Top riders prepare to decamp

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – They’ll scatter like dust in the wind when the Churchill Downs lights are dimmed following the 12th race Sunday. Horsemen and other racetrack affiliates with Florida, Louisiana, or Arkansas as their next stop will pack their bags in an end-ofNovember ritual long familiar in these parts.

Most of the top Churchill jockeys now make their permanent home in Louisville, so the end of the 21-day fall meet Sunday means most will be sleeping in a different bed for much of the next four months. Joe Rocco Jr. will be taking an outbound highway less traveled when spending the winter in New York.

“I’m going to Aqueduct,” said Rocco, who was born in Florida but grew up mostly in Maryland. “Except for summers in Saratoga, I haven’t ridden [on a regular basis] in New York since I was a bug boy [in 1999 and 2000]. I thought I’d change things up and give it a try.”

Rocco, who rode at Oaklawn Park the last three winters, will have Jason Beides as his agent. He isn’t the only Kentucky rider diverting from his usual winter schedule. Chris Landeros will ride at Gulfstream Park in Florida, where his father-inlaw, trainer Ian Wilkes, will be active, while Corey Lanerie is returning to his Louisiana roots after five winters at Gulfstream.

Lanerie, who turned 43 earlier this month, once again was the dominant rider here this fall. Into Friday’s action, his 30 winners were double that of his closest pursuer atop the jockey standings, Julien Leparoux (15), as he was well on his way to earning a Churchill riding title for the 15th time in the last 17 meets.

Lanerie has mounts in each of the two allowances that serve as nominal co-features late on the 12-race Sunday finale. He’ll climb aboard Conquest Windycity in race 10, a $65,000 second-level mile, after which he’ll ride Lovin Empire in race 11, a $62,000 first-level turf mile. Both races drew big fields.

First post Sunday is 1 p.m. Eastern, with the last few races to be run under the lights.

◗ Into Friday, field size at the fall meet was averaging 8.7 horses per race, and favorites were winning at a 25 percent clip (47 for 185).

C Z Rocket eyes Malibu

C Z Rocket could make his next start in the Grade 1 Malibu on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita after staying unbeaten in three career starts with a two-length victory in a one-mile, secondlevel allowance Thursday at Churchill.

Trainer Al Stall Jr. said “we’re considering” the sevenfurlong Malibu after C Z Rocket, racing closer to the early pace than in his two prior starts, outkicked J Boys Echo down the stretch to earn a 90 Beyer Speed Figure.

C Z Rocket now will join Stall’s main string at Fair Grounds, while J Boys Echo will head to Florida for Dale Romans. J Boys Echo was making his first start since finishing ninth in the June 10 Belmont Stakes.

“I thought he ran big,” Romans said. “I’m sure we’ll find a suitable spot for him at Gulfstream.”

Pat Byrne ends winless streak

At his career peak, Pat Byrne came within one vote of being named the Eclipse Awardwinning trainer of 1997. Twenty years later, with a stable just a fraction of the size it once was, Byrne won a race for the first time in more than a year when Run Tappy captured a Thursday maiden race on the Churchill turf.

“I’ve just been going at my own pace these last six or seven years, kicking along with the same people,” said Byrne, 61. “I’m fine. I’m pretty well set because of how I did years ago. Nobody needs to feel sorry for me.”

Before Run Tappy, Byrne had sent out 27 starters since his previous winner on Nov. 10, 2016. He is headed to Fair Grounds for the first time in nearly a quarter-century after wintering in Florida for many years.

Turfway opens Wednesday

Four months of winter racing over Polytrack starts Wednesday night at Turfway Park as the Florence, Ky., oval continues to lag well behind other Kentucky tracks in purse offerings.

Maiden-special races are worth $18,500, but only $10,000 for horses not registered for Kentucky-bred bonuses. Similarly, a first-level allowance is worth $20,400, but nearly half is made up of those bonus incentives. The majority of races in the condition book are conditioned-claiming and/or maiden races with purses ranging from $5,100 to $10,900.

Racing at the holiday meet, which runs through Dec. 31, will be conducted four nights a week (Wednesday to Saturday), with some exceptions. For the winter-spring meet that runs Jan. 1 to March 31, racing is reduced to three nights, with Wednesdays dropped. Entries for opening night will be drawn Sunday. Spiral Stakes Day is March 17.

Maker nears win milestone

Sunday might be the day that Mike Maker achieves a milestone the 48-year-old trainer said “has come up a lot faster than I had a right to imagine.”

After Shining Copper won the Grade 3 River City Handicap on Thursday at Churchill, Maker had won 1,997 races. Between Churchill and several other tracks, he had three entries on Friday, six on Saturday, and 10 on Sunday. Maker opened his own public stable in 2003 after a lengthy stint as a top assistant to D. Wayne Lukas.