McCraken, Wilkes the breakout stars of closing week

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The final week of the Churchill Downs fall meet is an absolute whirlwind, with too many important happenings crammed into too short a period. On a lesser scale, it’s not unlike the Breeders’ Cup, or a typical week in the National Football League.

No fewer than 58 races during the final five-day span brought the 21-day fall meet to an end, and it’s impossible to give every event its proper due. Gun Runner got his first Grade 1 victory in the Clark Handicap, Finley’sluckycharm stamped her ticket to California with a win in the Dream Supreme, Corey Lanerie rang up another jockey title, and bettors enjoyed another feeding frenzy with the Single 6.

Above all, however, were the emergence of the undefeated McCraken as a legitimate prospect for the 143rd Kentucky Derby next May and the overall strength displayed by the colt’s trainer, Ian Wilkes. It was an unforgettable Thanksgiving week for Wilkes, who not only sent out McCraken to win the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes last Saturday but also won five other races: the Grade 2 Mrs. Revere with Linda, the Grade 3 River City with Thatcher Street, and three allowances.

“I feel like I’m living a dream,” said Wilkes. “It all really came together well. I’m extremely grateful to the owners and our hardworking staff and our supporters.”

The KJC anchored the second Stars of Tomorrow card at a meet that began Oct. 30. Farrell, trained by Wayne Catalano, won the Grade 2 counterpart for fillies, the Golden Rod, while big efforts also were turned in Saturday by Blame Will, Vertical Oak, Benner Island, and Guest Suite in allowance triumphs.

◗ Wilkes stole the show, but Brad Cox finished powerfully, too, winning races with Benner Island, Dontmesswithjoanne, and Mav on the final two cards after having won the Grade 3 Cardinal the previous weekend with Cash Control.

Cox, enjoying a career-best year with 135 wins and stable earnings of $5.7 million, said he will have strings of 35 at Fair Grounds and 40 at Oaklawn Park this winter, along with some at the Evangeline training center in Louisiana.

◗ Few horses were as impressive in the final week as Finley’sluckycharm, a 3-year-old filly who earned a 102 Beyer Speed Figure in winning the six-furlong Dream Supreme on Friday by 8 1/2 lengths. Trainer Bret Calhoun said he intends to send Finley’sluckycharm to Santa Anita for the Grade 1 La Brea, a seven-furlong race Dec. 26.

“We’ll see how things go the next couple weeks, but yes, that’s the plan,” he said.

◗ Lanerie, headed to Gulfstream Park for the winter, won the riding title for the 12th time in the last 14 Churchill meets. He was second in wins behind Robby Albarado at the short September meet.

“They say it’s hard to get to the top and even harder to stay there,” said Lanerie, who turned 42 this month.

◗ Six winning 20-cent tickets, each worth $117,758, were sold Sunday when the Single 6 jackpot was dispersed as mandated on the meet’s closing day. New handle was $626,705 on top of a $173,888 rollover. The Single 6 was not swept by a solo winner at the meet.

Winning numbers in the Sunday sequence were 10-12-4-6-10-7. Their respective odds were 8-1, 4-1, 5-1, 3-5, 9-1, 13-1.

◗ Albin Jimenez has dominated the jockey standings in recent years at Turfway Park, which opens Wednesday, but with Jimenez riding this winter at Tampa Bay Downs, there’s a vacuum atop the colony. Newcomers Alonso Quinonez, Abel Lezcano, and Tyler Pizarro will ride at Turfway, joining the likes of Perry Ouzts, Jack Gilligan, Orlando Mojica, John McKee, and Rodney Prescott.

◗ The weather was so pleasant and dry throughout the Churchill meet that not a single of the 41 turf races had to be moved to the main track.

◗ Jockey Jon Court and trainer Paul McGee won separate races Sunday to pull within one victory of notable milestones. Court now has 3,999 wins, and McGee has 999.