A dazzling farewell victory by popular classic winner Shackleford and jockey
Jesus Castanon in the 138th running of the Grade 1 Clark Handicap provided an
exclamation point as arguably the brightest moment of Churchill Downs’ memorable
21-day fall meet that concluded Sunday.
The victory served as a fitting conclusion to the career of the flashy
chestnut Shackleford, trained by Louisville, Kentucky native Dale Romans.
Shackleford compiled a 6-5-1 record in 20 starts and the Clark’s first prize of
$266,054 pushed his career earnings to $3,090,101. Shackleford’s triumph also
provided Romans with a rare fall meet double one day after winning the 97th
running of the Grade 2 Falls City Handicap on Thanksgiving Day with Afleeting
Lady, a five-year-old half-sister to the Clark winner.
The wins were highlights of a spectacular fall meet for Romans, who saddled
14 winners during the October 28-November 25 racing session to earn a tie with
Ken McPeek for the meet’s “leading trainer” title. It was the 10th training
title for Romans at his hometown track and his third fall crown, while McPeek
earned his second local title. Romans has won 576 races at his hometown track
and trails only to Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, the all-time Churchill Downs
win leader with 667 victories.
But the 21-day racing session was far from “The Dale Romans Show” as it
featured stellar performances by jockey Corey Lanerie, who followed his
breakthrough spring meet riding title with a fall meet title, and rising
two-year-old star Uncaptured, who swept the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club and
Grade 3 Iroquois for trainer Mark Casse and emerged as a major contender for
next spring’s 139th Kentucky Derby. Fans affirmed their love for “Downs After
Dark” night racing as the meet’s lone session of racing under the lights lured a
fall record crowd, and they cheered during an on-track salute to Kentucky-based
heroes of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships one week after the two days of
that distinctly Kentucky-flavored competition at Santa Anita.
Churchill Downs also celebrated a significant milepost on Thanksgiving Day
when the historic track ran its 50,000th race. The first of those races was run
on May 17, 1875 when the track then known as the Louisville Jockey Club opened
with a racing program that featured the first running of the Kentucky Derby. The
50,000th race, a one-mile turf allowance that was the day’s 10th race, was won
by Kris Royal.
Along with the track’s outstanding racing program highlighted by a stakes
schedule headed by the historic Clark Handicap and its pair of popular “Stars of
Tomorrow” cards devoted exclusively to races for two-year-olds, Churchill Downs
offered a strong daily racing product notable for ample field size throughout
the 21-day meet. A total of 2,104 horses competed in the meet’s 219 races for an
average field of 9.61 horses-per-race. That’s up from the 2011 fall meet, which
had an average field size of 9.38.
Purses paid during the meet totaled $8,893,694, an average of $423,513 paid
daily. The purse total last year was $8,331,752 and daily average purses were
$438,513.
The popularity of “Downs After Dark” night racing in any season was
underscored on Saturday, November 18 when 15,926 fans enjoyed racing under the
lights during the lone nighttime session. The attendance figure was 1.3 percent
larger than the 15,719 who attended a “Downs After Dark” session on a Friday
evening during the 2011 fall meet. Total mutuel handle for the evening was
$7,400,293, an increase of 23.5 percent from the same date in 2011, and the
third-largest wagering total in 18 “Downs After Dark” or “Opening Night” racing
sessions. Off-track wagering totaled $6,289,007 — an increase of 23.6 percent
from the same racing date in 2011 — and on-track handle rose to $1,111,385, an
increase of 23.1 percent from a year earlier.
“Our Fall Meet is always a fast-moving treasure, and our 21 days of racing
were packed with wonderful performances on the track by horses and humans,
another testament from fans to the allure of ‘Downs After Dark’ night racing, a
high quality daily racing product with great food, fun and entertainment for our
patrons during their visits to Churchill Downs,” said Kevin Flanery, President
of Churchill Downs. “Our fans got a taste of the new Paddock Plaza and their
feedback on that venue was positive and enthusiastic. We look forward to the
Plaza becoming a very popular spot for Kentucky Derby and Oaks Week and other
special events in 2013.
“It was a satisfying meet on many levels, as we continue to navigate a
challenging competitive environment. We greatly appreciate the support of fans
who wagered on Churchill Downs races at the track, online through TwinSpires.com
or at simulcast centers around the nation, and we sincerely thank the owners,
trainers and jockeys who continue to support and sustain our daily racing
program and stakes schedule.”
While the popular Clark victory by Shackleford, which resulted in a loud and
appreciative response from the crowd on the colt’s return to the winner’s
circle, was clearly one of the meet’s racing highlights, it was far from the
only spectacular moment.
Uncaptured grabbed the hearts and attention of many racing fans with his two
distinctly different victories in the Iroquois and Kentucky Jockey Club. The son
of 2004 Kentucky Derby runner-up Lion Heart was an emphatic 5 1/2-length winner
in the former, but was a gritty and determined winner in the latter when he
turned back Frac Daddy to win the 1 1/16-mile Kentucky Jockey Club under jockey
Miguel Mena. In the latter, Uncaptured scored his first points on the “Road to
the Kentucky Derby” system that will determine eligibility for the 20 starting
spots in next spring’s 139th running of the Kentucky Derby.
But in terms of pure drama, the wins by Shackleford and Uncaptured might have
to defer to the riveting finish in the Grade 3 Cardinal Handicap on the Matt
Winn Turf Course on November 10. Front-running Daisy Devine, ridden by Calvin
Borel, turned back Julie’s Love after a stretch-long duel to win by a head.
Trainer Andrew McKeever’s four-year-old daughter of Kafwain won for the eighth
time in 15 races and posted a stakes-record winning time of 1:47.81 for the 1
1/8 miles on firm turf.
Another contender for most exciting finish was the narrow victory by Brushed
by a Star over Joyful Victory in the Grade 2 Chilukki on November 3. Those
rivals dueled through the stretch in that one-mile race on dirt, with Brushed by
a Star and Lanerie finishing in front of Joyful Victory and Robby Albarado by
the official margin of a head.
Claiborne Farm, the legendary Paris, Kentucky., breeding and racing
institution, won a pair of stakes events in partnership with Adele Dilschneider
to pull within one of Calumet Farm, another Bluegrass breeding and racing icon,
in total stakes wins at Churchill Downs. An impressive victory in the Pocahontas
by the two-year-old filly Sign got Claiborne and Dilschneider off to a quick
start on the meet’s opening day, and the three-year-old Lea won the Grade 3
Commonwealth Turf later in the meet. Claiborne Farm has now won 31 stakes races
at Churchill Downs, a list that includes the 1984 Kentucky Derby victory by
Swale.
Other notable stakes performances during the four-week meet included a
comfortable victory by Centre Court in the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere for
three-year-old fillies on turf; a late-running triumph by 30-1 shot Keep Up as
the five-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song out of 1998 Kentucky Oaks winner
Keeper Hill rallied from 10th to take the Grade 3 River City Handicap for older
horses on turf on closing day; and a longshot triumph by Canadian import
Seaneen Girl, a recent purchase by owner Naveed Chowhan, in the Grade 2 Golden
Rod Stakes for two-year-old fillies at odds of 31-1. Seaneen Girl provided
veteran trainer Bernie Flint with his second Golden Rod win in her first start
for her new barn. A stretch-running win by Neck ‘n Neck in the Grade 3 Ack Ack
established the three-year-old as a contender for the Clark Handicap, but the
son of Flower Alley was knocked out of the latter by injury.
Tops among performances by the fall meet’s human stars was the riding title
by Lanerie, who entered 2012 without a riding crown at Churchill Downs but will
ring out the year with a sweep of its spring and fall championships. The
38-year-old Louisiana native won 29 races, five more than Shaun Bridgmohan, who
was also runner-up to Lanerie in the spring. During the meet Lanerie became only
the 19th jockey to register 400 career wins at Churchill Downs when he guided
the two-year-old Pushthebuttonmax to victory in a maiden special weight race on
November 9.
Mena, who won 19 races to finish fourth in the race for leading rider, closed
the meet in impressive style by sweeping its final three stakes races. He was
aboard Seaneen Girl in the Golden Rod, Uncaptured in the Kentucky Jockey Club
and Keep Up in the River City. Mena also piloted Uncaptured to victory in the
Iroquois on the meet’s opening day.
While the race for leading trainer ended in the McPeek-Romans dead-heat, Al
Stall Jr. saddled 11 winners to finish a clear third. Stall’s wins included the
wins by Sign in the Pocahontas and Lea in the Commonwealth Turf.
The race for leading owner finished in a four-way tie. Brad Kelley’s
Bluegrass Hall LLC; Claiborne Farm and Dilschneider; Susan McPeek and partners’
Magdalena Racing; and Gary and Mary West each collected four Fall Meet wins.
One of the meet’s most impressive individual equine performances was a
record-setting 7 1/4-length victory by Infrattini in a one-mile allowance race
on Thanksgiving Day. The four-year-old gelded son of Include, trained by
Louisville native Paul McGee, covered distance over a fast track in 1:33.31 to
surpass the previous of record winning time of 1:33.57 set by Chilukki in the
2000 running of the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Distaff.
A main track record that had endured for 70 years tumbled during the meet’s
“Downs After Dark” program when three-year-old Tritap won an allowance race at 1
3/16 miles — a distance rarely offered at Churchill Downs. Tritap, ridden by
Bridgmohan and trained by Steve Asmussen, covered the distance over a fast track
in 1:58.12. The time eclipsed the previous standard of 1:58.60 established by
the five-year-old gelding Bonnie Andrew on November 14, 1942.
While the on-track action was impressive, fans had other reasons to celebrate
during the meet’s 21-day run.
Kentucky-based horses and connections who were victorious in the Breeders’
Cup World Championships were saluted in an on-track celebration on Sunday,
November 11. Breeders’ Cup champions who paraded in the paddock that afternoon
included Classic winner Fort Larned; Mile winner Wise Dan; Filly & Mare Sprint
winner Groupie Doll; and Turf winner Little Mike. Connections present for the
day included owner Janis Whitham, trainer Ian Wilkes and jockey Brian Hernandez
Jr. (Fort Larned); trainer Charles Lopresti (Wise Dan); owner-breeder Fred
Bradley and trainer William “Buff” Bradley (Groupie Doll); Romans (Little Mike);
Jack Wolf and Ed Glasscock of Starlight Partners (owner of Juvenile winner
Shanghai Bobby). Also honored, though not present, were trainers D. Wayne Lukas
(Juvenile Sprint winner Hightail) and Asmussen (Dirt Mile winner Tapizar).
The historic track and its fans said farewell on closing day to veteran
sprinter Ready’s Rocket, whose 11 career wins at Churchill Downs is a modern-day
record at the track. Competing mostly in claiming races, Ready’s Rocket compiled
a career record of 20-10-13 in 74 races with earnings of $261,636. His success
in starter allowance races, with 10 of his 11 local wins coming under jockey
Calvin Borel, made him a fan favorite. The nine-year-old is retiring to Old
Friends Farm near Georgetown, Kentucky.
With its 2012 racing year now concluded, Churchill Downs looks ahead to 2013,
during which it will conduct three separate racing meets for the first time in
the track’s long history. Churchill Downs received permission from the Kentucky
Horse Racing Commission to conduct a third meet in September, with includes 12
racing days with an option for four additional racing days. The track will
conduct a total of 72 racing days in 2013, with the inaugural September meet
running from September 6-29, a spring meet set for April 27-June 30 and the fall
meet, which will run from October 27-November 30.
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