Churchill Downs

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- It didn't take long, two races in fact, for the main track at Churchill Downs to be upgraded to "fast. " So, barring any rain, the Kentucky Derby will be run on an optimal surface. After the first race, the track was upgraded from "muddy" to "sloppy" and then it was called "fast" after the second race. There were still some puddles on the outside of the track where horses rarely run. Photos: Hats of the 138th Kentucky Derby Meanwhile, it appears that Union Rags will be the favorite in the Kentucky Derby.

BALTIMORE - Wednesday morning at Pimlico race track was similar to most mornings for Claude McGaughey III. Except there were lots of reporters around, which made it different. McGaughey is a thoroughbred horse trainer, currently the one in the catbird's seat in his sport. His long-striding Orb won the Kentucky Derby, making him racing's next Great Brown Hope. It also makes McGaughey the present voice of the sport's future. He has little choice. Horses, except for Mr. Ed, are lousy quotes.

BALTIMORE - Wednesday morning at Pimlico race track was similar to most mornings for Claude McGaughey III. Except there were lots of reporters around, which made it different. McGaughey is a thoroughbred horse trainer, currently the one in the catbird's seat in his sport. His long-striding Orb won the Kentucky Derby, making him racing's next Great Brown Hope. It also makes McGaughey the present voice of the sport's future. He has little choice. Horses, except for Mr. Ed, are lousy quotes.

With its announcement Thursday, Hollywood Park did little to refute the theory that horse racing is a sport in need of hospice. They raced at the Inglewood track Friday, but it wasn't business as usual. Nor will it be the rest of this meeting and the track's final one, which ends Dec. 22. For people in the business, and fans of the sport, the next six months of racing at the place universally known as Hollypark will be an emotional saddle sore. The bulldozers are at the gate.

A track worker's death at Churchill Downs is being investigated as a homicide, a spokesman for the Louisville Metro Police Department said Monday. Adan Fabian Perez, 48, was found dead early Sunday morning in the back portion of barn No. 8. That's several barns away from the one used by the horse I'll Have Another, which won the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. “We're treating this as an open homicide investigation,” Dwight Mitchell, a police spokesman, said in a telephone interview.

Churchill Downs Inc. has agreed to buy Youbet.com Inc. of Burbank in a deal valued at about $127 million. The deal will give Churchill Downs about half the $1.4-billion online horse-betting market. The company, which owns the track where the Kentucky Derby is held, already owns another major site, TwinSpires.com. Bob Evans, president and chief executive of Louisville, Ky.-based Churchill Downs, said he expected the amount of online betting on horse races to increase over time. Last year, about 10% of the $14 billion bet on horse racing in the U.S. was online.

Fewer bettors went to Churchill Downs race track last year, helping to cut the pay out for the famous home of the Kentucky Derby by 5.7%, although it still reported its second best year in history Wednesday. Profits for Churchill Downs Inc. slumped to $4.16 million from the previous year, marking the first time that earnings declined at the track in six years. Profits were hurt by a 10% slump in attendance to 1,039,112 and a 14% drop in on-track betting.

One week after Big Brown's meltdown in New York, Curlin went about his business as usual. The world's best horse won his fifth in a row, toying with nine rivals in his return to the U.S. in the $1-million Stephen Foster Handicap on Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.

Thomas H. Meeker, president and chief executive of Churchill Downs Inc., said the track's board was advised by counsel that the buy-out offer by wealthy investor Louis E. Wolfson doesn't constitute a formal offer that the board can evaluate. Earlier this month, Wolfson offered Churchill Downs shareholders $120 a share in cash for their holdings. Total value of the offer is more than $46 million.

Wolfson, the former owner of Harbor View Farm in Ocala, Fla., offered stockholders $120 per share cash for their holdings in an unsolicited takeover attempt, according to a statement from Churchill Downs. The offer is worth more than $46.1 million. Churchill Downs President Thomas Meeker said a meeting of the track's board of directors will be held Sept. 10, "at which time the proposal would be carefully considered and evaluated."

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The horse with the short name and the long stride won the Kentucky Derby here Saturday. Fans of Orb, and headline writers worldwide, rejoiced. Orb's daddy was Malibu Moon; thus the short name with its perfect family connection. Other choices might have been Full, Half or Neil Armstrong. But the owners, cousins Dinny Phipps and Stuart Janney, got it right, just as their wonderful horse did, in front of 151,616 at Churchill Downs. Joel Rosario got it right too. The super jockey from the Dominican Republic left the Southern California jockey colony last year to head east in search of new adventures.

Apparently, trainer Doug O'Neill has taken the name of his most famous horse literally. Saturday, he decided, I'll Have Another. So, here we go again. If race fans have that feeling of "Groundhog Day," nobody could blame them. The O'Neill Show, a smash hit a year ago, will be a repeat headliner on horse racing's most prestigious stage, the Kentucky Derby. That was achieved in front of 33,005, when O'Neill's Goldencents won the $750,000 Santa Anita Derby, one of the prestigious prep races for the sport's most prestigious race.

Santa Anita's Great Race Place, with lots of workers and media on hand Monday, was abuzz. Down the street a couple of blocks, having lunch and itching to get to this weekend's Breeders' Cup, jockey Mike Smith was aglow. "Boy, I'm mounted well," he said. They will run six Breeders' Cup races Friday and nine more Saturday, with a total purse of $25.5 million. Like the money, story lines will be in abundance. Smith is best positioned to be a main character. It isn't just that he will ride in eight races, or that any of several rides could produce a treasured jockey record.

A track worker's death at Churchill Downs is being investigated as a homicide, a spokesman for the Louisville Metro Police Department said Monday. Adan Fabian Perez, 48, was found dead early Sunday morning in the back portion of barn No. 8. That's several barns away from the one used by the horse I'll Have Another, which won the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. “We're treating this as an open homicide investigation,” Dwight Mitchell, a police spokesman, said in a telephone interview.

Seldom has a horse been better named for taking the second step in pursuit of racing's Triple Crown than I'll Have Another. Doug O'Neill's Kentucky Derby champion has already moved in at Pimlico in Baltimore, site of the May 19 Preakness, and O'Neill applies simple logic to the unusually early arrival. "We really didn't have any opinion on the surfaces at either Churchill Downs or Pimlico," he said, "so we just decided to get him settled in at Pimlico. " O'Neill was back at Hollywood Park on Monday morning.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- It didn't take long, two races in fact, for the main track at Churchill Downs to be upgraded to "fast. " So, barring any rain, the Kentucky Derby will be run on an optimal surface. After the first race, the track was upgraded from "muddy" to "sloppy" and then it was called "fast" after the second race. There were still some puddles on the outside of the track where horses rarely run. Photos: Hats of the 138th Kentucky Derby Meanwhile, it appears that Union Rags will be the favorite in the Kentucky Derby.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- An overnight storm dumped more than an inch of rain on the Churchill Downs area, forcing officials to label the track condition as "sloppy. " However, there are still many hours to go until the Kentucky Derby and the condition is expected to be upgraded. The turf course was labeled as "good. " The optimal condition for a dirt track is "fast" and for a turf course is "firm. " The National Weather Service said Saturday's forecast is for mostly cloudy skies, with a high temperature in the mid-80s and humidity in that same range.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Rumors surrounding Creative Cause's status for in the Kentucky Derby seemed to quiet Friday when the horse wasn't scratched from Saturday's race. Trainer Mike Harrington says everything is fine with the horse and that there is no need for concern. The rumors started on Sunday when the horse arrived late for training because he threw a shoe on the flight from Hollywood Park to Churchill Downs. On Monday, he walked instead of running, and concerns seemed to grow.