Mrs. Revere’s owner will be absent from winner’s circle

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Dr. David Richardson always maintained a hectic schedule, just as any accomplished surgeon and family man would. But he always somehow found time for one of his great passions: horse racing.

Unfortunately for Richardson, a longtime breeder and owner, health problems have precluded him from being part of the racing scene in recent months. He is recovering from complications that arose from knee and spinal surgeries and will be unable to attend the Mrs. Revere Stakes on Saturday at Churchill Downs.

“I thought I was going to have the best year of my life,” Richardson, 70, said this week from his Louisville home. “But it sure hasn’t turned out that way.”

In partnership with Dr. Hiram Polk, Richardson bred and owned Mrs. Revere, the iconic mare who won four stakes at Churchill in the mid-1980s. He long has reveled in taking part in the festivities involving the annual race named for Mrs. Revere, handing out the winner’s trophy while socializing with his innumerable friends in the sport.

But a chronic back ailment that flared up following a knee replacement in June left him hospitalized for three months, and a busy rehabilitation schedule followed. The good news: His condition is not life-threatening, and his goal is to be ambulatory and on his way to a full recovery by Jan. 1.

“This summer, I missed Saratoga for the first time in 38 years,” he said. “I missed our filly Market Magic win a little stakes on West Virginia Derby Day at Mountaineer. I’ve missed seeing my friends at the track, and I’ve been unable to pick up my grandkids. I’m going to make it, but it hasn’t been a very pleasant stretch.”

Richardson is a highly esteemed professional. Specializing in vascular and thoracic medicine, he is the longtime chief of surgery at the University of Louisville Hospital, and last month he became president of the American College of Surgeons.

Richardson is still performing a considerable amount of administrative work from his home while undergoing outpatient treatment. He said his ordeal has made him very eager to return to his workplace – and the track.

“The Mrs. Revere is always an excellent race and a great time, and I’ll certainly miss being there,” he said. “Hiram and my daughter [Dr. Amy Richardson Searfoss] will represent us.”

Richardson is correct: The Grade 2, $200,000 Mrs. Revere is a very good race again. Targeted by trainers throughout North America as a final chance to get black type for a 3-year-old turf filly while not having to face older mares, the race habitually overfills – which is very much the case for the 25th running Saturday. Twenty horses were entered, with 18 (including four also-eligibles) making the program.

The likely favorite for the 1 1/16-mile Mrs. Revere, which is carded as the 10th of 11 Saturday races, is Partisan Politics, a last-out winner of the Pebbles Stakes at Belmont Park for Chad Brown. The lineup is dominated by East Coast shippers, including Robillard for Kiaran McLaughlin, Onus for Shug McGaughey, Devine Aida for Christophe Clement, Isabella Sings for Todd Pletcher, and Celestine for Bill Mott.

Good-sized fields so far

Horseplayers who clamor for large fields can’t complain about how the Churchill fall meet is unfolding: Through the first six of 21 days, field size averaged a very healthy 9.74 horses per race.

“It might tail off a little as we go, but yes, we’re very pleased,” said Churchill racing secretary Ben Huffman. “A good part of this equation is less competition from regional tracks and greater availability to 2-year-olds.”

Last fall, Churchill averaged 8.56 horses a race. At the 2015 spring meet, it was 7.82, and at the 2015 September meet, it was 7.99.

◗ D. Wayne Lukas has resumed his normal routines as he continues toward a full recovery from the heart surgery he underwent in late September in Philadelphia.

“I feel better than I have in a long time,” said Lukas, the Hall of Fame trainer who turned 80 on Sept. 2.

◗ Commanding Curve, the 2014 Kentucky Derby runner-up, could make an appearance toward the end of this fall meet after getting a brief freshening following his seventh-place finish Sept. 5 in the Woodward Stakes, said trainer Dallas Stewart.

Golden Soul, the 2013 Derby runner-up, will make his next start at Fair Grounds, said Stewart.