Silverfoot pulls off three-peat

After saving ground on all three turns, Silverfoot was up in the final strides to win the Louisville Handicap for the third straight year at Churchill Downs on Monday.

Ridden by Mark Guidry, Silverfoot collared front-running Ramazutti in the frantic final yards of the $108,400 Louisville, a Grade 3 race run at 1 3/8 miles over a firm Churchill turf. Deep into the stretch, it appeared that Ramazutti, a 9-1 shot ridden by Calvin Borel, would hold sway, but Silverfoot, a 6-year-old gray gelding bred and owned by the Chrysalis Stables of Stephanie Clark, angled off the rail approaching the sixteenth pole and was up just in time.

Silverfoot, trained by Dallas Stewart, returned $4 as the favorite in a field of six older horses. He was timed in 2:16.90.

Ramazutti, who two starts back also led nearly every step of the Grade 3 Pan American Handicap before incurring a tough beat, finished a neck behind Silverfoot and three-quarters of a length in front of Quest Star. Then came Watershed Event, Pellegrino, and Nolan's Cat.

Winning a stakes race three years in a row at Churchill is a rare feat, but this was the second time within the last decade it has been done in the Louisville Handicap. Another popular gray veteran, Chorwon, won three straight runnings from 1997-99.

The victory continued a memorable meet for Stewart and Guidry, who teamed up earlier in the month to upset the 131st Kentucky Oaks with Lemons Forever.- Marty McGee