Churchill meet comes to a close this weekend

The 12-day September meet at Churchill Downs winds to a close this weekend with two Saturday stakes, led by the $125,000 Homecoming Classic.

Churchill oddsmaker Mike Battaglia has pegged Carve as the 9-5 favorite in a field of six older horses in the Homecoming, with Departing and Cigar Street co-second choices at 5-2. Carve, prepping for the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, enters the 1 1/8-mile race off a big effort as the runner-up behind Bradester in the one-turn-mile Ack Ack on Sept. 6 at Churchill. The 4-year-old gelding won three straight before the Ack Ack.

“I think going two turns is a little bit better than one for him,” said Brad Cox, who trains Carve for Mike Langford. “He won here in the spring in a one-turn mile in an allowance, but all his other wins have been around two turns.”

The Homecoming is the ninth of 11 Saturday races and will be followed directly by the Grade 3, $100,000 Jefferson Cup, a one-mile turf race that drew eight 3-year-olds.

Sunday is closing day at Churchill, with mandatory payouts in jackpot wagers.

** With only nine cards run so far to separate them, it’s not surprising that the jockey, trainer, and owner standings are tight entering the last three days at Churchill.

Corey Lanerie leads Ricardo Santana by a 12-11 count atop the rider standings, Steve Asmussen (6) holds a tenuous lead over Chris Richard (5) and Wayne Catalano (5) among trainers, and Maggi Moss is tied with Ken and Sarah Ramsey atop the owner standings with five wins each.