Chris Block

Lothenbach Stables’ Mister Marti Gras rallied in deep stretch to overtake Alma d’Oro to win the 19^th running of the $109,700 Ack Ack Handicap (Grade III) for 3-year-olds and up by a half-length.

Trained by Chris Block and ridden by Julien Leparoux, Mister Marti Gras raced near the back of the seven-horse field as Gladding led the field through fractions of :25.53, :51.03 and 1:15.25 on a muddy main track.

Turning for home, Glenwood Canyon got first run at Gladding with Alma d’Oro charging three wide and Mister Martin Gras four wide. At the eighth pole, Alma d’Oro assumed command, but was unable to hold off Mister Marti Gras, who completed the 1 1/16 miles on a muddy main track in 1:45.68.

A 4-year-old Kentucky-bred gelding by Belong to Me out of the Cure the Blues mare Miss Marta, Mister Marti Gras earned $66,654 with the victory and improved his bankroll to $508,650 with a record of 19-6-5-1.

Mister Marti Gras, carrying 116 pounds, returned $7.80, $4 and $2.80. Alma d’Oro (116), ridden by John Velazquez, returned $6.60 and $4 in finishing a length ahead of Glenwood Canyon (117), who paid $2.60 to show under Robby Albarado.

Gladding was another 1 ¼ lengths back in fourth and was followed in order by Demarcation, Equestrio and Nacho Friend.

In the race following the Ack Ack, Pattons Creek Farm’s Will’s Wildcat went wire to wire to win the second running of the $85,000 The Jimmy V. Don’t Give Up … Don’t Ever Give Up! for 3-year-olds by 1 ¾ lengths over Wine Police.

Ridden by Calvin Borel and trained by Jim Baker, Will’s Wildcat, a Kentucky-bred son of Eurosilver out of the Forest Wildcat mare Wildcat Lady, covered the six furlongs on the main track in 1:09.44. The victory was worth $51,000 and improved Will’s Wildcat’s bankroll to $136,621 with a record of 12-3-1-1.

Will’s Wildcat returned $13.20, $6 and $4.20. Wine Police, ridden by Leparoux, returned $3.80 and $2.80 with Uncle Brent rallying for third under Kent Desormeaux to finish another length back and pay $4.60 to show.

Racing continues Saturday with the second day of the 28^th Breeders’ Cup World Championships. The 12-race program that begins at 12:05 p.m. (ET) features nine championship races highlighted by the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) scheduled for 7 p.m.

ACK ACK QUOTES

 

Chris Block, trainer of Mister Marti Gras (winner) – “He (Mister Marti Gras) ran really well. I was a little concerned about the track because he’s never run over a surface like this (muddy), but he’s handled every track he’s been on. I was also worried about the slow fractions and didn’t know if he’d be able to close into that. With the way the race set up it was a big effort. Assuming he comes out of the race well, we’ll think about going to the Clark (Handicap at Churchill Downs on Nov. 25).”

 

Julien Leparoux, jockey of Mister Marti Gras (winner) – “He (Mister Marti Gras) was very relaxed through the first part of the race and then he finished up really well. It took him awhile to go by the horses, but once he got going I was pretty confident he was going to go by.”

 

GIANT OAK NAMED HIGH WEIGHT FOR STEPHEN FOSTER - Dual Grade I winner Giant Oak has been assigned the high weight of 122 pounds by Churchill Downs racing secretary Ben Huffman for next Saturday’s 30^th running of the Grade I, $500,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap Presented by Abu Dhabi at 1 1/8 miles on the main track.

The Virginia H. Tarra Trust’s 5-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway recorded his first Grade I victory when he was promoted to first place following the disqualification of Successful Dan in the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs last November. After a brief break, Giant Oak returned to in February to launch his 2011 campaign for Chicago-based trainer Chris Block with an impressive two-length victory in the Donn Handicap (GI) at Gulfstream Park. After finishing third as the 3-2 favorite in the Grade II New Orleans Handicap, Giant Oak would return to Churchill Downs for his most recent start, where he finished fifth, beaten three-quarters of a length, in the Grade III Alysheba Presented by Besilu Stables on Kentucky Oaks Day.

Spendthrift Farm LLC’s Crown of Thorns, who won the Grade II Mervyn LeRoy Handicap at Hollywood Park in his most recent start, is rated one pound below Giant Oak at 121 pounds. Trained by Richard Mandella, the 6-year-old son of Repent finished second in four consecutive Grade I events between 2009 and 2010, including the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Sprint (GI) at Santa Anita. Crown of Thorns is confirmed as a starter in the Stephen Foster and is scheduled to fly from Los Angeles to Louisville on Tuesday.

Also scheduled to be on that flight from California on Tuesday is Donald Dizney’s First Dude, the narrow winner of the Alysheba who is third on the list of Foster weight assignments at 119 pounds. Trained by Bob Baffert, First Dude captured the first graded stakes victory of his career in the Alysheba and finishing second in last year’s Preakness (GI) and third in the Belmont Stakes (GI).

The 4-year-old son of Stephen Got Even has a career record of 3-5-4 from 16 starts with $1,142,140.

Other horses under consideration for a run in next Saturday’s Stephen Foster Handicap include A.U. Miner (trained by Clark Hanna, weighted at 114); Apart (Al Stall Jr., 118); Crown of Thorns (Mandella, 121); Duke of Mischief (David Fawkes, 118); First Dude (Baffert, 119); Giant Oak (Block, 122); Mission Impazible (Todd Pletcher, 118); and Regal Ransom (Saeed bin Suroor, 117).

A.U. MINER PUTS IN SHARP WORK FOR FOSTER BID – Don Benge’s A.U. Miner worked five furlongs in 1:02.20 Saturday morning prior to the renovation break over a “muddy” Churchill Downs track in final major training move prior to a bid for next Saturday’s Stephen Foster Handicap.

Jockey Calvin Borel, who will ride A.U. Miner in the Foster for trainer Clark Hanna, worked in company with Saintly Tale.  A. U Miner covered the distance in fractional splits of :13.20, :25.60, :37.40, and :49.40, and galloped out six furlongs in 1:16.20.

The work went very well today and I think he galloped out really strong,” Hanna said.

A.U. Miner was third in his most recent start, the Grade III Breeders’ Cup Marathon at Churchill Downs in November, a race in which he crossed the line in fourth-place, but was promoted to third following the disqualification of first-place finisher Prince Will I Am. The Kentucky-bred’s connections had hoped their luck would improve following their rough trip in the Marathon, but Hanna said the run of bad luck continued.

“He’s been battling some minor health issues since the Marathon,” Hanna said. “He had some knee issues and then a couple of foot problems. I think we’ve finally got him back on track though and we’re looking forward to running next Saturday (in the Foster).”

While hoping for a big run by A.U. Miner in the Foster, Hanna’s wish list for his veteran includes a least one more start for his veteran at Churchill Downs before the end of the year.

“The ultimate goal would be to bring him back in November for another run at the Breeders’ Cup Marathon,” Hanna said. 

Hanna’s veteran has a career record of 4-2-4 from 21 starts and earnings of $349,350.

STALL SAYS BIND WILL ‘RUN FREELY’ IN MATT WINN – After a pair of disappointing losses that following a spectacular racing debut at Fair Grounds, trainer Al Stall Jr. said Friday there would be a change of tactics for Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider’s Bind when he makes his stakes debut in the $125,000-added Matt Winn Stakes Presented by Emirates Equestrian Federation (GIII), a race formerly known as the Northern Dancer, on next Saturday’s Stephen Foster Day program.

The son of the Claiborne stallion Pulpit has fought his rider when he was restrained just off the lead in runner-up finishes allowance races at Fair Grounds and Churchill Downs in his last two starts.  So Stall said Bind would be allowed to do what he wants to do in the 1 1/16-mile Matt Winn.

“We’re going to let him run like his old man,” said Stall.  “We’re going to let him bounce away from there and let him run freely.”

The most recent loss for Bind was his runner-up finish behind the 4-year-old Worldly in a 1 1/16-mile allowance race on Kentucky Derby Day.  Worldly is now expected to compete in last week’s $500,000 Stephen Foster Handicap (GI), the headline event of four graded stakes events on that program.  Along with Bind’s clear resentment of attempted restraint by jockey Rosie Napravnik, Stall’s colt had to wait for running room in the stretch before he launched a bid that fell a half-length short of catching his older and more experienced rival.

“There’s no question in my mind that we were pounds better than him, but you can’t just go run around there with your head stuck straight up in the air,” Stall said.  “That’s two races in a row that he’s done the same thing, because we’ve been restraining him and he clearly doesn’t want any part of that.”

Bind will have a new rider for the Matt Winn, but Stall is not sure yet who that will be.

            The most recent work for Bind was a five-furlong move in 1:01 over Keeneland’s Polytrack course on June 5.  The work was the fastest of seven at the distance on that day.

“He’s something to behold when you watch him train,” Stall said.  “He’s an absolute man-child and he’s not quirky to deal with at all.  He’s beautiful to deal with and we just don’t know what’s happened in those two races, except maybe it’s from his sire.  So we’re not going to take the run away from him.  I honestly think this horse can click off ‘twelves’ (12-second furlongs), and I mean keep clicking them off, too.”

Stall said Claiborne and Dilschneider’s 3-year-old filly Might would get some rest after a disappointing fifth-place finish as the favorite in last week’s $100,000-added Dogwood (GIII) at Churchill Downs.

He said the sister to 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic (GI) winner Blame came out of the race well and her poor effort in her stakes debut in the Dogwood could have been a case of asking too much of the filly after back-to-back victories at Fair Grounds and Churchill Downs.

“Might has always had soft ankles,” Stall said.  “That’s why we slowed down on her.  Maybe in the heat of the battle they pinched her.  That’s the only think I could think of. “

Stall is hoping that rest will be the tonic for Might and will allow her to return later on to build on her otherwise successful year.

“I’m just going to try to quiet her down and make a fall run to try and get black-type on her,” Stall said.  “We most likely went to the well once too often.”

Other 3-year-olds known to be under consideration for the 1 1/16-mile Matt Winn include: Alstom (trained by D. Wayne Lukas); Dominus (Steve Asmussen); Infrattini (Paul McGee); Joe Vann (Todd Pletcher); and Uncle Brent (Lynn Whiting).

BOUQUET BOOTH POINTS TO REGRET FOLLOWING ‘GREAT’ WORK – Trainer Steve Margolis was unsure if Right Time Racing LLC’s Bouquet Booth would start in next Saturday’s Grade III, $125,000-added Regret Presented by Etihad Airways until she completed a five-furlong workout over a firm Matt Winn Turf Course on Thursday in a “bullet” time of 1:01.80.

“It was a really great work and she is definitely going to run (in the Regret) now,” Margolis said.

Shaun Bridgmohan, who is currently second in this meet’s jockey standings behind Corey Lanerie with 24 wins, was aboard for the workout.

“She worked really nicely,” Bridgmohan said. “She was very relaxed and really finished up well. Everything went perfectly.”

Bouquet Booth, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Flower Alley, was fifth, beaten 3 ¼-lengths, in the Kentucky Oaks (GI), last time out.  She will enter the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies on the Matt Winn Turf Course record of 3-1-1 in eight career races with earnings of $452,300.

Known horses under consideration the 42^nd running of Regret include: Bizzy Caroline (trained by Ken McPeek); Blushandbashful (John Terranova II); Bouquet Booth (Steve Margolis); Diva Ash (Dale Romans); Excited (Todd Pletcher); Gaya (Tom Amoss); Holidaysatthefarm (Tom Proctor); Kathmanblu (McPeek); My Phi Temper (Ronny Werner); and Sassy’s Dream (McPeek).

PROCTOR, BANNED LOOK TO KEEP ROLLING ON TURF IN JEFFERSON - Churchill Downs-based trainer Tom Proctor has already won stakes races on Churchill Downs’ Matt Winn Turf Course during the Spring meet with the history-making mare Keertana, who became the first of her gender to win the Grade III Louisville Handicap, and the impressive 3-year-old Banned in the Grade II American Turf Presented by Ram.

More good fortune on the grass for the 55-year-old Proctor could be just days away when send Banned out in search of another graded stakes triumph in the $100,000-added Jefferson Cup Presented by Abu Dhabi (GIII) on Stephen Foster Day Presented by Abu Dhabi for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

Foster was confident Glen Hill Farm’s 3-year-old son of Kitten’s Joy would run well in the Oaks Day race, and Banned more than justified that optimism.

“I thought he would win, but he really ran big that day,” Proctor said. “Although the race set up for him because they went very fast up-front. That will always make a horse look better.”

Proctor is pleased with Banned’s training since that win.  One more pre-Jefferson Cup work lies ahead.

“He’s been doing really well since that race,” Proctor said. “I plan on working him an easy five-eighths on Tuesday.”

Other 3-year-olds under consideration for Saturday’s 36^th running of Jefferson Cup include: Coolmore Lexington (GII) winner Derby Kitten (Mike Maker); Dream Warrior (Eddie Kenneally); Redboard (Garry Simms); Swagger Jack (Darrin Miller); and either Close Ally (Neil Howard) or Perregaux (Howard).

NOMINATIONS FOR CHURCHILL DOWNS’ FIRST ARABIAN RACE - Churchill Downs will hold its first Arabian race next Saturday as part of the undercard on Stephen Foster Day Presented by Abu Dhabi.

The Grade I, $50,000-added The President of United Arab Emirates Cup will be run at 1 ¼-miles and its nominees include: A Ladys Man (trained by Lynn Ashby); Another Color (Renee Lafleur); Crownn Royal (Ashby); Dixies Valentine (Tracy Nunley); Full of Fiesta (Greg Ketter); Grilla (Bill Waldron); Ovour the Top (Ashby); T M Fred Texas (Ronald Martino); Vip (Martino); and Wodkka (Lafleur).

Grilla won an earlier stop on the The President of the United Arab Emirates Cup tour at Keeneland.

VALID CITIZEN FIRST THREE-TIME WINNER OF SPRING MEET – Kenneth Dalton’s Valid Citizen is stabled at River Downs with trainer Matt Kordenbrock throughout the year, but he has made a home for himself this spring on the main track at Churchill Downs.

Valid Citizen won Friday’s fourth race to become the first three-time winner of the 2011 Spring Meet.

“That’s pretty cool,” Kordenbrock said.  “He’s an honest horse and we’ve really tried to pick our spots with him. He really likes this track and things have worked out.”

The milestone win by the 6-year-old son of Proud Citizen came on day 24 of the 39-day meet.  It was Kordenbrock’s fifth career victory at Churchill Downs, and he hopes Valid Citizen gets another chance to run.

“We’ve still got some time left,” he said.  “We will try and bring him back to get (win) number four.”

Bred in Kentucky by Oak haven Farm LLC, Valid Citizen has a career record of 9-5-5 from 35 starts with earnings of $120,294.

BARN TALK – The top six leading riders at Churchill Downs all won at least one race beneath the Twin Spires on Friday. Julien Leparoux, currently third in the standings, and Miguel Mena, sitting in fifth position, each won two races on the card, while leading-rider Corey Lanerie won three. …

Nominations for the 111^th running of the $100,000-added Debutante (GIII) for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs close Saturday. The Debutante, which is scheduled to be run on the main track at Churchill Downs on Saturday, June 25, was won last year by Eldon Farm Equine, LLC’s Just Louise under Robby Albarado for trainer Dale Romans. …

Saturday’s 11-race program at Churchill Downs will include a Pick 6 carryover of $23,644. The Pick 6 begins with Race 6 at approximately 3:23 p.m. There will also be a Super High 5 carryover of $6,361. The Super High 5 will take place in the final race Saturday: Race 11 at 5:55 p.m. …

Sunday is the last chance of the spring for locals to win a $1,500 first prize and a coveted VIP trip to the Horseplayer World Series at The Orleans Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The cost to enter the final “Who’s the Champ?” Handicapping Contest is $25 (or 25,000 Twin Spires Club points) and it will take place in the Champions Club Lounge. …

WORKTAB – Five D Thoroughbreds and Wind River Stables’ Kathmanblu worked five furlongs on a “muddy” Churchill Downs track in 1:01.60 Saturday morning for trainer Ken McPeek. Kathmanblu is scheduled to make her next start in the Grade III, $125,000-added Regret Presented by ETIHAD Airways beneath the Twin Spires on June 18 as part of the Stephen Foster Day undercard.

WHO’S HOT – The hottest jockeys over the last five racing days (June 3-10) are Julien Leparoux (9-for-32), Corey Lanerie (8-for-32) and Calvin Borel (7-for-24). Ken McPeek (3-for-11) and Steve Asmussen (3-for-14) are the hottest trainers over the same period. The hottest owners are Lothenbach Stables, Inc. (2-for-2), Maggi Moss (2-for-3), Stoneway Farm (2-for-3), and Charles E. Fipke (2-for-5).

WEATHER – Saturday: showers and thunderstorms, 89. Sunday: mostly sunny, 82. Monday: mostly sunny, 81. Tuesday: mostly sunny with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 85. Wednesday: partly sunny with a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 88. Thursday: partly sunny with a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 86. Friday: mostly sunny, 89.

GENERAL QUARTERS, WISE DAN LEAD COMPETITIVE FRIDAY ALLOWANCE – Anyone taking a first glance at Friday’s ninth race at Churchill Downs might think that they were looking at a stakes race; however, it’s an allowance that just happened to come up very tough. The field of seven in the $64,700 allowance/optional claimer is headed by multiple Grade I-winner General Quarters, who is racing for the first time since late last summer, and Wise Dan, winner of last year’s Phoenix (GIII) at Keeneland.

Tom McCarthy’s General Quarters, winner of the 2009 Blue Grass (GI) at Keeneland and the 2010 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (GI) at Churchill Downs, has not raced since finishing seventh in the Arlington Million (GI). He was sidelined last September when he injured his left front leg during training.

McCarthy has taken his time preparing General Quarters for his return and hopes the 5-year-old son of Sky Mesa will deliver a good performance Friday. “There are some really nice sprinters in the race, but hopefully he (General Quarters) will bring his run and be there at the end,” McCarthy said.

General Quarters fired a “bullet” work Sunday in preparation for Friday’s race and McCarthy was very pleased with the workout. “He went very nicely,” said McCarthy of General Quarters’ four furlong work in :47.80 over a fast main track at Churchill Downs. “It was a very good work.”

Morton Fink’s Wise Dan, the other graded stakes winner in the field, has been working forwardly at Keeneland since an eighth place finish in the Alysheba Presented by Besilu Stables (GIII) on Kentucky Oaks Day and will look to get back in the winner’s circle Friday. “His (Wise Dan) last couple of races were very tough and I’m glad we were able to get him in an allowance race,” trainer Charlie Lopresti said. “I think this is a good spot for him and hopefully he can get back on the winning track.”

Lopresti believes the main competition for his two-time Churchill Downs winner will come from General Quarters. “I haven’t looked at the field very closely yet, but I saw General Quarters is in and he’ll be tough,” Lopresti said.

The field is also highlighted by nine-time stakes winner Native Ruler and the stakes-winning 8-year-old, Grand Traverse. Maggi Moss’s Native Ruler has nearly $600,000 in career earnings and won the Bet On Sunshine stakes at Churchill Downs in 2008. Mimicry Partnership’s Grand Traverse is a 10-time winner with $361,499 in career earnings.

The ninth race will be the feature of the 11-race twilight program at Churchill Downs, which begins at 2:45 p.m. (all times Eastern) Friday. Post time for the ninth race is 6:54 p.m.

ROMANS, MOTION WILL FACE OFF IN MINT JULEP PRIOR TO BELMONT – The eyes of the horse racing world will be on Belmont Park at 6:36 p.m. Saturday to witness the Belmont Stakes (GI) rubber match between the Graham Motion-trained Animal Kingdom, winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI), and Preakness (GI) winner Shackleford, who is trained by Dale Romans. But Motion and Romans will face off at Churchill Downs about an hour before the starting gate springs open in the 143^rd running of the Belmont with 4-year-old fillies running the 35^th running of the Early Times Mint Julep Handicap (GIII), the feature race of an 11-race Saturday program beneath the Twin Spires.

Check the Label, who is trained by Motion for Lael Stables, will enter Saturday’s Mint Julep off a second-place finish to Embur’s Song in the Doubledogdare (GIII) over the Polytrack at Keeneland – her lone start of 2011. The 122-pound high weight for the Mint Julep, Check the Label’s biggest victory came in the Grade I Garden City at Belmont Park, where she finished a length ahead of Barbara Hunter’s homebred Snow Top Mountain, who will also run in the Mint Julep. Jeremy Rose will travel to Louisville to take the mount.

Weighted at 116 pounds is the Romans-trained Tapitsfly, who races under the colors of Frank L. Jones Jr. A 4-year-old daughter of Tapit, Tapitsfly captured the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Oak Tree at Santa Anita in 2009. Tapitsfly was injured following that victory and had a chip removed from her ankle, but resumed training at the end of 2010 and will make her fifth start of the year on Saturday. In her most recent start she finished seventh behind Aviate-GB in the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile Presented by American Commercial Lines (GII) on Kentucky Derby Day. Miguel Mena will have the mount aboard Tapitsfly.

The field for the Early Times Mint Julep, from the rail with jockey and weight: Ravi’s Song (Corey Lanerie, 114), Bella Medaglia (Jamie Theriot, 113), Vivo Per Lei (Leandro Goncalves, 113), Silver La Belle (Brian Hernandez Jr., 112), Abuela (Marcelino Pedroza Jr., 113), Sweetest Song (Calvin Borel, 115), Tapitsfly (Mena, 116), Snow Top Mountain (Robby Albarado, 119), My Baby Baby (Manny Cruz, 116), Askbut I Won’ttell (Eduardo Perez, 117) and Check the Label (Rose, 122).

BLOCK HOPES ASKBUT I WON’TTELL WILL LAUNCH STRONG SPRING MEET STRETCH RUN – Chicago-based trainer Chris Block’s stable has long been a power at Arlington Park and Chicago-area tracks, but his team flexed considerable muscle in Kentucky during last year’s Churchill Downs Fall Meet when it won two major closing week stakes attractions in the Falls City Handicap (Grade II) won by Dundalk Dust and Giant Oak’s triumph via disqualification in the $500,000-added Clark Handicap (GI).

Those victories were the second and third Fall Meet stakes wins, respectively, for Block, who is hoping for a similar closing bid by his stable in the ongoing Spring Meet.  On Saturday Block will look to the horse that got the ball rolling for his team in the Fall Meet to build momentum again in the searing heat of June.

Team Block’s Askbut I Won’ttell notched the first of Block’s three stakes wins last fall in the Cardinal (GIII) on the Nov. 7 Breeders’ Cup Saturday undercard.  She returns from a three-month break as one of the major contenders for the $100,000-added Early Times Mint Julep for fillies and mares ages three and up at a mile and a sixteenth on the Matt Winn Turf Course.

The Florida-bred mare is the first of three Block trainees targeted for stakes runs in the Spring Meet’s final weeks.  The others are Giant Oak, who is set to  run in the $500,000-added Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) on June 18, while Mister Marti Gras, a recent allowance winner on turf on turf who is now being pointed toward a run in the $175,000-added Firecracker Handicap (GII) on July 4, the final program of the meet.

Askbut I Won’ttell followed her Cardinal victory with a win over Trip for A.J. in the My Charmer (GIII) at Calder Race Course, but that rival turned the tables on Block’s 5-year-old mare when she scored a half-length victory over Askbut I Won’ttell in the Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf at Gulfstream Park.

Saturday’s Early Times Mint Julep will be the first race for Askbut I Won’ttell since she finished fifth- in a strong renewal of the $150,000-added Hillsborough (GIII) on March 12 at Tampa Bay Downs.  The Hillsborough was won by Denomination, who returned to win the Violet (GIII) at Monmouth Park on May 30, and its third-place finisher was Keertana, who returned to take the Bewitch (GIII) at Keeneland and then became the first mare to defeat males in the 1 ½-mile Louisville Handicap (GIII) at Churchill Downs.

“We gave her a little time in between that last race and this race,” Block said.  “She ran well (in the Hillsborough), but you could just see she didn’t run like she had been and was a little flat.  So we backed off, freshened her up a little bit and targeted this race as her next spot.”

The daughter of Horse Chestnut brings a record of 6-4-2 in 18 races and career earnings of $384,362 into the Early Times Mint Julep.

With the Virginia H. Tarra Trust’s Giant Oak looming as one of the likely favorites for the Stephen Foster, the newcomer in Block’s bid for a spring stakes three-bagger is Lothenbach Stables’ Mister Marti Gras.  The four-year-old gelded son of Belong to Me rallied from sixth to win a one-mile allowance race on the Matt Winn Turf Course on June 3.  Mister Marti Gras, the runner-up in both the American Derby (GII) at Arlington and Hawthorne Derby (GIII) at three, closed strongly that day to win over a grass course that had its temporary rail up and positioned 15 feet off the hedge, a configuration that often favors horses with early speed.

“That was kind of a race to see if he responded well here over this course,” Block said.  “Speed usually holds up when that rail is up, so that’s part of why I’ll just take a look at the Firecracker with him. I figured he overcame the (speed) bias in his race here.”

The only Fall Meet stakes star missing from Block’s spring arsenal is Dundalk 5 LLC’s Dundalk Dust, who has raced only once since her Falls City triumph: a last-of-seven effort behind Ravi’s Song as the favorite in the New Orleans Ladies Stakes at Fair Grounds.  Dundalk Dust is training steadily at Churchill Downs and her return to racing is not far off, but Block is not sure when the Illinois-bred daughter of Military would run.

“She had some stomach issues over the winter, and that contributed to her poor performance in New Orleans,” Block said.  “We think we’ve got her back and turned around.”

A natural spot for Dundalk Dust’s return would have been the Fleur De Lis (GII), a 1 1/8 mile race for older fillies and mares run in recent years on Stephen Foster Day.  But that race is on hiatus for 2011.

“That would have been perfect,” Block said.  “I’d love to run her here on the dirt, but I don’t know that I’ll get that opportunity.  So I’m kind of taking a wait-and-see approach right now.”

MEET LEADERS AT A GLANCE – Jockey Corey Lanerie, trainer Steve Asmussen and owners Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds are the leaders in their respective categories through 22 days of the 39-day Spring Meet.  Below is a look at the leaders entering Thursday’s action:

Top Jockeys

  1. Corey Lanerie (27-for-124, 22% win-percentage, $788,714 in earnings)

  2. Shaun Bridgmohan (23-for-120, 19%, $728,960)

  3. Julien Leparoux (20-for-109, 18%, $731,969)

  4. Calvin Borel (16-for-123, 13%, $513,501)

  5. Jon Court (14-for-88, 16%, $365,109)                                                       

Top Trainers

  1. Steve Asmussen (12-for-60, 20%, $936,531)

  2. Tom Amoss (9-for-24, 38%, $240,376)

  2. Dale Romans (9-for-58, 16%, $713,669)

  3. Eddie Kenneally (8-for-31, 26%, $198,428)

  4. Ken McPeek (7-for-35, 32%, $376,014)

  4. Tim Glyshaw (7-for-23, 30%, $109,880)

Top Owners

1. Richard and Karen Papiese’s Midwest Thoroughbreds (5-for-23, 22%, $110,570)

2. Robert C. Baker and William L. Mack (4-for-13, 31%, $77,315)

2. Tom Ludt’s Vinery Stables (4-for-7, 57%, $134,116)

3. Billy, Donna and Justin Hays (3-for-29, 10%, $75,600)

3. Mace and Samantha Siegel’s Jay Em Ess Stable (3-for-13, 23%, $94,318)

3. Merrill Scherer, Dan Lynch and Ken Sentel (3-for-15, 20%, $84,442)

3. Robert Lothenbach’s Lothenbach Stables, Inc. (3-for-9, 33%, $98,745)

3. Ahmed Zayat’s Zayat Stables LLC (3-for-9, 33%, $537,453)

3. Don Adam’s Courtlandt Farms (3-for-15, 20%, $216,669)

BARN TALK – Nominations for the 111^th running of the $100,000-added Debutante (GIII) for 2-year-old fillies at six furlongs close Saturday. The Debutante, which is scheduled to be run on the main track at Churchill Downs on Saturday, June 25, was won last year by Eldon Farm Equine, LLC’s Just Louise under Robby Albarado for trainer Dale Romans. …

Churchill Downs-based jockeys Julien Leparoux, Shaun Bridgmohan, Jesus Castanon and Kent Desormeaux will ride in New York on Saturday as part of the Belmont Stakes Day card. Leparoux, Bridgmohan and Desormeaux will ride at Churchill Downs on Thursday and Friday, but Castanon has already traveled to New York and will make his next start aboard Shackleford in the Belmont (GI).

Friday is the final 2:45 p.m. twilight racing program of the meet before "Downs After Dark" night racing returns with a 6 p.m. first post for the final three Fridays on June 17, June 24 and July 1. Also, the music of Wax Fang will headline the finale performance of the new Paddock Concert Series. The concert will begin shortly after the final race around 8 p.m. General admission will be $3 until 7 p.m. and $10 thereafter. The first 850 people in attendance for the concert will be allowed access into the saddling paddock to watch the concert up close in a VIP viewing area free of charge. A $20 Budweiser Select Balcony reserved ticket (available for purchase online at churchilldowns.com/tickets) includes front-row access, a prime undercover balcony overlooking the paddock and stage, extended drink specials throughout the night and a special gift from Budweiser Select. …

Friday Happy Hours presented by Budweiser Select will take place in the paddock area from 6-8:15 p.m., with $2 Budweiser products, frozen specialty drinks and hot dogs showcased. Also, the band Eight Inch Elvis will be on hand to entertain paddock patrons between races from 5-8 p.m. …

WORKTAB – Columbine Stable’s J.B.’s Thunder, winner of the Dixiana Breeders’ Futurity (GI) at Keeneland last October, worked four furlongs in :51.00 over a “fast” main track at Churchill Downs on Thursday morning for trainer Al Stall Jr. The 3-year-old son of Thunder Gulch has not raced since finishing ninth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI) beneath the Twin Spires. …

Robert C. Baker and William L. Mack’s Dublin, who won the 2009 Hopeful (GI) at Saratoga and was seventh in the following year’s Kentucky Derby (GI), recorded his third consecutive “bullet” at Churchill Downs when he worked five furlongs in 1:00.80 for trainer Wayne Lukas on Thursday morning. The 4-year-old son of Afleet Alex was fifth in the 2010 Preakness (GI) in his most recent start. …

Zayat Stables LLC’s Diva Ash, winner of the $113,800 Edgewood on the Kentucky Oaks Day undercard in her most recent start, breezed five furlongs around the dogs on a firm Matt Winn Turf Course in 1:01.80 for trainer Dale Romans. Diva Ash is nominated to run in the $125,000-added Regret (GIII), which is scheduled to be run on June 18 as part of the Stephen Foster Day undercard.

Right Time Racing LLC’s two Kentucky Oaks (GI) starters, Bouquet Booth (fifth) and Street Storm (eighth), each breezed five furlongs over the Matt Winn Turf Course on Thursday for trainer Steve Margolis. Bouquet Booth covered the distance in 1:01.80 and Street Storm completed the work in 1:03.20. Both fillies are nominated to the Regret (GIII). …

WHO’S HOT – The hottest jockeys over the last five racing days (May 29- June 5) are Julien Leparoux (7-for-28), Corey Lanerie (7-for-32) and Robby Albarado (6-for-19). Ken McPeek (3-for-11) and Steve Asmussen (3-for-11) are the hottest trainers over the same period. The hottest owners are Lothenbach Stables, Inc. (2-for-2), Stoneway Farm (2-for-2) and Charles E. Fipke (2-for-4).

WEATHER – Thursday: mostly sunny with a 30% chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms, 93. Friday: partly sunny with a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 91. Saturday: partly sunny with a 40% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 90. Sunday: mostly sunny, 87. Monday: mostly sunny with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 87. Tuesday: partly sunny with a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 89. Wednesday: mostly sunny with a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms, 89.

 

CLARK WINNER GIANT OAK HEADING TO FLORIDA ON SUNDAY – Drew Coontz, assistant to trainer Chris Block, was all smiles Saturday morning a day after Giant Oak brought the month of November to a successful close for the barn.

“I’m on Cloud Nine,” Coontz said. “It’s like winning the (Kentucky) Oaks and (Kentucky) Derby.”

Giant Oak’s victory in the Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GI) via disqualification of Successful Dan came on the heels of a victory the day before in the Falls City Handicap (GII) by the Block-trained Dundalk Dust.

“He is doing great this morning and he will leave for Ocala tomorrow morning for some time off,” Coontz said of Giant Oak, who gave the Illinois-based Block stable its third stakes victory of the meet. Askbut I Won’ttell had won the Cardinal (GIII) on Nov. 7.

“When I came here with Giant Oak (in early November before the Breeders’ Cup), I had two horses waiting for me,” Coontz said. “One was Askbut I Won’ttell and the other horse (Wulfgar) ran on the Friday night (Nov. 19) program and got claimed.”

The only Block runner that shipped in for a stake and did not take home a major check was Mister Marti Gras, who finished fifth in the Commonwealth Turf (GIII) on Nov. 13.

The Block runners shared the west end of Barn 48 with trainer Tony Reinstedler’s stable.

This was the spot to be in,” Coontz said. “We did great and Tony had four winners and two seconds from six starters. This was the right barn.”

While Coontz and Company were floating on Cloud Nine, a few barns away trainer David Fawkes was getting ready to drive Duke of Mischief back to South Florida after the colt was elevated to fifth on the disqualification of Demarcation.

Duke of Mischief pressed the pressed from the outside No. 11 post position and was with the leaders until things got tight in the upper stretch.

“I thought he was maybe a little too close early, but then I saw :49 (:48.92) for the half-mile and I thought we might be all right,” Fawkes said. “But then he got in tight in the stretch and he just doesn’t like to be in a spot like that.”

Fawkes said Duke of Mischief came out of the race fine and would get some time off before possibly pointing to the Sunshine Millions at the end of January or possibly a return to the grass.

Finishing right behind Duke of Mischief was Brass Hat, who was trying to become the fifth 9-year-old to win a Grade I race.

“That was just a tough field yesterday,” trainer Buff Bradley said. “He had a safe trip and came back fine. He will take a couple of months off for a vacation and if he stays healthy we would look at the Elkhorn at Keeneland in late April to start him back.”

Meanwhile, trainer Paul McGee was wondering what might have after seeing both Demarcation and Dubious Miss with the leaders in upper stretch only to have the roof cave in when Demarcation caused the inference that led to his being placed last by the stewards.

“I really don’t know what they were doing playing bumper cars at the three-sixteenths pole,” McGee said.

Jockey) Robby (Albarado) said he felt Dubious Miss was getting ready to explode and he was getting ready to set him down and then he gets walloped … walloped by the home team.”

McGee said both horses came out of the race in good order.

“I might give Demarcation some time off in Ocala,” McGee said, “but he will eventually go to the Fair Grounds, where Dubious Miss will be.”

TODAY’S POTENTIAL STARS FOLLOWING IN SOME FANCY FOOTSTEPS -- Today’s sixth annual “Stars of Tomorrow II” program is entirely devoted to rising 2-year-old stars who have aspirations of trail-blazing their way to next year’s Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks

In just five years of existence, Stars of Tomorrow has been the launching pad for 17 Grade I winners, including Super Saver ($1,899,766), who would use a win in last year’s Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club as a springboard to Kentucky Derby 136 glory, plus millionaires Rachel Alexandra ($3,506,730), Lawyer Ron ($2,790,008), Court Vision ($2,591,521), Pure Clan ($1,987,498), Macho Again ($1,825,767), Swift Temper ($1,296,688) and Any Given Saturday ($1,083,533).

In addition to Super Saver, last year’s “Stars of Tomorrow” program featured future stars Fly Down ($1,167,070) and First Dude ($860,160), who finished one-two in a 1 1/16-mile maiden race; Stately Victor ($613,612), who would go on to win the Grade I Toyota Blue Grass; Thiskyhasnolimit ($547,532), the runner-up in the Iowa (GIII) and Indiana (GII) Derbies; and No Such Word ($503,213), who has won five of her nine 2010 starts going into today’s Gazelle (GI at Aqueduct), including the Monmouth Oaks (GIII).

MINE THAT BIRD TO GET CHURCHILL DOWNS SENDOFF SUNDAY – Sunday will be a day of celebration as Churchill Downs will honor 2009 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) winner Mine That Bird, who will be leaving on Monday on a journey home to New Mexico.

Owned by the Double Eagle Ranch of Mark Allen and Dr. Leonard Blach’s Buena Suerte Equine, Mine That Bird will walk over with horses for Sunday’s seventh race (post time 3:41 p.m. ET). The 4-year-old gelding will remain in the paddock during the race and then walk to the winner’s circle for his farewell ceremony before returning to Barn 44.

Before Mine That Bird makes his walk to the paddock wearing a winner’s blanket with the Kentucky Derby 135 logo, there will be other festivities.

Following the second race (1:08 p.m. post time) in the winner’s circle, Allen and Dr. Blach will be interviewed in the winner’s circle by Churchill Downs Vice President of Communications John Asher. After the third race (1:38 p.m. post time) Asher will interview former trainer Chip Woolley.

There will be a table in the paddock with a farewell poster for guests to sign along with 1,000 Mine That Bird buttons that will be handed out.

Mine That Bird, who paid $103.20 for the second-highest Kentucky Derby payoff in the race’s 136 years, was retired from racing following a 10th-place finish in the $1 million Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (GI) on Nov. 6 at Churchill Downs. He completed his racing career with a record of 5-2-2 in 18 races with earnings of $2,228,637.

BARN TALK – Not so fast on handing the Fall Meet’s leading rider title to Julien Leparoux. Robby Albarado rode three winners on Friday to move within two victories of Leparoux with two racing days left in the meet. Leparoux’s margin stands at 25-23 with Leparoux slated to ride 11 races and Albarado all 12. Both riders have 10 mounts Sunday. Also moving into contention with three wins Friday was Shaun Bridgmohan, who now has 20 victories. He has nine mounts today and seven on Sunday. …

Steve Asmussen maintains a comfortable five-victory lead in his bid for a fourth consecutive leading trainer title. This would be Asmussen’s fifth Fall Meet title and ninth overall. …

Ken and Sarah Ramsey also maintain a nice cushion as they pursue their fourth consecutive Fall Meet leading owner title. The Ramseys have sent out six winners, three more than closest pursuer Penny Lauer. The Ramseys have won 16 leading owner titles (eight fall, eight spring) with 15 of them being outright crowns.

WORK TAB – Due Date, sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint (GII), worked six furlongs in 1:16.20 for trainer Steve Margolis.

The Virginia H Tarra Trust’s Giant Oak was elevated to first place on the disqualification of Successful Dan in a roughly run stretch battle to win the 136th running of the $564,000 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GI) for 3-year-olds and up on Friday afternoon at Churchill Downs.

Successful Dan, who covered the 1 1/8 miles on a fast main track in 1:50.82, had finished a head in front of Giant Oak, but because of interference with Redding Colliery in the upper stretch, was disqualified and placed third. It was the first disqualification in the Clark since Quest was elevated above Evening Attire in the 2003 running.

Giant Oak’s victory completed a Falls City Handicap-Clark Handicap double for jockey Shaun Bridgmohan and trainer Chris Block, who had teamed the day before to win the Grade II Falls City with Dundalk Dust.

It marked the first time since 2005 that the same rider-trainer combo had swept the two races with Indian Vale winning the Falls City and Magna Graduate the Clark under John Velazquez for trainer Todd Pletcher.

Regal Ransom led the field of 11 through fractions of :24.64, :48.92 and 1:13.63 while Successful Dan and Redding Colliery raced in mid pack with Giant Oak far back. Turning for home, Duke of Mischief moved past Regal Ransom with Dubious Miss and Demarcation moving with him.

Just behind the leaders, Julien Leparoux on Successful Dan moved out and bumped Redding Colliery, ridden by Rosie Napravnik, for racing room and Giant Oak began to advance with a seven-wide rally.

To the inside of Successful Dan, Demarcation, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, swerved inside impeding Dubious Miss and Duke of Mischief.

With clear sailing on the outside, Successful Dan and Giant Oak raced as a team to the wire. Redding Colliery was another four lengths back in third, finishing a head in front of Demarcation, who was disqualified and placed last.

The victory was worth $328,700 and increased the 4-year-old homebred son of Giant Causeway’s bankroll to $956,677 with a record of 4-5-3 from 23 starts.

Giant Oak returned $24.20, $10 and $5. Redding Colliery returned $6 and $3.80 with Successful Dan paying $3 to show. The revised order of finish was Win Willy, Duke of Mischief, Brass Hat, Apart, Regal Ransom, Stately Victor, Dubious Miss and Demarcation.

Racing continues Saturday with a 12-race “Stars of Tomorrow II” program exclusively for 2-year-olds with first post time of 12:40 p.m. (all times Eastern). Highlighting the program are two Grade II stakes: the 67th running of the $150,000-added Golden Rod for fillies, which goes as the ninth race (4:42 p.m. post time), and the 84th running of the $150,000-added Kentucky Jockey Club, which goes as the 11th race (5:42 p.m. post time). Saturday's card will feature a four-day Pick 6 carryover of $21,555 on races 7-12. There also is a $6,201 carryover on the Super Hi-5 in the 12th race.

CLARK HANDICAP QUOTES

Shaun Bridgmohan (jockey, Giant Oak, placed first from second after disqualification of Successful Dan from first to third): “I was right outside of it all. I saw what was happening. I thought both horses ran hard to the wire. It was all out of my hands. I was hoping I got put up. Both horses ran hard. It’s just unfortunate things like this happen in racing. If he shows up and gives it to you there is no telling how much talent this horse has. I always tell Chris (Block, trainer) one of these days he is going to show up and it just happened to be in a Grade One today.”

Chris Block (trainer, Giant Oak, placed first from second after disqualification of Successful Dan from first to third): “This has been a long time comin’.  This ol’ horse has had a rough, rough go of it.  He’s had some rough trips, but we’ve always known he loved Churchill Downs and I really felt good about today.  The horse trained really great from (Breeders’ Cup) Marathon to this.  His two works were just really, really good here.  I felt coming into it if the pace was solid, and it was OK, I knew he’d come with his run.  We just need him to finish the race. (Jockey) Shaun (Bridgmohan) said today even when he got up to that horse (Successful Dan) he put his head up and just kind of hung with that horse instead of finishing the deal.  But this is sweet to get.  This is very sweet to get.”

Q: Even if he had not won, he was right there with a very good horse in Successful Dan. “Absolutely. I was very proud of him win, lose or draw.  I’d even told Mr. Tarra that Successful Dan, to me, was the horse to beat.  If he’d have been second to him, I’d been real proud of him as I am proud of him for getting kissed up there.”

Q: He seems to be getting better with age – will he be back next year? “Oh yeah, he’s coming back next year.  No doubt about it.  He’s the kind of horse we always thought he’d get better with age, and I think that’s what’ll happen with him.”

Q: Considering all the trouble this horse has had, is it almost ironic that this is how he was able to win …“It is.  It really is amazing to me.  I’ll be very honest with you.  I saw that horse (Redding Colliery) come out, but I thought he came out on his own.  I didn’t know Successful Dan pushed him out like that.  But it is ironic that it finished up like this.”

Q: Was his run in the Marathon a disappointment to you? “It was a disappointment.  I think Garrett (jockey Garrett Gomez) and I kind of got our paths crossed, our communication crossed up from where we actually wanted him.  I thought he was a little further back than what I wanted, and I think Garrett thought I actually wanted him back a little bit and to come with a finish.  And then he ended up wide all the way around there.  But he came out of it so good that I thought, well, we’re going to wheel him right back in here.”

Q: You’ve won three stakes this meet and all with Illinois-breds.  We’re not sure if anyone else has ever pulled off that hat trick … “It’s awful sweet to have these guys come down here and run as good as they have.  They all set up really well for these races and I just glad to be here at Churchill Downs, to be honest with you.”

Q: Where does this rank in career thrills for you? “It ranks right there at the top.  (2006 Queen Elizabeth Challenge Cup winner) Vacare was my first Grade I stakes winner and this guy, we’ve worked so hard getting him where he’s at today, so it has to rank right there with her.”

Q: When you have a horse like this, do you just have to remind yourself sometime that you have to just hang with the horse? “Absolutely. I take my hat off to Mr. and Mrs. Tarra.  They put this horse in my barn.  They bred him, raised him.  They turned down a lot of money for him as a 2-year-old to do what we did today.  They love racing, they love the horse, they love horse racing and I really have to give them a lot of credit for sticking behind the horse.  We’ve had a lot of frustrating conversations, but today it’s sweet to get this one.”

Q: Do you have a winter plan? “He’s going to Ocala on Sunday for probably about 45 days rest, then probably back to Fair Grounds to get him ready for 2011.

Rosie Napravnik (jockey, Redding Colliery, placed second after disqualification of Successful Dan from first to third): “It was kind of a rough ride all the way around.  He got slammed and he came on and finished just as strong as he wanted to.”

Q:  If it was rough all the way around, the head of the stretch was very tough … “Yeah.  He slammed me pretty hard.  He knocked us completely off stride and I don’t see how they couldn’t take him down.”

Q: Do you think you had a chance to win at that point? “Yeah, we were coming around and he was making up ground.”

Kiaran McLaughlin (trainer, Redding Colliery, placed second after disqualification of Successful Dan from first to third, via telephone): “It was a rough-run race for a lot of horses.  I was watching our horse mostly, and he had a rough trip.  But I thought Rosie (jockey Anna Napravnik) rode him well.  He switched off down the backside and then made a nice run turning for home and got bumped hard twice by the eventual winner that was taken down (Successful Dan).  But it was a rough run for a few horses and we’re happy that we got put up to second and we’re a Grade I horse.  We’ve had a great year with our horse and we’ll move forward.”

Q: He has really come into his own and proven he is a top rank horse – what is the plan for 2011? “He is a top horse.  We’ll go to Florida with him and look at the [Grade I] Donn Handicap and maybe the Dubai World Cup (GI).  He’s been a really useful horse for us and we’ve had a lot of fun with him all year, and we’re happy that we got put up into second.  I thought it was a gutsy call by the stewards, and the correct call.”

Q: Do you think he had a chance to win without the bumping? “He was wide throughout, so it was kind of just a rough-run race.  You never know, it’s hard to say.  But he was running and gaining, but I don’t know that he was going to win.  But he definitely got bothered.”

Julien Leparoux (jockey, Successful Dan, disqualified from first to third): “I need to take a look at what happened. I just got slammed all over.”

Charlie Lopresti (trainer, Successful Dan, disqualified from first to third): “It’s a bad call.  It’s a very bad call.”

Q: You thought your horse was hit from the inside and forced out …“My horse got knocked over. That’s a terrible call. I mean, up there in the stretch that horse came over on us and knocked us into the other horse (Redding Colliery). And then after that, we’re clearly the winner.”

Q: He did run a huge race as you expected he would … “He ran a huge race. What can I say?  I can’t say anything else.”

Kent Desormeaux (jockey, Demarcation, disqualified to 11th): “He really faded for me at the three-sixteenths pole, ducked to the rail a little bit. I had to straighten him and lost a lot of momentum. It cost me third.”

Paul McGee (trainer, Dubious Miss, placed 10th, and Demarcation, disqualified from fourth to 11th): “There was some irony there due to the fact my two horses were doing the bumping down the stretch, so I didn’t like that part of the race. It sounded like (jockey) Robby (Albarado) got eliminated with Dubious Miss turning for home when he got bumped and had to check. Demarcation ran a good race, he always does, and he’s a consistent horse. I just wish Dubious Miss would have had a better opportunity.”

 

BLOCK HOPES TO COMPLETE FALLS CITY-CLARK DOUBLE WITH GIANT OAK – The most recent time a trainer has swept the Falls City Handicap (Grade II) and the Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GI) the same year was in 2005 when Todd Pletcher won the former with Indian Vale and the latter with Magna Graduate.

Dundalk 5, LLC’s Dundalk Dust put Chris Block in position to match the feat with her three-length victory in Thursday’s Falls City under Shaun Bridgmohan. This afternoon, Block bid for the Clark when he sends out Giant Oak for the Virginia H. Tarra Trust.

The Falls City was the first graded stakes try against older fillies and mares for Dundalk Dust and Block’s expectations were not extremely high.

“I was hoping she would run one, two or three in a Grade II, take another step forward and increase her value,” Block said. “She did all of that. She will head to Ocala for the winter and we will plan for next spring.”

Dundalk Dust now has won on grass, Polytrack and dirt.

“She appears to be useful on all three surfaces, but she seems to be better on dirt … or mud,” Block said.

Meanwhile, Giant Oak enters today’s 136th running of the $500,000-added Clark Handicap off a fourth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Marathon (GIII) here on Nov. 5.

“The plan was to wheel him back in the Clark if he came out of the Breeders’ Cup good, which he did,” Block said. “I expect he will run a very good race, which he seems to do here at Churchill Downs.”

The Clark will be Giant Oak’s 21st consecutive stakes start, 18 of those in graded races. Only Brass Hat, making his 24th consecutive stakes start, has a longer streak among Clark entrants.

Giant Oak has yet to break through with a graded stakes victory even though he has five runner-up finishes and two third-place showings. In races at Churchill Downs prior to the Breeders’ Cup, Giant Oak had finished second in the 2008 Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) beaten a neck, fourth in last year’s Clark, beaten 1 ¼ lengths by Blame and fourth in this year’s Stephen Foster (GI), 4 ½ lengths behind Blame.

Despite the close calls, Block remains a big booster of Giant Oak.

“Maybe for some other people not close to the horse, he might be a disappointment, but not to me,” Block said. “He always runs to the best of his ability. In the races he has run, he has to give up ground to make his run. It is tough to do that running against that kind of company. He can’t be stuck inside and in traffic because he can’t quicken fast enough.”

Bridgmohan, who rode Dundalk Dust to victory Thursday, has the call on Giant Oak this afternoon. Bridgmohan also teamed with Block to win the Cardinal Handicap (GIII) on Nov. 7 with Askbut I Won’ttell.

The last rider to complete a Falls City-Clark double in the same year was John Velazquez in 2005 on the above-mentioned Pletcher-trained duo.

ONE DAN DOWN, ONE TO GO FOR LOPRESTI – Trainer Charles Lopresti will be going for a double of his own also in the Clark Handicap when he sends out morning line favorite Successful Dan for owner Morton Fink.

On Thursday, Successful Dan’s younger half-brother, Wise Dan won an optional claiming test as the 7-10 favorite over a sealed sloppy track.

“He had won on an off track there on Derby Day, but I think the track yesterday was worse than on Derby Day and I was a little bit worried,” Lopresti said Friday morning from Keeneland. “He got around there safe and I don’t think two turns is going to be a problem with him. He is going to get the winter off like all of my horses.”

A 3-year-old gelded son of Wiseman’s Ferry, Wise Dan had finished sixth, beaten only 2 ¼ lengths in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Sprint (GI) in his previous start and prior to that had won the Phoenix (GIII) at Keeneland.

Lopresti is hoping for a better track this afternoon for the 4-year-old Successful Dan, even though Wise Dan is now two-for-two on off tracks.

“They are two different horses,” Lopresti said. “I worry about (Successful Dan) because he has never run on an off track. Plus, he was off 14 months with a suspensory, so the track will have to be awfully good this afternoon to run.”

RIDEOFTHECHAPTER COULD GIVE TRAINER EARLY BABY GIFT – So, what to get a first-time mother with a baby girl on the way in about three weeks?

How about a Grade II stakes victory?

“That would be a good gift,” said Helen Pitts-Blasi, who will send out Old School Racing’s Prideofthechapter in Saturday’s 84th running of the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes.

Idle since winning an allowance race at Hoosier Park on Aug. 26, Prideofthechapter will break from the rail under Rosemary Homeister Jr. Prideofthechapter is listed at 20-1 on the morning line.

“We thought about running at Mountaineer, but decided not to go,” said Pitts-Blasi, wife of Churchill Downs outrider Greg Blasi. “Then we were going to run in an allowance race here but that didn’t fill.”

A son of Strong Hope, Prideofthechapter shows a steady stream of works since mid-October for the Kentucky Jockey Club.

“He has been training well and we are going to take a shot,” Pitts-Blasi said. “The two turns, that’s the question for him.”

BARN TALK – Mike Rutherford and Terry Green’s High Quail, runner-up in Thursday’s Falls City Handicap, will be heading to the Fair Grounds in New Orleans on Monday according to Dennis “Peaches” Geier, assistant to trainer Bret Calhoun. “She came out of the race fine,” Geier said of the 4-year-old filly who was making her stakes debut. “She ran well and I thought for a while she was going to win. (Jockey) Garrett (Gomez) did a good job of slowing the pace down. She has run four good races for us now since we got her (this year).” …

Black Sheep Racing’s China became the first two-time winner of the meet when he won Thursday’s eighth race with Robby Albarado aboard. China’s initial victory here came on Nov. 5 in a first level allowance sprint. The second two-time winner of the meet came in the very next race when Penny Lauer’s Rigamaro was elevated to the top spot via disqualification. Rigamaro had broken her maiden here on Nov. 10. …
Julien Leparoux increased his lead to five (25-20) over Robby Albarado with three racing days left by riding two winners on Thursday. Leparoux is named on eight mounts Friday; Albarado on 10.

Steve Asmussen maintains a 13-8 edge on Todd Pletcher in the race for leading trainer and the best Pletcher can do is tie Asmussen if his last five starters win and Asmussen is blanked on his final 14 entrants of the meet. The only other trainers who could overtake Asmussen with a scalding hot final three days are Ken McPeek and Dale Romans. McPeek, who has six victories, has 10 entrants the final three days while Romans, who has four wins thus far, has 17 entrants the final three days.

Dundalk 5, LLC’s Dundalk Dust, the only 3-year-old in the field, rallied from last place to win the 95th running of the $161,250 Falls City Handicap (GII) for fillies and mares by three lengths over High Quail on Thanksgiving Day at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Chris Block and ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan, Dundalk Dust trailed the field of six as High Quail and Garrett Gomez led the field through fractions of :25.17, :49.38 and 1:13.89 over a sloppy track with favored Distinctive Dixie in closest pursuit.

Turning for home, High Quail fended off one bid from Distinctive Dixie and then Ravi’s Song while Bridgmohan was swinging Dundalk Dust four wide and to the outside of Ravi’s Song. Dundalk Dust easily drew clear to record her fifth victory in seven starts and complete the distance in 1:53.37.

The victory was the second this meet for the Block-Bridgmohan duo, who teamed to win the Cardinal Handicap (GIII) on Nov. 7 with Askbut I Won’ttell.

Dundalk Dust is an Illinois-bred daughter of Military out of the Beau Genius mare Plus Beau. The victory was worth $98,975 and increased Dundalk Dust’s earnings to $237,105.

Dundalk Dust, who carried 115 pounds, returned $14.80, $7.80 and $4.40. High Quail, also carrying 115 pounds, returned $8 and $3.60 in finishing 1 ½ lengths in front of Striking Dancer, who paid $2.80 to show under Julien Leparoux while carrying 117 pounds. Ravi’s Song finished fourth, another 1 ¼ lengths back and was followed by Third Dawn and Distinctive Dixie.

Racing resumes Friday with a 12-race program beginning at 12:40 p.m. (all times Eastern). Highlighting the card is the 136th running of the $500,000-added Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GI) that drew a field of 11. Post time for the Clark, the 11th race on the program, is 5:42 p.m. There’s a three-day carryover in the Pick 6, which covers races 7-12, of $13,811.

FALLS CITY HANDICAP QUOTES

Shaun Bridgmohan (jockey, Dundalk Dust, winner): “I had a nice trip, She’s a neat filly to ride. She’s got a big stride to her and about the half-mile pole she switched leads and jumped in the bridle a little bit. All I had to do was pick her a spot and once I did she accelerated nicely. She was going along comfortably and then she jumped in the bridle and by then she knew what was going on. She ran home pretty good. I didn’t know what to expect. I have never ridden her and didn’t know much about her. Chris (Block, trainer) told me just let her get comfortable, let her then be happy and then find her somewhere to run at the end which worked out.”

Chris Block (trainer, Dundalk Dust, winner): “I felt like this filly would run real good until the rain came through, but she handles every surface we’ve given her. Her last work over the track (5 furlongs in 1:00 on Nov. 19) showed she was entering the race ready to go. I was a little concerned with her in the first turn because she dropped back and I thought she wasn’t handling the track, but you could see in the far turn she gathered momentum and I felt real good from that point on. We have been very fortunate this year at Churchill Downs; we’ve had the right horses for the right spots.”

Garrett Gomez (jockey, High Quail, second): “She ran good. She ran her last couple races toward the front end and I didn’t really send her, I just let her do what she wanted to early and she found herself on the lead. She galloped around real nice and she stayed on well. Just a better horse ran by her today.”

Dennis “Peaches” Geier (assistant trainer, High Quail, second): “This filly ran with her heart and ran great. She made the lead and Garrett (Gomez) slowed her down and rode her perfect, she just got out-kicked at the wire. She tried hard for her first time with these kind of horses and she ran a big race. This was a good effort for her.”

Robby Albarado (jockey, Distinctive Dixie, sixth as the slight 2-1 favorite): “I’m disappointed we didn’t win. She ran a huge race a few weeks ago. We will just have to evaluate her and see, but she felt great physically underneath me, she was in a great spot.”

NOTE: The last time the Falls City Handicap was contested over a “sloppy” main track was 2003 when Lead Story prevailed by 6 ½ lengths under Calvin Borel.

BLOCK HOPES TO SHIP IN FOR ANOTHER CHURCHILL STAKES SCORE – Trainer Chris Block spends most of the year in the Chicago area with an occasional foray to Churchill Downs.

Two such moves have paid off handsomely in 2010, first in the spring when Free Fighter won the Louisville Handicap (Grade III) and then last Sunday when Askbut I Won’ttell invaded to take the Cardinal Handicap (GIII).

On Saturday, Block will try to complete the hat trick when he sends out Lothenbach Stables’ homebred Mister Marti Gras in the seventh running of the $100,000 Commonwealth Turf (GIII) at 1 1/16 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course. Shaun Bridgmohan will have the mount.

“He arrived last night,” said Block’s assistant Drew Koontz of Mister Marti Gras, who joined three other Block runners here. “He has been running great for us all summer.”

Mister Marti Gras enters the Commonwealth Turf off a runner-up finish to likely Saturday favorite Yankee Fourtune in the Hawthorne Derby (GIII) in his most recent start. Mister Marti Gras won the $200,000 Oliver at Indiana Downs in June and finished second in the American Derby (GII).

“Mr. Block told me last night that he has been training great since they moved from Arlington to Hawthorne,” Koontz said. “He said he is on his game. He said he should run big if he can handle the turf.”

DRYFLY RUNS INTO SPEEDY SNAPSHOT IN RETURN TO THE RACES – Trainer Lynn Whiting thought he had found the perfect comeback spot for Charles Cella’s Dryfly on Wednesday.

"I didn’t want to wait until later in the meet, because if something happened, he would not get to run here,” Whiting said. “Hindsight is 20-20 and I thought I was going the conservative route because I didn’t want to run him in that sprint (last week) off a nine-month layoff.”

Dryfly, an allowance winner here last fall on the opening-day “Stars of Tomorrow I” program for 2-year-olds, won his 3-year-old debut going a mile in the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park before suffering a chip in a knee that required surgery after the Southwest (GIII).

On Wednesday, Dryfly pressed a rapid pace and wound up fourth behind Snapshot.

“He shot himself in the foot a little bit yesterday,” Whiting said. “He got involved a little too quick, but (trainer Bill) Mott made a mistake. He should have run him (Snapshot) in the Breeders’ Cup. To run 1:09 yesterday on that track was pretty good. That was a graded stake yesterday.”

Snapshot’s final time of 1:09.04 was one-hundredth of a second faster than it took Big Drama to win the $2 million Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Sprint (GI) on Saturday.

Dryfly will head to Oaklawn Park for the winter with the Jan. 29 King Cotton Stakes a possible 2011 starting off point according to Whiting.

BARN TALK – Trainer Steve Margolis said his two Breeders’ Cup runners, Cash Refund (eighth in the Sprint) and Due Date (sixth in the Turf Sprint), came out of their races fine. “We got a little unlucky with the gray horse (Due Date),” Margolis said of the five-furlong Turf Sprint. “He had to steady a bit and only got beat two noses and head for third. I think he is better at 5 ½ or six furlongs and we are looking at the five and a half on the grass at Fair Grounds (the Bonapaw) on Dec. 18.” Both Cash Refund and Due Date are homebreds owned by Richard, Elaine and Bert Klein …

Ken and Sarah Ramsey, the all-time leading owners in victories at Churchill Downs and currently tied with five other owners for the top spot this fall, stand two victories away from 300. Overbrook Farm is second to the Ramseys with 208 victories.

Reaching a milestone over the weekend was trainer Merrill Scherer, who saddled his 100th Churchill Downs winner when Green Bikini won Sunday’s ninth race.

Three riders are nearing milestones that could be achieved before the end of the week. Robby Albarado, fifth all time at Churchill Downs, has 898 victories here; Shane Sellers, who stands eighth all time, has 724 victories here and three-time Kentucky Derby winner Kent Desormeaux, who has ridden here on a limited basis in his career, has 96 victories beneath the Twin Spires.

FREE FIGHTER HEADS HOME AFTER LOUISVILLE HANDICAP VICTORY – Louisville Handicap (GIII) winner Free Fighter headed back to his home base at Arlington Park Sunday morning after his upset two-length triumph over Bearpath in the 1 ½-mile marathon.

“He’s good this morning and we are going home,” said Drew Coontz, assistant to trainer Chris Block. “I am not sure what Chris has planned for him next.”

For Coontz, who has brought other Block runners to Churchill Downs the past couple of years, it was his first time to take the winner’s trophy back home.

“This was the first time I got to travel with this horse,” Coontz said. “I was at Tampa this winter with five horses and Free Fighter was at the Fair Grounds with Richie Scherer.”

Another new component of Free Fighter’s trip to Louisville was jockey Francisco Torres who rode the 5-year-old for the first time.

“Francisco got him to settle off the pace and I thought they were a good fit yesterday,” Coontz said. “I thought the horse was very collected in the paddock and he had his mind on business and it paid off.”

Trainer Ian Wilkes also had no immediate plans for Bearpath, who came out of the race in good order. Wilkes did rule out the closing-day one-mile Firecracker (GII), the only remaining graded turf stake for older horses for the meet that ends July 4.

ACOMA TARGETS EARLY TIMES MINT JULEP FOR 2010 DEBUT – There may not be a thoroughbred racehorse who loves Churchill Downs more than Acoma.

Helen C. Alexander and Helen K. Groves’ 5-year-old regally bred daughter of Empire Maker out of the Danzig mare Aurora never has lost beneath the Twin Spires, winning twice on the dirt and three times on grass.

So, it is fitting that trainer David Carroll plans to launch Acoma’s 2010 campaign than at Churchill Downs. Based on her perfect record under the Twin Spires, it is hard to imagine a better place to get Carroll’s stable star rolling.

“We are looking forward to getting her started back,” Carroll said. “The Beverly D. is our big goal for the summer.”

The $750,000 Beverly D. (GI) at Arlington Park will be run Aug. 21, and the road there for Acoma begins in the $100,000-added Early Times Mint Julep Handicap (GIII) on June 5 at 1 1/16 miles on the Matt Winn Turf Course. Acoma won the race last year.

Acoma closed out 2009 with a win in the Cardinal Handicap (GIII), her fourth Churchill Downs stakes triumph. After that November victory, she received a long break.

“She did not go to Payson Park (in Florida) until mid January and we didn’t get her back in the barn until the first of April,” Carroll said of Acoma, who has strung together a consistent work pattern since April 12. “She is a bigger, heavier filly this year and is doing fantastic.”

Acoma has compiled a career record of 14-8-1-2 with earnings of $665,999. She has won six graded stakes; four on turf and two on dirt.

OXBOW RACING’S FLAT OUT BACK IN TRAINING – Oxbow Racing’s Flat Out, who briefly jumped onto the 2009 Kentucky Derby trail with a victory in the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park, is back in training after being sidelined by injury.

“He’s galloping on the farm in Paris and hopefully he will be here by the end of the meet,” trainer Scooter Dickey said. “We hope to have a fall campaign with him.”

Flat Out came to Churchill Downs last spring after a sixth-place finish in the Arkansas Derby (GII) but still with designs on running in the Kentucky Derby. However, less than two weeks before the Run for the Roses, it was discovered Flat Out had a stress fracture in his shoulder.

“That has healed, but then he had a problem with quarter cracks,” Dickey said. “The foot separated from the wall this spring and they have just let the foot grow back. He looks good at the farm.”

BARN TALK – Lady Luck had not been on the side of trainer Bill Connelly the past two Spring Meets here. After Berlioz won Saturday’s fifth race for his second victory of the meet, it appears Lady Luck has changed barns. “You just can’t figure it out. It can drive you crazy sometimes,” said Connelly, who has five winners from 10 starters with an additional second and third. Last spring, Connelly had only one winner from 24 starters and in 2008 notched three winners from 40 starters. “Check the seconds in 2008,” Connelly said with a wry grin. “I think I had 13 that meet.” Sure enough, 13 seconds and six thirds to give Connelly a better than 50 percent in-the-money mark. “You’ve just got to go on.” …

Silverfoot may have not have achieved a fourth Louisville Handicap victory on Saturday in finishing eighth, but his half-sister did find the winner’s circle. Chrysalis Stables’ Silver La Belle, a 3-year-old daughter of Langfuhr, broke her maiden in her fourth start for trainer Dallas Stewart. Silverfoot, now 10 and winner of the Louisville Handicap in 2004, 2005 and 2006, is a son of With Approval.

WORK TAB – Two runners from the Kentucky Derby were on the Sunday work tab, topped by ninth-place finisher Mission Impazible who breezed a half-mile in :47.80. That move by the Todd Pletcher-trained winner of the Louisiana Derby (GII) was the fourth fastest of 59 at the distance. Backtalk, 20th in the Derby, worked the same distance for trainer Tom Amoss in :50:60, 42nd fastest of the morning over a fast track. Other works of note included the return to the tab of Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Filly Turf winner Tapitsfly who worked three furlongs in :38.80. Other half-mile works included Lexington (GII) winner Exhi (:49.40), fifth-place Kentucky Oaks (GI) finisher Ailalea (:49.40) and Kentucky Juvenile (GIII) winner Lou Brissie (:50). Five-furlong workers included 2009 Derby Trial winner Hull (1:01.80) and multi graded-stakes winning turf standout Chamberlain Bridge (1:02.40). At the Trackside Training Center, 2009 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner Furthest Land worked five furlongs in :59.20, the fastest of 11 at the distance. Also working five-eighths at Trackside were 14th-place Kentucky Derby finisher Dean’s Kitten (1:00.40) and 12th-place Kentucky Oaks finisher Age of Humor (1:02.20). 

HORSEMEN’S GOLF SCRAMBLE RETURNS ON JUNE 8 – The second annual Horsemen’s Golf Scramble will be held Tuesday, June 8 at the Glenmary Country Club in Fern Creek, Ky., to help raise funds for the Backside Learning Center at Churchill Downs. The cost of the golf outing is $100 per player with four players to a team. Players will be treated to an 11 a.m. lunch. The 18-hole tournament will begin with a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. There will be contests for the longest drive, closest to the pin, and a hole-in-one in which someone could win a 2010 Toyota Corolla from Oxmoor Toyota. Registration is due Friday and entry forms can be found at the Backside Learning Center or by visiting www.derbymusuem.org/backsidelc.

Thomas Fedro Sr. and Team Block’s Free Fighter, ridden by Francisco Torres, surged past dueling leaders Eagle Poise and Telling on the far turn and went on to win the 73rd running of the $113,800 Louisville Handicap (GIII) at Churchill Downs by two lengths over Bearpath.

    Telling, ridden by Shaun Bridgmohan, led the field of 10 through leisurely fractions of :25.72 and :51.25 with Eagle Poise and Jamie Theriot in closest pursuit and Free Fighter racing third in the clear on the outside of the leaders. Entering the backstretch, Eagle Poise moved to the inside of Telling to take command through six furlongs in 1:16.20 and the mile in 1:41.45.

    Approaching the far turn, Blushing Bear, ridden by Brian Hernandez Jr., attacked the leaders along the hedge while Torres swung wide with Free Fighter. Only Free Fighter continued to surge as he opened a daylight advantage in the stretch and had more than enough to hold off 2009 Louisville Handicap winner Brass Hat initially and then Bearpath.

    Trained by Chris Block, Free Fighter completed the 1 ½ miles on a “yielding” Matt Winn Turf Course in 2:31.30. The victory was worth $67,028 to the 5-year-old Illinois-bred son of Out of Place and increased his bankroll to $305,878 with a career mark of 20-7-1-3.
    
    Free Fighter, who had been winless in two previous starts over the Churchill Downs turf course, returned $27.20, $12.40 and $8 under 115 pounds. Bearpath, carrying 117 pounds and ridden by Freddie Lenclud, paid $6.80 and $4.60 with Brass Hat finishing third another 1 ¼ lengths back under Tony Farina and paying $2.80 to show under a 119-pound impost.

    It was another 2 ½ lengths back to Silver Mountain, who was followed in order by favored Telling, Blushing Bear, Eagle Poise, Silverfoot, March to Victory and Hidden Glance. Spy in the Sky was scratched.

    Racing continues Sunday with a 10-race program that begins at 12:45 p.m. (EDT). There’s a one-day Pick 6 carryover of $3,929 on races 5-10.

LOUISVILLE HANDICAP QUOTES

FRANCISCO TORRES (jockey, FREE FIGHTER, winner): “Couldn’t draw it any better. I had two horses in front of me and my horse was relaxed. He was just waiting for me to push the button. When I pushed the button he responded turning for home and he kind of opened up; it was catch me if you can and they didn’t. When you go so slow fractions you have to sprint off and wait for them at the three-eighths pole to go on and steal the race and I did. I let my horse jump on the bridle and at the three-eighths pole I caught them and bolted to the quarter pole. He opened up and in simple words ‘stole it’ and it all paid off. It’s the icing on the cake (winning a stakes race here). Not only is it a great feeling but I want the trainers here to know that I’m back.”

DAVID BLOCK (co-owner, FREE FIGHTER, winner): “He had a good start, he settled nicely and ran a great race. When he kicked home, he wasn’t letting anyone by him. He’s an Illinois-bred and we entered him last week for a race at Arlington for Illinois-breds but it was rained off the turf so we brought him here. The rest is history. He loves the mile-and-a-half distance and if he runs in anything shorter he flattens out. Churchill Downs is his favorite track. We were very fortunate to get ‘Cisco’ (jockey Francisco Torres) to ride this horse. He (Torres) is full of potential. I don’t think we will look at running against Illinois-breds anymore. He can run all day and can be hot blooded, but in the paddock we took him away from the other horses and he was cool, calm, and collected. [Trainer] Chris [Block] is in Chicago at Arlington Park today. He is saddling three today, including one in the American Derby.”

FREDDIE LENCLUD (jockey, BEARPATH, second): “I had a trip on the rail and it wasn’t the position I would have liked but the race just kind of set up like that so I just had to be patient. Around the turn, I had to let him pick it up behind Brass Hat and it made him finish down the lane.”

WILLIAM “BUFF” BRADLEY (trainer, BRASS HAT, third): “Tony [Farina] gave him a good trip and he ran a good race. He made a nice run turning for home, but just didn’t have enough late. Me and dad (Fred Bradley) will sit down with a couple of Coronas and think about his next start.”

TONY FARINA (jockey, BRASS HAT, third): “He’s just an old horse and he knows what he has to do. I had a nice hold on him and at the six-furlong pole, I said I had to get out of here and make sure I am in the right spot. He did exactly what I asked him to do. When I was turning for home, he felt like a winner. He was just a little tired the last sixteenth of a mile.”

SHAUN BRIDGMOHAN (jockey, TELLING, fifth): “I had a good trip. He was on the lead nice and easy and just got a bit tired. But I had a good trip.”

STEVE HOBBY (trainer, TELLING, beaten favorite, fifth): “It was his second start of the year, and he was rank in the early going. The yielding turf didn’t help us. He got tired.”

COREY  LANERIE (jockey, SILVERFOOT, eighth): “I had a good trip. When I broke out of the gate I was in a comfortable position. I called on him at the three-eighths pole but he just didn’t have anything in him.”

DALLAS STEWART (trainer, SILVERFOOT, eighth): “He had good position; he just didn’t have it today. He settled nicely, and looked comfortable, but just didn’t have that kick. We will probably look at Shelbyville, meaning going home for him . . . retirement.”

NOTES: This was the first Churchill Downs stakes win for jockey Francisco Torres, 40, since winning three local stakes in 2000 (the Louisville Handicap, Dogwood and Aristides). It was his ninth Churchill Downs stakes win overall.  

Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ Global Select Market: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will host the 137th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 7, 2011 and the Kentucky Oaks on Friday, May 6, 2011. The track’s 2010 Spring Meet continues through Sunday, July 4. Churchill Downs is scheduled to host the Breeders’ Cup World Championships for a record seventh time on Nov. 5 and 6, 2010. Churchill Downs tickets are available at Tickets.ChurchillDowns.com or by calling (502) 636-4400. Additional information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at ChurchillDowns.com.

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