Angel Montano

SUPER ESPRESSO LOOKS TO END RACING CAREER WITH FALLS CITY VICTORY – Celebrity chef Bobby Flay’s Super Espresso will look to end her racing career in style on Thursday when she makes her final start in the 96^th running of the $175,000-added Falls City Handicap (Grade II) for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on the main track at Churchill Downs.

“This will be her last race,” said Michael McCarthy, assistant to trainer Todd Pletcher. “We’re looking to get her some more black type before she enters her second career (as a broodmare).”

Super Espresso, a $1.1 million Keeneland September Yearling purchase, will face nine rivals in the Falls City, the featured event on the Thanksgiving Day racing program.

She captured the DuPont Distaff (GIII) at Pimlico in May and then competed in five consecutive Grade I events. She hit the board in her first two starts at the highest level, running third to Awesome Maria in the Ogden Phipps Handicap (GI) and second to Ask the Moon in the Ruffian Handicap (GI).

The 4-year-old daughter of Medaglia D’Oro then finished fifth to Ask the Moon in the Personal Ensign, 10^th to Aruna in the Spinster (GI) over the synthetic Polytrack surface at Keeneland and enters the Falls City off a seventh-place finish to Royal Delta in the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (GI) at Churchill Downs.

The Ladies’ Classic was a bit of a reach,” McCarthy said. “This is a logical spot for her. She’s getting a bit of a class break and her numbers are as good as or better than everyone else in the field.”

In preparation for the Falls City, Super Espresso breezed a sharp four furlongs over the fast main track in company with Giant Sensation in :47.80, the third fastest of 47 at the distance. The duo recorded fractions of :12.20, :24.20, :35.80 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:00.60 and six furlongs in 1:14.20.

“She had a nice work over the track a few days ago and she’ll enter the race with good energy and a good attitude,” McCarthy said.

Super Espresso has a career record of 4-2-4 from 17 starts and earnings of $270,788. She will break from post eight in the field of ten under Javier Castellano.

The Falls City is the featured event on Thursday’s 12-race holiday program.  It will go as race 11 with a post time of 4:24 p.m. EST.

CHAMBERLAIN BRIDGE GETS CLASS BREAK, BETTER DRAW ON THURSDSAY – Carl R. Moore Management LLC’s Chamberlain Bridge, winner of the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (GII) at Churchill Downs, returns to his favorite track on Thursday in an attempt to snap a five-race losing streak.

The 7-year-old War Chant gelding is entered in Thursday’s sixth race, an allowance optional-claiming event at five furlongs on the Matt Winn Turf Course.

Chamberlain Bridge attempted to defend his title in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in his most recent start, but fell well short of that goal.  He broke from the outside post in a field of 14 on the Churchill Downs grass and finished eighth to the victorious Regally Ready.

"Hopefully that race is just a throw out,” said Dennis “Peaches” Geier, assistant to trainer Bret Calhoun. “He was coming into the Turf Sprint really well and his two works before the race (:59 on a wet-fast main track at Churchill Downs on Oct. 19 and :50.60 on a firm Matt Winn Turf Course on Oct. 29) were probably two of the best works of the entire Breeders’ Cup. He really had no chance whatsoever breaking from the 14-hole. It’s a tough gig out there.”

Chamberlain Bridge, who was made the 7-5 morning-line favorite by Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia, will break from post two in Thursday’s race under Brian Hernandez Jr. It will be the first time since October of 2009 that Chamberlain Bridge has been ridden by a jockey other than Jamie Theriot.

Jamie is already in New Orleans (for the Fair Grounds meet), so we got Brian to ride,” Geier said. “Brian has definitely been hot this meet and I hope he (Chamberlain Bridge) runs well for him.”

Hernandez has experience aboard Charmberlain Bridge.  He rode the veteran turf sprint star to a  5 ½-length claiming victory at Keeneland in October of 2007.  And Hernandez has been on a roll during the Fall Meet and entered Wednesday’s racing with 11 wins from 55 mounts at the meet.  That’s good for third in the jockey standings behind Julien Leparoux and Corey Lanerie.

Thursday’s race is also notable for Chamberlain Bridget in that it will be his first outing in more than three years in which he has dropped out of the ranks of stakes horses to face allowance foes.

“It’s a break, but it’s not going to be an easy race,” Geier said. “There are several horses in there that are running really well. I think they’ll be enough speed in there for him to run at, though, and if he’s anything like he was last year then he should win.”

Future plans for Chamberlain Bridge, whose 17 career wins include four victories over the Matt Winn Turf Course, have not been decided.  But he is expected to race as an 8-year-old.

“We’ll bring him to Fair Grounds with us, but I’m not sure what we’ll do with him,” Geier said. “There aren’t too many races down there for him, though. We didn’t go too hard on him this year, so he might stay in training, but he could also get some time off before next year. A lot will depend on Thursday’s race.”

FALL MEET LEADERS ENTERING FINAL WEEK – Through 16 days of the 21-day Fall Meet, jockey Julien Leparoux, and owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey had clear leads in their respective divisional races at Churchill Downs.  But trainers Steve Asmussen and Mike Maker were locked in a tight battle for “leading trainer” honors.  Below is a look at the leaders entering the final week of the Fall Meet:

Top Jockeys

1. Julien Leparoux (28-for-106, 26% win-percentage, $1,441,452 in earnings)

2. Corey Lanerie (20-for-103, 19%, $511,772)

3. Brian Hernandez Jr. (11-for-55, 20%, $285,115)

4. Jesus Castanon (9-for-55, 16%, $415,003)

5. Jon Court (8-for-51, 16%, $185,269)

Top Trainers

1. Steve Asmussen (11-for-49, 22%, $2,013,337)

1. Mike Maker (11-for-42, 26%, $1,374,178)

3. Dale Romans (8-for-43, 19%, $1,583,459)

4. Eddie Kenneally (6-for-25, 24%, $297,652)

4. Ken McPeek (6-for-30, 20%, $250,988)

4. Bill Mott (6-for-18, 33%, $4,027,702)

Top Owners

1. Ken and Sarah Ramsey (9-for-33, 27%, $735,718)

2. Billy, Donna and Justin Hays (5-for-20, 25%, $98,805)

3. Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds Inc. (3-for-10, 30%, $34,053)

4. 14 owners are tied for fourth with two wins each

BARN TALK – Veteran trainer Robert Holthus, a regular on racing circuits in Kentucky, Arkansas and the Midwest for nearly 60 years, died Tuesday morning in Louisville, Ky. at the age of 77. A local memorial service for Holthus has been scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 26 at 10:30 a.m. (EST) at Christ Chapel on the Churchill Downs backside. Holthus saddled 211 winners beneath the Twin Spires, including 11 stakes wins. …

For the second year in-a-row, jockey Corey Lanerie was named a finalist for Santa Anita's George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award. The other finalists are Ramon Dominguez, Martin Pedroza, DeShawn Parker and Scott Stevens. The winner, to be determined by a nationwide vote of jockeys, will be announced in January. The Woolf Award has been presented annually by Santa Anita since 1950 and is regarded as one of the most prestigious honors in all of racing.  It recognizes those riders whose careers and personal character earn esteem for the individual and the sport of Thoroughbred racing. …

Leading-rider Julien Leparoux will travel to Hollywood Park on Friday to ride Team Block's Never Retreat in the Matriarch (GI). Leparoux enters Wednesday with a 28-20 lead in the jockey standings over Corey Lanerie. He will return to beneath the Twin Spires on Saturday and is named to ride in all 12 races on that day’s Stars of Tomorrow II program.  ...

Churchill Downs will host a “Stache Bash” on Saturday during the races to honor and celebrate all of the Mo Bros and Mo Sistas who participated in Movember. Churchill Downs will donate $1 per attendee who is sporting a mustache to the Movember Foundation with a minimum guaranteed pledge of $5,000 given through the Churchill Downs Foundation. The day’s festivities will include between-race live music by popular Cincinnati-based My Sister Sarah in the paddock area and Happy Hour drink specials from 3-5 p.m. …

Trainer Angel Montano Sr. recorded his 334^th victory at Churchill Downs with Autumn Eyes in Sunday’s sixth race. Montano ranks ninth in career victories at Churchill Downs and his next victory will pull him into a tie for eighth with Jack Van Berg. …

Jockey Jon Court is five wins away from the 400-win milestone at Churchill Downs. Court has mounts in eight races Wednesday, six races Thursday and nine races Friday.

CALLWOOD DANCER ASSIGNED HIGH WEIGHT FOR CARDINAL - Three Chimneys Racing's Callwood Dancer (IRE) was assigned top weight of 122 pounds by racing secretary Ben Huffman for the 36th running of the $100,000-added Cardinal Handicap (Grade II) next Saturday at 1 1/8 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up.

            Trained by Roger Attfield, Callwood Dancer is expected to face as many as eight rivals in the Cardinal. Callwood Dancer ran second in the E.P. Taylor (GI) in her most recent start on Oct. 4 at Woodbine.

            Pin Oak Stable's Brownie Points and Earle Mack's Lady Digby were assigned 119 pounds and are considered as "probable" for the Cardinal.

            Trained by Donnie Von Hemel, Brownie Points ran second in this summer's Locust Grove (GIII) over the Matt Winn Turf Course. In her lone Grade I appearance this year, Brownie Points ran second to the undefeated Zenyatta in the Apple Blossom Handicap (GI) at Oaklawn Park.

            Graham Motion trains Lady Digby, who has been idle since running fifth in the Diana Handicap (GI) at Saratoga behind Forever Together, who went on to win the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf (GI). Lady Digby has won two stakes in 2008, highlighted by the All Along Breeders' Cup (GIII) at Colonial Downs.

            Other runners considered as probable or possible for the Cardinal are Ballymore Lady (116 pounds), Ciao (116), Meribel (116), Kiss With a Twist (115), Sousaphone (114) and Long Approach (113).

COMMENTATOR COMING TO TOWN ON WEDNESDAY - Trainer Nick Zito said Saturday morning that Tracy Farmer's Commentator was scheduled to arrive at Churchill Downs on Wednesday for an anticipated run in the $400,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GII).

            "He's in New York right now," Zito said of the 7-year-old gelding who won the Massachusetts Handicap by 14 lengths in his most recent start on Sept. 20.

            Commentator, a two-time winner of Saratoga's Whitney (GI), has won 13 of 20 career starts with earnings of $1,841,936.

            Also joining the Zito barn at Churchill Downs next week will be Anak Nakal, winner of last fall's Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (GII). Anak Nakal ran seventh in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI), third in the Belmont Stakes (GI) and won the Pennsylvania Derby (GII).

            Already in Zito's barn here is Cool Coal Man, who ran 15th in this year's Kentucky Derby.

MAKER CONTINUES TO WIN AT RECORD RATE - The record for number of victories by a trainer at a Churchill Downs fall meet is 20, established by Dale Romans in 2003 over 27 racing days.

            At the rate Mike Maker is going, that mark will be left in the dust of the dirt track beneath the Twin Spires.

            Thundering Jill in Friday's second and He's Long Gone in the 10th gave Maker his 13th and 14th victories in the first nine days of the 26-day meet. Maker has opened a seven-victory lead over his nearest pursuer in the trainer's race, Ken McPeek, with Romans next with six wins.

            The 39-year-old native of Garden City, Mich., has two horses entered Saturday, two on Sunday highlighted by Cherokee Triangle in the Commonwealth Turf (GIII), and three more on Tuesday's Veterans Day card.

SPECIAL VETERANS DAY RACING ON TUESDAY - Churchill Downs will host a special live racing program on Tuesday, Nov. 11 in honor of Veterans Day. The first of 10 live races will be 12:40 p.m. ET.

BYRNE RECALLS "ROCK HARD" DAYS AT DOWNS - The 2004 Kentucky Derby will forever be remembered as the Smarty Party featuring the undefeated Smarty Jones.

            But jockey John Byrne played a role in one of the many subplots surrounding the 130th Run for the Roses serving as the exercise rider of Rock Hard Ten.

            "Hard to believe it has almost been five years," Byrne said Friday afternoon before riding in the seventh race in one of his rare forays to Churchill Downs.

            Rock Hard Ten came to Churchill Downs after being disqualified from second to third in the Santa Anita Derby (GI) for interference. The decrease in purse money left Rock Hard Ten with insufficient graded earnings to make the Derby field.

            But Rock Hard Ten was ready to run as Byrne took the Jason Orman-trained colt to the track shortly after 6 a.m. daily for his morning regimen that began with the colt rearing up almost immediately after leaving the barn.

            "He knew the cameras were going to be there and he gave them a show," Byrne said. "He was just immature at that time. We knew he had a lot of talent and would be much better as a four-year-old. He did everything so easy."

            Rock Hard Ten ran second in the Preakness and then fifth in the Belmont.

            "I remember they brought P Val (Patrick Valenzuela) in to work him before the Belmont and he wouldn't train," Byrne said. "He was just that way then."

            Rock Hard Ten went on to win all three starts as a 4-year-old before a foot injury prior to the 2005 Breeders' Cup led to his retirement. Rock Hard Ten won seven of 11 starts and closed his career with earnings of $1,870,380. His first crop will be 2-year-olds in 2009.

            The road for the 33-year-old Irishman, who won his first race in the United States in 2003 at Turf Paradise, has been ‘rock hard' since then. While the horse was starting a stud career, Byrne suffered a broken collarbone in a spill at Thistledown.

            A broken hip suffered in late April this year sidelined Byrne for two months.

            "I came back in July to ride a couple for John Good at Mountaineer Park," said Byrne, who rode Smiley's Cool Cat to a sixth-place finish for Good. "I am riding one here Saturday and a couple Tuesday and then head to the Fair Grounds."

BARN TALK - Trainer Angel Montano won with his first starter of the meet Friday when Family Fun LLC's Montalvo scored in the seventh race. For Montano, who began training in 1968, it marked his 316th victory at Churchill Downs, which is the sixth-best total in track history. ... Owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey added to their victory total Friday with the scores by Thundering Jill and He's Long Gone. The Ramseys have 10 wins for the meet, seven more than Scarlet Stable, which has sent out three winners from three starters. Julien Leparoux rode both winners for the Ramseys and became the first rider to reach the 20-win mark during the meet. Leparoux has 21 victories and owns a seven-win lead over closest pursuer Robby Albarado.

WORK TAB - Livin the Dream Racing's Dream Empress, runner-up in the Oct. 24 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI) in her most recent start, worked a half-mile in company after the renovation break under Peter Hutton in :49.60. Trainer Ken McPeek was happy with the filly's work, her first at Churchill Downs, and said she would have two more works before a run in the Nov. 29 Golden Rod (GII). ...  W.S. Farish and Mrs. W.S. Kilroy's Mambo in Seattle worked five furlongs before the renovation break in 1:03.80 with a six-furlong out time of 1:17.80 in his second work since a seventh-place finish in the Fayette (GIII) for trainer Neil Howard. Runner-up in the Travers (GI), Mambo in Seattle remains under consideration for the Clark. Grasshopper, who ran second in the 2007 Travers for Howard, is "being freshened up at Keeneland and being tack-walked," according to Howard. ... West Point Thoroughbreds' Macho Again worked a half-mile in :53.60 for trainer Dallas Stewart. Winner of the Derby Trial and Jim Dandy (GII) and runner-up in the Preakness (GI) and Super Derby (GII), Macho Again's next major goal is the Sunshine Millions in January at Gulfstream Park. ... Koolmen Racing Stable's multi-graded stakes-placed A to the Croft worked five furlongs in 1:03 for McPeek.
 

SUNDAY BRUNCH AT THE DOWNS - Sunday Brunch at Churchill Downs returns this Sunday. For $41.50 ($25 for children 12 and under), customers can dine and watch the Nov. 9 races from a reserved seat Millionaires' Row Six, the luxurious 9,000 square-foot room with a four-tier balcony that overlooks the finish line. The brunch, accompanied by live jazz music, is served from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and features a wide selection of food, including stuffed French toast, eggs, maple smoked bacon, homemade biscuits and gravy, carved roast turkey, fresh salads and plenty of sides. Appetizers and a bountiful desert tray will be available until 5 p.m. Brunch and an official program is included in the admission price. Another Sunday Brunch is scheduled for Nov. 23. The reserve a spot, call (502) 636-4400.
 

HANDICAPPING CONTEST WEDNESDAYS, SUNDAYS - Racing fans can pit their handicapping skills against the best Louisville has to offer every Wednesday and Sunday in the popular twice-weekly "Who's the Champ?" Handicapping Contest. For a $30 entry fee ($25 for Twin Spires Club members), participants will compete for weekly cash prizes and an invitation to the Nov. 23 final where the top two finishers will win coveted berths in the Daily Racing Form/National Thoroughbred Racing Association National Handicapping Championship X slated for Jan. 23-24, 2009 in Las Vegas.