Local natives seek big start to holiday in Falls City

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Like so many other wee lads in this town, Dale Romans grew up believing that Thanksgiving Day meant more than just turkey and trimmings.

“I always went to the races with my dad,” said Romans, referring to Jerry Romans, the longtime Churchill Downs trainer who died 19 years ago this week. “My whole life, I’ve never known anything but Churchill on Thanksgiving.”

Same goes for Paul McGee and Brad Cox, whose late fathers also took them to the track on this special holiday. Collectively, the trio of Louisville natives will send out nearly half the field Thursday in the traditional Thanksgiving feature, the Falls City, a Grade 2, $300,000 race that drew nine fillies and mares.

Romans will saddle the stretch-running Sally’s Curlin, who faces the toughest task of her blossoming career in this 104th running of the Falls City at 1 1/8 miles.

“She’s a 3-year-old on a definite improve,” said Romans, a two-time prior winner of the Falls City with Halory Leigh (2004) and Afleeting Lady (2012). “Her last race was her best yet, and the extra distance ought to be right up her alley.”

Sally’s Curlin, with Corey Lanerie riding from post 6, will be stretching out from a last-to-first score in the Grade 3 Chilukki, a one-turn mile run here Nov. 2. She’s one of three 3-year-olds in a lineup (with longshots Grandaria and Princess Causeway) that shows her and the McGee-trained Go Google Yourself as 3-1 co-favorites on the morning line.

Go Google Yourself (post 9, Brian Hernandez Jr.) also has come to peak form, having won four of her last six starts, all for owner-breeder Samantha Siegel. In August, the 4-year-old Into Mischief filly captured the Groupie Doll at Ellis Park, then came back five weeks later to win the Grade 3 Locust Grove at Churchill, turning back the Cox pair of Moonlit Garden and Mylady Curlin, both of whom return for the Falls City. Moonlit Garden breaks from post 1 under Florent Geroux, and Mylady Curlin drew post 3 and will be ridden by Tyler Gaffalione.

Hernandez said the outside post is a good draw for Go Google Yourself.

“It seems like she’s in a good rhythm right now,” he said. “I’ve just got to let her do her thing and stay out of her way.”

Go Google Yourself and Mylady Curlin figure to be giving closest chase to Ratajkowski (post 8, Julien Leparoux), a late-blooming New York-bred mare making her first start in open company. Brian Lynch trains the speedy 5-year-old for Gary Broad.

All starters carry 121 or 118 pounds under allowance conditions. There are no more handicap races at Churchill.

The Falls City, first run in 1875, goes as the ninth of 12 races on a Thursday card that gets an early start of 11:30 a.m. Eastern. The Falls City is set for 3:24 and is followed a bit later by a second filly-mare stakes, the Cardinal (race 11, 4:22). The 12th race goes at 4:50.

The Thursday forecast calls for cloudy skies and mid-40s temperatures.

Starship Jubilee tops Cardinal

Starship Jubilee has some unfinished business before heading to the breeding shed. The 6-year-old Florida-bred mare will be looking for her 15th victory from 32 starts as a solid favorite in the Grade 3, $175,000 Cardinal, a 1 1/8-mile race scheduled for the turf.

Not only did Starship Jubilee become a Grade 1 winner when leading most of the way in her last race, the Oct. 12 E.P. Taylor at Woodbine, but she has consistently posted Beyer Speed Figures that are superior to her 11 opponents in this 46th running of the Cardinal. Luis Contreras will be back aboard when she breaks from post 11.

Trainer Kevin Attard, who claimed Starship Jubilee for a mere $16,000 on behalf of Blue Heaven Farm nearly three years ago at Gulfstream Park, said he expects the Cardinal and the Jan. 18 Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf at Gulfstream to be her final two starts. An earner of more than $1.1 million, she is tentatively booked to Medaglia d’Oro in early 2020.

If Starship Jubilee suddenly goes off form, then an upset could come from most anywhere.

Smart Shot, with Hernandez riding from post 10, has been particularly effective over the local course, finishing first or second in five of six tries. The Calumet Farm homebred does her best from off the pace, as does her Rusty Arnold-trained stablemate Cash Out, who drew right alongside in post 9.

Among those who could pose a challenge to Starship Jubilee from the outset are Notapradaprice (post 6, Corey Lanerie), a winner of three of her last four starts, and Limari (post 8, Florent Geroux), a Cox-trained filly who also is headed for retirement in the next couple of months.

Starship Jubilee and Notapradaprice, the only other graded winner this year in the field, carry high weight of 125 pounds, with the other 10 assigned 121.

Kentucky Downs hires Butch Lehr as track super

Kentucky Downs has hired Butch Lehr as its track superintendent following the retirement of Ron Moore. Lehr, 71, has been semi-retired since leaving Churchill in 2012 after 30 years as superintendent. Lehr oversaw the design and construction of the Churchill turf course in 1986 and was at the forefront of many other major projects here and elsewhere.