Churchill Downs notes: Stewart looks ahead after ending fall meet on good note

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As horse vans streamed out the Churchill Downs stable gate Sunday and Monday for southbound destinations, a handful of trainers who ended the fall meet Saturday on a winning note departed with high hopes for the long winter ahead.

One of those was Dallas Stewart, who sent out Unbridled Forever to an eye-catching seven-furlong maiden victory that earned a 96 Beyer Speed Figure, easily the highest of any of the 12 winners on the meet-ending Stars of Tomorrow card, restricted to 2-year-olds.

Stewart also won a two-turn maiden race with a West Point Thoroughbreds colt, Commanding Curve (80 Beyer), with the two-win day halting a 38-race losing streak for the 54-year-old trainer, dating to his win (via disqualification) in the Grade 2 Adirondack with Designer Legs on Aug. 11 at Saratoga.

“I thought I was going to have to siphon some gas off somebody to get out of town,” Stewart joked by phone Monday morning while driving through Tennessee toward his winter base at Fair Grounds in the town where he grew up, New Orleans.

Bred and owned by Charles Fipke, Unbridled Forever was sired by the late Unbridled’s Song and produced by Lemons Forever, the 2006 Kentucky Oaks winner campaigned in partnership by Stewart before she eventually was purchased by Fipke for $2.5 million. Clearly the long-term goal is to have the daughter follow in her mother’s hoofsteps in the 140th Oaks on May 2, 2014.

“We’ve thought a lot of her all the way,” said Stewart. “We’ll take our time with her and see how we want to get her back there in the best way we can.”

Meanwhile, the winners of the twin Grade 2 stakes that ended the meet, Tapiture (Kentucky Jockey Club) and Vexed (Golden Rod), earned Beyers of 83 and 80, respectively. Both horses also will be based at Fair Grounds this winter.

Almost Famous to Palm Meadows

Almost Famous, scratched as the 6-5 morning-line favorite from the Kentucky Jockey Club with a sore left hind foot, was shipped Monday to the Palm Meadows training center in south Florida.

Trainer Pat Byrne said Monday he was “extremely disappointed we didn’t have a chance to run the colt” in the Kentucky Jockey Club.

“Man, that timing was bad, huh?” said Byrne. “Oof. He just popped a little gravel on his coronet band and those things usually take a few days to get over. He’ll be fine soon, and we should be able to get him back training.

“I really wanted to run him here, especially with a maiden ending up winning the race,” he added, referring to Tapiture prevailing by 4 1/4 lengths for Winchell Thoroughbreds and trainer Steve Asmussen. “I have no idea where we’ll run next. We wanted to run here and then wait until February to run at Gulfstream Park, but now we’ll have to see what schedule suits us best.”

Wise Dan struts his stuff

Wise Dan, the 2012 Horse of the Year and heavy favorite for that same honor in 2013, struck a regal appearance in a low-key presentation before the closing-day crowd.

Wise Dan was vanned early Saturday from his Keeneland base and “was pretty fired up over there [in the stable area], thinking he was maybe going to get to run,” said his smiling trainer, Charlie LoPresti.

Alas, a commemorative Breeders’ Cup blanket never was taken off Wise Dan as he spent about 20 minutes walking around the paddock with several hundred fans crowding the outer perimeter to get a look at the superstar gelding.

LoPresti said Wise Dan would be sent to his Lexington-area farm this week for his customary winter break before returning to Keeneland in February to gear up for a 7-year-old campaign in 2014.

Maiden winner for Caressing

Lemons Forever wasn’t the only winning dam from the Stars of Tomorrow card with a major Churchill victory on her race record.

Caressing, winner of the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, also was represented by a maiden winner when Gold Hawk (by Empire Maker) earned a 67 Beyer in capturing his career debut in the meet finale at seven furlongs for Winchell and Asmussen.

David Fiske, racing manager for Winchell, said Sunday via Twitter that Tapiture and Gold Hawk emerged from their races in good order.

Final meet standings

Ken and Sarah Ramsey were the leading owners with 18 wins at the meet, marking the eighth time this year they topped the standings at an American track and extending their records as all-time leading owners at Churchill. Mike Maker (16 wins), with the Ramseys as his main client, was the leading trainer for the fifth time at Churchill, while Corey Lanerie (36 wins) was the leading jockey for the fourth time in the last five Churchill meets.

Except for major racing days, tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc. do not provide attendance and handle figures, although an open-records request through the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission was expected to provide those numbers for the 25-day fall meet this week.

Website improvements coming

Churchill officials said they expect to have a more efficient website for customers seeking information on the Kentucky Derby Future Wager when Pool 2 is offered in early February. The site had been updated from earlier this year but had several glitches, including no will-pays or wagering totals for exactas, as well as final odds being unavailable for a substantial period after Pool 1 closed Saturday.