CHURCHILL DOWNS NOTEBOOK
DECEMBER 4, 2009
Fall meet wrap-up
by Frank Cotolo
It was a great 2009 for Churchill Downs. The legendary track continued to
present classic Thoroughbred racing, overcoming the kind of adversity that comes
with the business these days.
Consider that once again the Kentucky Derby (G1) proved to be the single most
attractive race to a mass public, this year producing a major longshot in MINE
THAT BIRD (Birdstone), which in itself was a result that displayed the
contentious nature of the event for experts and novices alike.
Then add Churchill as the first major theater for this year’s filly superstar
RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglio d’Oro), who went on to overshadow Mine That Bird with
giant victories over sophomore males in the the Preakness (G1) and Haskell (G1),
and later over older males in the Woodward (G1).
Churchill offered night racing for the first time and that attraction opened
up a new wave of bettors. And through a tough horse shortage, the track managed
to maintain competitive fields that were challenging to veteran bettors.
The brief fall meet at Churchill Downs began on the Nov. 1 weekend. Two
hundred and twenty-two races later some of racing’s most reliable figures held
up, thanks to an enthusiastic betting public that followed the short meet with
great attention and generous wagering.
When the last race of the meet finished on Saturday, the public wagering
choices had won at an academic rate of 34 percent. The number for the
spring-summer meet was 38 percent, a tad higher than the standard. Both figures
are within the realm of proof that form, for the most part, held well while the
racing remained competitive on the dirt and on the turf.
SURFACE REPORT
Speed generally wasn’t a major advantage during the month. Front runners
performed well at times in six-furlong events and turf routes, but there were
few wire-to-wire efforts at the one-mile distance during the meet. And winning
by stalking the pacesetter was very even with horses winning from out of the
clouds (for both surfaces with no major distinction between the percentage of
each in sprints versus routes). This was a month that for the most part
presented a level-playing field for all running styles.
The anomaly was the rate of winners that, during the first two weeks, had
performed well or on par to their odds at Keeneland’s recent meet. Early on it
was obvious that coming to the Kentucky soil from Polytrack was not a major
handicapping concern.
Once that was a moot factor (we brought the item up in our notebook as soon
as the statistic surfaced), there was only one other track factor that did
better than the Keeneland angle. That was the horses returning from at least one
race during the current meet. On closing week, more horses that won had raced
their most recent effort at Churchill during November. The final week, 27
winners from 56 races had come back during the month from the Louisville track.
Keeneland’s number dropped and Belmont picked up five winners.
TRAINERS
Although Steve Asmussen won the trainer title over Dale Romans, the
winning-percentage standings are, for wagering purposes, much more important.
Here are the final standings for all trainers with at least a dozen starts
during the brief meet.
| Trainer | win % | Trainer | win % | |||
| Cecil Borel | 42 | Dave Carroll | 17 | |||
| Wes Ward | 36 | Bill Fires | 16 | |||
| Hal Wiggins | 29 | Greg Foley | 16 | |||
| Bernie Flint | 28 | Paul McGee | 16 | |||
| Steve Asmussen | 27 | Michael Maker | 15 | |||
| Dale Romans | 25 | Eddie Kenneally | 13 | |||
| Tom Proctor | 21 | Bill Mott | 13 | |||
| Forrest Kaelin | 20 | Rusty Arnold | 12 | |||
| Ken McPeek | 19 | Todd Pletcher | 12 | |||
| Ian Wilkes | 19 | D. Wayne Lukas | 7 |
The 2010 season begins on April 24.