Hello All!

For all the rumors, all the hype, all the innuendo, all the inference that Churchill Downs hammers its track for big races and soups up the surface to have grand times explode onto the tote at their finish...for all that...it might be true!

I say that because the fall meeting just ended and when I went back to see what races I could look at to find my next group of superstars...or maybe I should say SOUPerstars, I was quite surprised at what I found:

Just one race.

One lousy race with splits worthy of Slew's note. That race was run on 11/22/2012 as race #4 on the main track at 1 mile as an AlwOC. There were 4 notable splits in that affair with the front running winner Infrattini (Include - Casa Frattini, by Mr. Greeley) finishing in a slightly geared down fashion in 1:33.31 after clocking 6F in 1:08.83 and running the 7th Furlong in a very nice 11.89 seconds. I certainly hope the owners, Z Thoroughbreds, stuck a winning ticket into the boot of Mr. Rosario because he paid $14.20 while the favorite Rule and 2nd favorite Hamazing Destiny took most of the money. They finished 4th and last respectively with both seeing nothing but the rump of the front running winner.

Two notes about this race. First, the next two horses, Majestic Harbor who made a late bid and Colizeo who wilted in the stretch won't likely see fractions like that again for a while. Second, Infrattini had come out of a race at Keeneland which he won (10/24/2012 Race # 4) and from that race the 3rd place finisher - Wyomia - came back to place in a 150K stake at Woodbine on 11/24. Note 2A: a front running victory without a creditable challenge. Note 2B: a front running victory without a creditable challenge BUT with Mr. Rosario aboard.

That is different than a front running victory without a creditable challenge.

The only other race that caught my eye was a MSW affair run at 1 mile on the turf on Friday, 11/02/2012. In rather stark contrast, the 6 furlong timing was 1:12.15 but the 7th furlong quickened nicely into an 11.48 split and the race finished in a very professional 1:35.60 with Bold Challenger (Exchange Rate - Best Mom, by Chester House) drawing clear in the stretch. He becomes the first next out winner out of his last, a Keeneland affair run on 10/10/2012 at 1 mile as race #6.

That's it! We're done.

I would keep an eye on these two as they move down the road. Probably not for a start or two, but at some point they will come up again. Especially if Infrattini catches a paceless field and retains the services of one J. Rosario, smart thoroughbred jockey.

Keeping an eye on horses as a meet closes is what we do. I just can't believe that out of the entire fall meet at Churchill Downs, there is only one horse per eye!

Not very souper if you ask me. But I guess if we want souper...we'll just have to wait until May!

That's how I see it. However you see it, good luck and good 'capping!

- Slew