Romans hopes to race Cherry Wine before meet ends

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With one eye on his latest star Not This Time, trainer Dale Romans is busy getting the rest of his sizable stable ready for final starts of the Churchill Downs fall meet before leaving for the long winter in Florida.

Romans said he will enter Cherry Wine – one of the few holdovers from the 2016 Triple Crown series – in a Churchill race “before too long.” Cherry Wine has regrouped since three subpar races following his runner-up finish in the May 21 Preakness.

“I’ve breezed him a half-dozen times since we gave him a little break, and he’s doing really well,” Romans said Saturday, just minutes before Squadron A broke a lengthy drought by winning a second-level allowance under Robby Albarado.

Squadron A, a gray 6-year-old, had lost 16 races in a row since winning a first-level allowance at Gulfstream Park on March 6, 2014.

“It was great to see the old guy get one,” Romans said. “He’s been with us a long time. We might be able to run him one more time before we leave.”

Meanwhile, Not This Time is “just taking it easy,” Romans said, since further entrenching himself as one of the favorites for the 2017 Kentucky Derby by finishing a fast-closing second to Classic Empire in the Nov. 5 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita.

“He’ll go down to Palm Meadows at the end of the month with the rest of our horses,” Romans said. “I’m really happy with how he came out of the race. We’ll get him down there and figure out a plan.”

‘Stars aligned’ for Arnold

With the 21-day fall meet hitting its midpoint Sunday, the usual suspects atop the trainer standings have been joined by Rusty Arnold, whose 6-for-11 record has him tied for second with Eddie Kenneally (6 for 17), trailing only Mike Maker (8 for 29).

Remarkably, none of the Arnold winners came in claiming races. Five won maiden-special events, and another, Designed for War, won a second-level allowance. His meet stable earnings of $229,156 stand at a close second behind Maker.

“These horses ran well at Keeneland, but just didn’t win,” said Arnold, a trainer for more than 40 years. “The conditions hit ‘em just right, the trips have been good, and they’ve run back to form. It’s been one of those things where the stars have aligned.”

Arnold added he has “three or four more maidens to run, so we might finish up real strong, too.”

◗ Trainer Jimmy Jerkens has confirmed Shaman Ghost as a likely starter for the Grade 1 Clark Handicap, the Nov. 25 end-of-meet highlight. Shaman Ghost, scratched from the Nov. 5 Breeders’ Cup Classic, breezed three furlongs in 37 seconds over the Belmont Park training track. Jerkens won the Clark last fall with Effinex.

Meanwhile, Brendan Walsh said Scuba is doubtful to run in the Clark, “unless for some reason it comes up extremely light.”

Scuba won the 1 3/4-mile Marathon on Breeders’ Cup Friday at Santa Anita, giving Walsh his second victory in the race in the last three runnings. The Clark is at 1 1/8 miles.

“That’d be a really difficult turn-back,” Walsh said.

◗ On the same day his highly accomplished older brother was retired, Curlins Vow won for the first time in his seventh start when taking a one-mile maiden race Saturday.

Curlins Vow, owned by Mike Bruder, was produced by Bella Jolie, making him a half-brother to Runhappy, the 2015 sprint champion who has been retired to stud at Claiborne Farm.

The victory was the first for Bruder since Mike Tomlinson began training his horses.

◗ December Seven lowered the Churchill record for the infrequently run distance of 1 3/16 miles by a full second when he easily won a first-level allowance Saturday in 1:56.60. December Seven was produced by the mare Date to Remember, and thus the tribute to Pearl Harbor Day from his owner, Samantha Siegel.

December Seven will head to Fair Grounds with the rest of the Paul McGee stable after Churchill ends Nov. 27.

◗ The lone stakes this coming weekend at Churchill is Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Cardinal Handicap, a 1 1/8-mile turf race for which Cash Control and Kitten’s Roar could be the starting highweights with 119 pounds apiece. Entries will be drawn Wednesday.

Cash Control “tends to do her best over the Churchill turf, so we’re excited about running her,” trainer Brad Cox said.

◗ Jockey Jon Court is just three wins from becoming the 71st jockey in North American racing history to reach the 4,000-win milestone. Court will turn 56 on Nov. 23.

◗ The first of four Kentucky Derby Future Wager pools for 2017 is set for Nov. 24-27, along with a Derby Sires Future Wager, which made its debut last fall.

◗ The 20-cent single six has not been swept since the meet opened Oct. 30. Held on the final six races of each card, its rollover jackpot has grown to $69,852 for the start of another race week Wednesday. There’s also a carryover of $11,402 in the $1 super high five into the last race Wednesday.

◗ Through 11 programs, favorites are winning at a 39 percent clip (44 for 112) and field size is averaging 8.92 horses per race.