Bettors get two for one with Borel

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Rules regarding uncoupled entries being what they are these days, fans often wonder which of a trainer's two horses has the better chance to win in a given race.

Asking the trainer might help, but far more often than not, he is like everybody else in the crowd - just taking his absolute best guess. This sort of scenario could play itself out as many as three times Sunday at Churchill Downs, with uncoupled entries entered by Greg Foley in the first race, Bill Mott in the third, and Steve Asmussen in the sixth.

Trainer Cecil Borel has two horses, Electric Chant and Alpha Capo, in the featured ninth, but because both are owned by the same person, Cliff Grum, they are coupled for wagering purposes, saving fans the sometimes agonizing process of choosing between two horses from the same barn.

Borel said Friday he plans to start both horses in the feature, open to third-level turf allowance horses and $80,000 claimers. On many occasions, half of a stable coupling ends up being scratched, but not here, said Borel.

"I probably like Electric Chant a little better," he said. "The other horse [Alpha Capo], "I wasn't able to run him back as quick as I'd have liked. I'm hoping Chant, he doesn't bounce, and he runs back to one his best races."

Electric Chant finished third in his last start, a tough turf allowance on May 17. Alpha Capo won his last start, a $50,000 claiming race on April 28.

Borel named his younger brother, jockey Calvin Borel, to ride both horses.

"I think he's going to ride Chant, and Joe Johnson will ride the other horse," he said.

If neither of the Borel horses is able to get the job done in the 1 1/16-mile feature, the race could very well go to Sadler's Trick, Shift in Power, or Obi Wan Kenobi.

Sadler's Trick has a touch of class, having run in stakes in three of his last seven starts. Shift in Power enters off a sharp allowance victory on May 18, when he earned a 98 Beyer Speed Figure, but the gelding is being asked to make the transition from dirt to turf. Obi Wan Kenobi is a potential wire-to-wire threat, having won his latest in that fashion.