Alexander shifts horses to Reed

Elisabeth Alexander, the prominent owner-breeder, has turned some horses over to local trainer Eric Reed. According to Reed, Alexander "wanted to concentrate on local racing, and was impressed with our new training center." Reed and a partner recently opened the Mercury Training center in Lexington, Ky. Reed saddled his first winner at River Downs in 1982, at the age of 17. A total of 15 to 20 horses were moved to his care.

Ben's Reflection, a three-time Ohio sprint champion, is back in training after an 11-month layoff. He has been recovering from suspensory/sesamoid surgery. His regular rider the last two years, Jeff Johnston, came out of retirement to work him in his first two workouts. Johnston has left riding to work for the Jockeys' Guild. Owner Ron McKay asked Johnston to get aboard to see "if Ben was his old self."

Kathy Lowry, assistant trainer locally for Michael Nance, when asked how the horse was progressing, said "so far, so good, everything is going as planned."

Long Star, trained by Larry Eilers, broke the track record for five furlongs on the turf Tuesday. Having raced over the turf only five times, Long Star has set the track record here twice. His record was broken last year, but his 4 3/4-length victory under jockey Perry Ouzts in 55.4 seconds, was quick enough to get the record back. The win was his third in five tries on the grass.