Leparoux, Asmussen and Ramseys Win 'Human' Races as Churchill Downs Wraps Up 2007 Fall Meet
by: John Asher
Louisville, KY (November 24, 2007) --
Jockey Julien Leparoux, trainer Steve Asmussen and owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey earned honors in “human” races conducted during Churchill Downs’ 21-day Fall Meet as the historic home of the Kentucky Derby wrapped up its Oct. 28-Nov. 24 racing session on Saturday.
Leparoux, a 24-year-old native of Chantilly, France, won three of the final four races of the meet – including wins aboard Anak Nakal in the $250,000-added Kentucky Jockey Club (Grade II) and Pure Clan the $250,000-added Golden Rod (GII) – to edge Calvin Borel 27-26 for honors as “leading jockey.” The title is the third under the Twin Spires for Leparoux, the winner of the 2006 Eclipse Award as America’s top apprentice jockey. Leparoux swept the 2007 Spring and Fall meet titles at Churchill Downs after having won the track’s Spring Meet title in 2006. Along with his pair of stakes victories on closing day, Leparoux won the $150,000-added Pocahontas aboard Pure Clan and the $150,000 Iroquois with Court Vision to launch the meet on Oct. 28.
Asmussen continued one of his strongest years when he edged Dale Romans 14-13 for his third title of “leading trainer” at the Fall Meet and his fifth overall. The win completed Asmussen’s second career sweep of Churchill Downs’ Spring and Fall titles – he also won both meets in 2004 – and had also earned the Fall meet crown in 2001. Asmussen’s win total included stakes victories by Rolling Sea in the $200,000-added Chilukki (GII) and Inca King in the $150,000-added Commonwealth Turf.
Owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey of Nicholasville, Ky., won three races over the meet’s final two days to edge Ahmed Zayat’s Zayat Stables, LLC, 7-5 for their sixth title as “leading owners” of the Fall Meet. The win pulled the Ramseys into a tie with the late John Franks for largest collection of Fall Meet crowns. They have also won six Spring Meet titles and their overall total of “leading owner” trophies is the largest in the 133-year history of Churchill Downs.
Equine highlights during the meet included a victory by the Allen Paulson Living Trust’s A.P. Arrow in Friday’s 133rd running of the $500,000-added Clark Handicap (GII), the meet’s premier event. Ramon Dominguez rode the 5-year-old son of A.P. Indy, who competed in the Clark for a third consecutive year and provided trainer Todd Pletcher with his second victory in the race that is as old as the Kentucky Derby (GI) and Kentucky Oaks (GI).
The victory by Lewis Lakin’s unbeaten Pure Clan in the Golden Rod on closing day made her the meet’s only two-time stakes winner. Other horses that visited the winner’s circle on two occasions during the meet were Terrific Storm, Dr. Googles Boogles, Patricia (ARG), Summer Man, and Miss O. Four.
Other notable stakes performances include victories by Darpat S.L. Stable’s Istan for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott in the $200,000-added Ack Ack (GIII); Tom Crouch’s Kettleoneup in the $300,000-added Falls City Handicap (GII) on Thanksgiving Day; Bit of Whimsy for Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Barclay Tagg in the $150,000-added Mrs. Revere (GII) for 3-year-old fillies on turf; Stuart Janney III and Phipps Stable’s Criminologist in the $150,000 Cardinal (GIII); Zayat Stable’s Thorn Song in the $200,000-added River City Handicap (GIII); Walter New’s Flying Circle in the Mariah’s Storm; Stronach Stable’s Sugar Swirl in the $100,000-added Very Subtle; and Edith Dixon’s Smart Enough in the $100,000-added Cherokee Run.
The average number of starters per race during the Fall Meet remained among the highest in Thoroughbred racing. An average of 9.8 horses competed in the 218 races conducted during the autumn racing session, up from an average of 9.6 in the 2006 Fall Meet.
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 Global Select Market: CHDN) also operates Trackside at Churchill Downs, which offers year-round simulcast wagering at the historic track. Churchill Downs will conduct the 134th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 3, 2008. The track’s 2008 Spring Meet begins on April 26. Churchill Downs has hosted the Breeders’ Cup World Championships a record six times. Information about Churchill Downs can be found on the Internet at www.churchilldowns.com.
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