River Belle may be right one

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - This must be the week for complexity at Churchill Downs. The jockey-insurance controversy overtook the track all week, and now there are all sorts of handicapping variables involved with the Saturday feature, the Grade 2 .

Horseplayers should find themselves having a tough time choosing from among the 11 3-year-old fillies entered in the $150,000 Mrs. Revere, a 1 1/16-mile turf race. There is the unbeaten Canadian filly Black Rock Road. There is River Belle, who finished a close third in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup last month at Keeneland. And then there are the one-two finishers in the recent Valley View Stakes, Sister Swank and Jinny's Gold, and the beaten favorite from that same race, Lenatareese.

Of that competitive group, River Belle might have the slightest of edges off her sharp QEII effort. Owned by a partnership headed by Team Valor, and trained by Todd Pletcher, River Belle will be ridden by the British star Kieren Fallon, who two weeks ago guided Ouija Board to victory in the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

Sister Swank, with Pat Day back aboard, is another top consideration, especially in view of the way she rolled to her 1 1/4-length triumph in the Valley View.

For a longshot play, Family Business, trained by Dallas Stewart, might be usable, despite her never having raced on grass. If she can adapt, Family Business would seem to be a contender on her consistency and recency.

The Mrs. Revere, named for the Bill Mott-trained filly who won three stakes at the 1984 Churchill spring meet, goes as the ninth of 10 races on a card that starts at 12:40 p.m. Eastern.

Clock Stopper likely for De Francis

Stewart said he now is leaning toward the $300,000 Frank J. De Francis Memorial Dash next Saturday at Pimlico for Clock Stopper. Stewart had been considering the $350,000 Cigar Mile at Aqueduct on Nov. 27 for the 4-year-old Clock Stopper. Both races are Grade 1 stakes.

Stewart said the six-furlong distance of the De Francis may be more suitable to Clock Stopper.

* The Sunday feature at Churchill is the inaugural running of the $150,000 Commonwealth Turf for 3-year-old colts and geldings. The Commonwealth, also run at 1 1/16 miles, is the new "brother" race to the Mrs. Revere.