Demarcation

C R K Stable’s Gladding, winner of the Grade II San Antonio Handicap at Santa Anita in February, will carry top weight of 117 pounds and concede from 1-2 pounds to six rivals Friday in the 19^th running of the $100,000-added Ack Ack Handicap (GIII).

The Ack Ack, run at 1 1/16 miles on the main track for 3-year-olds and up, will be the third race on Friday’s 10-race card that features six Breeders’ Cup World Championship races. The Ack Ack is scheduled for 3 p.m. EDT with first post time on the card at 2 p.m.

Trained by John Sadler, Gladding has not started since finishing second in the Texas Mile (GIII) at Lone Star Park in April. The 4-year-old son of 2002 Belmont Stakes (GI) winner Sarava, Gladding has put in a steady stream of works at Santa Anita with the most recent being Saturday, a seven-furlong move in 1:25.60.

Rafael Bejarano has the call on Gladding, who will break from post position three.

Among the horses carrying 116 pounds is Amerman Racing Stables’ Demarcation, winner of the 2009 Ack Ack and runner-up in last year’s race to Apart. Joel Rosario has the mount on Demarcation, who will break from post position six.

The field for the Ack Ack, from the rail out, is as follows: Nacho Friend (Garrett Gomez, 115 pounds), Alma d’Oro (John Velazquez, 116), Gladding (Bejarano, 117), Mister Marti Gras (Julien Leparoux, 116), Glenwood Canyon (Robby Albarado, 116), Demarcation (Rosario, 116) and Equestrio (Corey Nakatani, 115).

The race after the Ack Ack will be the second running of the $85,000-added The Jimmy V “Don’t Give Up … Don’t Ever Give Up” overnight stakes for 3-year-olds going six furlongs on the main track. Post time is 3:30 p.m.

Kirk and Judy Robison’s Wine Police, winner of the Distorted Humor in September at Saratoga and third in the Hopeful (GI) last year, heads a field of 11. Julien Leparoux has the mount on Wine Police, who will break from post position 11.

The field for the Jimmy V, from the rail out, is as follows: Will’s Wildcat (Calvin Borel, 118 pounds), Uncle Brent (Kent Desormeaux, 118), Matthewsburg (Mike Smith, 123), Cornpiper (Corey Nakatani, 118), Southern Dude (Jesus Castanon, 118), Free Entry (Rafael Bejarano, 118), Derivative (Jon Court, 118), Artefacto (Fernando Jara, 118), Doinmysongndance (Jamie Theriot, 118), Fast Bullet (Martin Garcia, 118) and Wine Police (Leparoux, 118).

Adele Dilschneider’s Apart wore down defending champion Demarcation in the final 100 yards to win Friday’s 18th running of the $108,600 Ack Ack Handicap (Grade III) by three-quarters of a length at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Al Stall Jr. and ridden by Garrett Gomez, Apart made a four-wide move at the head of the stretch and gradually wore down Demarcation, who was ridden by Calvin Borel.  The victory provided a good start to the two-day Breeders' Cup World Championships for Dilschneider, Stall and Gomez, who will team to send Dilschneider and Claiborne Farm's Blame into the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic (GI) against the unbeaten favorite Zenyatta on Saturday.

Apart, a 3-year-old homebred son of Flatter out of the Unbridled mare Detach, covered the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.79, the first time the race has been run at that distance.

The victory was worth $67,332 and increased Apart’s earnings to $469,878 with a record of 7-4-1-0 that includes a victory in the Super Derby (GII) in his race prior to the Ack Ack.

Sent off as the favorite in the field of five, Apart returned $4.80, $3 and $2.10. Demarcation paid $3.40 and $2.20 with Colizeo, ridden by Ramon Dominguez, finishing two lengths back in third and paying $2.20 to show. Jackson Bend finished fourth, followed by Silver Edition.

The race prior to the Ack Ack, Chasing Dreams Racing 2008’s Noble’s Promise won the $87,700 Jimmy V. “Don’t Give Up … Don’t Ever Give Up!” overnight stake for 3-year-olds by 2 ¼ lengths over Backtalk.

Trained by Ken McPeek and ridden by Julien Leparoux, Noble’s Promise covered the six furlongs on the main track in 1:08.92 and increased his bankroll by $53,287 to boost his career earnings to $946,703 with four victories in 11 starts.

Noble’s Promise, the fifth-place finisher in the 2010 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI), returned $6, $3.40 and $2.80. Backtalk, ridden by Rafael Bejarano, returned $4.80 and $3.80 with Don Tito, Joel Rosario up, finishing a half-length back in third and returned $4.80 to show.

An 11-race program, highlighted by the Breeders’ Cup Classic, is scheduled for Saturday with first post time of 12:05 p.m. (all times Eastern). Eight Breeders’ Cup races dot the card that also features the 25th running of the $150,000-added Chilukki (GII) for fillies and mares running a mile on the main track and the $85,000 Dream Supreme overnight stake for 3-year-old fillies sprinting six furlongs.

 POST RACE QUOTES

Al Stall Jr. (trainer, Apart, 1st) – “In Louisiana, he ran off on us a couple of times.  Garrett was waiting around a little because sometimes this horse grabs the bit.  Garrett wanted to put him to sleep, and obviously he did a very good job.  He was a big gangly colt, starting to fill in and he’ll be a nice 4-year-old for us.”

Garrett Gomez (jockey, Apart, 1st) - “This colt's a nice colt. He's a colt that certainly figures things out as we go along. I can't wait until next year with him. He's moving in the right direction and today he got to see some different kind of competition than he's been facing and he passed that test. This is the first time I've ridden him. I watched his Super Derby run and when they picked up the pace a little, I thought I'd just move up on top of them and he stayed on well.”

Regarding coming back from yesterday's fall to ride today: “I'm fine. Just watch me ride. I'm a little achy, that's to be expected, I had a 1,200-pound animal fall on top of me yesterday. All in all my hand's a little swollen, but it doesn't really hurt. My shoulder's a little sore, but all you've gotta do is see me come down the lane.”

Paul McGee (trainer, Demarcation, 2nd) – “He was up a little closer than I thought he’d be, but he hung in there and ran a good race.”

Calvin Borel (jockey, Demarcation, 2nd) – “He ran a bang-up race, but we got outrun late. We have no excuses.”

Mike McCarthy (assistant trainer to Todd Pletcher, Colizeo, 3rd) – “It was an oddly run race. They all seemed to be jockeying for position at the half-mile pole and Ramon (Dominguez) didn’t have any choice but to keep his position. In the end it was OK. Better to run third than fourth.”

Ramon Dominguez, (jockey, Colizeo, 3rd) – “He ran well. Everybody took a shot at my horse and the other two just outran me.”

Adele Dilschneider’s Apart, winner of the Super Derby (GII) at Louisiana Downs in his most recent start, heads a field of six 3-year-olds and up entered Tuesday for the 18th running of the $100,000-added Ack Ack Handicap (GIII) to be run Friday on the Breeders’ Cup World Championships undercard at Churchill Downs.

The Ack Ack, at 1 1/16 miles on the main track, will go as the fourth race on Friday’s 10-race card and serve as the lead-in to six Breeders’ Cup World Championship races on the first day of the two-day championships.. First post time Friday is 2 p.m. (all times Eastern) with the Ack Ack scheduled for 3:30 p.m.

Trained by Al Stall, Jr., the 3-year-old Apart broke his maiden at Churchill Downs in his second start, but followed that victory with a pair of allowance wins at the Louisville track.  A late summer break was followed by a victory in the Prelude at Louisiana Downs, the track’s major prep for the Super Derby, and the colt brings a two-race winning streak into the Ack Ack.  Apart, who will break from post position one, will carry 117 pounds and be ridden by Garrett Gomez.

Apart, the 2-1 morning line favorite for the Ack Ack, shares the top weight in the race with Amerman Racing Stable’s defending Ack Ack champion Demarcation. Trained by Paul McGee, Demarcation was fifth in Churchill Downs’ Grade I Stephen Foster Handicap in his most recent start.  Calvin Borel has the mount on Demarcation, the 5-2 second choice who will break from post position four.

Another major player in the Ack Ack is Robert LaPenta and Fred Brei’s Jackson Bend, the third-place finisher in the Preakness (GI), runner-up in the Wood Memorial (GI) and 12th to Super Saver in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI).  The Nick Zito trainee, a beaten favorite in the Pegasus (GIII) at the Meadowlands and the Star of Cozzene at Belmont Park in his last two starts, is the 4-1 third choice in the Ack Ack and will be ridden by Javier Castellano.

The field for the Ack Ack, from the rail out, is as follows: Apart (Gomez, 117 pounds), Stream Cat (James Graham, 113), Silver Edition (Mike Smith, 114), Demarcation (Borel, 117), Colizeo (Ramon Dominguez, 115) and Jackson Bend (Castellano, 115).

Tne race prior to the Ack Ack, with a 3 p.m. post time, is the $85,000-added The Jimmy V “Don’t Give Up … Don’t Ever Give Up!” overnight stakes race for 3-year-olds going six furlongs on the main track.  The Jimmy V drew a field of nine and features the return of Noble’s Promise.

Owned by Chasing Dreams Racing 2008, Noble’s Promise has not run since finishing fifth in the St. James’s Palace Stakes (GI) at Britain’s Royal Ascot meet in June that followed a fifth-place finish to Super Saver in the Kentucky Derby.  Trained by Ken McPeek, Noble’s Promise won the Grade I Breeders’ Futurity last fall at Keeneland and is graded stakes-placed in three other races.

Julien Leparoux has the mount on Noble’s Promise, who will break from post position nine. The son of Cuvee, trained by Ken McPeek, is the 9-2 third choice in the Jimmy V morning line.

The 3-1 favorite for the Jimmy V is Robert and Lawana and Winmore LLC’s Cool Bullet, runner-up to Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile contender Thiskyhasnolimit in the Matt Winn at Churchill Downs in May and winner of the $100,000 Rumson at Monmouth Park. He is racing for the first time since July 4 when he finished last of six to Discreetly Mine in Monmouth’s Jersey Shore (GIII).

Shawn Bridgmohan will ride Cool Bullet for trainer Steve Margolis.

Also expected to attract fan support is Patti and Hal Earnhart’s Bulldogger, a son of Dixie Union with two wins in four starts for trainer Bob Baffert.  Bulldogger, the 4-1 second choice, is coming off a sixth-place finish to Discreetly Mine in the Aug. 28 King’s Bishop (GI) at Saratoga.  Martin Garcia will ride Bulldogger.

Noble’s Promise is one of two veterans of the 2010 Kentucky Derby in the Jimmy V field.  Gold Mark Farm’s Backtalk, a Tom Amoss trainee who finished last of 20 in the Derby field, finished second in a Remington Park allowance race in his most recent start.  Rafael Bejarano will ride the son of Smarty Jones, who is a 6-1 risk in the morning line.

The field for the Jimmy V, from the rail out, is as follows: Backtrack (James Graham), Cool Bullet (Shaun Bridgmohan), Don’t Put It Back (Larry Sterling Jr.), Don Tito (Joel Rosario), Latigo Shore (John Velazquez), Backtalk (Rafael Bejarano), Bulldogger (Martin Garcia), Close to the Edge (Ramon Dominguez) and Noble’s Promise (Leparoux). All starters will carry 116 pounds.

McGEE DOUBLES UP ON CLARK HANDICAP CHANCES – Trainer Paul McGee was all set to send Dubious Miss on a solo mission for his barn in Friday’s 135th running of the $400,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (Grade II).

But when entries were taken Tuesday, McGee had doubled up with the Amerman Racing Stables’ Demarcation, winner of the Ack Ack Handicap (GIII) here on Nov. 6.

It was a joint decision (with owner John Amerman),” McGee said. “There is nothing to lose and everything to gain. He ran so well in the Ack Ack it makes sense to give it a try. If you are going to try the big boys, it may as well be now.”

The Ack Ack victory was Demarcation’s first start on the dirt since Feb. 17, 2008, at the Fair Grounds. His previous victory prior to the Ack Ack had come in last fall’s River City Handicap, a race many observers thought Demarcation would run in Friday.

Jesus Castanon, who was aboard for the Ack Ack and River City victories, has the call Friday and will break from post position four.

    Dubious Miss, owned by David Holloway Racing, Inc., comes into the Clark off an easy allowance victory on Oct. 31 at Keeneland. Dubious Miss will break from post position 13 in the Clark under Calvin Borel.

“From the 13 hole, it is going to be all about the trip,” McGee said. “I feel like I have the right pilot to get us a good trip.”

Borel has ridden Dubious Miss seven times and won six of those starts. The lone loss was in the Kentucky Cup Classic (GII) at Turfway Park when Furthest Land prevailed by a neck. Furthest Land went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (GI) in his next start.

“Calvin’s got a great record on him,” McGee said. “Why? It’s just one of those things that you can’t put your finger on.”

The Clark has long been a special race for McGee, a Louisville native who scored one of his first significant victories as a trainer in the 1988 renewal with James Shields’ Balthazar B.  He narrowly missed another Clark victory in 2005 when he saddled runner-up Suave, who lost by a head to Elisabeth Alexander’s Magna Graduate.

Demarcation would be just the second horse to sweep the Ack Ack (GIII) and the Clark, the track’s major Fall Meet races for older horses.  John Franks’ Littlebitlively won both races in 1999.

KARELIAN MAKES QUICK TURNAROUND INTO RIVER CITY – A week ago, Jack Bohannan discounted the chances of Karelian coming back to defend his title in the River City Handicap (GIII) on Friday.”

“He’s not going to run; we’ve already got Wicked Style in there,” said Bohannan, assistant to trainer Rusty Arnold.

Turns out, both Arnold runners will be in the River City.

“He came out of the Breeders’ Cup (Mile) well and he worked super on Saturday at Keeneland,” Bohannan said of Karelian, who worked a bullet five-eighths in 1:00 over the main track at the Lexington oval.

Karelian, owned by Green Lantern Stables, dead-heated with Demarcation in last year’s River City and then did not run again until the Shadwell Turf Mile (GI) at Keeneland on Oct. 10 in which he finished second, beaten a nose by Court Vision.

“He had a minor injury in behind after last year’s race,” Bohannan said of the 7-year-old gelding. “He has had a lot of problems; suspensory, sesamoids. It is amazing that Rusty has been able to hold him together. We get three or four races out of him and then something happens.”

Rajiv Maragh will ride Karelian in the River City and make up the bulk of the top weight of 122 pounds. Wicked Style, owned by Ashbrook Farm, will be ridden by Robby Albarado and carry 116 pounds.

Wicked Style returns to the turf after three races on Polytrack, the most recent a third-place finish behind Clark Handicap contender Blame in the Fayette (GII) on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.

RICH PEARL BRINGS TODD BACK TO THE DOWNS – Jerry Todd’s eyes gleam as he stands in the viewing stand on the backstretch gazing upon the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs,

"I was a groom with Gene Cleveland and we brought Ga Hai to the Kentucky Derby,” Todd said. “That was big … going to the Derby, to Churchill Downs, the Mecca.”

Ga Hai ran 14th in the 100th Derby in 1974 behind Cannonade. Now, more than 35 years later, Todd has returned to run a horse that he owns and trains, Rich Pearl, in Saturday’s Caressing overnight stakes for 2-year-old fillies going a mile on the grass.

Rich Pearl, winner of the Donnie Wilhite Memorial at a mile on the Louisiana Downs turf on Aug. 15, comes into the Caressing off a two-month layoff after being eased in the Sept. 19 Happy Ticket at Louisiana Downs.

“That race came off the grass and she was running second when the whole field came over on her,” the 65-year-old Todd said. “She got hit and quickly dropped 4-5 lengths back and the rider (Sidney LeJeune) just protected her when he saw he had no chance.”

Todd, who is based at Lone Star Park in suburban Dallas, said the filly was not injured in the race.
“There are just no races down there for her going long on the grass,” said Todd, whose filly turned in two bullet works at Lone Star before shipping here.

On Tuesday, Rich Pearl worked a half-mile in company around the “dogs” over the Matt Winn Turf Course in :49.80 with Francisco Torres up. Torres will have the riding assignment on Saturday.

BARN TALK – Clarence Scharbauer’s Indygo Mountain, who emerged from last fall’s meet as a prime candidate on many Kentucky Derby watch lists, returns to the races Friday for the first time since the Risen Star (GIII) on Feb. 7 at Fair Grounds. Trained by Bret Calhoun, Indygo Mountain came out of the Risen Star with a chipped knee and his return to the races was further delayed by a throat issue according to Calhoun assistant Dennis “Peaches” Geier. Indygo Mountain is entered in Friday’s 10th race, a seven-furlong main track allowance test with regular rider Jamie Theriot named to ride. …

Trainer Tom Bush was not here to see Get Stormy win the Commonwealth Turf (GIII)    on Nov. 15 and he won’t be here Friday to see Banrock run in the River City Handicap. “I came in with the horse on Monday and I am flying back to New York today,” Bush said Wednesday morning. “I have three horses entered Friday and the races were all extras and they all went.” Banrock has won three consecutive races at the River City distance of nine furlongs and in his career has won eight New York state-bred races. “He got beat a nose by Presious Passion at Monmouth in June and that’s pretty good form right there.” …

Julien Leparoux became the 15th rider in Churchill Downs history to reach 400 victories when he won Tuesday’s sixth race on Countus in Mon. The victory was one of four for Leparoux on the day and moved him ahead of Calvin Borel for leading rider at the meet 22-21. Leparoux is named on eight mounts and Borel five on Wednesday’s card. … Steve Asmussen maintains a three-win edge (14-11) on Dale Romans in the race for leading trainer. Both trainers have three horses entered on the Wednesday card. The 21-day meet ends Saturday.

WORK TAB – A.C. and Clare Asbury’s Gleam of Hope, fourth in the Iroquois (GIII) on Nov. 1, worked a half-mile in :48.80 over a fast track in preparation for an expected run in Saturday’s Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) for trainer Tony Reinstedler.

STEWART: MACHO AGAIN “READY TO ROLL” FOR CLARK – The heavy lifting is all done and according to trainer Dallas Stewart, Macho Again is “ready to roll” for Friday’s 135th running of the $400,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (Grade II) at Churchill Downs.

“I feel good about our chances,” Stewart said of Macho Again, who is owned by West Point Thoroughbreds. “I like where we are, he loves this track and he worked great yesterday (five furlongs in 1:01.20).”

Macho Again has compiled a record of 5-3-1-0 at Churchill Downs with his biggest victory coming in June’s Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) in which he defeated likely Clark rivals Einstein (Brz) and Bullsbay.

The Clark will be Macho Again’s first start since finishing fourth in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (GI) on Oct. 3.

“There was no pace in that race and things just didn’t pan out that day,” Stewart said.

Macho Again came down with a cough after the Jockey Club that forced Stewart to cancel a trip to Santa Anita for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI). Since recovering from the brief setback Macho Again has had three five-furlong works.

The 4-year-old colt’s top effort of 2009 in which he also won the New Orleans Handicap (GII) was a runner-up effort to Kentucky Oaks (GI) winner and top Horse of the Year contender Rachel Alexandra in the Woodward (GI) at the Clark Handicap distance of 1 1/8 miles.

“That was a great race,” Stewart said of the Saratoga race in which Macho Again came the closest of any horse this year to Rachel Alexandra in falling a head short. “One more jump … that would have made my year.”

Stewart said that Macho Again would ship with his barn to the Fair Grounds at the end of the meet with the initial plans for 2010 being the Sunshine Millions Classic at Santa Anita on Jan. 30 or the Donn Handicap (GI) on Feb. 6 at Gulfstream Park.

GIANT OAK MAKES BELATED RETURN TO CHURCHILL DOWNS – After running second in last fall’s Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) here Giant Oak appeared on many watch lists as a contender for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI).

However, instead of running here on the first Saturday in May, Giant Oak will make a belated encore appearance beneath the Twin Spires on the last Friday in November in the Clark Handicap.

  “We had bad luck with him in New Orleans,” said Drew Coontz, assistant to trainer Chris Block. “In the Risen Star (GIII), that was a train wreck. A narrow track with 13 head and no pace. Then two hours before the Louisiana Derby (GII) there was a major downpour.”

Giant Oak went on to run second in the Illinois Derby (GII) under Shaun Bridgmohan, but Block pulled the colt from Kentucky Derby consideration because he did not feel he was seasoned enough for the Run for the Roses.

Owned by the Virginia Tarra Trust, Giant Oak spent the summer running on the grass at Arlington Park where he had made a spectacular debut as a 2-year-old. Giant Oak returned to the dirt in the Indiana Derby (GII) on Oct. 3 in which he ran second.

“Chris had wanted to try him back on the dirt,” Coontz said. “He ran very well in the Indiana Derby and we were very pleased.”

However, after the Indiana Derby, bumps in the road continued to emerge for Giant Oak.

“Five days after the Indiana Derby, he stepped on an Allen’s wrench with his right front,” Coontz said. “We shipped him to Keeneland a week before the Fayette (on Oct. 31). I flew in Thursday night and the next morning we were going to train and he was off in the left front and we had to scratch him.”

Giant Oak shipped directly to Churchill Downs instead of returning to his home base in Chicago and had three works, the most recent being Saturday morning, a bullet five furlongs in :59.80 with Bridgmohan up.

“He’s been doing great since he got here,” Coontz said. “He has worked well and this morning I got him in a minute.”

ONE CAROLINE SIDELINED; DERBY WEEK RETURN EYED – One Caroline, the talented 4-year-old daughter of Unbridled’s Song who won her first five career starts, has been sidelined by an injury that occurred during a third-place finish to Malibu Prayer in the Nov. 7 running of the Chilukki (GII).

“When she wasn’t nominated to the Falls City (Handicap), I figured somebody would be calling,” trainer Rusty Arnold said. “She got hurt in the Chilukki, has had surgery and is now on the farm.”

Owned by G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and the Louise Ireland Humphrey Revocable Trust-2008, One Caroline suffered her first career loss in the Louisville Distaff (GII) here on May 1. Shortly after that, she suffered an injury that sidelined her until the Chilukki.

“It is not the same injury and she has not been retired,” Arnold said of One Caroline, who ran third in the Chilukki. “The plan is to have her join the barn in Florida in February and try to run her (at Churchill Downs) Derby Week.

“The goal is to run in the Louisville Distaff, the same race she ran in this year.”

One Caroline suffered her first career defeat in that Kentucky Oaks Day race when she ran second to Miss Isella.

BARN TALK – For the followers of leading riders Calvin Borel and Julien Leparoux, mutual clerks were printing money on Friday at Churchill Downs. Borel and Leparoux, who have opened considerable daylight in the race for leading rider, combined to sweep the early Pick 4 resulting in payoffs that boggled the mind. Leparoux won the opener on Next May ($18.40), Borel won the second on Unreachable Star ($23) and third on Misleader ($10.60) and Leparoux took the fourth on Turfiste ($10.20). The rolling doubles came back $225.20, $199.80 and $72.20; the rolling Pick 3s returned $1,619.20 and $1,024; and, the Pick 4 returned $5,825.20 for a $2 bet. Borel added two more victories on the Friday card – Cielo Classic ($12.60) in the eighth and Haven’s Honey ($15) in the ninth for a $71.20 double – to open an 18-16 lead on Leparoux. Shane Bridgmohan is third with 12 victories.

WORK TAB – Dubious Miss was on the track a little after 6 a.m. Saturday with jockey Calvin Borel up to work five furlongs in 1:01 over a fast track in preparation for Friday’s Clark Handicap. “I got him in :26 the first part and :35 the last three-eighths,” trainer Paul McGee said. “Perfect.” McGee also worked Demarcation a half-mile in :50.80 for a probable start in Friday’s River City Handicap (GIII). Also working toward the River City was Pleasant Strike, who covered a half-mile in :48.60 for trainer Todd Pletcher. … Pocahontas (GIII) winner Sassy Image worked five furlongs in 1:00.20 for trainer Dale Romans in readying for next Saturday’s Golden Rod (GII). Other juveniles working five furlongs toward a likely closing-day stakes engagement on the “Stars of Tomorrow II” card were Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) nominees Callide Valley (1:00.60) for trainer Eddie Kenneally and Mr. Saturdaynight (1:01.80) for Romans. … Working at the Trackside Training Center for trainer Mike Maker were Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (GI) winner Furthest Land (half-mile in :50.40) and Kentucky Jockey Club probable William’s Kitten, the eighth-place finisher in the Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI), who worked a bullet five-eighths in 1:00.

MARY’S FOLLIES HEADS TO FLORIDA AFTER MRS. REVERE VICTORY – Paul Pompa Jr.’s Mary’s Follies did not stick around Louisville long after her 1 ½-length score in Saturday’s Grade II Mrs. Revere in stakes-record time over the Matt Winn Turf Course under Kent Desormeaux.

“I’ve got a van picking her up Sunday and taking her straight to Gulfstream Park,” trainer Rick Dutrow said by phone Saturday night. “I am going to let her regroup and get over this one and train up to her next one.”

Mary’s Follies is now 2-for-2 on the turf with her other grass win coming in the Boiling Springs (GIII) at Monmouth in June. Prior to the Mrs. Revere, Mary’s Follies had finished sixth in the $750,000 Fitz Dixon Cotillion (Grade II) at Philadelphia Park on Oct. 3.

“She had been training real good since her last race, which was kind of surprising since she ran such a dull race,” Dutrow said. “She had been training very, very good and we felt like we couldn’t turn down the opportunity last time because that purse was so big and she had run good over that Philadelphia track.

"We felt like we had to take a shot, which was very stupid. But she came out of it the right way and she fired a bullet (Saturday).”

Whatever Mary’s Follies’ next race will be, it figures to be on the lawn.

“I haven’t looked for a race yet, but we will definitely point for a grass race,” Dutrow said. “Even if it comes off, she likes the mud.”

EINSTEIN, MACHO AGAIN HEAD CLARK HANDICAP NOMINEES – Stronach Stable’s Einstein (Brz) and West Point Thoroughbreds’ Macho Again, winners of the past two major handicap races for older horses here, head a list of 23 nominations for the 135th running of the $400,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GII) to be run Nov. 27.

Trained by Helen Pitts-Blasi, Einstein is the defending champion in the Clark. Should Einstein run in the Clark, he would be coming back to the races in less than three weeks after finishing 11th in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) on Nov. 7 at Santa Anita, the worst showing in his 29-race career.

Macho Again won the Grade I Stephen Foster Handicap here in June and defeated Einstein in the process. Trained by Dallas Stewart, Macho Again has not run since finishing fourth in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (GI) on Oct. 3 at Belmont Park.

Other Grade I winners nominated to the Clark are Mitchell Ranch, Frank Lewkowitz and Joe Rice’s Bullsbay, winner of the Whitney at Saratoga as well as the Grade III Alysheba here, and Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Furthest Land, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (GI).

Three horses that won Grade II events in their most recent starts are also among the nominees. They are Adele Dilschneider and Claiborne Farm’s Blame, winner of the Fayette (GII) at Keeneland on Oct. 31; Darley Stable’s Etched, winner of the Meadowlands Cup (GII) on Oct. 16; and Jill Baffert and George Jacobs’ Misremembered, winner of the Indiana Derby (GII) at Hoosier Park on Oct. 3.

Weight assignments for the Clark will be announced Friday.

DEFENDING CHAMPS WON’T MEET AGAIN IN RIVER CITY HANDICAP –When the nominations came out for the 32nd running of the River City Handicap (GIII), there were two prominent names among the 27 nominees: Amerman Racing Stables, LLC’s Demarcation and Green Lantern Stables’ Karelian.

Those two dead-heated for the victory in last year’s running of the River City, so the possibility existed of the same horses dead-heating in the same race a year later.

However, it’s not going to happen.

“Karelian’s not running. We’re running Wicked Style in there,” said Jack Bohannan, assistant to trainer Rusty Arnold.

“I’m not sure which race we’ll go in,” said Paul McGee, trainer of Demarcation who is nominated to both the River City and the Clark Handicap. “(Owner) Mr. (John) Amerman is up in the air on it too.”

Demarcation won the Grade III Ack Ack on dirt here on Nov. 6 for his first victory since last year’s River City that is run at 1 1/8 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course.

Wicked Style, owned by Ashbrook Farm, ran third in the Fayette (GII) at Keeneland over Polytrack in his most recent start on Oct. 31. In three turf starts in 2009, Wicked Style has two victories and a second-place finish.

Three graded-stakes winners on the turf in 2009 are among the nominees headed by Rahy’s Attorney, winner of the Nijinsky (GII) and King Edward Handicap (GII) at Woodbine this summer. The others are Brave Tin Soldier, winner of the Cliff Hanger (GIII) at the Meadowlands in October and the mare Tizfiz, who took the San Gorgonio (GII) at Santa Anita in January.

Weights for the River City will be announced Friday.    

NOMINATIONS OUT FOR CLOSING WEEKEND STAKES – Grade I winners Swift Temper and Unbridled Belle top the list of 18 fillies and mares nominated to the 94th running of the Falls City Handicap (GII) to be contested on Thanksgiving Day.

Swift Temper took the Ruffian in September at Belmont Park and three times this year has gotten the best of Unbridled Belle, a five-time graded-stakes winner who won the Grade I Beldame in 2007.

Weights for the Falls City, which is run at 1 1/8 miles on the main track, will be announced Friday. Miss Isella won last year’s Falls City, a race in which Swift Temper finished fourth.

Closing day of the 21-day meet on Nov. 28 is “Stars of Tomorrow II” and will feature 12 races exclusively for 2-year-olds. Highlighting the day will be the 83rd running of the Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) and the 66th running of the Golden Rod (GII) for fillies.

The Kentucky Jockey Club, won last year by Beethoven, drew 37 nominations including the top three finishers from the opening day Iroquois: Thiskyhasnolimit, Uh Oh Bango and Soaring Empire.

The Golden Rod, won last year by Rachel Alexandra, attracted the top three finishers from the opening day Pocahontas in Sassy Image, Decelerator and All Due Respect among the 23 nominations.

BARN TALK – Calvin Borel’s four-win day on Saturday gave him 11 victories through the first 10 days of the 21-day meet and a two-win advantage over Julien Leparoux and Shaun Bridgmohan in the Fall Meet race for “leading rider.” Borel’s four-bagger came in races 5-8 and the Calvin backers in the crowd were richly rewarded. Borel won with Win Grammy Boy ($12) in the fifth, High Spirit ($16.40) in the sixth, Choice Play ($11.60) in the seventh and Cosmic ($9.60) in the eighth. The rolling doubles returned $146.60, $96.40 and $76.80 and the rolling Pick-3s paid $637 and $783.20. …

 Stronach Stable’s Harlem Rocker ran second to Cosmic on Saturday beaten a head in his first start since being disqualified from first in last November’s Cigar Mile (GI) at Aqueduct. “The reason he ran here instead of New York is because he was entered twice up there and the race didn’t go,” said Michael Dilger, who oversees trainer Todd Pletcher’s Churchill Downs string. “A win would have been nice, but he ran well and that sets him up for his next race. He will head to Florida after this meet closes (Nov. 28).”

Trainer Bill Mott, the leading conditioner all time at Churchill Downs, recorded his 625th victory beneath the Twin Spires when Soldier Field was moved up to first place via disqualification in Saturday’s 10th race. Closest to Mott on the all-time list is Dale Romans with 481 with nine of those coming at the current meet.

WORK TAB – Giant Oak, who is pointing toward the Clark Handicap, worked seven furlongs in 1:29.60 over a fast track Sunday morning after the renovation break for trainer Chris Block. The 3-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway lost narrowly to Beethoven in last year’s Kentucky Jockey Club (GII)… Vosburgh (GI) winner Kodiak Kowboy worked six furlongs in 1:12.60 for trainer Steve Asmussen.

JONES GOES AROUND THE TRACK ON LAST TIME – It was business as usual Saturday morning at Barn 43 at Churchill Downs with trainer Larry Jones in the saddle and galloping his horses during training hours.

But the game, and Jones’ life, will change on Sunday.

"I am sleeping in that morning,” said Jones, who is turning over the training of his 23 horses to his wife Cindy. “I’m gonna tell Cindy that I’m sick.”

Jones, a 53-year-old native of Hopkinsville, Ky., who began training in 1982, is retiring as a trainer after the Saturday card in which he will send the 3-year-old Payton d’Oro out to face older foes in the $150,000-added Chilukki (Grade II).

Jones galloped four horses Saturday morning, the final one being No Such Word.

“That’s it, I’m done,” Jones said with a laugh after he got off the 2-year-old filly.

“I’m gonna keep on galloping. I think I’m on the gallop list tomorrow, but on the late, late ones. I think tomorrow will be my first day as an exercise rider because I have always had a trainer’s license when I have been galloping my horses.”

Jones owns one stakes victory at Churchill Downs, where he saddled his first starter. That winner was Proud Spell in the 2008 Kentucky Oaks.

But it was another filly that really kick-started Jones’ career, Island Sand, who finished second to Ashado in the 2004 Oaks.

“She was right here in this barn and she was the one that really put us on the map,” Jones said. “We drove back to Ellis Park with her in the trailer that afternoon after the race. We stopped at a McDonald’s for a bite to eat and she went through the drive-through with us.”

Jones, who saddled Hard Spun and Eight Belles to runner-up finishes in the 2007 and 2008 runnings of the Kentucky Derby, still has that trailer.

“It is in Maryland with all my stuff in it that has to get to Oaklawn Park,” Jones said.

Cindy Jones will oversee the barn operations through the end of the Churchill Downs meet on Nov. 28 and then the couple will head home to Henderson, Ky., for the holidays and Christmas with the grandchildren.
Longtime assistants Deirdre Jackson and Cory York will handle the stable’s move to Arkansas and continue to work with Cindy.

DEMARCATION COULD RETURN CLOSING WEEKEND – Trainer Paul McGee already had one horse in his barn targeting the Nov. 27 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GII) in Dubious Miss.
He may have picked up a second on Friday when the Amerman Racing Stables’ Demarcation rallied to win the Ack Ack Handicap (GIII) in his first main track start since February 2008.

“The way Mr. (John) Amerman was talking last night, he was thinking about the Clark,” McGee said. “We will talk about it, but Demarcation could come back and defend his title in the River City (Handicap, GIII). He is fine this morning.”

The victory by Demarcation was his first since dead-heating with Karelian in last year’s River City Handicap. Jesus Castanon, who was aboard Demarcation on Friday, also was aboard in the River City to account for the rider’s two Churchill Downs stakes victories.

TAPITSFLY COMPLETES FRIDAY GRAND SLAM FOR ROMANS – If there was any lingering doubt that Friday was Dale Romans’ day, Tapitsfly erased it in Southern California.

Romans was not at Churchill Downs yesterday to see each of his three starters reach the winner’s circle. First up was Bobby B. Goode ($8.80) in the second, followed by Buckwild ($11.60) in the fourth and Sir Jock ($5.80) in the fifth.

The trio of wins gave Romans five through the first four days of the 21-day meet and lifted him into the top spot in the race for “leading trainer” honors.

But the crowning achievement of the day came at Santa Anita when Louisvillian Frank Jones Jr.’s homebred Tapitsfly won the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf under Robby Albarado.

The victory by Tapitsfly, Romans’ only horse in the 2009 World Championships, was Romans’ first Breeders’ Cup win from seven starters.. It was the second Breeders’ Cup victory for Albarado, who won the 2007 Classic on “Horse of the Year” Curlin.

Albarado nearly doubled up in the next race, the $2 million Grey Goose Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (GI), finishing second on Beautician for Churchill Downs-based trainer Ken McPeek.

Baldemar Bahena, assistant to Romans, said that Tapitsfly was scheduled to return to Churchill Downs on Sunday.
 
FUND ESTABLISHED TO ASSIST INJURED RIDER BRIMO – Cindy Werner, wife of trainer Ronny Werner, has set up a fund at Fifth Third Bank to assist with the cost of rehabilitation for jockey Julia Brimo who was injured in an Oct. 30 spill at Keeneland.

“They have taken the respirator out and she is breathing on her own,” Cindy Werner said of the 33-year-old Brimo, who remains hospitalized in serious condition at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. “She has some movement in her extremities.”

Brimo’s mount, Golden Stride, clipped heels and feel in the first race on the Polytrack surface at the Lexington track.

“She has been galloping horses for us and rode some for us at Turfway Park,” Cindy Werner said.

Brimo had been a regular fixture at Churchill Downs the past few years as an exercise rider for trainer Mark Casse and among the horses she had galloped here was Sealy Hill, Canada’s Horse of the Year in 2007.

Werner said donations to the fund would be accepted at any Fifth Third Bank or can be mailed to Werner at 1116 Flat Rock Road, Louisville, KY 40245.

BARN TALK – Five-time Churchill Downs riding champion Julien Leparoux was the riding star of the first day of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships at Santa Anita on Friday with two victories. Leparoux guided She Be Wild to victory in the $2 million Grey Goose Juvenile Fillies (GI) and Informed Decision in the $1 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (GI). Leparoux also finished third on Forever Together in the $2 million Emirates Airline Filly & Mare Turf (GI),

She Be Wild is trained by Wayne Catalano, who has 22 horses stabled in Barn 42.

Three-time Churchill Downs graded-stakes winner Pure Clan atoned for her last-place showing in last year’s Emirates Airline Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf by running a fast-closing second to Midday (GB) for veteran trainer Bob Holthus.

The 1-2 finishers in the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic, Life Is Sweet and Mushka, both spent time here in the Spring of 2008 in Barn 19 for trainer Bill Mott.

“Mushka spent some time between here and Keeneland after she wintered at Payson Park,” said Kenny McCarthy, Mott’s Churchill Downs assistant. “Life Is Sweet was here after she ran at Keeneland (fourth in the Grade I Ashland), but the owners (Pam and Marty Wygod) saw that she liked the Polytrack and sent her to John Shirreffs in California.”

Former jockey Joe Deegan, who spends the first part of each morning galloping horses at Churchill Downs, picked up a training victory Friday when Pop Tarrt posted a $101.80 upset in the eighth race.

“We have some horses at the High Point Training Center in LaGrange,” Deegan said. “I gallop here until 7:30 and then go out there. We can train as long as we want out there.”

The Amerman Racing Stables’ Demarcation rallied from far off the pace to score a 1 ½-length victory over Glamour Guy to win the 17th running of the $111,000 Ack Ack Handicap (Grade III) at Churchill Downs.
    
Ridden by Jesus Castanon for trainer Paul McGee, Demarcation ran in seventh place in the eight-horse field in the run down the backside as Spotsgone and favored Riley Tucker battled it out on the front end through fractions of :22.71 and :45.79.

Castanon had Demarcation on the move approaching the far turn and was in fifth place at the top of the stretch as the two early leaders were joined across the track by Greeley’s Conquest and Glamour Guy. Inside the eighth pole, Demarcation split Greeley’s Conquest and Spotsgone and spurted clear to his first victory since dead-heating in last year’s River City Handicap (GIII) on the Matt Winn Turf Course with Castanon aboard.

    Demarcation, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred son of Gulch, covered the mile on a “fast” main track in 1:36.15.

    The victory, the seventh in 26 starts, was worth $66,756 and increased Demarcation’s earnings to $357,645.

    Demarcation returned $23.40, $10.40 and $6.20. Glamour Guy, ridden by Leandro Goncalves, paid $20 and $10.40 with Spotsgone, ridden by Jon Court, finishing a half-length back in third and paying $7.80 to show. Riley Tucker finished fourth another 1 ¾ lengths back.

    Racing resumes Saturday with a 10-day race program highlighted by the $150,000-added Chilukki (GII) that goes as the ninth race on the card that begins at 12:40 p.m. (all times EST). Also on the program will be the simulcast of the second day of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships from Santa Anita. The first of eight Breeders’ Cup races begins at 1:45 p.m. and concludes with the $5 million Classic with a 6:45 p.m. post time.

POST-RACE QUOTES – THE ACK ACK

PAUL J. McGEE, trainer of DEMARCATION, winner: “That was good. You know, he’s won on everything. He’s won on dirt, he’s won on Poly (Polytrack) and he’s won on the grass. I’d say he’s very versatile. I entered him in a money-allowance race at seven furlongs at Keeneland that didn’t fill but I’ve been looking to switch it up with him a little bit. This worked out good.”

JESUS CASTANON, jockey of DEMARCATION, winner: “I’ve always liked this horse ever since I started riding him. He broke good enough and they got away from us at the beginning. When we got to the half-mile pole, I knew he was going to get in the bridle and we’d have a big shot to get ‘em down the lane. This guy, he does it all. He always gives one hundred percent, no matter what kind of track he runs on.”

LEANDRO GONCALVES, rider of GLAMOUR GUY (runner-up): “He ran big – he was just second-best today.  He started great and (trainer) Ralph (Nicks) told me just to be patient going around and he would finish good.  I wish I’d known the horse.  This was the first time I’d ridden him and I think I should have just waited a little bit more.”

RALPH NICKS, trainer of GLAMOUR GUY (runner-up): “He ran well.  I took his blinkers off and I’ve been trying to get somebody to take him back all year since his claiming win at the Fair Grounds.  All he did in that one was run the last quarter and he sprinted real fast that day.  But he wants to show a little speed and I can’t get it across to our pilots that we have reins for a reason.  Even Leandro said today, ‘If I’d kept him back there, he wins’ – and I felt the same way.  He let him make a half-mile run today.  He just needs somebody to be a driver instead of a passenger.”
Q: He’ll probably run next at Fair Grounds? “He’ll run back at Fair Grounds.  If there was anything here, it would be too quick.  So it’ll be probably December or January before he runs again.”

JON COURT, rider of SPOTSGONE (third): “He ran real good.  He’s freshened up and he put on a valiant fight to the end.   He was just third-best today.”

AARON GRYDER, rider of RILEY TUCKER (fourth as the 6-5 favorite): “He traveled nice.  He got a little pressure, but he was underneath me and feeling good.  He was going good, but down the lane they were able to out-foot him.  Obviously he’s run against better company and today he probably didn’t show his ‘A’ race, but he felt great.”

SCOTT BLASI, assistant to Steve Asmussen, trainer of RILEY TUCKER (fourth as the 6-5 favorite): “He was probably a little flat.  He’s done a lot of traveling this year.  This was definitely not his best effort, although I’m not taking anything away from the winner.  He’s going to be an awesome horse down at the Fair Grounds this year.  We’ll get him freshened up.”

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BREEDERS’ CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS FEATURE STRONG CHURCHILL DOWNS INFLUENCE – When the 26th renewal of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships begin its two-day run at Oak Tree at Santa Anita on Friday, the presence of Churchill Downs-based trainers and runners that have performed beneath the Twin Spires in 2009 will be significant.

In all, 13 of the 14 races will feature participants that, in some fashion, have ties to Churchill Downs, with the only exception being Friday’s Ladies’ Classic (Grade I)..

The Breeders’ Cup card kicks off Friday at 3:35 p.m. (all times EST) with the Marathon followed by five races for fillies and mares culminating with the Ladies’ Classic at 6:45 p.m. Saturday will feature nine Breeders’ Cup races beginning with the Juvenile Turf at 1:45 p.m. and concluding with the Classic at 6:45 p.m.

First post time for the live Churchill Downs cards both days is 12:40 p.m.

Here is a rundown of horses that have run or trained at Churchill Downs in 2009 or who have trainers with Churchill Downs or the Trackside Training Center as their main base participating in the Breeders’ Cup in race order:

Marathon: Gangbuster (30-1).

Juvenile Fillies Turf: House of Grace (4-1), Jungle Tale (15-1), Lisa’s Kitten (12-1) and Tapitsfly (8-1).

Juvenile Fillies: Beautician (6-1), Connie and Michael (4-1) and She Be Wild (8-1).

Filly & Mare Turf: Pure Clan (5-1) and Visit (10-1).

Filly & Mare Sprint: Game Face (10-1) and Informed Decision (5-2).

Juvenile Turf: Becky’s Kitten (12-1), Bridgetown (8-1), Kera’s Kitten (12-1) and King Ledley (20-1). Dean’s Kitten (20-1) is on the also-eligible list.

Turf Sprint: Cannonball (8-1).

Sprint: Capt. Candyman Can (15-1) and Join in the Dance (30-1).

Juvenile: Aspire (30-1), Noble’s Promise (8-1) and William’s Kitten (30-1).

Mile: Court Vision (12-1) and Cowboy Cal (6-1).

Dirt Mile: Bullsbay (3-1), Chocolate Candy (15-1), Furthest Land (20-1) and Mr. Sidney (12-1).

Turf: Telling (20-1).

Classic: Einstein (12-1), Mine That Bird (12-1), Regal Ransom (20-1), Summer Bird (9-2) and Zenyatta (5-2). Zenyatta trained two days at Churchill Downs this spring in preparation for the Louisville Distaff (GII) but did not run because of track condition.

RAIL DRAW IN CLASSIC FOR DERBY WINNER BUOYS BOREL – Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) winner Mine That Bird landed in the No. 1 post position for Saturday’s $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) at Santa Anita when the 14-race World Championships card was drawn Tuesday.

“I love it,” jockey Calvin Borel said with a big grin Wednesday morning during the renovation break at Churchill Downs.

Borel gave Mine That Bird a rail-skimming ride in the Derby in May to post a 50-1 upset. It was Borel’s second Kentucky Derby victory. Borel, who turns 43 on Saturday, is hoping Mine That Bird gives him a second Breeders’ Cup victory.

“I have seen him training in the mornings and he looks like he is going just like he was before the Derby, maybe more so than in any race since the Derby,” Borel said.

Borel, who rode two winners here on Sunday’s opening-day card, said he has talked with trainer Chip Woolley since Mine That Bird’s sixth-place finish in the Goodwood (GI) at Santa Anita on Oct. 10.

“He told me he has been training good,” Borel said. “His last race was not that bad. He gets an extra eighth of a mile this time and he needed that last race since it was his first start in two months.”

Borel has one other mount on Saturday: Ready’s Echo for trainer Todd Pletcher in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile.

“He’s a nice little horse,” Borel said of Ready’s Echo, who drew post position 10. “I rode him one time at Saratoga and he ran good (finishing third in the seven-furlong Forego). He might have won with a little luck because he got in a little trouble.”

DEMARCATION RETURNS TO THE DIRT IN FRIDAY’S ACK ACK – It is back to the dirt for the Amerman Racing Stables’ Demarcation in Friday’s 17th running of the $100,000-added Ack Ack (GIII).

Trained by Paul McGee, Demarcation has not raced on the dirt since Feb. 17, 2008, at the Fair Grounds. The ensuing 13 starts have been on the grass at five tracks.

So why dirt and why now?

Actually it was by process of elimination,” McGee said. “I entered him in a money/allowance at Keeneland last week that didn’t fill and then I entered him in a money/allowance here that didn’t fill.

But he has run well on dirt and I was looking to get him back on the dirt. He broke his maiden going six furlongs on the dirt at the Fair Grounds and he ran second here in the Matt Winn behind Spin Master as a 3-year-old.”

Jose Castanon has the riding assignment Friday and will break from post position three in the field of eight. Castanon was aboard for Demarcation’s most recent victory, a dead heat with Karelian in last fall’s River City Handicap (GIII) here.

McGee also said that David Holloway Racing’s Dubious Miss, an easy winner Saturday at Keeneland, is being pointed to the Nov. 27 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GII) at 1 1/8 miles on the main track.

BARN TALK – Doc Danner, agent for jockey Julia Brimo who was injured in a spill Friday at Keeneland, said the rider had an operation Tuesday at the University of Kentucky Hospital in Lexington. “The operation went well and now we just hope for the best for the next 48 to 72 hours,” Danner said of the procedure to relieve pressure on Brimo’s vertebrae.

Nominations close today for the 36th running of the $100,000-added Cardinal Handicap (GIII) for fillies and mares going 1 1/8 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course on Saturday, Nov. 21. Indescribable won last year’s Cardinal under Kent Desormeaux for trainer Bill Mott, his record sixth victory in the race.        

Louisville-based owners and breeders Richard, Elaine and Bert Klein have raced some very talented horses at Churchill Downs through the years, but few have attracted the early attention generated by their 3-year-old gelding Cash Refund.
The talk surrounding the unbeaten son of Petionville figures to intensify if he notches a third consecutive victory when he makes his stakes debut in Saturday’s eighth running of the $100,000 Matt Winn Stakes for 3-year-olds.  The Steve Margolis-trained Cash Refund won his two prior starts by a combined margin of 13 ¾ lengths, has  been so impressive that Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia made him the close 8-5 second choice in the field of five in the Matt Winn.
The more accomplished Capt. Candyman Can – the Ian Wilkes-trained winner of Gulfstream Park’s Hutcheson (GII), Aqueduct’s Bay Shore (GIII) and Churchill Downs Iroquois (GIII) – got the narrow nod as the 6-5 morning line favorite.  Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. has been in the irons for his earlier romps and will ride again in Saturday’s seven-furlong outing.
The fact that Cash Refund has won his first two starts by gaudy margins was enough to attract attention from horsemen and racing fans, but what has really generated the buzz around Margolis’ gelding was the dazzling Beyer Speed Figure of 110 earned in his most recent race, a seven-length allowance romp at six furlongs on the opening day of Churchill Downs’ Spring Meet.
“The horse has done everything right and we were very happy with his race,” Margolis said.  “He rated nicely and when Brian asked him to run, he just kind of ran away from them.  Of course we know that was just an entry-level allowance, but the Beyer and the Ragozin figures he got were very good.”
Margolis said the Kleins weighed a couple of options for Cash Refund’s next step, but decided the Matt Winn worked best despite the imposing presence of Capt. Candyman Can.
“We feel this is the right opportunity at the right time while we’re here at Churchill to take a shot in the race on Saturday,” he said.  “Ian’s horse is a very, very good horse and he’s an accomplished three-time stakes winner and he’s a serious horse.”
Like Allamerican Bertie, De Bertie and so many of the stakes winners campaigned by the Kleins, Cash Refund is a homebred.  Out the Mystery Storm mare Swept Away, Cash Refund puzzled his connections when he first came to the track last summer with a seeming lack of interest in his training.  Margolis said he just did not appear to be “an unhappy horse,” and that led to the decision in late summer to geld Cash Refund.  He was turned out on a farm for a few weeks after that and returned to Margolis’ care at Churchill Downs during the 2008 Fall Meet and resumed serious training over the winter at New Orleans’ Fair Grounds.   
Cash Refund was a different horse when he returned to serious training at Fair Grounds, but tipped his hand to Margolis with a work from the gate with the veteran True Course, a six-year-old veteran who is a minor stakes winner and has earned nearly $250,000 in his career. 
“I worked him with True Course and two other babies, and Cash Refund wouldn’t let anyone by him,” recalled Margolis.  “His workouts were really positive and he was doing it pretty easily, so we were looking forward to seeing him run.”
Cash Refund finally made it to the starting gate and did not disappoint as he rolled to an easy 6 ¾-length victory.  Then came his dominant victory on the opening day of the Spring Meet at Churchill Downs and the glittering Beyer Speed Figure registered on a track that otherwise turned out mostly slower times throughout that day.
Margolis’ best horse to date was the sprinter Cajun Beat, a gelding that won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (GI) at Oak Tree at Santa Anita as a 3-year-old.  It’s too early to know how good Cash Refund might be, but Saturday’s Matt Winn – which also includes stakes winners Dance Caller and Zigaree and impressive allowance winner Conchacer in its field of five – could further validate the high opinion of the gelding held by his owners and trainer.
“I’m so happy for the Kleins,” Margolis said.  “He’s really developed a personality now and he’s coming into this race as good as we could ask.  If he runs the way he’s been training, it’ll be a good horse race.”

RIVER CITY CO-CHAMP DEMARCATION TRAINING SHARPLY FOR RETURN – Amerman Racing’s Demarcation, mostly quiet since his dead-heat victory with Karelian in last fall’s River City Handicap (GIII) on the Churchill Downs turf, turned heads on Tuesday with a very sharp five-furlong work on the Matt Winn Turf Course. 
    The 5-year-old gelded son of Gulch had jockey Julien Leparoux in the saddle as he zipped 5/8ths of a mile around the dogs on “firm” turf in 1:00.60.  It was easily the fastest move of the day on the grass and the eye-catching move came in his first work for trainer Paul J. McGee since Demarcation ran sixth to Proudinsky in the Mervin Muniz Jr. Handicap (GII) on the grass at Fair Grounds.
    The gap in serious training for Demarcation was due to a quarter crack that McGee said is no longer a concern.  Although that problem has been cleared up, the swift workout time by Demarcation came as a surprise to McGee.
    “I told Julien he’s not a very good work horse,” McGee said.  “I said if you just let those reins dangle, he’ll go in 1:06.  He’s just that kind. So Julien kind of rode him all the way around there.”
    After his effort in the Muniz, in which Demarcation was beaten by just 2 ¾ lengths, McGee had hoped to run his veteran in an allowance race on the Keeneland turf with a summer goal of competing in the $150,000 Firecracker Handicap (GII).  But the quarter crack emerged and changed that plan. 
    Following Tuesday’s work the one-mile Firecracker at the top of Demarcation’s summer agenda and McGee hopes to prep his veteran in an allowance race sometime next month.
    “He’s back to doing good now,” said McGee. “It was just that quarter crack that kept him out.”
    Demarcation has a career record of 6-3-5 in 21 races aand has earned $266,833.

BARN TALK – Jockey Julien Leparoux notched career victory 1,000 on Wednesday when he piloted Janet Dunlay’s My Little Connor ($6.20) to a 1 ¾-length victory for veteran trainer David Vance in the third.  Leparoux picked up one more victory in the day’s ninth race to extend his early lead in the race for leading rider of the Spring Meet.  Leparoux ended the day with 20 victories for a four-win cushion over Jamie Theriot. … Wednesday was a good day for Leparoux’s family as brother-in-law Tony Farina notched a victory in the second race with Margaux Farm’s Special Clearance ($30.80).  Farina is married to Leparoux’s sister, Virginia. … Two-time Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Calvin Borel notched three wins on Wednesday’s card to push his Spring Meet victory total to 13.  Borel will ride Kentucky Oaks (GI) winner Rachel Alexandra in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes (GI), the second jewel of the Triple Crown. … Saturday’s eighth race at Churchill Downs has been named “The Chuck Olmstead Memorial” to honor the popular Louisville newsman who died March 10 after working 34 years as a reporter for WHAS-11.  Along with being a longtime fan of Thoroughbred racing, He was a veteran of WHAS-11’s Kentucky Derby telecasts and Olmstead and his signature hat were broadcast fixtures in the paddock on Derby Day … Kentucky Derby veteran Sam P. worked four furlongs over a “sloppy” track on Thursday for trainer Todd Pletcher.  Sam P. finished ninth to Street Sense in the 2007 “Run for the Roses” … With no live racing on Wednesdays for the remainder of the Spring Meet, Churchill Downs will offer free general admission for ITW simulcast wagering on Wednesdays through the remainder of the Spring Meet.
   
ADVANCE PREAKNESS BETTING AVAILABLE ON FRIDAY – Churchill Downs will offer advance wagering on Saturday’s $1.1 million Preakness Stakes all day Friday. Also, the Black-Eyed Susan/Preakness Double – similar to the Oaks/Derby Double – will link Friday’s Grade II, $150,000 Black-Eyed Susan (Pim 12 at 5:50 p.m. ET) and Saturday’s Preakness (Pim 12 at 6:15 p.m. EDT).
Churchill Downs will have a Pimlico-feel for a simulcast of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, complete with yellow, white and black bunting and flowers and live Dixieland and Big Band music. Fans who pass through admission gates will receive their choice of a free Mine That Bird or Rachel Alexandra button while supplies last. Also, Black-Eyed Susan specialty drinks and coastal food specials will be sold at select locations throughout the facility. And between races in the paddock area, the “World’s Largest Black-Eyed Susan” will be on display, and select customers will get a chance to compete in “Crab Races” – they’ll be in costumes dressed as crabs – with the final scheduled for later in the day on the Matt Winn Turf Course.
Early arrivals to Churchill Downs on Preakness Stakes Day can take part in the new “Get in the Game” Handicapping Seminar that will feature informative and in-depth analysis of races and handicapping topics. Hosted by Churchill Downs racing analyst Jill Byrne with a weekly special guest, the series will take place Saturdays in the paddock area (note: it will be held in the ITW area on the second floor of the clubhouse if there is inclement weather) at 11:45 a.m. . .

NEXT “FRIDAY HAPPY HOURS” SET FOR MAY 15 – This week’s “Dress to Impress” Friday Happy Hours at Churchill Downs will showcase live music by Radio Radio. The popular Spring Meet promotion, which takes place most Fridays from 4-7 p.m. in the paddock area, also features $2 Budweiser Select, $2 select specialty drinks and $2 hot dogs. Also, one female in the crowd will be chosen as “best dressed” and win a $250 gift certificate to a Louisville area boutique.