Bauer may need some Tums waiting for Falls City

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Phil Bauer could do without the added stress, thanks. He and his wife, Ashley, will be trying to enjoy Thanksgiving at Churchill Downs with their three young children and the Rigney family, too, all the while knowing he has the odds-on favorite in the featured Falls City.

“I don’t like being 4-5,” Bauer said of the program line on Played Hard, who he’ll saddle to face five other fillies and mares in the Grade 3, $500,000 Falls City. “There are some other horses in there that can run. Nothing like this comes as easy as it looks.”

Still, it’s far better to be a big favorite than a hopeless longshot, and Bauer, if pressed, surely would say he’s in a great spot in the Falls City, the 10th of 12 races on a Thursday card that starts at 11:30 a.m. Eastern. Played Hard, with Joel Rosario in from New York to ride, clearly is the horse to beat in the 1 1/8-mile race.

“Yes, it may be her race to lose,” said Bauer, private trainer for the Rigney Racing of Richard and Tammy Rigney. “She loves it at Churchill and she’s doing great, but I was blown away when I saw the morning line. Let’s have her run her race and hopefully she’ll live up to that.”

Rosario was aboard when Played Hard dominated the Grade 3 Locust Grove with a 99 Beyer Speed Figure here in September, and also when the 4-year-old Into Mischief filly was a well-back third to the eventual Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner, Malathaat, in her lone subsequent start, the Grade 1 Spinster on Oct. 9 at Keeneland.

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“We got a Grade 1 placing and immediately turned our focus to this race, knowing a lot of the top mares in the country either were going to retire or get some time before some of their goals for the first half of next year,” said Bauer. “With the purses the way they are at Churchill, we thought there was no shame in pointing to this spot.”

Played Hard will break from post 4 in the 107th Falls City, and without much opposing speed, “maybe we’ll end up playing cat and mouse with something in there,” said Bauer, “but you certainly don’t want to take anything away from her.”

Leader of the Band (post 1, Luis Saez) is in from Philadelphia looking to cap another productive season for John Servis, still renowned for winning the Kentucky Derby here in 2004 with Smarty Jones. A two-back victory in the restricted Summer Colony in August at Saratoga resulted in a career-best 96 Beyer for Leader of the Band, a Pennsylvania-bred filly who figures to sit a nice ground-saving trip as probably the top threat to Played Hard.

The rest of an eclectic group is Bellamore (post 2, Martin Garcia), a California invader who’s the wild card of the group when going turf to dirt for Simon Callaghan; Moon Swag (post 3, Tyler Gaffalione), a sharp allowance winner at Keeneland last month when returning from a year-plus layoff for Brendan Walsh; and She’s All Wolfe (post 6, Joe Rocco Jr.) and Ava’s Grace (post 5, David Cohen), the respective one-two finishers in the Shawnee here in June ahead of Grade 1 winner Pauline’s Pearl.

With the early post, the Falls City goes at 3:53. The purse includes $100,000 in bonuses restricted to Kentucky-breds, meaning Leader of the Band and the Oklahoma-bred She’s All Wolfe will be competing for the equivalent of $400,000.

The Falls City directly precedes another 1 1/8-mile stakes for fillies and mares, the Grade 3, $300,000 Cardinal (race 11, 4:22), which goes on the turf. Through Sunday, five races have been run on the Churchill turf at a fall meet that began Oct. 30, with no untoward incidents nor major complaints resulting. Dry weather and a high of 58 are in the Thursday forecast.

Rosario has the call from Brad Cox on Adventuring, the 9-5 program choice for the Cardinal. Most recently fifth as the pacesetter in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor on the Woodbine turf last month after winning back-to-back turf stakes, the Godolphin homebred will break from post 6 in a field of 10. Right alongside is the 2-1 second choice, Dalika (post 5, Brian Hernandez Jr.), the German-bred mare who led wire to wire in the Grade 1 Beverly D. over the Churchill turf in August for Bal Mar Equine and trainer Al Stall Jr.

If Adventuring and Dalika go too quick early, the 47th Cardinal might well set up for the likes of Pass the Plate, Curly Ruth, or Sunny One.

◗ A field of seven 3-year-olds and upward is entered in the annual fall-meet showcase, the Grade 1 Clark, to be run Friday for the 148th time. From the rail, they are Proxy, Trademark, Injunction, Rich Strike, Fulsome, Last Samurai, and West Will Power.

The Clark goes at 5:56 p.m. as the 11th of 12 races on a Friday card that also includes the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere (race 9). The 19-day fall meet runs through Sunday, with first post for each of the last three cards being 1 p.m.

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