|
|
Albarado takes leading jockey honors under the Twin Spires Jockey Robby Albarado, who ranks seventh among the all-time riding leaders at Churchill Downs and was a finalist for last year's Eclipse Award as America's leading jockey, earned his first leading rider title under the historic Twin Spires as the home of the Kentucky Derby wrapped up its 52-day Spring Meet on Sunday. Trainer Tom Amoss won two races on the meet's closing day to nail down his second title of leading trainer, and Ken and Sarah Ramsey continued their assault on the Churchill Downs record book as the Nicholasville, Kentucky, couple won a record 13th leading owner crown.
The New Orleans-born Amoss opened the meet on a hot streak and closed with a rush to collect his second leading trainer crown -- and his first outright title. He had previously tied with Dale Romans for the Spring Meet title in 2002. Amoss' stable collected 35 victories from 87 starts, a 40 percent win rate for a barn in which 72 percent of its starters finished in the top three in their races. "We caught fire and we were able to keep it going all meet, which is truly a credit to everybody in the barn," Amoss said by telephone. "I've got probably five managerial people that have been with me for more than 15 years each, and this is a proud moment for all of us." Amoss wrapped up the meet with victories by Alfred Kent (Sharp Victor) in the 5TH race and Our Dancer (Royal Academy) in the 10TH. The highlight of the Spring Meet for Amoss was a victory in the Aristides S. (G3) with Indian Chant (Suggest). "This is a special feeling," Amoss added. "This is a prestigious meet. Not to take anything away from any of the other titles we've won, but this is big. It's really important to us and there's a great deal of satisfaction amongst everybody." The strong closing day performance by Amoss allowed him to pull away from runner-up Steve Asmussen, the 2007 Spring Meet leader who finished with 30 victories. Ken McPeek was next with 26 wins. The leading owner title for Ken and Sarah Ramsey was their record 13th overall and their seventh Spring Meet crown. They earned their first Churchill Downs Spring Meet title in 2000 and have taken seven of the nine spring titles since. The latest title allowed the Ramseys to tie legendary Calumet Farm's record for the most Spring Meet leading owner crowns. "Did you notice how long we're delaying leaving the winner's circle?" a beaming Ken Ramsey asked in special winner's circle ceremony. "It never gets old." Sarah Ramsey accompanied her husband to the winner's circle ceremony. She was in a wheelchair as she made her first appearance at Churchill Downs since suffering a stroke early last year. "She told me that if we won another leading owner title that she'd come to the track with me," Ken Ramsey said. The Ramseys horses finished with a record of 20-11-17 in 75 starts, which reflects a winning rate of 27 percent, and 64 percent of their horses recorded top-three finishes. Maggi Moss, the leading owner in the 2007 Spring Meet, finished second with 15 wins while Richard, Elaine and Bert Klein were third with 10 victories. The 2008 Spring Meet got off of to a memorable, if bittersweet, start with a dominant 4 3/4-length victory by BIG BROWN (Boundary) in the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby (G1). The Derby victory was the third for jockey Kent Desormeaux and the first for trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. But the day was marred by a fatal injury suffered by the filly EIGHT BELLES (Unbridled's Song) well past the finish line. A crowd of 157,770 witnessed the Derby, representing the second-largest attendance in the history of the race. One day earlier, PROUD SPELL (Proud Citizen) scored an emphatic five-length victory in the 134th running of the Kentucky Oaks (G1). Kentucky native Larry Jones scored his first Oaks victory with the bay lass, who was ridden by Gabriel Saez. Despite heavy rain that fell throughout the afternoon, a crowd of 100,046 attended the Oaks, which marked the 10th time in 11 years that Kentucky Oaks attendance had topped the 100,000 mark. Competing with those spectacular races for the honor of meet highlight was the 27th running of the Stephen Foster. Curlin cruised to an easy 4 1/4-length victory under Albarado in his first race since a dominating victory in the Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) in March. Other notable stakes efforts included wins in the Crown Royal American Turf (G3) and Jefferson Cup (G2) by three-year-old turf star TIZDEJAVU (Tiznow), the meet's only two-time stakes winner; INTANGAROO (Orientate), who notched an upset in the Humana Distaff (G1) on Kentucky Derby Day; HYSTERICALADY (Distorted Humor) in the Fleur de Lis (G2); and GINGER PUNCH (Awesome Again) in the Louisville S. (G2). Churchill Downs' 26-day Fall Meet is scheduled to begin October 26 and run through November 29.
 Send this article to a friend
|
|
