Churchill Downs | Horse Racing Free Tips

Tyler Gaffalione Voted Jockey Of The Week After Record-Setting Six-Win Day

After winning the leading jockey title at Keeneland for the third time, Gaffalione moved on to Churchill Downs and kept the momentum going. Winning six races from his six mounts on Friday, Gaffalione was voted Jockey of the Week for Nov. 8 through Nov. 14. The honor, which is voted on by a panel of racing experts, is for jockeys who are members of the Jockeys' Guild, the organization which represents more than 1050 active, retired and permanently disabled jockeys in the United States.

Gaffalione's six wins from six mounts put him in the Churchill Downs record book. Not since 1907 has a jockey at Churchill Downs won with all six of their mounts. The streak began with trainer Mike Maker in the first and second races when Gaffalione won with Not That Serious (paying $8.80) and Jazzy Lady ($4.40). In race three he rode for trainer Rodolphe Brisset aboard Cousteau ($4.80). With no mount in the fourth, he continued his streak in the fifth race on Megan's Clara ($4.60) for trainer Joe Sharp and Candy Tycoon ($10.80) in the sixth race for Norm Casse. He finished the day with Sarah Harper ($3.00) for trainer Ron Moquett in the seventh race. His mounts in races eight and nine were scratched.

Speaking to the Churchill Downs publicity department after his historic day, Gaffalione said: “I was joking with the guys in the room that I wanted to ride one more and get the record. It was a really good day at the track.”

Gaffalione extended his win streak into Saturday with a victory in the first race aboard Alberta Sun for trainer Mike Maker. He also won the fourth race with Absolute Love for trainer Joe Sharp and finished the weekend on Sunday on a winning note aboard Fast and Flirty in the ninth race for trainer Brendan Walsh. Gaffalione now sits atop the Churchill standings tied with Mitchell Murrill with 13 wins. He has won every leading rider title at Churchill since 2020 spring.

Gaffalione's stats for the week were 32-10-7-2 and total purses of $592,265.

After the Churchill Downs meet ends on Nov. 28, Gaffalione, the 2015 Eclipse Award Outstanding Apprentice, heads back home to Gulfstream Park to ride their four-month Championship Meet that begins Dec. 3. He rode seven winners there on July 4, 2017.

Other nominees for Jockey of the Week were John R. Davila, Jr. with a 50 percent win rate, Marcelino Pedroza, Jr. who tied with Gaffalione for total number of wins, Joel Rosario who led all jockeys in purse earnings and Andrew Wolfsont who won the Artie Schiller Stakes at Aqueduct on longshot Mandate.

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Bell’s The One Catches Club Car To Take Dream Supreme

Sconsin's scratch did not take any of the drama out of the Dream Supreme at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Instead, a sizzling early pace gave way to late moves by first Club Car and then Bell's the One, who passed Club Car in the final strides to notch another stakes victory.

Elle Z darted out of the gate to log quick fractions of :21.54 for the first quarter and :45.24 for the half-mile. Vintage Ready and Frank's Rockette were second and third early, but Elle Z could not hold on in the stretch, fading as Frank's Rockette came on to take the lead briefly before Club Car made her late move for the front. On her outside, Bell's the One and Corey Lanerie came running in the race's final yards, passing Club Car just before the wire to win by a length. Frank's Rockette held on for third.

The final time for the six furlongs was 1:10.02. Find this race's chart here.

Bell's the One paid $3.60, $2.20, and $2.10. Club Car paid $2.80 and $2.20. Frank's Rockette paid.

Bred in Kentucky by Bret Jones, Bell's the One is a 5-year-old mare by Majesticperfection out of the Street Cry (IRE) mare Street Mate. Trained by Neil Pessin, she was consigned by Brereton Jones and sold to her owner Lothenbach Stables for $155,000 at the July 2017 Fasig-Tipton Select Yearling Sale. With her win in the Dream Supreme, Bell's the One has four wins in seven starts in 2021, for a lifetime record of 11 wins in 22 starts and career earnings of $1,520,275.

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Sconsin Scratches From Dream Supreme, Will Return In 2022

Lloyd Madison Farm's multiple graded stakes winner Sconsin, the 9-5 second choice in Saturday's $300,000 Dream Supreme (Listed) at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., has been scratched from the race and will get time off before her 5-year-old campaign.

“This race was going to be her last start of the year before a little winter vacation,” trainer Greg Foley said. “She wasn't acting like herself the last couple mornings so we didn't want to chance anything. She'll get a break and get ready for a 2022 campaign.”

Lothenbach Stables' Bell's the One is expected to be the heavy favorite in the six-furlong affair. The Dream Supreme is Race 10 on Saturday with a post time of 5:36 p.m.

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Op/Ed: Corniche Connections Should Consider Dennis Diaz Wisdom

In 1985, owner Dennis Diaz had a decision to make after his runner, Spend a Buck, won the GI Kentucky Derby.

Under ordinary circumstances it would be on to the GI Preakness S. two weeks later.

But, as Lee Corso would say: “Not so fast.”

In this particular year, before the Triple Crown prep season had begun, Garden State Park owner Robert Brennan offered a $2-million bonus to any horse who won the track's two preps plus the Kentucky Derby and GIII Jersey Derby.

Diaz and trainer Cam Gambolati sent Spend a Buck to the New Jersey racetrack, where he won the Apr. 6 Cherry Hill Mile S. and Apr. 20 Garden State S. prior to his run in the Kentucky Derby.

So, after Spend a Buck, under jockey Angel Cordero, Jr., beat Stephan's Odyssey by 5 3/4 lengths in a sharp 2:00 1/5, Diaz had a decision to make.

It didn't take him long to make it.

Though Pimlico, home of the Preakness, had upped its purse from $250,000 to $350,000-added, Diaz opted for Brennan's offer. The Preakness was won by Tank's Prospect, who earned $423,200 for his owner, Gene Klein.

Spend a Buck won the May 27 Jersey Derby with Laffit Pincay, Jr. aboard, Cordero having a previous engagement. With the purse and bonus, Diaz pocketed $2.6 million, at the time the largest purse in the world.

(Who did Spend a Buck defeat in the Jersey Derby by a neck but Creme Fraiche, who would go on to take the GI Belmont S.)

Because of the bonus Brennan had offered, and the fact Diaz had spurned a run at the Triple Crown to chase the money instead, Triple Crown Productions was formed and the three tracks (Churchill Downs, Pimilco and the New York Racing Association's Belmont Park) began offering a $5-million bonus to any horse that swept the series.

Now, with the purses of the Triple Crown races larger and the long-dropped bonus sponsorship (first by Chrysler, later by VISA), the bonus, which was never paid, has been dropped.

Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Corniche | Breeders' Cup/Eclipse Sportswire

What does all of this have to do with today?

Well, today Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner have a decision to make. The men, who race as Speedway Stables, own Corniche (Quality Road), winner over the weekend of the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

With his decisive victory, and a perfect three-for-three season, Corniche will be named champion juvenile colt. And with that, the expectation of being the winter-book favorite for the 2022 Kentucky Derby.

Where is Corso when you need him, because again, “not so fast.”

Corniche is trained by Bob Baffert, who trained this year's Derby winner Medina Spirit (Protonico). However, after Medina Spirit tested positive for the presence of betamethasone, Churchill Downs Inc. suspended Baffert from saddling horses at its tracks for two years.

Yes, a different set of circumstances altogether than what faced Diaz, who owned a modestly bred horse bought inexpensively and trained by someone few had previously heard of.

Corniche was an expensive purchase ($1.5-million OBS April sale topper) with a nice pedigree, bred and racing in an age where there are a multitude of farms and partnerships desperately competing to make future stallions.

If they are hell-bent on taking a run down the Triple Crown trail, Fluor and Weiner have two options. They can transfer their colt to a new trainer or they can pursue litigation against Churchill to allow Baffert-trained runners to earn points in prep races and compete in the Derby.

Or, they could take a page from Diaz and instead of being hell-bent, they could say to hell with tradition, the Derby, and Churchill.

There are, after all, many other racetracks and many other races with big purses. And, surely, some clever racetrack promotion team could put together a bonus as cleverly as Brennan did.

Another thing for Fluor and Weiner to consider: Corniche's sire, Quality Road, did not win the Derby. Neither did Tapit, Into Mischief, Ghostzapper, Curlin, Medaglia d'Oro, Uncle Mo …

Want to go back a bit further in history? Though Northern Dancer won the Derby and established a dominant sire line, Mr. Prospector, who also began a superior sire line, did not.

Yes, the Derby will always be the Derby. To this Kentucky-bred, there is no more wonderful race than the Derby. Never will be.

But winning the Derby should not be the ultimate goal for Fluor and Weiner. If they believe in their horse, and in their trainer, there are many other races in which to run.

And, make no mistake about it, breeding farms will still want to stand their horse and breeders will still want to send mares to him.

Another thing for the residents of Houston to think about. Spend a Buck was voted the 1985 Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old colt.

Tradition is great. It provides us a way of linking the past to the present and perhaps one day, to the future.

But for Peter Fluor and K.C. Weiner, there is also the wisdom of Dennis Diaz to consider.

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