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.