The top three finishers from Saturday’s $750,000 Florida Derby came out of their races in good order and will now set their sights on the May 1 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, their connections said Sunday.

Ice Box, Pleasant Prince, and Rule will all run in the Derby without having another prep race, meaning they will have six weeks between races. Ice Box defeated Pleasant Prince by a nose Saturday, both coming from well off the pace, while it was another 1 1/4 lengths back to Rule, who held on despite racing on the lead. Ice Box and Pleasant Prince each earned a 99 Beyer Speed Figure.

Nick Zito, the trainer of Ice Box, said that his colt was “a little tired, but otherwise he looked really good” Sunday morning. It was the third nine-furlong race of the winter for Ice Box, who won a first-level allowance race here in January before finishing fifth to Eskendereya in the Fountain of Youth.

“He’s had three mile-and-an-eighth races in a row, I don’t see the point of running anywhere,” Zito said. “There’s absolutely nothing to gain. Zero.”

Zito said he would ship Ice Box straight to Churchill Downs approximately the first week of April.

Pleasant Prince, who fell a nose short to Ice Box in the Florida Derby, “came out of the race awesome,” according to trainer Wesley Ward. Pleasant Prince will be flown on Wednesday to Lexington, Ky., where he will do all of his training leading up to the Kentucky Derby over Keeneland’s synthetic surface, Ward said

“Keeneland’s surface has been great to me the last few years,” Ward said. “I’ve probably had a thousand works and I could count on one hand the number of horses that have gotten hurt there. The big thing leading into the Derby is keeping your horses sound. I’ve got nothing against Churchill, it’s just the luck I’ve had at Keeneland and the fact I’ll be there with the rest of my horses.”

Trainer Todd Pletcher said Rule came out of the Florida Derby well. Rule was only beaten 1 1/4 lengths despite battling Pulsion for the early lead. Pulsion faded to sixth.

“I still think he ran very well, he was one of the few horses that was part of the pace that stuck around,” Pletcher said. “We felt like we learned something, I think Johnny learned something. Hopefully it improves him for the next one. Johnny felt like if he could do it over he would have opted to grab a hold of him, ease him back and wait a little longer to make his final move.”

Pletcher said he is looking to ship Rule to Churchill Downs around April 20.

Radiohead, who finished ninth after being forced to race wide early, came out of his race in good shape, trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said. There are no plans for the colt’s next start.

“I got no idea what went wrong,” Dutrow said.

Dutrow said that Swale Stakes winner D’ Funnybone was in good shape Sunday morning and that the Grade 2 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct on April 24 is a possible next start.

Bonnie Miss one-two finishers Devil May Care and Amen Hallelujah will be pointed to the Kentucky Oaks on April 30.

10. William’s Kitten (Kitten’s Joy): 3rd in the Holy Bull last time out, he could be a interesting horse to follow the next few weeks to see what happens.

9. Jackson Bend (Hear No Evil): I need to see another race from him to see if he’s the real deal, I don’t think he will do that great in the FOY against Buddy’s Saint and Winslow Homer, but we’ll see.

8. Uptowncharlybrown (Limehouse): This horse could be this year’s Funny Cide, Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex story. The horse from the otherside of the tracks, owned by Fantasy Lane Stable (I believe 51 people are part of this perticler partnership), he’ll be going in the Sam F. Davis next, and we’ll see how good he actually is.

7. Winslow Homer (Unbridled’s Song): Is this finally Rick Porter’s year? The big question is can he stay sound and have a good FOY. He could be better around two turns and I liked that he was able to split horses after finding a little bit of trouble.

6. Rule (Roman Ruler): I’ve been hyping this guy since really before he was born. By a Haskell winner, out of a half sister to a Derby winner. This guy has the speed to stay in front and his uncles heart. The problem is he needs to learn how to rate, and ironicly from what I read in a Bloodhorse article, WinStar thinks he’s their best chance. I sure hope so.

5. Super Saver (Maria’s Mon): Drops in the rankings, but don’t worry I still think he has a good chance. The good news is that he has a win over the Churchill surface which is something that not everyone has. I’m not sure what’s next for him.

4. Blind Luck (Pollard’s Vision): Was really flattered this past weekend by Bickersons. Yes it was at seven furlongs, and yes it was on dirt. I still think she will be heading to the Oaks, but keeping her on here just in case.

3. Ron the Greek (Full Mandate): I’m probley rating this guy too high. However, his Lacomte was one of the most impressive come from behind wins I’ve seen. I don’t know much about his sire other then he’s by AP Indy, however his dam is a full sister to the dam of Musket Man. This guy maybe going into the Risen Star under the radar.

2. Buddy’s Saint (Saint Liam): Both Citrus Kid and Homeboykris bombed in their first races as three year olds, however I want to see how he does in the FOY against the likes of Winslow Homer and Jackson Bend.

1. Lookin at Lucky (Smart Strike): Until someone beats him, he stays at the top. He should be making his 3yo debut in a few weeks.

Dropped off: Noble’s Promise (Cuvee)

Possible inclusion next time: American Lion (Tiznow), Dossylemeyer (Distorted Humor), Sassy Image (Broken Vow), Backwater Blues (Dixieland Band)

Need to see another race from: Afleet Express (Afleet Alex), Dryfly (Jump Start)

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]]> http://photofinish-horseracing.com/derby-top-10/feed 1 http://photofinish-horseracing.com/churchill-downs-schedules-six-night-racing-dates-in-2010 http://photofinish-horseracing.com/churchill-downs-schedules-six-night-racing-dates-in-2010#comments Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:28:38 +0000 admin http://photofinish-horseracing.com/?p=98 Frank Angst

Following three successful night cards this year, Churchill Downs plans to offer a half-dozen programs under the lights in 2010.

Churchill plans to offer four Friday night programs during its spring meeting: June 11, June 18, June 25, and July 2, along with two fall date programs falling on Halloween (Sunday, October 31) and Friday, November 19.

This year’s “Downs After Dark” cards were offered three times, averaging 29,705 in attendance and attracting 33,481 on July 2, which was the largest Churchill crowd ever for a card that did not include the Kentucky Derby (G1), Kentucky Oaks (G1), or Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

“We want to keep Downs After Dark a special and unique experience for our fans,” Churchill Downs President Kevin Flanery said. “For three nights this past spring, Churchill Downs was transformed into Louisville’s ultimate nighttime hot spot. The track was the place to be and offered the biggest party in town. Our distinctive events under the lights helped redefine the on-track racing experience and generated a tremendous buzz in the community and within the horse racing industry.”

This year’s night cards were conducted under temporary lighting. The track announced on Tuesday that Musco Lighting has been selected to install permanent lights at the Louisville track. Churchill worked with Musco on the temporary lighting plan.

Flanery noted that local horsemen and the community have helped Churchill stage the successful events.

“It could not have been accomplished without the teamwork and support of our horsemen’s groups, neighborhood associations, and employees and the fantastic support and participation we received from the Greater Louisville community,” Flanery said. “Our goal for the coming year is to deliver that same level of excitement to core customers, casual patrons, and entertainment seekers within these six special Downs After Dark events in 2010.”

Also on Tuesday, Churchill announced the launch of a web site that will allow fans to purchase exact reserved seat locatio

The racetrack operator, steeped in racing history with the Run for the Roses held each May at its namesake Louisville track, is betting that online wagering will keep up a fast pace in an otherwise sluggish industry.

The deal announced Wednesday was valued at about $126.8 million.

It would position Churchill at the front of the pack in online and phone betting, called advance deposit wagers, or ADWs, by consolidating its own TwinSpires.com account-wagering site with Youbet.

Churchill Downs shares fell 82 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $30.75 in trading Thursday.

At a time when on-track wagering on live racing is relatively flat, Internet wagering will account for nearly 14 percent of all betting on U.S. thoroughbred racing in 2009, up from about 10 percent last year, Churchill executives said in a conference call Thursday to discuss the acquisition.

Looking ahead, the company said that placing bets with the click of a computer will become even more appealing to people looking to cash a winning ticket on their favorite horses.
“Should the ADW channel follow in the path of other consumer goods, in terms of the percentage of transactions that occur online, there will be substantial future growth in ADW wagering,” Churchill President and Chief Executive Officer Robert L. Evans said.

The consolidated operations will “try to capture the best of both and put those together,” Evans said.

In 2008, Youbet reported handle, or amount of money wagered, of $438 million and revenue of $85.8 million. Its handle was up 13 percent and revenue was up 8.6 percent in the first nine months of 2009 compared with the year-ago period, Evans said.

Youbet also provides horse racing content to CBS Sports.com and ESPN.com.

The deal was approved by the Churchill and Youbet boards. It still must clear regulatory review and win approval from Youbet shareholders. Churchill said it expects the deal to close in the first half of 2010.

Youbet shareholders would get 0.0598 shares of Churchill stock plus 97 cents per share cash for each share of Youbet stock owned. If the deal closes, Youbet shareholders will own about a 16 percent stake in Churchill.

Besides its namesake track in Louisville, Churchill Downs owns and operates three other tracks in Florida, Illinois, and Louisiana, along with off-track betting facilities.

Evans said the deal’s stock-cash mix gives Churchill the flexibility to look for other ways to expand.

“We wanted to preserve the balance sheet to do other deals going forward,” he said. “We’ll continue to look around and see what’s out there and hopefully do good stuff.”

He said the combined Twinspires and Youbet business “will be well positioned to pursue other online business opportunities should they develop.”

Youbet President and Chief Executive Officer David Goldberg said Thursday the deal will create an operation with “the technology, know-how and channel access to be a market innovator” in horse racing.

“Nothing can replace the electricity of being at the track,” he said in a conference call. “However, the recent growth in ADW proves there is significant demand to wager online.”

Ryan Worst, an analyst at Brean Murray Carret & Co., said the deal “makes sense.”

The consolidated Youbet and TwinSpires operations will account for about 40 percent of an approximately $1.8 billion Internet wagering market on horse racing in the U.S., he said. He predicted that the online segment of thoroughbred race wagering “will continue to grow significantly for the next several years.”

Other big players in the account-wagering business include TVG and XpressBet.

The amount wagered on thoroughbred racing in the United States totaled $13.6 billion last year, down from $15.2 billion wagered in 2003, according to the Jockey Club. Ontrack wagering at those events in 2008 totaled nearly $1.5 billion, compared with $1.9 billion in 2003, the statistics showed.

Worst said that Churchill’s balance sheet remains strong, “leaving it in the enviable position to pursue additional growth opportunities.” He reiterated his buy rating for Churchill stock.