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Trainer Mike Maker Enters ‘Only’ Ten On Opening Day At Kentucky Downs

Trainer Mike Maker told his barn crew to enjoy an easy day Monday when the RUNHAPPY Meet at Kentucky Downs kicks off its six-date run featuring exclusively grass racing.

“I said to the guys at the barn, 'You guys can have a light opening day and then after that we'll pick it up a little bit,” Maker, Kentucky Downs' all-time winningest trainer, said cheerfully. “We entered nine the first day, and we have 15 to 20 every other day.”

Entries for opening day were taken Wednesday with 154 horses making the program: 127 in the body for the 11-race card and another 27 needing defections in order to get in off the also-eligible list. Post time for the first race is 12:10 p.m. Central.

Maker actually wound up having 10 entries Monday, with three needing scratches to run. Among those he entered are Parlor and Hembree in the $750,000 Tourist Mile, the last of four stakes on the WinStar Farm Day card. The capacity field of 12 also includes 2019 winner Snapper Sinclair and Grade 1 winner Next Shares.

Maker claimed Parlor for $80,000 last November at the Fair Grounds for owners Michael Hui, Hooties Racing and WSS Racing. Hui also owns Zulu Alpha. After two races, Maker added blinkers to Parlor, and the 6-year-old gelding responded with four strong efforts, including third by a total of a half-length to multiple graded-stakes winner Factor This in Churchill Downs' Grade 2 Wise Dan and a nose defeat in Keeneland's Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile won by 2019 Preakness winner War of Will.

“When we claimed him, he had a little bit of a throat issue that we worked on,” Maker said of Parlor. “That seems to be corrected. I'd like to think that's the basis for his improvement. The blinkers were more or less to get him involved a little early.”

The Tourist Mile will be Parlor's fifth year to run at Kentucky Downs, having finished second by a neck (Kentucky Downs Juvenile), second by three-quarters of a length (Dueling Grounds Derby), third (Old Friends, now known as the Tapit Stakes) and ninth in last year's Tourist Mile.

Three Diamonds Farm's Hembree was claimed 2 1/2 years ago for $50,000 and is one of Maker's many claims to become graded-stakes winners on turf. He was fourth in last year's Tourist Mile after winning a Kentucky Downs allowance race in 2018. Hembree most recently was third behind Tourist contender Spectacular Gem in Ellis Park's $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Tourist Mile.

Maker has the intriguing Indy Tourist in the $500,000 More Than Ready Juvenile. The other stakes Monday are the $500,000 The Mint Juvenile Fillies and the $300,000 One Dreamer for fillies and mares who haven't won a stakes in 2020.

“We had high hopes on him,” Maker said of Indy Tourist, adding of a 12-length defeat in Indy Tourist's debut, “We ran him at Churchill Downs first time and he stood in the gate, lost all chance and then came back and won by like 16 at Indiana.” Not to nitpick, but it was 15 3/4 lengths on turf at the More Than Ready Juvenile's mile distance.

The Maker arsenal includes the defending champ in the $1 million, Grade 3 Calumet Farm Kentucky Turf Cup in Zulu Alpha. The 1 1/2-mile Turf Cup heads the five-stakes extravaganza on the Sept. 12 Calumet Farm Day at Kentucky Downs. Zulu Alpha kick-started his 2020 season by taking Gulfstream Park's Grade 1, $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf. His only defeat in four starts this year was a fast-flying second while losing the Grade 2 Kitten's Joy Pan American to stablemate Bemma's Boy by a neck.

“He's breathing fire, ready to roll,” Maker said of Zulu Alpha.

Maker entered Tiger Blood, a $62,500 claim by Parlor's ownership group, in Friday's Grade 2, $250,000 Twin Spires Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs but said he is likely to scratch to run in Kentucky Downs' $750,000, Grade 3 RUNHAPPY Turf Sprint on Sept. 12, a race whose winner gets a fees-paid spot in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

“He's an old classy horse,” he said. “He hasn't won for us yet, but maybe this will be the one.”

Skychai Racing's Jolting Joe, who finished second in his racing debut last year at Kentucky Downs behind Keeneland's Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass winner Art Collector, is being pointed for the Sept. 10 $750,000 Gun Runner Dueling Grounds Derby, Maker said. The New York-bred Joltin Joe reeled off four seconds (including to Tampa Bay Derby winner and Arkansas Derby runner-up King Guillermo) before earning his first victory in a $100,000 New York Stallion Series Stakes at Saratoga in his last start.

Maker's 55 career wins tops Kentucky Downs' all-time standings, with Wesley Ward second at 32. Maker's $7,394,565 in purse earnings dwarfs Ward's $3,448,575, which also ranks second all-time.

However, Maker's run of four straight Kentucky Downs training titles, with a combined 33 victories, ended last year when he won only three races. The title, at four wins, was shared by Joe Sharp, Ian Wilkes and Ward. But Maker also had a track-record 14 seconds which helped him easily win the money title with purse earnings of $1,435,771, almost double Rusty Arnold's next-best $791,094.

“Like I told everybody, second-place finishes at Kentucky Downs are like winning at other tracks.… Titles are nice. You always like to win if you can,” Maker said, adding with a laugh. “But like I said, if I had to pick between the two, I'd prefer to have the money title.”

Maker has more starts — 301 — than any trainer in Kentucky Downs history dating to when he went 0 for 5 in 2003, according to equineline.com statistics. If Maker runs a lot of horses, he's also said in the past, “You should see all the horses that didn't get in,” referencing Kentucky Downs' tendency to get more entries for a race than the maximum 12 that can start. This meet, Maker estimates that he will enter “75 to 80” horses, or about a third of his stable.

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Kentucky Derby Pedigree Corner: Max Player, Enforceable, Major Fed, And Mr. Big News

Each day of Kentucky Derby week, we'll take a look at the pedigrees of some Derby contenders and how those pedigrees might factor into their ability to succeed at 1 1/4 miles.

Max Player
Honor Code x Fools In Love, by Not For Love
Honor Code has strong credentials around two turns, winning the 1 1/8-mile Grade 2 Remsen Stakes at age two, then earning champion older male honors at age four with a campaign including a score in the G1 Whitney Stakes, also at 1 1/2 miles. Honor Code's championship season also included wins at 1 mile in the G1 Metropolitan Handicap and G1 Gulfstream Park Handicap. He is a son of A.P. Indy, who is one of the modern breed's bedrocks for distance runners.

Honor Code's runners post an average winning distance of 7.29 furlongs, which is a strong number for a sire with his first crop of 3-year-olds. He'll have two colts pointing toward this year's Kentucky Derby, with Honor A. P. having won the G1 Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles and Max Player winning the G3 Withers Stakes at the same distance. Max Player is also placed at the Derby distance, having run third in the G1 Travers Stakes in August.

Fools in Love was a stakes-level horse on the East Coast for most of her racing career, but her lone win in stakes competition came in the 7 furlong Orleans Stakes at Delta Downs. A versatile runner, Fools in Love won at distances ranging from 5 furlongs to 1 1/16 miles.

Her resume continued to be strong when she transitioned from the racetrack to the foaling barn, consistently producing black type runners. She is the dam of the Scat Daddy colt Seahenge, a British Group 2 winner at 7 furlongs who now stands at stud in France and Argentina.

Other runners of note out of Fools in Love include Urban Bourbon, a City Zip gelding who is Grade 3-placed at 7 1/2 furlongs over the turf and was a multiple winner at 1 1/16 miles on the same surface. Frank's Folly, by Mineshaft, is stakes-placed and a multiple winner at 1 1/16 miles, while the Exchange Rate gelding Exchequer was a multi-surface claiming winner beyond a mile.

Enforceable
Tapit x Justwhistledixie, by Dixie Union
Tapit won the G3 Laurel Futurity as a juvenile going 1 1/16 miles, then came back at three to take the G1 Wood Memorial Stakes at 1 1/8 miles before running in the 2004 Kentucky Derby.

After he retired to stud, Tapit ascended to become perennial leader on the North American sire lists, both in on-track earnings and auction returns. He has sired three Belmont Stakes winners – Tonalist, Creator, and Tapwrit – while classic-placed Frosted became a prominent figure in the handicap division. His average progeny winning distance of 7.65 furlongs is among the leaders for this year's class of Derby sires.

Justwhistledixie has been a versatile star, both on the racetrack and in her broodmare career. She won the G2 Bonnie Miss Stakes over 1 1/8 miles on the main track at Gulfstream Park, preceded by a one-mile score in the G2 Davona Dale Stakes at the same track. She was also a non-graded stakes winner at 6 and 7 furlongs.

Enforceable would be Justwhistledixie's second Derby starter, following in the footsteps of his full-brother Mohaymen. After bringing $2.2 million as a yearling, Mohaymen won his first five starts: a 6 furlong maiden special weight at Belmont Park; the G2 Nashua Stakes (one mile); the G2 Remsen Stakes (1 1/8 miles); the G2 Holy Bull Stakes (1 1/16 miles); and the G2 Fountain of Youth Stakes (1 1/16 miles). He went on to finish fourth in the Kentucky Derby, and now stands at Shadwell Farm in Kentucky.

The Tapit/Justwhistledixie cross has also produced Kingly, who won the G3 La Jolla Handicap over 1 1/16 miles on the turf, and the non-graded California Derby at the same distance over the synthetic Tapeta Footings surface of Golden Gate Fields.

However, the biggest winner to date out of Justwhistledixie is New Year's Day, a son of Street Cry who took the 2013 Breeders' Cup Juvenile at 1 1/16 miles and went on to sire champion 3-year-old Maximum Security.

Major Fed
Ghostzapper x Bobby's Babe, by Smart Strike
Ghostzapper was a force of nature on the racetrack, earning a diverse catalog of wins at the highest level, from the G1 Vosburgh Stakes at 6 ½ furlongs to the 1 1/4-mile Breeders' Cup Classic. Between those two extremes, he won at 1 1/16 miles in the G1 Woodward Stakes and G3 Philip H. Iselin Breeders' Cup Handicap, at 1 mile in the Metropolitan Handicap, and at 7 furlongs in the G2 Tom Fool Handicap.

He's proven able to get high-caliber runners at either the sprint or route distance at stud, with his two-turn stars including Shaman Ghost, who is a Grade 1 winner at 1 1/4 miles, and Moreno, who won the G1 Whitney Handicap at 1 1/8 miles and ran second in the G1 Travers Stakes at the classic distance. On the shorter side of the equation, he has sired champion female sprinter Judy the Beauty; Paulassilverlining, who was a finalist in the same category. Guarana, a finalist for champion 3-year-old filly last year, is a Grade 1 winner at both 1 1/8 miles and 7 furlongs, with another one in between at a mile.

Ghostzapper's Kentucky Derby runners include Stately Victor, who won the G1 Blue Grass Stakes at 1 1/8 miles before running eighth in the 2010 Derby; and McCraken, who also ran eighth in 2017 and was a three-time graded stakes winner at 1 1/16 miles.

Bobby's Babe broke her maiden on debut at age three, going 6 furlongs over the Polytrack at Turfway Park. She never won again in her 11 career starts, but she finished second by a nose in a one-mile turf race at Kentucky Downs.

She has four earners of six figures under her produce record, led by May Lily, a turf sprint specialist by Broken Vow who won the Kentucky Downs Preview Ladies Sprint Stakes at 5 ½ furlongs. Zapperini, a full-brother to Major Fed, took it in the opposite direction, finishing second in last year's G3 John B. Connally Turf Cup Stakes going 1 1/2 miles. Clairenation, by Bernstein, went on a four-race winning streak of turf sprints between five and 5 1/2 furlongs.

Mr. Big News
Giant's Causeway x Unappeased, by Galileo
Giant's Causeway was one of the greatest runners of his generation on a global scale, earning Europe's Horse of the Year honors in 2000.

He was a Group 1 turf winner at distances ranging from 7 furlongs to 1 1/4 miles, racking up victories in the French G1 Prix de la Salamandre at seven panels, the English G1 St. James's Palace Stakes and Sussex Stakes at 1 mile, and the G1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes and Irish Champion Stakes at 1 1/4 miles. Giant's Causeway stretched out even further to win the G1 Juddmonte International Stakes at 10 furlongs and 56 yards.

In his final start, Giant's Causeway showed elite class and distance ability on the dirt, finishing second by a neck to Tiznow in the 1 1/4-mile Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs.

Giant's Causeway was North America's leading sire in 2009, 2011, and 2012, with a broad cross-section of successful runners across distance, surface, and international borders. One of the few boxes left to check on his stallion resume is siring a U.S. classic winner, but he's gotten classic winners elsewhere with Footstepsinthesand in the English 2,000 Guineas, Shamardal in the French 2,000 Guineas, and Mike Fox Canada's Queen's Plate.

Giant's Causeway has sent eight runners to post in the Kentucky Derby, with his best finish being a fifth by Creative Cause in 2012. Other Giant's Causeway runners to start in the Derby include Destin (6th, 2016); Brody's Cause (7th, 2016); Carpe Diem (10th, 2015); Santiva (6th, 2011); Hold Me Back (12th, 2009); Cowboy Cal (9th, 2008); and Noble Causeway (14th, 2005).

Unappeased, by another all-world sire in Galileo, went winless in six career starts Japan. Her best performance was a runner-up effort going about 7 furlongs over a sloppy main track.

The mare comes from a strong extended family that includes Canadian Horse of the Year Glorious Song, U.S. champion juvenile Devil's Bag, and top global runner Sligo Bay.

Unappeased is the dam of two other runners including Lalibela, a full-sister to Mr. Big News who won on debut in a Gulfstream Park maiden special weight, going a mile and an eighth on the turf. Untouch, by Speightstown, raced just once, finishing out of the money in a Belmont Park maiden special weight at 1 1/16 miles on the grass.

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Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale Revises Schedule, Location

Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale is now set to take place over two days at Park Paddocks, Newmarket on Monday, Sept. 21 and Tuesday, Sept. 22, with Part II taking place directly after the September Yearling Sale on Tuesday, Sept. 22.

The revised schedule is in response to the relocation of the sale to Park Paddocks, Newmarket. The remaining Tattersalls Ireland sales program for 2020 will stay in Ireland and any yearling vendor not wishing to sell in Newmarket will be accommodated in the new yearling section at the Tattersalls Ireland Flat Foal and Breeding Stock Sale on 13 November, entries for which are now being taken.

The sale will commence on Monday, Sept. 21 at 11 a.m. and Tuesday, Sept. 22 at 10 a.m.

Amongst a host of high class yearlings, the 2020 catalog features the half-sister to Dandalla, the half-sister to Minzaal and the half-brother to yesterday's Group 3 Fairy Bridge Stakes winner Champers Elysees. All yearlings cataloged and offered at the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale are eligible for the €300,000 Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sales Stakes.

Commenting on the revised schedule for the September Yearling Sale, Tattersalls Ireland CEO Matt Mitchell said;

“Following the decision to move the September Yearling Sale to Tattersalls Park Paddocks in Newmarket and as a result of the feedback from vendors, the two-day format for the September Yearling Sale and Part II can now be confirmed. By having the sale over two days, we believe we will be able to provide the best marketplace possible. The introduction of a new yearling section in to the November Flat Foal & Breeding Stock Sale has given vendors a viable alternative in respect of where they wish to sell their yearlings.”

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Cutting Humor Retired To McDowell Farm In Arkansas

Cutting Humor, a Grade 3 winner who ran in last year's Kentucky Derby, has been retired from racing and will enter stud at McDowell Farm in Sparkman, Ark., BloodHorse reports.

The 4-year-old son of First Samurai's stud career will be handled by a group of breeders organized by bloodstock agent Jay Goodwin. An advertised fee will be announced at a later time.

Cutting Humor won two of nine starts during his on-track career for earnings of $525,467, running for owner Starlight Racing and trainer Todd Pletcher. He broke his maiden going a mile at Gulfstream Park West in his juvenile season finale, then established his presence on the Triple Crown trail with a gutsy victory by a neck in the G3 Sunland Park Derby.

The win gave Cutting Humor ample points to qualify for the 2019 Kentucky Derby, where he ran 10th.

Bred in Kentucky by Dell Hancock and Bernie Sams, Cutting Humor is out of the unraced Pulpit mare Pun, whose runners also include Grade 2-placed stakes winner Irish You Well. Pun is herself a half-sister to Grade 1 winner Zensational.