Lanerie takes final race to edge Leparoux for Churchill meet title

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Churchill Downs spring meet ended in dramatic fashion Saturday night when jockey Corey Lanerie rallied aboard Love Your Humor to win the final race of the 38-day meet Saturday, allowing him to edge out Julien Leparoux for the riding title.

It was another highly eventful spring at Churchill, highlighted by a victory in the May 2 Kentucky Derby by American Pharoah, who would proceed to become the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years while stabling here during most of the meet.

Lanerie finished with 40 wins, marking the eighth time he has been the leading rider from the last nine Churchill meets, dating to the spring of 2012. Leparoux, a nine-time Churchill titlist, had won the 10th of 11 races on the Saturday card aboard Generous Kitten to pull into a 39-39 tie. The jockeys began the evening in a 38-38 tie.

Generous Kitten is owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey and trained by Mike Maker. The Ramseys, with 17 wins, were easily the leading owners once again, extending their record of most owner titles at Churchill to 24, while Maker wrapped up his fifth Churchill title with 23 wins.

This was the first time Churchill has ended its spring meet with a Saturday night card. The evening was marked by four straight stakes, beautiful weather, and a predominantly youthful crowd that lifted ontrack attendance to 24,192, up 33 percent from the corresponding Downs After Dark card in 2014.

Complete business figures for a meet that began April 25 were not immediately available, although the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission was expected to release wagering totals early this week in response to an open-records request.