Churchill Downs | Horse Racing Free Tips

June 20 Insights

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WELL-BRED LIVE OAK FILLY DEBUTS AT GP

2nd-GP, $65K, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 12:30p.m.

Live Oak homebred LOVED GLOBALLY (Uncle Mo) makes her career bow in this juvenile test. Her second dam is Grade I-winning millionaire My Typhoo (Ire) (Giant’s Causeway), who is a daughter of Europea Highweight Urba Sea (Miswaki) and a half-sister to the mighty Galileo (Ire); champion Sea the Stars (Ire); ad MG1SW Black Sam Bellamy (Ire). This is also the family of Group 1 winner Bracelet (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}). Wesley Ward is always live with juvenile firsters and he saddles Into the Sunrise (Into Mischief). The $325,000 KEESEP purchase is out of a daughter of SW & MGISP Harbour Club (Danzig) and hails from the family of GISW Game Face (Menifee). TJCIS PPs

HALF TO SALTY DEBUTS AT CHURCHILL

4th-CD, $79K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 2:26p.m.

Ian Wilkes unveils a half-sister to Grade I winner Salty (Quality Road) in BELLUCCI (American Pharoah). Their dam is SP Theycallmeladyluck (Dixie Union), who is a daughter of GSW Vegas Prospector (Crafty Prospector). Susan & Jim Hill’s $225,000 KEESEP buy Movie Moxy (Street Sense) also debuts here of a best-of-1 half-mile in :47 3/5 beneath the Twin Spires June 17. Her unraced dam is out of Grade I winner Shadow Cast (Smart Strike). TJCIS PPs

DAUGHTER OF ASHADO MAKES CAREER BOW AT DELAWARE

5th-DEL, $40K, Msw, 3yo/up, f/m, 6f, 3:15p.m.

The latest offspring of dual champion Ashado (Saint Ballado), ALLENDE (Candy Ride {Arg}), makes her first trip to the post Friday for Mike Stidham. Her Hall of Fame dam captured seven Grade Is and earned over $3.9 million during her illustrious career before being purchased by Godolphin for $9 million at KEENOV. She is a full-sister to GISW Sunriver and GSW Saint Stephen. TJCIS PPs

BRISSET UNVEILS CONSTITUTION COLT FROM TALENTED FAMILY

10th-CD, $79K, Msw, 3yo/up, 6f, 5:3p.m.

WinStar is represented by a first timer by their hot young sire Constitution here in HOMETOWN. Out of GSP Home Court (Storm Cat), the $170,000 KEENOV buy is a half to GISW Dancing Rags (Union Rags) and MGSW Coup de Grace (Tapit). Cheyenne Stables’ $285,000 FTSAUG purchase Mountain Air (Speightstown) also debuts here. She is out of a half-sister to champion Blind Luck (Pollard’s Vision). TJCIS PPs

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Kentucky HBPA Requests Judge Alter Ruling In 2-Year-Old Lasix Case

Two weeks after a judge denied a motion for a temporary injunction from the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association (KHBPA) to halt Lasix-free 2-year-old racing in the state, the organization is asking him to reconsider. Earlier this month, Franklin County Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate denied the motion for temporary injunction and also granted a motion to dismiss the case against the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, Churchill Downs, and Keeneland for a lack of standing.

Now, the KHBPA's attorneys say, that decision was unfair. Part of Judge Wingate's order focused on the organization's standing, which had been questioned by the defendants just before a hearing in late May. The KHBPA says the judge's order referred to affidavits from KHBPA members which were never intended to address the legal question of standing. The question of standing can include questions about the identity of a party, as well as whether a plaintiff can demonstrate they have suffered an injury as the result of actions by defendants.

In this case, Judge Wingate's order echoed a motion by the defendants, who say the “alleged injury” to KHBPA was speculative and not concrete. He also questioned why the KHBPA did not bring forth the name of an individual owner or trainer claiming to have been injured by the Lasix ban. The KHBPA said that it can do so, and simply wasn't given the opportunity before.

Parties in the case are expected to appear before the court on July 29 to hear arguments surrounding the KHBPA's latest motion. Prior to the June dismissal of the case, The Jockey Club, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association and the Breeders' Cup were all permitted to file amicus briefs in support of the defendants in the case.

At a meeting of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission this week, equine medical director Dr. Bruce Howard reported that so far this meet, Churchill Downs has held eleven 2-year-old races without race-day Lasix. Those races have included a total of 107 starters. None of them experienced epistaxis (bleeding from the nostrils), according to the commission's records.

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‘Arguably The Best Horse In The World’: Midnight Bisou Ready For Next Saturday’s Fleur De Lis

Bloom Racing Stable, Madaket Stables and Allen Racing's 2019 Eclipse Award-winner Midnight Bisou completed her most serious preparation for next Saturday's $200,000 Fleur de Lis presented by Coca-Cola (Grade II) with a swift six-furlong move in 1:12 Monday morning at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen, Midnight Bisou has been well-traveled throughout her career with five Grade I victories and runner-up efforts in last year's $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff (GI) and February's $20 million Saudi Cup.

“Her training before we went to Saudi was just mindboggling,” Asmussen said. “It's just like it is now. We still wonder how she's able to do it so easily and so consistently. Her works at Churchill have been beautiful. I was very tempted to run her in the (June 13) Ogden Phipps (GI) and leaving She's a Julie for the Fleur de Lis. I feel like with what she's done – traveling to Saudi, taking on older boys and everyone knows the trip she got and knows the circumstances… how do you have an adjective what she is and what she means to racing? Coming back, the next race isn't the goal for this year. The Breeders' Cup is. She is arguably the best horse in the world.”

Midnight Bisou's 20-race career has been nothing short of spectacular. The now 5-year-old mare began her career on the 2018 Road to the Kentucky Oaks with victories in the $200,000 Santa Ynez (GII), $100,000 Santa Ysabel (GIII) and $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks (GI) with previous trainer Bill Spawr. Midnight Bisou finished third behind Monomoy Girl in the 2018 Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI).

Under the care of Asmussen, Bisou reeled off victories in the $250,000 Mother Goose (GII), $1 million Cotillion (GI), $300,000 Houston Ladies Classic (GIII), $350,000 Azeri (GII), $750,000 Apple Blossom (GI), $700,000 Ogden Phipps (GI), $150,000 Molly Pitcher (GIII), $700,000 Personal Ensign (GI) and $300,000 Beldame (GII).

Midnight Bisou is slated to take on 2019 Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI) winner Serengeti Empress in the Fleur de Lis, which is part of a quartet of stakes next Saturday at Churchill Downs along with the $400,000 Stephen Foster presented by Coca-Cola (GII), $100,000 Regret presented by TwinSpires.com (GIII) and $100,000 Bashford Manor presented by TwinSpires.com (GIII).

The Fleur de Lis is a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In Distaff Division” race while the Stephen Foster is a Breeders' Cup “Win and You're In Classic Division” event. This year's Breeders' Cup is scheduled for Nov. 6-7 at Keeneland.

Nominations for all four races are available online at www.churchilldowns.com/horsemen/stakes/nominations.

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‘Tentative’ Deal in Works for Arlington Meet

A deal for a 30-date race meet spanning July 23-Sept. 30 at Arlington International Race Course was being finalized on Wednesday with the goal of having a signed contract between the track and the Illinois Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association (ITHA) in place prior to Thursday morning’s Illinois Racing Board (IRB) meeting, during which the late and curtailed 2020 season could be approved.

On Wednesday afternoon, Arlington issued a notice on Twitter that read, in part, “Arlington and the ITHA have reached a tentative agreement for the 2020 and 2021 race meets. Final details of the agreement are being drafted and are expected to be signed later [Wednesday].”

TDN could not immediately reach ITHA spokespersons to confirm the negotiations. But the Daily Herald of suburban Chicago ran a story earlier Wednesday quoting ITHA president Mike Campbell as saying, “At this hour, we have a tentative agreement. The devil could prove to be in the details.”

Campbell said that Arlington’s corporate owner, Churchill Downs Inc., has attorneys “generating the initial draft as we speak, which will then be reviewed by our attorneys and our contract committee. I am hopefully optimistic all will be done in time for tomorrow’s meeting of the IRB.”

The Arlington notice stated the expected racing schedule would be Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays with 2 p.m. (Central) post time. The stable area would open “on or before” July 6.

The Daily Herald story reported that the agreement calls for no stakes program in 2020, including the track’s signature race, the GI Arlington Million.

If the above details are correct, the agreement doesn’t seem noticeably different from the offer that Arlington proposed but the ITHA rejected as recently as June 8, when the two sides last aired their contract differences at a special IRB meeting that had been called to address the stalemate. That meeting was preceded by a weekend-long contract negotiation session mandated and mediated by the IRB.

The only apparent difference in the terms seems to be that the ITHA is now willing to accept what its leadership described 10 days ago as the main sticking point: Arlington wanted a contract signed for both 2020 and 2021, while the ITHA only wanted to ink a one-year deal.

The relationship between Arlington and the ITHA has been contentious for several years now. But the split widened considerably last August when Arlington management stunned Illinois horsemen by intentionally missing a deadline to apply for a racino license after more than a decade of working with horsemen to get the Illinois Gaming Act passed as a way to boost purses via other forms of betting.

Arlington’s decision not to pursue slot machines and table games at the track took on heightened controversy because CDI has an ownership stake in a nearby competing casino and is aiming to open another near Chicago.

Horsemen have stated a belief that CDI doesn’t want Arlington competing with its own (and potentially more lucrative) venues. Last summer, CDI cited the racino law’s requirement of having to contribute gaming revenues to the Thoroughbred purse account as a competitive disadvantage it did not want to undertake.

The Gaming Act also had a new requirement written into it that stated, “A contract with the appropriate Thoroughbred or Standardbred horsemen organization shall be negotiated and signed by the organization licensee before the beginning of each calendar year.”

Despite that law–which has no stated penalty for not complying–the two sides have been deadlocked on a deal since late 2019.

Beyond the issue of no contract being in place, the COVID-19 pandemic also complicated and delayed the meet beyond its planned May 1 opening. The season was originally supposed to run for 68 dates until Sept. 30.

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