Louisville H.

Two-time defending champ SILVERFOOT (With Approval) leads a compact field of
six to post to take aim at the top prize in the $100,000 Louisville H. (G3) on
the Churchill Downs turf course. The Dallas Stewart charge has the most
credentials of anyone in the group and is sure to be sent off at short odds, so
we’ll look for an upset in here.

The seven-year-old QUEST STAR (Broad Brush) comes off a very impressive
allowance tally over this lawn and is our pick to light up the toteboard when
this 1 3/8-mile marathon is concluded. The dark bay has been facing top class
company on the sod for years now, but hasn’t broken through with a graded
conquer since taking the Pan American H. (G2) in 2004. We love the fact that
Neil Howard has taken over training duties of the horse since the start of 2006,
leading us to believe he’s coming up to a peak effort in this, his third start
of the season. Look for the son of Broad Brush to track in second for much of the way, take the lead turning for home and keep all of the closers at bay.
Robby Albarado will ride.

Silverfoot is finally rounding into the form that he was in last year, which
saw him victorious in a pair of Grade 3 tilts. The six-year-old gray is often at
the mercy of the pace, and will likely have to close into soft fractions in this
contest. It’s obvious that the gelding has a big shot to win, but we’d prefer
his use to the lower rungs of the exotics.

WATERSHED EVENT (Charismatic) is arguably the better of the two entrants from
the barn of Dale Romans. The late-running chestnut has impressed with his energy
in the latter stages, which could merit him a top-three placing here. The horse
is coming off a solid fifth-place finish in the Elkhorn S. (G3) behind a
dawdling pace and could pick up the pieces late if the ones in front falter. Rene Douglas will guide the improving sort.

PELLEGRINO (Brz) (Nugget Point [Ire]) returned from a layoff to capture the
Elkhorn most recently, his first start since transferring to the barn of expert
conditioner Roger Attfield. The seven-year-old is perhaps best known for a tally
in the 2004 Hollywood Turf Cup S. (G1), though he has failed to live up to that
lofty achievement. We’re hoping the Brazilian-bred is rounding back into peak
form, but suggest not settling for a short price in this wide-open event. A must-use in the exotics.

RAMAZUTTI (Honor Grades) has served as a ‘rabbit’ for a much more ballyhooed
stablemate in his last pair but has earned the right to run for his own glory
after a pair of game efforts. Trained by the white-hot Todd Pletcher, who is
winning at a 43 percent rate
at the current meet, the chestnut is likely to establish the pace once again and
you’ll likely have to pass him to win. We envision the pace to be more contested
in here than it has in his last pair, so we’ll stand against the colt.

NOLAN’S CAT (Catienus) is very talented and could run with most of these on
his best day, but we’re not sure if this is the surface or distance that the
colt prefers. The four-year-old is coming off a pair of solid efforts in 2006
against allowance foes, but steps up the class ladder in here. The Romans
trainee will have to run a career-best race to topple these on the lawn, and
we’ll take a stand against in this spot.