Churchill Downs

Two of our top five were in action at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby day card. 5) COUNTER MOVE, BAQ, 5/2-11th, 6fT VIDEO Beyer Speed Figure-87 (g, 4, Spun to Run--Gypsy Angel, by Silver Train) O/B-Sequel Racing/Sequel Thoroughbreds (NY). T-George Weaver. J-Dalila Rivera. After eight starts with two seconds and four third, but no wins, Weaver and owner Becky Thomas decided to try grass. Counter Move had little turf heritage. Spun to Run's progeny stats are solidly better on dirt, but you wouldn't know by the result. Counter Move...

There were plenty of people who liked the chances of Japanese shipper T O Elvis (Volatile) in Saturday's GI Churchill Downs Stakes. He had won four straight races, was on the improve, and the word out of Japan was that this horse might be as good as any sprinter in the world. That he was 30-1 on the morning line made the idea of placing a large wager on the 4-year-old even more enticing. He was never going to be 30-1. The linemaker whiffed badly on that one. But as...

So that's now 41 straight runnings of the GI Kentucky Derby in which the horse breaking from the one post has lost. Take nothing away from Golden Tempo (Curlin), who ran the race of his life for rising star trainer Cherie DeVaux and was a deserving winner after breaking from post 16. He beat Renegade (Into Mischief), who was saddled with the one post. But had the post positions been reversed, would Renegade have won? It's a fair question. Renegade was roughed up at the start, bumping repeatedly with other...

Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable's Golden Tempo (Curlin) shipped back to Keeneland Sunday morning, a day after his dramatic late-running victory in the GI Kentucky Derby. Connections will be taking a wait-and-see approach to his participation in the May 16 GI Preakness Stakes, trainer Cherie DeVaux confirmed Sunday. DeVaux made an emotional first stop the morning after the Derby at the former Churchill Downs barn of the late trainer Chuck Simon, a full-circle moment after the biggest win of her career. "He meant a lot to me and my...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Friday evening wasn't the only 'Ladies Night' at Churchill Downs this weekend. Cherie DeVaux became the first female trainer to win the GI Kentucky Derby, saddling Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable homebred Golden Tempo (Curlin) to a last-to-first upset at odds of 23-1 in the 152nd renewal on an unseasonably chilly first Saturday in May. The 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' stormed home down the center to narrowly outkick the unlucky Renegade (Into Mischief), slammed hard at the start from his rail draw, by a...

Connections of Stark Contrast (c, 3, Caravaggio--Catch the Eye, by Quality Road), second in the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks Mar. 21 behind scratched GI Kentucky Derby contender Fulleffort (Liam's Map), could have entertained a Derby bid with the 50 points he earned at Turfway, but opted instead for the 35th running of the GI American Turf Stakes Saturday on the Derby undercard at Churchill Downs. And boy, did it pay off for the Michael McCarthy-trained Amerman homebred, who took home his first Grade I score. Sent as the 6-5 favorite,...

Billed as a showdown between a pair of unbeaten 'TDN Rising Stars, presented by Hagyard' in these pages back in early April, Crude Velocity (Beau Liam) outslugged Englishman (Maxfield) in a dynamite renewal of the GII Pat Day Mile S. Just like he did in his first two starts, 3-2 favorite Crude Velocity did not exit the stalls well, but recovered impressively to thread his way through traffic to press the rail-drawn, 8-5 second-choice Englishman from second through sharp fractions of :22.06 and :44.20. Crude Velocity drew up alongside at...

With jockey Flavien Prat urging his mount on down the lane, Yellow Card (Lost Treasure (Ire)--Paris Girl, by Pulpit) was up in time to take the GII Twin Spires Turf Sprint Stakes on Saturday's Derby undercard, which was the first higher-level win of the horse's career. Yellow Card captured his first black-type when he won the restricted Clocker's Corner Stakes at Santa Anita Feb. 8. Shipping to Keeneland for the GII Valvoline Global Shakertown Stakes, the Michael McCarthy trainee encountered some traffic troubles up the backstretch, but he showed heart...

Douglas Scharbauer and Three Chimneys Farm's Always a Runner (Gun Runner), who delivered a decisive performance Friday night under the lights at Churchill Downs to win the GI Longines Kentucky Oaks, will ship to Saratoga and prepare for a summer campaign according to Chad Brown. The trainer said the filly will target the major Grade I races for 3-year-old fillies upstate. The GI Coaching Club Oaks at nine furlongs on the dirt is slated to run July 25. "These big races, with big fields, you have to have plans A,...

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - On one of the morning works shows leading up to the GI Kentucky Oaks, trainer Chad Brown was asked if his unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Always a Runner (Gun Runner) was, perhaps, flying into the race under the radar. "When I work her tomorrow, they'll be talking about her," he said confidently. Everybody will still be talking about her after the first Friday in May now, too. Always a Runner made it a perfect three-for-three with a powerful, come-from-behind, 1 1/4-length victory in the...

Leading stallion Into Mischief picked up his newest Grade I winner Friday, bringing his total to 31, when 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard' Shred the Gnar (Into Mischief) took down the GI Fasig-Tipton La Troienne Stakes on the Kentucky Oaks undercard ahead of Fully Subscribed (Tiz the Law). Unraced since a sixth after a rough trip in the GIII Royal Delta on Feb. 14, a race which is really her only blemish in an otherwise beautiful career, Shred the Gnar is already a graded stakes winner having captured the...

Corporate Power (Curlin) out-finished the veteran Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator) and a closing Baeza (McKinzie) to earn his first graded stakes win in Friday's GII Alysheba Stakes at Churchill Downs. The 5-1 shot, making his third start here for trainer Steve Asmussen, was last second by just a half-length to classy Louisiana-bred Touchuponastar (Star Guitar) in the GII New Orleans Classic at Fair Grounds March 21. As a 3-year with Shug McGaughey, he tried his hand on the Triple Crown trail with a narrow win in the Sir Barton Stakes at Pimlico....