Bambolina back on short rest
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Fridays at Churchill Downs have meant happy hour for Eddie Kenneally this spring, but not in the way you might think. Four of the first seven wins for Kenneally at this meet came on a Friday, and the 42-year-old Irishman has a good chance to add to that total when he sends out three horses this Friday on an 11-race twilight program, including Bambolina in the ninth-race feature.
Bambolina won two Fridays ago at Churchill, holding on gamely in an entry-level allowance at five furlongs on the turf. Availed to the next step up the allowance ladder, Bambolina will wheel right back as part of a field of 10 fillies and mares, including one main-track-only designee.
"This race came back a little sooner than I would have liked," Kenneally said. "The timing isn't ideal, but I didn't want to pass on it because she came out of that last race so good."
Bambolina will retain Julien Leparoux when she breaks from post 6. The $52,700 second-level allowance goes at five furlongs on the turf, the same distance and surface over which the War Chant filly prevailed May 22.
Kenneally also won an earlier race May 22 with Aztec King. His other winners at the meet include Multipass on the May 1 Kentucky Oaks undercard, and Custom for Carlos, a particularly impressive winner of an allowance race last Friday when cruising home by six lengths.
In March, Custom for Carlos ran third to This Ones for Phil and Big Drama in the Swale Stakes at Gulfstream Park, "and they're two of the best 3-year-old sprinters in the country," Kenneally said. "I don't have a particular race in mind for the colt, but he has gotten really good right now, so we'll nominate to all the appropriate stakes."
In the Friday feature, Bambolina appears to have Kiawah's Magic and Koka Kola Kitty as her main opposition, while She's Extreme and Aronia also merit close looks. If the race is rained onto the main track, Northern Belle, who will run only if the race is transferred, clearly would be the one to beat.
Earlier on the Friday card, Kenneally will saddle Venkman for the third race and All About Anna for the eighth. Leparoux, the leading rider at the spring meet, is named on them, too.
First post Friday is 2:45 p.m. Eastern.