Asmussen, Gaffalione win Churchill meet titles
Steve Asmussen and Tyler Gaffalione were in familiar positions atop the trainer and jockey standings when Churchill Downs wrapped up its 21-day, dirt-only meet Sunday.
Asmussen, with 20 winners at the meet, which began Oct. 31, extended his own Churchill record for most meet titles to 25. Gaffalione rode 34 winners, marking the sixth straight meet he has been the leading jockey at Churchill, dating to the 2020 spring meet. M and M Racing, with four wins, was the leading owner.
Favorites won at a 39 percent clip (83 for 214), and field size averaged 7.8 horses per race. Handle and attendance figures are not made public by Churchill.
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This was the last of two meets during which the turf course was unavailable. Completion of a $10 million renovation is expected ahead of the 2022 spring meet in April.
◗ Nobody enjoyed closing weekend at the Churchill meet more than trainer Ken McPeek, whose five winners were Envoutante in the Grade 2 Falls City, Smile Happy in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, Bhoma in an allowance, and two first-time starters romping as longshots in maiden-specials.
“Such an awesome weekend,” said McPeek, whose top horses now head to Florida while some also will race at Oaklawn.
◗ Carlo Vaccarezza will be wintering in Kentucky for the first time after ending the fall meet on a high note. Vaccarezza raced in Florida for years but now is based at the Thoroughbred training center in Lexington in one of the newly constructed barns.
Vaccarezza sent out Injunction to defeat the highly regarded Milliken in a Friday allowance while also saddling Militarist, an 86-1 shot, for a fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Clark and Sweet Dani Girl for a third-place finish in the Fern Creek.
◗ With the Derby City 6 being forced out on closing day, a few surprise winners boosted the payoff to $21,832 for each perfect 20-cent ticket. The winning six-race sequence included three favorites but also a 44-1 winner, Enter Sandwoman, in the second leg, as well as Ebben (9-1) and Fire On Time (11-1) in the last two legs.
Nearly $1.1 million in new handle was bet into the forceout when chasing a carryover of $224,263 from the previous day.
◗ How tight was the betting in the Clark on Friday? Maxfield, the winner, and Midnight Bourbon both were sent away at $1.20-1, with Midnight Bourbon, who finished third, being the actual favorite There was $175,942 bet to win on Midnight Bourbon and $174,261 on Maxfield.