Churchill Downs

Bob Baffert and Wayne Lukas were sitting next to each other at a recent racing function when Baffert said to Lukas, "Everyone used to hate you. Now they hate me." It's as clear as a giant flowered hat, and just as ugly. At rowdy Churchill Downs today, the only thing more quietly despised than Bob Baffert will be a Breathalyzer. The 128th Kentucky Derby will feature 19 horses, 150,000 fans, and one villain. Baffert will saddle longshot War Emblem.

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.

The Breeders' Cup will hold a luncheon Wednesday at L.A. Live to confirm one of the worst-kept secrets in horse racing in recent years — that the 2012 Breeders' Cup will be held at Santa Anita. This year's Breeders' Cup will be Nov. 4-5 at Churchill Downs. Dates for the 2012 Breeders' Cup, while not yet announced, are likely to be Friday and Saturday, Nov. 2-3. Several racing officials acknowledged Friday, without wanting to be named, that Santa Anita beat out Churchill Downs and Belmont Park for next year's event.

On a sparkling Kentucky fall afternoon, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa stood in a Breeders' Cup winner's circle in the shrine of horse racing and didn't pause to proclaim that his metropolis can do better by staging the event routinely at Santa Anita. It's what politicians do. Chris Quinn, Santa Anita's vice president of sales and marketing, said that "politically" it might be best not to interrupt negotiating momentum to place the 2013 Breeders' Cup at Belmont Park in New York, but the Santa Anita contingent is nonetheless pushing Breeders' Cup officials to make the Arcadia track the event's home every other year starting next year.

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.

Breeders' Cup race-by-race rundown from Eric Sondheimer: Ladies' Classic Royal Delta surged from third place at the top of the stretch to win the $2-million Ladies' Classic, beating It's Tricky by 21/2 lengths in the 11/8-mile race. Favorite Plum Pretty from trainer Bob Baffert's stable led by a head at the stretch but fell to fifth. Juvenile Sprint Secret Circle, the first of nine scheduled Breeders' Cup starters for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, came through as the odds-on favorite.

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.

The sun glistened off infield tents and the wind jostled jockeys' silks at Our Old Kentucky Home on Thursday. It was the day before the day before the day that pumps blood into horse racing's veins. Twenty horses are set to break from the starting gate late Saturday afternoon in the 136th Kentucky Derby. That's about six too many to allow for room for all to compete to the best of their ability. But that cow is long out of the barn and the general fan, who pays attention once a year to this sport, gets more of a cavalry charge than a horse race.

Results from the Breeders' Cup on Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. $500,000 Marathon Afleet Again, at odds of 41-1, rallied in the stretch to win the 1 3/4-mile race and return $85.20. Afleet Again had lost 13 consecutive races. Favorite A.U. Miner was pulled up after suffering a broken leg bone. $1-million Juvenile Turf Wrote, a 2-year-old son of two-time Breeders' Cup Turf winner High Chaparral, gave European-based horses their first victory of the weekend, winning the mile race at odds of 11-1 for trainer Aidan O'Brien.

Breeders' Cup race-by-race rundown from Eric Sondheimer: Ladies' Classic Royal Delta surged from third place at the top of the stretch to win the $2-million Ladies' Classic, beating It's Tricky by 21/2 lengths in the 11/8-mile race. Favorite Plum Pretty from trainer Bob Baffert's stable led by a head at the stretch but fell to fifth. Juvenile Sprint Secret Circle, the first of nine scheduled Breeders' Cup starters for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, came through as the odds-on favorite.

Reporting from Louisville, Ky. — A mare is seeking a horse racing accomplishment for the record books. So is a woman. And a group of men have put their faith in a young female horse that has performed as if their late Southern California friend is orchestrating the outcome. These are some of the stories leading into the Breeders' Cup as the sport's largest collection of international thoroughbreds compete in 15 races Friday and Saturday worth a combined $25.5 million at Churchill Downs.

Before the crowd swells at Churchill Downs in Kentucky for the two-day Breeders' Cup starting Friday, horse racing's star trainer Bob Baffert stood all but alone in the rain-dampened stands at Santa Anita Park last week, barking at two of his workout riders through a walkie-talkie. "You're going too . . . fast!" Baffert ordered. "Now, you're slowing too much! Pick it up! Aww!" Baffert's high standards may not have been met that moment, but the results of his yearlong push will be on display in a big way when he saddles 10 Breeders' Cup entries in nine races — with two horses, Game On Dude and Prayer for Relief, in the $5-million Breeders Cup Classic.

The Breeders' Cup will hold a luncheon Wednesday at L.A. Live to confirm one of the worst-kept secrets in horse racing in recent years — that the 2012 Breeders' Cup will be held at Santa Anita. This year's Breeders' Cup will be Nov. 4-5 at Churchill Downs. Dates for the 2012 Breeders' Cup, while not yet announced, are likely to be Friday and Saturday, Nov. 2-3. Several racing officials acknowledged Friday, without wanting to be named, that Santa Anita beat out Churchill Downs and Belmont Park for next year's event.

Zenyatta's growing popularity outside horse racing led to her odds getting hammered down to 8-5 for the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. The horse with the 19-0 record was made the early favorite in a field of 12 for Saturday's 1 1/4 -mile Classic at the Louisville, Ky., track, where she will try to end her career with one more win. Zenyatta will break from the No. 8 post against the boys. "We like that number. It's one of our favorite numbers," said Ann Moss , who owns Zenyatta with her husband Jerry . "It's considered to be a lucky number.

The star of one of the biggest horse races in the world is not a horse. That's a little like Boeing having its inaugural run of the 747 and everybody writing about the pilot. Saturday, in the 135th Preakness, the ultimate pilot, Calvin Borel, will be ready for his next close-up. He has earned star status with the most dramatic four-year run in Triple Crown racing. Aboard Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, he can increase his record of four victories, one second and two thirds in the last 10 Triple Crown races.

Reporting from Louisville, Ky. — The horse race that thoroughbred fans want most was not wiped out at Churchill Downs on Friday. Jess Jackson, majority owner of 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, said that his 4-year-old mare was still coming back from a six-month layoff and her loss by a neck, in a thrilling stretch dual with Unrivaled Belle in the $418,800 La Troienne, the sixth race on Kentucky Oaks Day at Churchill Downs, was...