Reverential making trip for turf feature

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Chris Block declined to bring unbeaten Vacare from Chicago for the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf, but it's not as if the 17-year veteran trainer has an aversion to Churchill Downs. Four days after the 23rd Breeders' Cup World Championships were run here, Block will have put Reverential on a six-hour van ride from Hawthorne to Churchill in plenty of time for the colt to figure among the logical players in the Wednesday feature, a $52,500 turf allowance.

Reverential has notched both his career wins on grass, and if it appears his recent form is suspect, that may be partly because two of his last three races were on the main track. Two turf races back, in July at Arlington Park, he knocked out his first allowance condition with authority, and it is that life's-best effort, along with the presence of leading rider Julien Leparoux, that should sway a decent sampling of fans his way.

Reverential drew the rail in a second-level allowance that drew 16 horses, including four also-eligibles and two more who will run only if the race is transferred to the main track. Only 10 can start.

Bejarano on unusual streak

The winless streak that has been dogging jockey Rafael Bejarano has included far more than the normal percentage of tough luck.

Going into Tuesday, Bejarano - who has been one of the winningest jockeys in North America this year, with mount earnings of more than $10.3 million - had not ridden a winner since the second race at Keeneland on Oct. 26. That's 60 straight losers during a span when he rode 15 horses who finished second.

Among those runners-up were back-to-back wicked beats Sunday at Churchill. Bejarano appeared to have the sixth race won with Le Chateau, but he was nipped on the wire by a 36-1 shot named Grace Happens. Then, in the next race, Bejarano was beaten a nose again when Regwell narrowly outfinished his mount, Beechmont.

Before his Oct. 26 winner, Bejarano had ridden 11 straight losers, making him 1 for his last 72 going into Tuesday action.

Keeneland trumpets surface edge

Keeneland Race Course on Monday issued a press release noting that four of the eight Breeders' Cup winners trained or raced over their Polytrack surface leading up to the big day.

Those winners were Dreaming of Anna (Juvenile Fillies), Street Sense (Juvenile), Thor's Echo (Sprint), and Round Pond (Distaff). In addition, the 1-2-3 finishers in the Juvenile - Street Sense, Circular Quay, and Great Hunter - all came out of the Oct. 7 Breeders' Futurity at Keeneland.

Rogers Beasley, the track's director of racing, said the Breeders' Cup results "confirmed our confidence in Polytrack as an excellent surface for racing and training."

* Apprentice rider Alonso Quinonez, 17, was a winner for the first time Sunday when he guided Lifes Crown to a 4 1/2-length victory in the fifth race. Lifes Crown is owned and trained by Jeff Alfir.

* On the other end of the age spectrum, veteran Charlie Woods Jr., 56, also was a winner Sunday, capturing the third race aboard King of Mardi Gras.