Grade I Champ Sassy Image Back to Work in Monday's Winning Colors

May 27, 2011 Darren Rogers

Jerry Romans’ Sassy Image, who sprang a 16-1 upset in the Grade I Humana Distaff on Kentucky Derby Day for her fourth win in five starts at Churchill Downs, headlines a field of 10 fillies and mares entered for Monday’s Grade III, $100,000 Winning Colors.

The eighth running of the six-furlong Winning Colors, named in honor of the most recent of three fillies to win the Kentucky Derby, will be the ninth race on a special 10-race Memorial Day program at Churchill Downs that begins at 12:45 p.m. (all times Eastern). Approximate post time for the Winning Colors is 4:59 p.m.

            Preakness Stakes-winning trainer Dale Romans conditions Sassy Image for his older brother Jerry. They’ve enjoyed tremendous success with the 4-year-old daughter of Broken Vow beneath the Twin Spires. At 2, she broke her maiden by 5 ¾ lengths and later won the Pocahontas (GIII) by two and the Golden Rod (GII) by 3 3/4. Her three-length triumph in the Humana Distaff on May 7 was her first victory since taking the Sweet Chant at Gulfstream Park early in her 3-year-old season.

“She loves it here; she loves Churchill. She just loves the surface,” Romans said after the Humana Distaff upset. “The Breeders’ Cup here in the fall is something to think about.”

Sassy Image landed post No. 8 and will be ridden Corey Lanerie, who takes over the reins from Robby Albarado, who is riding in a pair of stakes at Lone Star Park on Monday.

Dubai Majesty, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint last fall, won back-to-back runnings of the Winning Colors in 2009-10, including a stakes-record clocking of 1:08.07 a year ago. Her trainer Bret Calhoun and owners Martin Racing Stable and Morgan Thoroughbred LLC will attempt a Winning Colors three-peat with Beat the Blues, who makes her stakes debut after a 1 ¾-length score in an allowance/optional claiming event over Polytrack at Keeneland on April 29.

Other past winners of the Winning Colors are Lady Tak (2004), Molto Vita (2005), Ever Elusive (2006), Miss Macy Sue (2007) and Graeme Six (2008).

The field for the Winning Colors, from the rail out (with jockey): Indian Ink (Fernando De La Cruz), Stephanie Got Even (Shaun Bridgmohan), Wind Caper (Jesus Castanon), Beat the Blues (Miguel Mena), Bell’s Shoes (Kent Desormeaux), Fortune Play (Freddie Lenclud), My New Lady (Jon Court), Sassy Image (Lanerie), Starlite Starbrite (Leandro Goncalves) and Jocata (Calvin Borel). All horses will carry 118 pounds, except for Sassy Image, who will tack 124.

Churchill Downs, the world’s most legendary racetrack, has conducted Thoroughbred racing and presented America’s greatest race, the Kentucky Derby, continuously since 1875. Located in Louisville, the flagship racetrack of Churchill Downs Incorporated (NASDAQ: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will conduct the 138^th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 5, 2012. The track’s 2011 Spring Meet opened April 30 and continues through July 4. Churchill Downs has hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships a record seven times and the event will return to the track for its next renewal on Nov. 4-5, 2011. Information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at www.churchilldowns.com.

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