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Zenyatta to reappear in Louisville Distaff; other stars set for Churchill stakes Unbeaten Eclipse Award champion ZENYATTA (Street Cry [Ire]), a finalist for Horse of the Year honors in 2008, is scheduled to arrive at Churchill Downs on Monday to run in the $350,000 Louisville Distaff (G2) on Friday's Kentucky Oaks Day program at Churchill Downs. Trainer John Shirreffs confirmed Zenyatta's participation via telephone Sunday afternoon, and Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Moss' star is scheduled to board a Louisville-bound plane after leaving Shirreffs' barn at Santa Anita on Monday. Zenyatta, who is perfect in nine career races and has not raced since her emphatic victory in the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic (G1) over Santa Anita's Pro-Ride surface in late October, will stabled in Barn 45. Shirreffs and the Mosses enjoyed success in that barn when Giacomo, their winner of the 2005 Kentucky Derby (G1), was stabled there. Shirreffs and the Mosses finalized the decision to bring their unbeaten champion to Churchill Downs after she turned in a sharp five furlongs in :59 over the synthetic Cushion Track surface on Sunday morning at Hollywood Park. The Oaks Day race would be only Zenyatta's second appearance on conventional dirt. All of her other victories have been scored on synthetic tracks in California. The brilliant mare earned the Eclipse Award for the top older filly or mare of 2008 following a campaign in which she was perfect in seven races. All of her 2008 wins came in stakes races, and four were in Grade 1 events. Zenyatta's primary challenger in the 1 1/8-mile race is fellow unbeaten ONE CAROLINE (Unbridled's Song). Owned by G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and trained by Rusty Arnold, the four-year-old filly is coming off an easy win in the Rampart S. (G2) at Gulfstream Park, her fifth consecutive victory. Others considered possible for the Louisville Distaff, formerly known as the Louisville Breeders' Cup, include Falls City H. (G2) winner MISS ISELLA (Silver Charm), BEAR NOW (Tiznow), DAWN AFTER DAWN (Successful Appeal), STEALIN' KISSES (Sky Mesa), SUGAR MINT (Ire) (High Chaparral [Ire]), SWIFT TEMPER (Giant's Causeway), UNBRIDLED BELLE (Broken Vow) and UNFORGOTTEN (Northern Afleet). Other stars scheduled for stakes appearances during the Kentucky Oaks program on Friday and the Kentucky Derby Day stakes on May 2 include EINSTEIN (Brz) (Spend a Buck), INDIAN BLESSING (Indian Charlie), LARAGH (Tapit), FABULOUS STRIKE (Smart Strike), KODIAK KOWBOY (Posse) and MACHO AGAIN (Macho Uno). The versatile and accomplished Einstein is scheduled to defend his title in the $500,000 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic (G1) on Kentucky Derby Day. The seven-year-old son of 1985 Kentucky Derby winner Spend a Buck is coming off a victory in the $1 million Santa Anita H. (G1) at Santa Anita, a race that marked his debut on a synthetic racing surface. A three-time Grade 1 winner on grass, Einstein also won last fall's Clark H. (G2) and finished second to two-time Horse of the Year Curlin in the $1 million Stephen Foster H. (G1) on the dirt surface at Churchill Downs. Others expected to contest the 1 1/8-mile Woodford Reserve Turf Classic include COWBOY CAL (Giant's Causeway), COURT VISION (Gulch), ARTISTE ROYAL (Ire) (Danehill), PROUDINSKY (Ger) (Silvano [Ger]), ZAMBEZI SUN (GB) (Dansili [GB]), YATE'S BLACK CAT (Black Minnaloushe), JUST AS WELL (A.P. Indy) and FURTHEST LAND (Smart Strike). The $300,000 Humana Distaff (G1), a seven-furlong Derby Day test for older fillies and mares on the main track, will be headed by Patti and Hal Earnhardt's Indian Blessing, runner-up to Big City Man (Northern Afleet) when she tested males in the Dubai Golden Shaheen (UAE-G1) at Nad al Sheba in late March. The Bob Baffert trainee has a 9-4-0 record in 13 races and is expected to face a talented group of rivals that include GAME FACE (Menifee), SECRET GYPSY (Sea of Secrets), INFORMED DECISION (Monarchos), ROYALE MICHELE (Elusive Quality), Sugar Mint and TIZ TO DREAM (Tiznow). The $250,000 Churchill Downs S. (G2) for four-year-olds and up on Derby Day shapes up as showdown between sprint stars Fabulous Strike and Kodiak Kowboy, Other possible contenders in the seven furlong race include IDE LIKE A DOUBLE (Ide), MY PAL CHARLIE (Indian Charlie), PAUL'S HOPE (Lake Austin), RILEY TUCKER (Harlan's Holiday), SILVER EDITION (Silver Deputy), SOK SOK (Trippi), SPOTSGONE (Bright Launch) and THE ROUNDHOUSE (Fusaichi Pegasus). The $100,000 Eight Belles (G3), formerly the La Troienne, will match three-year-old fillies over 7 1/2 furlongs on Derby Day. Now named in honor of the ill-fated Fox Hill Farms filly who was runner-up to Big Brown in the 2008 Kentucky Derby, the Eight Belles is expected to attract a field that could include the Steve Asmussen-trained duo of AUSPICIOUS (Indian Charlie) and FOUR GIFTS (Even the Score), the Larry Jones-trained JUST JENDA (Menifee), Arlington-Washington Lassie (G3) winner C. S. SILK (Medaglia d'Oro), DAVE'S REVENGE (The Cliff's Edge), DIAMOND TAGS (Seeking the Gold), GATORETTE (Distorted Humor), LADY'S LAUGHTER (Distorted Humor), LUSTER (Touch Gold) and WARRIOR MAID (Holy Bull). The remaining race on the Kentucky Derby Day schedule of six stakes events is the $100,000 Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile (G3). The one-mile test for older fillies and mares on the Matt Winn Turf Course could include BALLYMORE LADY (War Chant), ELUSIVE LADY (Van Nistelrooy), FLIBBERJIBIT (Arch), LADY CARLOCK (Chester House), LEMON CHIFFON (Lemon Drop Kid), RUSTIC FLAME (Ire) (Danehill Dancer), Sugar Mint, SWEETER STILL (Ire) (Rock of Gibraltar [Ire]) and TIZAQUEENA (Tiznow). Along with the 135th running of the Kentucky Oaks and the Louisville Distaff, the four other stakes races on the Oaks Day card will attract star-studded fields. The $100,000 American Turf (G3) is expected to mark the stakes debut of the promising AFFIRMATIF (Unbridled's Song) as the Todd Pletcher-trained colt faces stakes veterans BATTLE OF HASTINGS (GB) (Royal Applause [GB]), BITTEL ROAD (Stormy Atlantic), JACK SPRATT (Candy Ride [Arg]), ORTHODOX (Pulpit), SKIPADATE (Skip Away), STORMALORY (Storm Cat) and TURFISTE (Military) in the 1 1/16-mile test on the Matt Winn Turf Course. New Orleans Handicap H. (G2) winner and Preakness (G1) runner-up Macho Again heads the 1 1/16-mile Alysheba (G3). The 1 1/16-mile race for older horses could also include 2008 Kentucky Derby veteran COOL COAL MAN (Mineshaft), READY SET (Touch Gold), ACTING ZIPPY (City Zip), BULLSBAY (Tiznow), PROM SHOES (Include), DR. PLEASURE (Thunder Gulch), GOLDEN YANK (Yankee Gentleman), STAR GUITAR (Quiet American) and LIMESTONE EDGE (Cat Thief). The $100,000 added Edgewood S. could attract Laragh, winner of the Hollywood Starlet (G1) on the synthetic Cushion Track course at Hollywood Park. Other possible starters in the 1 1/16-mile turf affair for sophomore fillies include ABBOTT HALL (El Corredor), BANKER'S CHOICE (Canadian Frontier), KISS MINE (Mineshaft), MAGICAL AFFAIR (Giant's Causeway), SPEED DATING (Not for Love), STONE LEGACY (Birdstone) and WALLOON (Alphabet Soup). The $100,000 Aegon Turf Sprint (G3) for three-year-olds and up at five furlongs on grass is expected to attract star turf sprinter SMART ENOUGH (Horse Chestnut [SAf]) and rivals that include ACCREDIT (E Dubai), CASTLES IN THE SKY (Sky Classic), CHITOZ (Forest Wildcat), DUE DATE (El Prado [Ire]), JAZZ NATION (City Zip) and Silver Edition.
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