Churchill Downs | Horse Racing Free Tips

Liam’s Map Colt Romps to ‘Rising Stardom’ at Churchill

Beau Liam (c, 3, Liam's Map–Belle of Perintown, by Dehere) stamped himself as a sophomore to watch for the second half of the season with an eye-catching 'TDN Rising Star' performance over older horses on debut at Churchill Downs Saturday.

The 5-1 chance broke well from his outside draw and sat just off the leaders in third through a sharp opening quarter in :21.73. The Stonestreet homebred, trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, revved up three deep at the quarter pole and took off in the stretch like a good thing to graduate by 7 1/2 widening lengths over Atoka (Union Rags). Heavily favored Casual Affair (Into Mischief), a strong second on debut at Keeneland Apr. 23, was a disappointing fourth after getting squeezed at the start.

The final time for six furlongs was a swift 1:08.62.

The half-brother to Tomlin (Distorted Humor), MSW & MGSP, $251,895; and Strike It Rich (Unbridled's Song), GSW, $193,966, is the fourth 'TDN Rising Star' for young sire Liam's Map. Asmussen also trained fellow 'Rising Star' and GISW Wicked Whisper (Liam's Map).

Belle of Perintown, heroine of the 2003 GII Silverbulletday S. and third-place finisher in the GII Fair Grounds Oaks, is also responsible for the 2-year-old filly Ari Oakley (Gun Runner) and a yearling filly by Good Magic. She was bred to Uncle Mo for 2021. Beau Liam's third dam Jeanne Jones (Nijinsky II) won the 1988 GI Fantasy S. at Oaklawn and was second in the GI Kentucky Oaks and GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies.

3rd-Churchill Downs, $100,000, Msw, 5-29, 3yo/up, 6f, 1:08.62, ft, 7 1/2 lengths.
BEAU LIAM, c, 3, by Liam's Map
                1st Dam: Belle of Perintown {GSW, $265,465}, by Dehere
                2nd Dam: Hot Match, by Mr. Prospector
                3rd Dam: Jeanne Jones, by Nijinsky II
Sales history: $385,000 RNA Ylg '19 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $57,488. Click for the Equibase.com chart, VIDEO, sponsored by TVG or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O-Stonestreet Stables LLC; B-Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings LLC (KY); T-Steven M. Asmussen.

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Three Lucrative Carryovers To Chase Saturday At Churchill Downs

Bettors have three lucrative carryovers to chase Saturday at Churchill Downs on the 11-race Stephen Foster Preview Day program: $150,655 in the 20-cent Derby City 6; $73,634 in the 50-cent Late Pick 5; and $5,377 in the $1 Super Hi 5.

There is a mandatory payout in Saturday's 20-cent Derby City 6 and the jackpot was $150,655 at the conclusion of Friday's action. All monies will be distributed Saturday to ticket holders with the most winners in the six-race series. Track officials estimate the force-out of Saturday's total Derby City 6 pool could challenge $750,000 with new money.

Takeout on the Derby City 6, which will cover Races 6-11 starting at 3:18 p.m. (all times Eastern) and only costs 20 cents per combination, is just 15 percent – one of the lowest multi-race wager takeout rates in American racing.

Saturday's Derby City 6 sequence features the $150,000 Blame for 4-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles (seven entries); the $150,000 Shawnee for fillies and mares at 1 1/16 miles (eight entries); the $150,000 Regret (Grade III) for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/8 miles on turf (nine entries); $150,000 Matt Winn (GIII) for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles (eight entries); $150,000 Aristides for 4-year-olds and up at six furlongs (10 entries); and $110,000 Douglas Park Overnight Stakes for 4-year-olds and up at 1 1/16 miles on turf (nine entries).

The 50-cent Late Pick 5 with a $73,634 carryover will cover the last five races on the card. The $1 Super Hi 5 with a $5,377 carryover is staged on the final race of the day.

Past performances are available at www.Brisnet.com or www.ChurchillDowns.com/Handicapping. Fans can wager on the Derby City 6 at Churchill Downs; www.TwinSpires.com, the official ADW of Churchill Downs Incorporated; other online wagering outlets; and select satellite betting centers throughout North America.

Churchill Downs' admission gates will open at 11:30 a.m. and tickets, starting at $5, are available on www.ChurchillDowns.com/tickets. The first of 11 races is 12:45 p.m. and the finale is scheduled for 5:58 p.m.

All 11 races on the Stephen Foster Preview Day card at Churchill Downs are scheduled to be televised on Fox Sports 2 from 12:30-6 p.m. as part of the “America's Day at the Races” coverage produced by the New York Racing Association.

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Freshman Sire Unified Gets First Win at Churchill

Lucky Seven Stable's Behave Virginia (Unified) launched her career in style, rolling home an impressive 5 1/2-furlong winner at Churchill Downs Friday to become the first winner for freshman sire Unified (Candy Ride {Arg}). Narrowly in front into the far turn, she was briefly headed by 6-5 favorite Trade Secret (Goldencents), but wrested the lead back from that rival turning for home. In command from there, the 7-1 chance drew clear through the stretch, crossing the wire 5 1/2 lengths ahead of Trade Secret while under a hand ride.

Her 'TDN Rising Star' sire was winner of the 2016 GIII Bay Shore S. and GII Peter Pan S. and the following year's GIII Gulfstream Park Sprint S. before a narrow second in the GI Carter H. The Lane's End inmate's first juveniles have been well received this spring, with a pair of colts at OBS March selling for $530,000 and $400,000, respectively. Behave Virginia's dam, She's Behaving, produced a colt by Tamarkuz last season.

3rd-Churchill Downs, $98,116, Msw, 5-28, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 1:04.15, wf, 5 3/4 lengths.
BEHAVE VIRGINIA (f, 2, Unified–She's Behaving, by Mineshaft)
Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $57,488. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.
O-Lucky Seven Stable (Mackin); B-Khalid Mishref Alkahtani (KY); T-Kenneth G. McPeek. *$30,000 Wlg '19 KEENOV; $115,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP.

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Improving Sprawl Faces Tough Competition In Saturday’s Blame Stakes

Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider are hoping their improving homebred Sprawl can score his first stakes victory in Saturday's $150,000 Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs, a race named in honor of his owners' prized stallion Blame.

“I'm very thankful to train a horse like this who has such a high quality pedigree and is owned and bred by one of the most historic farms in the world,” trainer Tom Drury Jr. said.

Sprawl, a 4-year-old son of City Zip, was made the 3-1 co-second choice on the morning line in Saturday's 1 1/8-mile Blame Stakes. He'll be making his 14th-career start and fourth start since being transferred from trainer Bill Mott to Drury.

“We were very impressed with how well he won in his last start,” Drury said. “The timing from that allowance race set up perfectly to try him in stakes company again. Hopefully he can repeat his allowance win on Saturday.”

Sprawl recorded his third career victory May 9 at Churchill Downs with a front-running 7 ¼-length win in a 1 1/16-mile conditioned allowance event. The chestnut colt tried stakes company four times while in the care of Mott and recently finished fourth by three-quarters of a length in the $150,000 Ben Ali (Grade 3) at Keeneland where he was defeated by fellow Blame rivals Silver Dust and Night Ops.

Saturday's Blame Stakes, which will go as Race 6 with a post time of 3:18 p.m., is a prep for the $600,000 Stephen Foster (G2) on June 26 at Churchill Downs. The Stephen Foster is a “Win and You're In” race for the Nov. 6 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Del Mar.

The Blame is one of seven stakes events on Saturday's stellar 11-race card. The others are the $150,000 Audubon (Race 5), $150,000 Shawnee (Race 7), $150,000 Regret (G3) (Race 8), $150,000 Matt Winn (G3) (Race 9), $150,000 Aristides (Listed) (Race 10) and $110,000 Douglas Park Overnight Stakes (Race 11). The program gets underway at 12:45 p.m.

The field for the Blame (from the rail out with jockey, trainer and morning line odds):

Mighty Heart (James Graham, Josie Carroll, 12-1)
Sprawl (Brian Hernandez Jr., Drury, 3-1)
Night Ops (Florent Geroux, Brad Cox, 5-2)
Guest Suite (Manny Esquivel, Cipriano Contreras, 12-1)
American Dubai (David Cohen, Robertino Diodoro, 6-1)
South Bend (Tyler Gaffalione, Bill Mott. 6-1)
Silver Dust (Adam Beschizza, Bret Calhoun, 3-1).

Saturday's National Weather Service forecast in Louisville calls for unseasonably mild temperatures with a high near 63 degrees and mostly cloudy skies.

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