Cardinal Handicap Winner Cash Control Will Spend Winter at Fair Grounds

Nov 20, 2016 Ryan Martin

Richard and Bert Klein’s Cash Control came out of her impressive victory in Saturday’s Cardinal Handicap (Grade III) in good shape, according to trainer Brad Cox, and will join the trainer’s Fair Grounds division for the winter.

“She’ll go to Fair Grounds,” Cox said. “As far as what her next race will be we’ll kind of just let her chill out after this one, but she really did come out of the race in good shape so she’ll definitely race next year. She fits the Klein’s program. It’s good when they have fillies since they breed to race.”

The daughter of Pioneerof the Nile scored her third victory over Churchill Downs’ Matt Winn Turf Course in Saturday’s race, which improved her record to 3-0-1 in four starts over the Churchill lawn. She suffered her only loss over the surface in the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile (GII) on the Kentucky Derby undercard where she was 4 ¼ lengths behind Champion Turf Mare Tepin.

“(Saturday) was probably the biggest performance that she’s had in her career so I’m excited to have her race next year,” Cox said. “She handled the mile-and-an-eighth real well so that opens a lot of doors for her. It was a 12-horse field when I got to the front side I think she was fourth choice but when I left the paddock they made her the favorite. As a trainer you just try to get the tack on her and put her in the starting gate; you don’t worry too much about what price she is, but she showed her worth (Saturday).”

The ultimate goal for Cash Control’s 6-year-old campaign is another shot at the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile (GII).

“We’ll try to get back to Churchill for the race on Derby Day and hope Tepin is not in it,” Cox laughed. “We tried the Grade I (First Lady) at Keeneland last time and we had no excuse. I think we pretty much just got outrun. If everything fell into place in the winter I think the goal over the next six months would be to get her ready for the race on Derby Day again. Obviously she’ll have a few races between now and then if everything goes well that would be our goal.”

DAZZLING GEM WILL POINT TO TENACIOUS SAKES FOLLOWING ALLOWANCE VICTORY – Trainer Brad Cox plans on pointing Dazzling Gem, winner of a two-other-than allowance event on Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs, to the $75,000 Tenacious Stakes at Fair Grounds on Dec. 17.

“I’d like to run him in a three-other-than,” Cox said. “I always try to run them through their conditions first but it’s pretty hard to get a three-other than to go anywhere but we’ll look at Fair Grounds.”

The son of Misremembered won Saturday’s race off of a well-beaten sixth at Keeneland on Oct. 27, his first start since a third-place effort in the Sir Barton Stakes on the Preakness undercard behind American Freedom. Cox also has the $100,000 Fifth Season Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Jan. 13 in mind for Dazzling Gem, as well.

“The race on opening day at Oaklawn is an option,” Cox said. “(Owner) Steve Landers is from Little Rock so he wants to participate at Oaklawn and so do I, but the horse obviously likes Fair Grounds and Oaklawn – he especially likes Oaklawn – so hopefully he can be a factor in the handicap division down there this upcoming year. That’s the goal with him.”

POMPELL RIDES THREE WINNERS ON SATURDAY – Saturday afternoon was a successful one for jockey Tommy Pompell who made three trips to the winner’s circle on the program.

Pompell scored triumphs with Rhodium (Race 4, $23.80), Areed (Race 5, $6.80) and Renn Lake (Race 10, $22).

“It was a great day for me,” Pompell said. “I rode four (Saturday) and I liked all of my horses but to win three in one day is pretty hard to do here so to be able to get it done was a pretty big accomplishment.”

In fact, Saturday was the first day Pompell scored multiple winners on a Churchill Downs program.

Pompell plans on riding at Oaklawn Park this winter after a brief riding stint at Turfway Park next month.

“I’ll go to Turfway for December and go down to Oaklawn in the winter and spring,” Pompell said. “I think I’ll have a good meet down there because (trainer) Paul (Holthus) is putting me on a lot of good ones and I ride for him a lot over at Indiana (Grand) so I’ll get some good business down there.”

THANKSGIVING WEEKEND STAKES RACES BEGINNING TO TAKE SHAPE – The fields for Churchill Downs stakes races on Thanksgiving weekend taking shape. The following are possible starters according to Churchill Downs stakes coordinator Dan Bork:

• The complete field for the 101^st running of the $200,000 Falls City Handicap (GII) for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles from the rail out (with jockey and assigned weight): Walkabout (Brian Hernandez Jr., 112 pounds), Crooked Stick (Sophie Doyle, 113), Lady Fog Horn (Albin Jimenez, 117), Alotta Skirt (Corey Lanerie, 113), She Mabee Wild (Jesus Castanon, 114), Include Betty (Drayden Van Dyke, 120), Romantic Vision (Channing Hill, 115), Go Maggie Go (Robby Albarado, 118), Sweetgrass (Chris Landeros, 117), No Fault of Mine (Florent Geroux) and Streamline (Joe Rocco Jr., 117). Include Betty will race with blinkers on. The Falls City Handicap goes as Race 10 of 12 at 3:53 p.m. EDT.
• The complete field of the 39^th running of the $100,000 River City Handicap (GIII) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on turf from the rail out (with jockey and assigned weight): Are You Kidding Me (Alan Garcia, 122), Behesht (FR) (Joe Rocco Jr., 114), Thatcher Street (Brian Hernandez Jr., 116), Allied Air Raid (Robby Albarado, 115), Taghleeb (Julien Leparoux, 116), One Go All Go (Declan Cannon, 115), The Pizza Man (Shaun Bridgmohan, 124), Dubai Sky (Channing Hill, 115), Dac (Sophie Doyle, 114), Roman Approval (Ricardo Santana Jr., 117), Dujac (Chris Landeros, 114), Pleuven (FR) (Corey Lanerie, 118), Granny’s Kitten (Florent Geroux, 117) and Bullard’s Alley (Marlon St. Julien, 118). Also Eligible: Coco Mon (Robby Albarado, 114) and Croninthebarbarian (Ricardo Santana Jr., 113). Behesht (FR) will race with blinkers on. The River City Handicap goes as Race 11 of 12 at 4:22 p.m. EDT.
• $500,000 Clark Handicap Presented by Norton Healthcare (GI) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles (entries to be taken : Bird Song, Breaking Lucky, Gun Runner, Hawaakom, Hoppertunity, Noble Bird, Prayer For Relief, Scuba and Shaman Ghost.
• $200,000 Mrs. Revere (GII) for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on turf: Caren, Celestial Knight, Crooked Stick, Cross Country, Fitpitcher, Hawksmoor (IRE), Linda, Mo Knows, Mom’s On Strike, Nobody’s Fault, Quidura (GB), Strive and Sweet Tapper.
• $80,000-added Dream Supreme Overnight Stakes for fillies and mares at six furlongs: Athena, Finley’sluckycharm, I’m a Looker, Moiety, Super Saks and Unbridledexplosion.
• $200,000 Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles: Han Sense, Just Move On, McCraken, Romeo O Romeo, Silent Decree, Warrior’s Club and Wild Shot.
• $200,000 Golden Rod (GII) for 2-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles: Dream Dancing, Farrell, Fun, Funny Holiday, Lovely Bernadette, My Sweet Stella, Someday Soon and Valadorna.

SINGLE 6 JACKPOT – There’s a 15-day carryover of $132,242 in the 20-cent minimum Single 6 Jackpot for Sunday, and the sequence covers Races 5-10 starting at 3:30 p.m. EST. The Single 6 Jackpot, which features a low 15-percent takeout, will be paid out only if there is a single winning wager with six winners placed at the required minimum bet value. If there are multiple winning wagers with six winners in the six-race sequence, 90 percent of the net money wagering into the pool will be paid out, and the remaining 10 percent will carry to the Single 6 Jackpot. If there are no tickets will all six winners, 100 percent of the pool will carry to the Single 6 Jackpot. There will be a mandatory payout on closing day.

MEET LEADERS – Heading into the final six days of the Fall Meet, Corey Lanerie had a one-win lead over Brian Hernandez Jr. in the Churchill Downs jockeys standings, 18-17. Julien Leparoux was third with 14 wins. … Mike Maker had a 10-7 leader over Rusty Arnold and Brad Cox in the trainer standings. … There was a five-way tie atop the owner’s standings with three wins each between Michael Hui, Steve Landers Racing, Maggi Moss, Ken and Sarah Ramsey and Millard R. Seldin Revocable Trust.

MILESTONE WATCH – According to Equibase, jockey Jon Court enters Sunday’s action two wins shy of 4,000 career wins. … Trainer Paul McGee needs four victories to reach 1,000 career wins. … Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott is three wins away from becoming the first trainer to saddle 700 career wins at Churchill Downs. Dale Romans is approaching Mott’s all-time local win record. Mott has a 697-681 lead over Romans.

FIRST RACE IS 11:30 A.M. ON THANKSGIVING DAY – Churchill Downs has a special 11:30 a.m. first race for Thursday’s 12-race Thanksgiving Day holiday card.

The 101^st running of the $200,000 Falls City Handicap (GII) for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles and the 39^th running of the $100,000 River City Handicap (GIII) for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on turf highlight Thanksgiving Day at Churchill Downs.

Racing on Thanksgiving Day has been a Louisville tradition at Churchill Downs since 1969 where more than 7,000 turkey dinners are served with all the trimmings, making it the largest number anywhere in the region.

KENTUCKY DERBY FUTURE WAGERS RETURN ON CLOSING WEEKEND – The first pools of the 2017 Kentucky Derby Future Wager will be offered Nov. 24-27. The traditional pool with 23 individual wagering interests and an “all others” option will return, and so will the Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager, which debuted last year and requires bettors to wager on the winning sire for next year’s Kentucky Derby winner. The complete schedule for Future Wager dates: Pool 1 and Sire Future Wager, Nov. 24-27; Pool 2, Jan. 27-29; Pool 3 and Oaks Future Wager, Feb. 24-26; and Pool 4, March 31-April 2.

The fields for Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager and the Kentucky Derby Sire Future Wager will be announced Monday.

50/50 CHARITABLE GAMING RAFFLE SET FOR CLARK HANDICAP DAY – Churchill Downs will host a 50/50 Charitable Gaming Raffle on “Black Friday,” Nov. 25 with half of the raffle proceeds to benefit the Churchill Downs Incorporated Foundation’s charitable initiatives.

DOLLAR BEER FROM 3-6 P.M. ON CLOSING DAY – As a special thank you to on-track guests throughout the year, Churchill Downs will conclude the 21-day Fall Meet with $1 draft beer in the second floor Clubhouse from 3-6 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 27.