With Castro, longshot deserves look

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Eddie Castro was in the Breeders' Cup record books for a little more than two hours Saturday before he was displaced by Fernando Jara. Castro, 21, became the youngest jockey to win a Breeders' Cup race when he guided Miesque's Approval to a 24-1 upset in the BC Mile at Churchill Downs, but then Jara, 18, rode Invasor to victory in the BC Classic.

Castro was back doing yeoman's work Tuesday at Churchill, returning caked with mud after riding also-ran Predatory Lender in the first race. He has been a regular on the Kentucky circuit for only a few weeks, having decided in early October to ride at Keeneland and Churchill, and although he will return to the more familiar environs of south Florida in subsequent months, he said he plans to ride here again next spring.

Not many feats can earn the confidence of horseplayers as much as a Breeders' Cup victory, so it is with a different perspective that fans might regard a Castro mount as the Churchill fall meet unfolds. Thursday at Churchill, Castro will try to reward whatever newfound confidence he has earned when he rides longshot Remiewaterbluz in the featured ninth of 10 races.

Remiewaterbluz, a Texas-bred 7-year-old who raced three times for a $5,000 claiming tag, is closing in on $300,000 in earnings, a testament to steady improvement and longevity.

"We want to go over 300 with her before having her bred in the spring," said Ron G. Potts Jr., a 29-year-old Lexington-based horseman who became Remiewaterbluz's eighth different trainer when he took over several weeks ago.

Potts said the most recent start for Remiewaterbluz, which resulted in a sixth-place finish in an Oct. 17 stakes at Mountaineer Park, probably didn't represent her top effort.

"She had just come to me three days before that, after a 19-hour van ride from Winnipeg," he said. "I'd have to say she wasn't at her best."

Remiewaterbluz is one of nine fillies and mares in the Thursday feature, a $55,000 one-mile race with a third-level allowance condition and an $80,000 claiming option. The probable favorites are Sun Spun, who was sixth in a tougher race at Keeneland on Oct. 13; Life's Great, who rang up a three-race win streak in the summer; and Classical Ryder, a winner of 5 of 10 career starts.

The rest of the field is Unkatzable, Platinee, Country Fair, Shesanidem, and Sacred Feather. First post is 12:40 p.m. Eastern.