%, $288,148)

5. Dale Romans (9-for-75, 12%, $795,659)

Top Owners

1. Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds Inc. (6-for-32, 19%, $133,582)

2. Donald Adam’s Courtlandt Farms (4-for-22, 18%, $279,804)

2. Robert Baker and William Mack (4-for-16, 25%, $78,649)

2. Martin Cherry (4-for-8, 50%, $67,953)

2. Tom Ludt’s Vinery Stables LLC (4-for-10, 40%, $140,368)

2. Merrill Scherer, Dan Lynch and Ken Sentel (4-for-19, 21%, $100,843)

BARN TALK – Jockey Robby Albarado, who has 923 career wins at Churchill Downs, is just two victories away from tying Don Brumfield for third all-time in wins beneath the Twin Spires. Albarado has 10 mounts Friday night (Races 2-11). …

Peachtree Stable’s Plum Pretty, winner of the 137^th running of the Grade I Kentucky Oaks in her most recent start, is entered to make her return in Saturday’s Grade II Hollywood Oaks for trainer Bob Baffert. A daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, Plum Pretty has a record of 3-0-2 from five starts with earnings of $761,200. …

Churchill Downs will not make up Thursday’s lost day of racing, but additional races will be added to the programs next week, which is the final week of the spring meet. …

WHO’S HOT – The hottest jockey over the last five racing days (June 12-19) is Julien Leparoux (14-for-29). Ken McPeek (5-for-9) is the hottest trainer over the same period. Martin Cherry (2-for-2) is the hottest owner.

WORKTAB – Maggi Moss’ Little Polka Dot, who won the Unbridled Sidney at Churchill Downs on May 14 in her most recent start, worked four furlongs in :49.20 on a fast main track Friday morning for trainer Tom Amoss. 

W.S. Farish and Skara Glen Stables’ Close Ally, who was second behind Glen Hill Farm’s Banned in the Grade II American Turf Presented by Ram prior to a runner-up performance in the Lone Star Derby in his most recent start, worked five furlongs on the main track in 1:01.40 for trainer Neil Howard.

Carl Pollard’s multiple stakes winner Kiss Mine worked five furlongs in 1:00.40 for trainer David Vance. A 5-year-old daughter of Mineshaft, Kiss Mine won the $75,000 Decoration Day Handicap at Mountaineer Racetrack in her most recent start on May 30.

Double Eagle Ranch and Sue Buena’s Raise the Bridle, second in the 2010 Borderland Derby in his most recent start, worked five furlongs in 1:01 for trainer Henry Dominguez on Friday morning.

WEATHER – Friday: partly sunny, 81. Saturday: mostly sunny, 84. Sunday: mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 84. Monday: partly sunny with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 92. Tuesday: mostly sunny with a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 92. Wednesday: mostly sunny with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 89. Thursday: mostly sunny, 90.

PLETCHER WORKMATES LOOK FOR STAKES DOUBLE, POSSIBLE TRIPLE - The Todd Pletcher trained duo of Mission Impazible and Excited trained together in their final major work for stakes races on Saturday’s Stephen Foster Day Presented by Abu Dhabi program at Churchill Downs.  Now the stable hopes both horses will find their way into the winner’s circle in their respective races.

Twin Creeks Racing Stable LLC’s Mission Impazible takes on 10 rivals in the day’s big race, the $500,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap Presented by Abu Dhabi (GI), the final event on Friday’s 12-race card.  One race earlier, Michael Tabor’s Excited will run in the $125,000-added Regret Presented by Etihad Airways (GIII), so the stablemates could comprise a pleasing late daily double with wins for the Pletcher barn.

Mission Impazible, a 4-year-old colt who ran 10^th to Super Saver in last year’s Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI), worked five furlongs in company with Excited, a 3-year-old filly whose best runs have come on grass, on Monday at Churchill Downs.  Mission Impazible completed the work in 1:00.80, while Excited stopped the clock in 1:01.40.

“The work went very well,” assistant trainer Michael McCarthy said. “I think horses that work in company always get more out of it than when they work alone. They’re more aggressive when they have a workmate.

"Sometimes good horses need something to challenge them. We put Mission Impazible with Excited to try and wake him up a bit.”

Mission Impazible won the Grade II New Orleans Handicap earlier in the year, but will enter the Stephen Foster off a disappointing seventh-place finish as the $2.90-to-1 favorite in the Alysheba Presented by Besilu Stables (GIII) on Kentucky Oaks Day.

“We really don’t have an excuse for why he didn’t run well,” McCarthy said.

Mission Impazible drew post 11 for the Stephen Foster and will be ridden for the first time by Javier Castellano.  McCarthy expects the 4-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song to be forwardly placed in the Foster.

“By drawing so far outside he’s going to have to be up near the pace, but we’ll have (jockey Javier) Castellano play it by ear,” McCarthy said.

Mission Impazible has a record of 3-3-2 from 10 career starts and earnings of $802,439. 

The field for the Stephen Foster (with jockey, weight and morning line odds) from the rail out includes: Flat Out (Corey Lanerie, 114, 30-1), Crown of Thorns (Tyler Baze, 121, 4-1), Apart (Julien Leparoux, 118, 5-1), Worldly (Manoel Cruz, 113, 30-1), El Caballo (James Graham, 115, 15-1), Regal Ransom (Garcia, 117, 6-1), Equestrio (Jose Lezcano, 116, 12-1), Pool Play (Miguel Mena, 116, 20-1), Duke of Mischief (Bravo, 118, 6-1), Giant Oak (Bridgmohan, 122, 7-2) and Mission Impazible (Castellano, 118, 9-2).

While Mission Impazible will look to rebound a disappointing Alysheba run, Excited will attempt to move forward off a strong three-length victory in the $50,000 Hilltop on Preakness Day at Pimlico.

“There are a lot of nice fillies in the race, but I think she looks as good as any of them,” McCarthy said.

One of Excited’s main Regret rivals is Five D Thoroughbreds and Wind River Stables’ Kathmanblu, who has finished ahead of Excited in two previous meetings.   Kathmanblu finished 1 ¼ lengths ahead of runner-up Excited on turf in Gulfstream Park’s Sweetest Chant, and the former finished third while Excited was eighth when they met on Keeneland’s Polytrack course in the Ashland (GI) won by Lilacs and Lace.

Excited, a 3-year-old daughter of Giant’s Causeway, has a record of 2-3-1 from eight career starts with earnings of $130,700. Castellano will also be in the saddle aboard Excited.

The field for the Regret, from the hedge out (with jockey, weight), includes: Bizzy Caroline (Manoel Cruz, 116), Diva Ash (Robby Albarado, 116), Bouquet Booth (Shaun Bridgmohan, 118), Holidaysatthefarm (Jose Lezcano, 116), Kathmanblu (Julien Leparoux, 122), Excited (Castellano, 116), Gaya (James Graham, 118) and Blushandbashful (Freddie Lenclud, 116).

The Pletcher barn could have a third stakes starter Saturday if they elect to run Zayat Stables LLC’s Joe Vann in the $125,000-added Matt Winn Presented by Emirates Equestrian Federation (GIII), which is scheduled to be run as Race 10.

“A final decision has not been made at this time,” McCarthy said. “We could opt to run him in the Iowa Derby.”

The $250,000 Iowa Derby (GIII) is scheduled to be run on June 25 at Prairie Meadows.

The Matt Winn field, from the rail out (with jockey, weight), includes: Alstom (Calvin Borel, 116), Infrattini (Corey Lanerie, 116), Wilburn (Mike Smith, 116), Supreme Ruler (Jon Court, 116), Uncle Brent (Manoel Cruz, 120), Chalice (Julien Leparoux, 116), Scotus (Alan Garcia, 116) and Joe Vann (Castellano, 120).

PERREGAUX’S CONNECTIONS HOPE TALENT RUNS IN THE FAMILY – When Courtland Farm’s  Perregaux makes his stakes debut in Saturday’s $100,000- Jefferson Cup Presented by Abu Dhabi (GIII), his connections will be hoping the colt will display during that 1 1/16 mile run on the Matt Winn Turf Course the class and ability that oozes from both sides of his pedigree.

The Courtlandt Farms homebred Perregaux is a son of Distorted Humor, who has sired more than 100 stakes winners that include 2003 Kentucky Derby winner Funny Cide.  But Perregaux is the first foal out of Sweet Talker, who counted the 2005 Queen Elizabeth II Cup (GI) on the Keeneland turf among four career stakes victories that also include the Caressing on the grass at Churchill Downs.

“Sweet Talker was a really nice horse,” trainer Neil Howard said. “I think he (Perregaux) is really training well and I expect him to run good Saturday.”

Perregaux will be making just his second start off his 3-year-old campaign in the Jefferson Cup. The colt was taken out of training for the first part of the year following ankle surgery to remove a small bone chip, but returned to the races earlier in the meet and ran second as the 5-2 favorite in a one mile allowance over the Matt Winn Turf Course on May 27.

“We backed off him and gave him some time after we removed the chip from his ankle,” Howard said. “We brought him back in the allowance and we were hoping he would run well and that we could run here (in the Jefferson Cup). This race has been on the radar for awhile.”

Perregaux’s runner-up performance in the allowance improved his record to 2-1-2 from six lifetime starts with $74,850 in earnings.

Robby Albarado, who has been aboard Perregaux in his last four races, will have the mount Saturday.

The field for the Jefferson Cup from the hedge out (with jockey, weight) includes: Live In Joy (Manoel Cruz, 117), Redboard (Leandro Goncalves, 117), Dream Warrior (Corey Lanerie, 117), Banned (Jose Lezcano, 121), Swagger Jack (James Graham, 117), Perregaux (Albarado, 117), Benergy (Javier Castellano, 117) and Great Mills (Julien Leparoux, 117).

Note: Live in Joy (5^th), Swagger Jack (6^th) and Great Mills (10^th) competed in Wednesday night’s $200,000 Oliver Stakes at Indiana Downs and are unlikely to start Saturday.

FIELD FOR THE PRESIDENT OF UNITED ARAB EMIRATES CUP – Churchill Downs will run its first Arabian race in the storied history of the Louisville track on Saturday. The field for the Grade I, $50,000 The President of United Arab Emirates Cup for Arabians, 4-year-olds and up at 1 ¼ miles on the main track includes, from the rail out (with jockey, weight): T M Fred Texas (Santos Chavez, 118), Dixies Valentine (Calvin Borel, 118), Another Color (Constantino Roman, 123), Ovour the Top (Corey Lanerie, 118), Crownn Royal (Brian Hernandez Jr., 123), Vip (Aldo Canchano, 118), Wodkka (Marcelino Pedroza Jr., 123) and Grilla (William Hollick, 123).

MEET LEADERS AT A GLANCE – Through the 26 days of the 39-day Spring Meet, jockey Corey Lanerie, trainer Tom Amoss and owners Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds are the leaders in their respective categories at Churchill Downs. Below is a look at the leaders entering Thursday’s action:

Top Jockeys

 1. Corey Lanerie (34-for-154, 22% win-percentage, $988,919 in earnings)

 2. Shaun Bridgmohan (25-for-136, 18%, $811,232)

 2. Julien Leparoux (25-for-125, 20%, $865,407)

 4. Calvin Borel (21-for-145, 14%, $699,950)

 5. Miguel Mena (16-for-111, 14%, $544,381)

 6. Manoel Cruz (15-for-94, 16%, $567,221)

 6. Kent Desormeaux (15-for-94, 16%, $791,929)

 6. Jon Court (15-for-106, 14%, $429,637)

 Top Trainers

  1. Tom Amoss (13-for-30, 43%, $343,106)

  2. Steve Asmussen (12-for-76, 16%, $1,009,122)

  3. Dale Romans (9-for-67, 13%, $746,508)

 4. Eddie Kenneally (8-for-33, 24%, $205,378)

 4. Ken McPeek (8-for-42, 19%, $476,972)

 6. Brad Cox (7-for-34, 21%, $142,337)

 6. Tim Glyshaw (7-for-27, 26%, $116,618)

 6. Ian Wilkes (7-for-47, 15%, $305,063)

Top Owners

1. Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds (6-for-32, 19%, $133,582)

2. Robert C. Baker and William L. Mack (4-for-16, 25%, $78,649)

2. Tom Ludt’s Vinery Stables (4-for-10, 40%, $140,368)

2. Donald Adam’s Courtlandt Farms (4-for-20, 20%, $255,964)

BARN TALK – Downs After Dark Presented by Budweiser Select returns to Churchill Downs on Friday. Admission gates will open at 4 p.m. and the first of 11 live races will begin at 6 p.m. Friday night’s season premiere will showcase a special performance by legendary music icon Darryl “DMC” McDaniels of Run-DMC fame, who will perform many of his classic hits for an hour after the last race. …

Friday’s “Hot Summer Nights” concept will showcase lots of hot orange and hot pink décor with a bit of a ‘60s vibe, complete with Go-Go dancers on pedestals in the paddock. The Churchill Downs facilities will be adorned by mood lighting, spotlights and seasonal greenery, and colorful bunting will flow throughout the grounds and entrances. With sleek and comfortable conversational seating options, cocktail tables, unique food and beverage stations and music added to the mix, the racetrack – particularly the paddock area – will have the look and feel of an upscale night club. …

The popular sweepstakes promotion Bet or No Bet will also return on Friday. Registration will take place in the paddock area for the chance to take $100 in cash or place a free $1,000 win bet on a horse in the upcoming race. Bet or No Bet will take place during races 6-9. …

Nominations for the 110^th running of the Grade III, $100,000-added Bashford Manor for 2-year-olds at six furlongs on the main track at Churchill Downs will close Saturday. The Bashford Manor, which is scheduled to be run Saturday, July 2, was won last year by Stonestreet Stables LLC’s Kantharos under Robby Albarado for trainer Steve Asmussen. …

Nominations for the 21^st running of the Grade II, $175,000-added Firecracker Handicap for 3-year-olds and upward at one mile on the Matt Winn Turf Course will close Saturday. The Firecracker Handicap, which is scheduled to be run on Monday, July 4, was won last year by Michael Cooper and Pamela Ziebarth’s Tizdejavu under Jesus Castanon for trainer Greg Fox. …

WHO’S HOT – The hottest jockeys over the last five racing days (June 5-12) are Julien Leparoux (8-for-21), Corey Lanerie (8-for-36) and Manoel Cruz (7-for-31). Tom Amoss (4-for-6) is the hottest trainer over the same period. The hottest owner is Maggi Moss (2-for-2).

WEATHER – Thursday: sunny, 87. Friday: partly sunny with a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 86. Friday night: mostly cloudy with a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 70. Saturday: partly sunny with a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 90. Sunday: partly sunny and hot with a 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms, 94. Monday: mostly sunny and hot, 94. Tuesday: mostly sunny and hot, 94. Wednesday: partly sunny with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 92.

MIGHT HOPES TO STEP OUT OF BLAME’S SHADOW IN DOGWOOD - Since Adele Dilschneider and Claiborne Farm’s Might made her debut on Feb. 20 of this year, she has been known to most racing fans as “Blame’s younger sister.”

            Her older brother is most famous for winning the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) at Churchill Downs by a head over Zenyatta last November. Saturday’s Dogwood (GIII) at Churchill Downs may not be the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but it will be Might’s first opportunity to make history of her own beneath the Twin Spires as she competes stakes company for the first time.

            Trainer Al Stall Jr. was pleased with Might’s two most recent works and saw the Dogwood as the next logical step following her very impressive 4 ¾-length victory in a seven-furlong allowance race at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks Day.

            “She won so impressively in her last start and has been working well since then,” Stall said. “If she ran in another allowance she probably would have had to face older horses. Running in the Dogwood allows her test stakes company and keep running against 3-year-olds.”

            While Stall is well-aware that it will be difficult to replace Blame, who was crowned champion older horse at the most recent Eclipse Awards, he is excited about Might’s potential. “I don’t know if she (Might) is as good as him (Blame), but she’s pretty good in her own right,” Stall said.

            The 3-year-old Arch filly may be talented, but she doesn’t have the nicest of dispositions.

            “She’s hot and fiery,” Stall said. “Blame was very laid back and a total gentleman. They have totally different personalities.”

            The Dogwood is the main focus for Might; however, the Stall barn has looked ahead to a few possible spots for her if Saturday goes as planned.

            “We want to get by Saturday first, but then we may look at the Test (GI at Saratoga on Aug. 6),” Stall said. “Looking way ahead we may bring her back to Churchill for the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (GI).”

            Might will face a field of eight in Saturday’s race. The field for the Dogwood from the rail out (with jockey, weight) includes: Might (Leparoux, 117), Angelica Zapata (Pedroza Jr., 117), Salty Strike (Cruz, 117), Juanita (Court, 119), Fantasy of Flight (Albarado, 117), Henny’s Hurricane (Garcia, 117), Holy Heavens (Bridgmohan, 117), and Gran Lioness (Theriot, 119).               

NUMBER ONE IN LUND’S BARN – Having two Roys in the same barn can get a little confusing. So how does trainer Valorie Lund handle being around Roy Schaefer of R.E.V. Racing and stable star Atta Boy Roy at the same time?

“It’s simple. I call him (Atta Boy Roy) Roy number one and he (Schaefer) is Roy number two,” Lund said.

Atta Boy Roy, winner of the Churchill Downs (GII) in 2010 and the number one Roy in Lund’s barn, will face a strong field of eight Saturday in the $100,000-added Aristides (GIII). The 23^rd running of the six-furlong race for 3-year-olds and up includes three Grade-I winners in Here Comes Ben, Capt. Candyman Can and Noble’s Promise; the defending Arisitides champion in Riley Tucker; two graded-stakes winners at Churchill Downs in Hurricane Ike, winner of last year’s The Cliff’s Edge Derby Trial (GIII), and Atta Boy Roy; a multiple-stakes winner in Cash Refund; and Good Lord, who has a record of 2-2-2 in eight starts over the main track at Churchill Downs.

“Everyone I’ve talked to says it’s one of the toughest Aristides’ fields they’ve ever seen,” Lund said. “It’s a very tough race, but we are excited to be apart of it.”

Atta Boy Roy, a 6-year-old ridgling by Tribunal out of Irish Toast by Synastry, is one of six horses who currently race under the colors of R.E.V. Racing for Schaefer. The owner recently flew into Louisville from his home in Seattle, Wa. and was on hand to watch Atta Boy Roy jog around the historic Churchill Downs track prior to the renovation break on Friday morning.  

“He’s my first and only stakes winner,” Schaefer said. “There’s something special about the first one and I don’t think anyone will ever be able to replace him.”

Following Atta Boy Roy’s victory in the Churchill Downs last year, he would go on to finish second in both the Aristides and the Iowa Sprint Handicap before making a return to the winner’s circle in the $200,000 Remington Park Sprint Cup. Atta Boy Roy finished his 2010 campaign with an eighth place finish in the Woodford (GIII) on the turf at Keeneland and a 10^th place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (GI) at Churchill Downs.

After a disappointing last-place finish in the in the Potrero Grande (GII) at Santa Anita, the Washington-bred won a six-furlong allowance race at Turf Paradise on May 1 in his most recent start.

Atta Boy Roy will be ridden Saturday by Jesus Castanon, but he won’t be the first member of the family to have ridden “Roy number one.”

“Jesus’ brother, Antonio, was aboard him for his first two starts and he broke the horse’s maiden,” Lund said. “So we’re happy that Jesus gets to ride him now.”

The Aristides, which will be the 10^th race of Saturday’s 11-race program, is scheduled to go off at 5:29 p.m. The field for the Aristides from the rail out (with jockey) includes Here Comes Ben (Leparoux), Riley Tucker (Desormeaux), Capt. Candyman Can (Borel), Hurricane Ike (Albarado), Cash Refund (Bridgmohan), Good Lord (Lanerie), Atta Boy Roy (Castanon) and Noble’s Promise (Garcia).

MEET LEADERS AT THE HALF – Through the first 19 days of the 39-day Spring Meet, jockey Corey Lanerie, trainer Steve Asmussen and owners Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds were the leaders in their respective categories at Churchill Downs. Below is a look at the leaders entering Friday’s action:

Top 12 Jockeys

  1. Corey Lanerie (23-for-103, 22% win-percentage, $703,881 in earnings)

  2. Shaun Bridgmohan (22-for-102, 21%, $656,817)

  3. Julien Leparoux (14-for-88, 16%, $569,593)

  4. Jon Court (13-for-71, 18%, $328,416)

  5. Calvin Borel (12-for-107, 11%, $419,040)

  5. Miguel Mena (12-for-88, 14%, $415,038)

  7. Kent Desormeaux (11-for-67, 16%, $671,463)

  8. Freddie Lenclud (8-for-68, 12%, $243,320)

  9. Marcelino Pedroza Jr.* (7-for-85, 8%, $241,269)

  9. Constantino Roman* (7-for-79, 9%, $189,418)

11. Manny Cruz (6-for-52, 12%, $235,433)

11. Brian Hernandez Jr. (6-for-49, 12%, $184,594)

Top win-percentage for jockeys with more than three wins: Martin Garcia (75.0%), John Velazquez (31.3%), Corey Lanerie (22.3%), Shaun Bridgmohan (21.4%), Garrett Gomez (20.0%), Jon Court (18.3%), Jimmy Graham (18.2%), Rafael Bejarano (17.6%), Kent Desormeaux (16.4%) and Julien Leparoux (15.9%).

Top 16 Trainers

  1. Steve Asmussen (9-for-53, 17%, $871,152)

  2. Tom Amoss (8-for-21, 38%, $213,661)

  2. Dale Romans (8-for-53, 15%, $674,665)

  4. Brad Cox (6-for-23, 26%, $113,485)

  4. Tim Glyshaw (6-for-19, 32%, $100,525)

  4. Eddie Kenneally (6-for-26, 23%, 143,411)

  4. Steve Margolis (6-for-31, 19%, $197,595)

  4. Merrill Scherer (6-for-22, 27%, $131,007)

  9. Bob Baffert (5-for-7, 71%, $880,869)

  9. Ian Wilkes (5-for-29, 17%, $198,060)

11. Jim Baker (4-for-11, 36%, $92,889)

11. Greg Foley (4-for-20, 20%, $81,974)

11. D. Wayne Lukas (4-for-35, 11%, $183,828)

11. Mike Maker (4-for-38, 11%, $178,467)

11. Ken McPeek (4-for-28, 14%, $207,468)

11. Tom Proctor (4-for-17, 24%, $277,712)

Top win-percentage for trainers with more than three wins: Bob Baffert (71.4%), Kellyn Gorder (42.9%), Tom Amoss (38.1%), Jim Baker (36.4%), Tim Glyshaw (31.6%), Garry Simms (30.0%), Merrill Scherer (27.3%), Brad Cox (26.1%) and Michelle Lovell (25.0%).

Top 8 Owners

1. Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds (5-for-20, 25%, $101,870)

2. Robert C. Baker and William L. Mack (4-for-12, 33%, $76,775)

3. Don Adam’s Courtlandt Farms (3-for-14, 21%, 215,979)

3. Billy, Donna and Justin Hays (3-for-26, 12%, $73,965)

3. Mace and Samantha Siegel’s Jay Em Ess Stable (3-for-12, 25%, $92,018)

3. Merrill Scherer, Dan Lynch and Ken Sentel (3-for-14, 21%, $83,242)

3. Tom Ludt’s Vinery Stables (3-for-6, 50%, $126,316)

3. Ahmed Zayat’s Zayat Stables LLC (3-for-8, 38%, $534,244)

Horses with multiple wins: Backside Blackie (2-for-2, $45,000), Cherry Included (2-for-2, $19,200), C J Russell (2-for-2, $60,000), Distorted Love (2-for-2, $62,700), Manhattan Man (2-for-2, $21,000), Racing Office Joe (2-for-2, $23,400), Sassy Image (2-for-2, $276,412), She’s an Alpha Gam ($25,200), Shot of Kela (2-for-3, $19,800), Strike Impact (2-for-2, $71,760) and Valid Citizen (2-for-2, $18,000).

 

BARN TALK – Donald Adam’s possible Belmont Stakes (GI) starter Prime Cut is scheduled to work at Churchill Downs Monday morning according to trainer Neil Howard. The work will be the final major move for Prime Cut before a decision is made on his next start. …

             Gaillardia Racing LLC’s Wilkinson, who was considered to be a possible starter for the Belmont Stakes, will opt to run in the Ohio Derby (GIII) Saturday at Thistledown rather than make a start in the third and final leg of the Triple Crown. …

Trainer Benard Chatters recorded the first Churchill Downs win of his career when Slew of Medals crossed the line first in the sixth race at Churchill Downs Monday. Chatters will send out Holy Heavens Saturday in the $100,000-added Dogwood (GIII) at a mile on the main track at Churchill Down. …

Jockey Nathaniel Puello also recorded his first Churchill Downs win with Slew of Medals. It was only the second mount beneath the Twin Spires for the 38-year-old journeyman. …

Trainer Al Stall Jr. said Claiborne Farm and Adele Dischneider’s Bind, second beaten a half-length to Worldly in his most recent start in a Churchill Downs allowance race on Kentucky Derby Day, will next run in the $125,000-added Matt Winn (GIII).  The 1 1/16-mile race, formerly known as the Northern Dancer, is part of the June 18 Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) undercard. …

Scavenger hunts and crafts involving horse shoes for children aged 3-10 will highlight the weekend’s activities at Churchill Downs’ Junior Jockey Club located near the Guest Services Booth inside Gate. 10. The Junior Jockey Club is open every Saturday and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Churchill Downs’ mascot Churchill Charlie will be on hand for photographs between 2-2:30 p.m. Coloring books, crayons, individual games and reading material are available as well.      

  STEPHEN FOSTER HANDICAP, THREE FOSTER DAY STAKES CLOSE SATURDAY - Nominations for the four graded-stakes to be run on Stephen Foster Day on Saturday, June 18 will close this Saturday, June 4. Heading the roster is the 30^th running of the $500,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (GI), a race won last year by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider’s Blame, who returned to Churchill Downs in November to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI). 

            Other horses that completed the Stephen Foster-Breeders’ Cup Classic sweep in the same year include Black Tie Affair (1991), Awesome Again (1998) and Saint Liam (2005).

The other graded stakes races set for Stephen Foster Handicap Day include the $125,000-added Matt Winn (GIII), formerly known as the Northern Dancer, for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16^th miles on the main track; the $125,000-added Regret (GIII) for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8^th miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course; and the $100,000-added Jefferson Cup (GIII) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16^th miles on turf. 

WHO’S HOT – The hottest jockeys over the last five racing days (May 26- June 2) are Corey Lanerie (9-for-31) and Shaun Bridgmohan (7-for-28). Brad Cox (4-for-8) and Merril Scherer (3-for-6) are the hottest trainers over the same period. The hottest owners are Midwest Thoroughbreds Inc. (3-for-7) and Ken Sentel and Merrill Scherer (2-for-2).

WORKTAB – Robert Baker and William Mack’s Dublin worked four furlongs over a fast main track in :47.20 at Churchill Downs on Friday morning for trainer Wayne Lukas. The workout was the fastest of 45 at the distance, giving Dublin his third bullet work beneath the Twin Spires in three weeks. The 4-year-old son of Afleet Alex has not raced since finishing fifth in the 2010 Preakness Stakes (GI). ...

Columbine Stable’s J.B.’s Thunder breezed three furlongs in 37.80 on Friday for trainer Al Stall Jr. The 3-year-old son of Thunder Gulch was victorious in the Breeders’ Futurity (GI) at Keeneland before finishing ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI) at Churchill Downs in his most recent start. …

Frank L. Jones Jr.’s Tapitsfly, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Churchill Downs last November, worked five furlongs in 1:00.80 for trainer Dale Romans. Tapitsfly is a possible starter for the 35^th running of the Early Times Mint Julep Handicap (GIII) at Churchill Downs on June 11.

WEATHER – Friday: Mostly sunny, 91. Saturday: Mostly sunny and hot, 96. Sunday: Partly sunny with a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 92. Monday: Mostly sunny, 92. Tuesday: Mostly sunny and hot, 94. Wednesday: Mostly sunny, 93. Thursday: Mostly sunny and hot with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 94. 

 Jerry Romans’ Sassy Image collected her fifth win in six starts at Churchill Downs when she narrowly defeated Beat the Blues by a head in the eighth running of the Grade III, $111,600 Winning Colors for fillies and mares ages three and up on Memorial Day.

Sassy Image ran six furlongs over a “fast” track in 1:08.59 and was one of three winners for The Downs’ leading rider Corey Lanerie on Monday. Lanerie took over the mount from regular rider Robby Albarado, who had a pair of stakes engagements at Lone Star Park in Texas.

“I was lucky to get the mount on her today with Robby being out of town. Things have just seemed to fall into place this meet,” said Lanerie, who, at the halfway mark of the 39-day Spring Meet, had 23 winners, one more than Shaun Bridgmohan.

Starlite Starbrite broke fastest of all and led the field of nine fillies and mares through the first quarter mile in :21.54 with Beat the Blues pressing the pacesetter and Sassy Image rating patiently in mid-pack. Beat the Blues took the lead at the half-mile marker in :44.65 as Sassy Image ranged into striking distance with a five-wide move on the turn for home. The two battled down the stretch and Sassy Image, from the outside, wore down Beat the Blues in the final yards for the win.

“At the quarter-pole I thought I was definitely going to win, but I wasn’t so sure at the sixteenth pole,” Lanerie said. “When we hit the wire I knew we won.”

Sassy Image, who sprang a 16-1 upset in the Grade I Humana Distaff on Kentucky Derby Day, returned mutuels of $3.80, $2.60 and $2.40 as the odds-on 4-5 favorite. Beat the Blues, ridden by Miguel Mena, paid $6.20 and $4.60. Fortune Play, with Freddie Lenclud up, was 4 ½ lengths back in third and returned $8.40.

Jocata, Starlite Starbrite, Wind Caper, Stephanie Got Even, Bell’s Shoes and My New Lady completed the order of finish. Indian Ink was scratched.

Dale Romans trains Sassy Image for his older brother, who purchased the 4-year-old daughter of Broken Vow for $42,000 at the 2008 Keeneland September yearling sale. She banked $66,426 for the win and improved her overall record to 13-6-2-1 with career earnings of $598,781.

"She loves this track and she ran good,” Romans said. “That was a little more work than I expected, but they ran so fast and there’s only so fast a horse can run.”

The Kentucky-bred filly has enjoyed tremendous success beneath the Twin Spires. At 2, she broke her maiden by 5 ¾ lengths and later won the Pocahontas (GIII) by two and the Golden Rod (GII) by 3 3/4. She faltered in two starts at Gulfstream Park this winter but it was discovered that she had an entrapped epiglottis and underwent surgery to correct the problem. Her three-length triumph in the Humana Distaff on May 7 was her first victory since taking the Sweet Chant at Gulfstream Park early in her 3-year-old season.

“We’ll look at a couple of different spots for her now,” Romans said. “We may go to Saratoga for the 

Ballerina (a Grade I, $250,000 seven-furlong sprint on Aug. 27). We’ll probably run her in one more sprint and  then give her a route race before the Breeders’ Cup (Ladies Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4). We’re going to try and make her a champion and to get that she’ll probably have to win the (Ladies’ Classic).”

The Winning Colors is named in honor of the 1988 Kentucky Derby winner, who is the most recent of three fillies to win the famed “Run for the Roses” at Churchill Downs. Past winners of the Winning Colors are Lady Tak (2004), Molto Vita (2005), Ever Elusive (2006), Miss Macy Sue (2007), Graeme Six (2008) and Dubai Majesty (2009-10). The latter won last year’s Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.Churchill Downs will be dark Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Racing will resume Friday with an 11-race twilight program that begins at 2:45 p.m. ET. There will be a two-day Pick 6 carryover of $9,553 on Races 6-11, and a Super Hi-5 carryover of $5,689 in the finale.

                       WINNING COLORS QUOTES

Corey Lanerie, jockey of Sassy Image, winner: “I was lucky to get the mount on her today with Robby (Albarado) being out of town. Things have just seemed to fall into place this meet. I actually broke her maiden, but I lost the mount when she went to New York. She ran good for me today. At the quarter-pole I thought I was definitely going to win, but I wasn’t so sure at the sixteenth pole. When we hit the wire I knew we won.”

Dale Romans, trainer of Sassy Image, winner: “She loves this track and she ran good. That was a little more work than I expected, but they ran so fast and there’s only so fast a horse can run. We’ll look at a couple of different spots for her now. We may go to Saratoga for the Ballerina (a Grade I, $250,000 seven-furlong sprint on Aug. 27). We’ll probably run her in one more sprint and then give her a route race before the Breeders’ Cup (Ladies Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4). We’re going to try and make her a champion and to get that she’ll probably have to win the (Ladies’ Classic).”

Jerry Romans, owner of Sassy Image, winner: “I didn’t think she was going to get up, but she somehow did! She ran a great race and Bret’s filly ran an amazing race too. She (Sassy Image) is a once in a lifetime horse.”

Bret Calhoun, trainer of Beat the Blues (runner-up)

“You know, it’s tough.  It’s disappointing to get beat like that after you run such a huge race.  I’m happy with the way she ran, but very disappointed to get beat like that on the wire in a Grade III.  We were expecting a big race out of her, I really was.  I know Sassy Image is a great filly and a Grade I winner and I didn’t expect to beat her.  But I thought she had a big shot in there today and she ran up to expectations.  I’m just disappointed to get beat right there on the wire.”

Q: You won this race last year with Dubai Majesty and returned in the fall to win the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint.  Could she be that type of filly?

“This filly, from the time we bought her, has just gotten better and better and I think she proved that today.  You never know where they’re going to go, but I thought today was a big step forward in that direction.  Oh sure, you’d always love to end up there.  I don’t know if she’ll end up there or not, but she took on what’s right now one of the best one-turn sprint fillies there is, and one that’s really got an affinity for this track.”

Miguel Mena, jockey on Beat the Blues (runner-up)

“I had a perfect trip.  She broke good and settled off the speed in a perfect spot.  Turning for home we made a run and just got outrun at the end. But my filly ran really hard.  We’ve got a pretty good filly with a big future.”

FREDDIE LENCLUD, jockey on FORTUNE PLAY (third)

“She ran well.  We wanted to kind of rate off the pace.  It was six furlongs, but there wasn’t a lot of speed in the race, so we wanted to lay third or fourth.  She made a nice run down the lane.  She tried hard.”

GUYS REWARD NEARLY GAVE ROMANS 40-1 SHOCKER IN COMMONWEALTH TURF – As the second-leading trainer in Churchill Downs history with 511 victories, it is rare when Dale Romans sends out a runner in any race beneath the historic Twin Spires at 40-1 odds.

It happened Saturday in the Commonwealth Turf (Grade III) for 3-year-olds and Michael Bruder’s Guys Reward almost delivered at those long odds.  The 3-year-old son of Grand Reward finished second in Saturday’s race, just a length back of favored Yankee Fourtune, who remained unbeaten in five races on grass.

“I think he is going to break through next year,” Romans said Sunday morning. “He is steadily improving and I think he will be a top horse next year. His last two races have been very good.”

Guys Reward returned from a two-month layoff to score an allowance victory at Keeneland in October prior to his run in the Commonwealth Turf. In the spring, he had run third in the Transylvania (GIII) at Keeneland and third in the American Turf (GII) here on Derby Eve.

Romans ranks seventh all time at Churchill Downs with 24 stakes victories and he could add to that total in the final two weeks of the meet that closes Sunday, Nov. 28.

Persuading, fourth in the Valley View (GIII) and the Garden City (GI) in her past two starts, is nominated to Saturday’s Mrs. Revere (GII) and Quiet Temper, a two-time graded stakes winner who has been idle since late June, is nominated to the Thanksgiving Day Falls City Handicap (GII).

“I’m on the fence with both of them,” Romans said. “But the 2-year-olds could both possibly run.”

The juveniles in question are Stormy Story, a six-length maiden winner here Nov. 3, for the Golden Rod (GII) on Nov. 27 and Z Appeal, a maiden winner on the dirt here in June and a stakes winner on turf in July, for the Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) the same day.

Romans also nominated First Dude to the $500,000 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GI) to be run on Friday, Nov. 26.

"I don’t think he’ll run,” Romans said of the eighth-place finisher in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) behind Blame. “He came out of the race good, but we just nominated him to see what was in there.”
Romans’ other Breeders’ Cup Classic starter, fifth-place finisher Paddy O’Prado, is done for the year. “He won’t run again until Gulfstream,” Romans said.

FUGITIVE ANGEL COULD FILL THE SHOES OF FOREVER TOGETHER FOR AUGUSTIN, SHEPPARD – Barry Wiseman, assistant to trainer Jonathan Sheppard, said goodbye on Friday to multiple Grade I winner Forever Together, one of the brightest stars in the roster of horses trained by Sheppard for George Strawbridge Jr.’s Augustin Stable.

“She went to Stone Farm a couple days ago,” Wiseman said of the 6-year-old mare. “She only got beat four necks and a length last week.”

That was in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf (GI), a race she won in 2008 and finished third in last year before dead-heating for sixth here on Nov. 5.

But Augustin could have another grass filly waiting in the wings in Fugitive Angel, a Pennsylvania-bred by 1996 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Alphabet Soup who is pointing toward Saturday’s $175,000-added Mrs. Revere (GII) for 3-year-old fillies on turf.

"Now, wouldn’t that be nice,” Wiseman said of the prospect of another Forever Together in the barn. “Jonathan really likes her. She has been training well and is a very mature 3-year-old.”

Fugitive Angel, who is expected to work on the turf here Tuesday, is four-for-four this year including three stakes victories. Two of the stakes wins came in Pennsylvania-bred races with the third a 3 ¾-length romp in the Valley View (GIII) at Keeneland on Oct. 22.

“The Keeneland win was nice,” Wiseman said. “She keeps improving, but you just never know when they will stop improving.”

Fugitive Angel already has accomplished more as a 3-year-old than Forever Together could.

"Forever Together won right off the bat, but it wasn’t until we put her on the grass that she showed her true form,” Wiseman said. “She went to Chicago (in May 2008 as a 4-year-old) and won the Reluctant Guest with Earlie Fires and then ran third in the Just A Game (GI). After that race he (Sheppard) said ‘I think we can go places with this filly.’ ”

And go places they did. Forever Together raced on both coasts and in Canada and earned an Eclipse Award as top female grass performer in 2008. She closed her career with a record on the turf of 18-6-4-6 and earnings on the grass of $2,754,499.

FLAT OUT NEARLY READY TO RETURN TO THE RACES FOR DICKEY – As days at the track go, Saturday was a pretty good one for trainer Scooter Dickey.
    He won the first race with his initial starter of Fall Meet, She’s an Alpha Gam, a horse that Dickey owns. Earlier in the day, he watched Flat Out turn in his second work of the month.

Owned by Oxbow Racing, Flat Out was on the Kentucky Derby trail in 2009 after a victory in the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park until being sidelined by injury less than two weeks before the Run for the Roses.

Initially a stress fracture in a shoulder put Flat Out on the shelf and then it was a problem with quarter cracks.

“The way he won the Smarty Jones, I expected him to be really good because he won that race very easy,” Dickey said. “Then he got hurt. It has been a long wait, 18 months. We had him back in training and then he had the foot issue.

“We had to cut the foot away in the spring and let it grow back. Everything has grown back on the foot and he wants to run.”

After galloping on the farm in the summer, Flat Out was moved to the Thoroughbred Training Center in Lexington where he began working in late August.

“They made sure everything was all right and then I got him back when I came in from Monmouth,” Dickey said. “He is ready to run here if there is a race for him.”

WORK TAB – Giant Oak, who was placed fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Marathon (GIII) and is nominated to the Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GI), worked a half-mile in :47.60 after the break on a track labeled as “good” for trainer Chris Block. The move was the best of 31 at the distance. … Sassy Image, who swept the Pocahontas (GII) and Golden Rod last year, had the second-quickest half-mile of the morning (:47.80) for Romans.

HOWARD HOPES LOU BRISSIE FOLLOWS IN SUMMER SQUALL’S HOOFPRINTS – Trainer Neil Howard has traveled this road before, and he hopes the journey with Dogwood Stable’s Lou Brissie is every bit as good as the trip he had with Summer Squall from 1989-91.

Lou Brissie figures to be one of the prime players in next Saturday’s $100,000-added Bashford Manor Stakes (Grade III), a race Summer Squall won in 1989.

Summer Squall had broken his maiden at first asking at Keeneland and then won the Kentucky Budweiser Breeders’ Cup (now the Kentucky Juvenile) prior to the Bashford Manor. Lou Brissie has done the same, winning in his debut at Keeneland and coming back to win Kentucky Juvenile (GIII).

“They are both genuine horses,” said Howard, who will have Corey Lanerie ride Lou Brissie in the Bashford Manor.

“Summer Squall was really precocious, had speed and he was able to carry it in classic distances, which is a rarity,” Howard said of the 1990 Preakness (GI) winner. “This horse has no speed. He is more mature in his running style, which is not a bad thing for further down the road.”

Lou Brissie is a son of Limehouse, another Dogwood-owned runner who won the 2003 Bashford Manor and finished fourth to Smarty Jones in the 2004 Kentucky Derby.  Since winning the Kentucky Juvenile on April 30, Lou Brissie has had seven works.

“It never hurts to have a break (from racing) with 2-year-olds when they are still developing and growing,” Howard said. “On the other hand, you can run the risk of bad weather to interrupt your training. So far, his training has stayed intact and everything is going smooth with him.”

LANERIE ENJOYING ANOTHER SOLID MEET – Journeyman rider Corey Lanerie enjoyed his best meet at Churchill Downs last spring with 35 winners and going into the final six days of the 2010 Spring Meet, the 35-year-old native of Lafayette, La., is on track to better that figure with 32 victories thus far.

“It has been a very satisfying meet,” said Lanerie, who is second to Calvin Borel in the race for leading rider. “I had 35 last year and this year, I’ll take whatever number they give me.”

Lanerie is winning at a 16 percent clip and has an in-the-money percentage of 50, both career highs for a Spring Meet at Churchill Downs. This is the closest Lanerie has come to leading rider honors, with his previous highest finish in the standings being a tie for fifth in 2005.

While many of the leading riders here are headed to Saratoga for the summer, Lanerie will remain in Kentucky.

“I am going to stay here and ride at Ellis Park,” Lanerie said of the meet that begins at the Henderson track on July 10.

A Saratoga sojourn is not in the foreseeable future for Lanerie.

"“I might go later on if the right opportunity comes along,” Lanerie said.

CHURCHILL DOWNS HORSES STRIKE GOLD IN IOWA – Majesticperfection, ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan for trainer Steve Asmussen, defeated even-money favorite Atta Boy Roy, winner of the Churchill Downs (GII) to win the $125,000 Iowa Sprint Cup by 4 ¾ lengths on Friday night at Prairie Meadows. Majesticperfection ran the six furlongs in track-record time of 1:07.24.

Calvin Borel rode Atta Boy Roy, who finished 6 1/2 lengths in front of Cash Refund, trained by Steve Margolis and ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr.

Secret Gypsy, coming off a second-place finish in the Winning Colors (GIII) here on May 31, romped to a 4 ¾-length victory two races earlier in the $100,000 Saylorville Stakes. Churchill Downs-based jockey Jamie Theriot guided Secret Gypsy to victory for trainer Ronny Werner.

Bridgmohan and Borel will be making return trips later Saturday after riding at Churchill Downs and will be joined by Robby Albarado.

Borel is riding Seeking the Title for Dallas Stewart in the Iowa Oaks (GIII), Down With Dixie for Paul McGee in the Iowa Derby (GIII) and Brass Hat for Buff Bradley in the Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap (GII).
Bridgmohan will ride two horses for Asmussen: Remit in the Iowa Oaks and Matt Winn winner Thiskyhasnolimit in the Iowa Derby.  He will also be abaord Golden Yank in the Cornhusker.

Albarado rides the Dale Romans-trained Quiet Temper in the Iowa Oaks and Vow to Wager in the Iowa Derby, and has the mount on Slew’s Tizzy in the Cornhusker.

BARN TALK – Jockey Victor Lebron continues to thrive under the Friday night lights of “Downs After Dark.” Last night Lebron won the third race on Mercedes Class ($9.40) and the seventh on Harlan’s Princess ($18.40). It marked the third consecutive Friday night Lebron had recorded a riding double.

WORK TAB – Inside Information (GII) winner Warbling worked a bullet five furlongs over a fast track in :59, best of 25 at the distance. … Eight Belles (GIII) winner Buckleupbuttercup worked a half-mile in :49.60. … Fourth-place Kentucky Oaks (GI) finisher Beautician worked a half-mile in :48.60. … Demarcation, fifth in the Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) in his most recent start, worked a half-mile in :52.80.