The calm before the storm at Churchill Downs is an 11-race Friday card which sets the table for the closing two days of the meet, with 11 stakes between the Saturday and Sunday cards. There will be no storm on Friday – and no mercy from the heat wave that has blanketed Kentucky, with first post of 12:45 p.m. and highs in the 90s.
The richest purse on the card belongs to the 10th race, a $141,000 third-level allowance. Several in here drop down from stakes company, but are by no means locks. Chief among those is Almostgone Rocket, who posted a 99 Beyer Speed Figure, a standout in this field, winning the Jersey Girl in June 2024. She returned from a long layoff to finish second in the Matron at Oaklawn, then was fifth in the Grade 3 Vagrancy at Aqueduct. The question is if a return to softer company will help her round back into form, or if she is not the same filly following the layoff.
Harbor Springs was a solid third in the Roxelana after being bumped at the start, and Miss Arlington and Pistol also exit stakes company.
All of that provides a solid litmus test for Marmalade Skye, who is coming off back-to-back wins at Churchill with career-best Beyers of 84 in both those outings, steadily climbing in class. That 84 is the top last-out figure in this field – matched only by Everyoneloveslinda, who also has questions about her as, while consistent, she has not won in more than a year.
Asternia, who bested Marmalade Skye in allowance company at Oaklawn, is coming off a troubled trip last out that can be discounted.
The ninth race is a $134,000 allowance/optional-claiming turf sprint. Graded stakes-winning millionaire One Timer was entered for a tag to meet the conditions, and would have loomed large here. However, trainer Larry Rivelli said Wednesday that the gelding would instead run Sunday at Canterbury Park, where he was cross-entered in an allowance.
Go Captain will look to wrap up a strong meet for Lonnie Briley, who brought a small string to Louisville along with his Kentucky Derby entrant Coal Battle. Go Captain is coming off a win at this distance on the course on May 16.
Jockey Corey Lanerie has the mount on Go Captain, as well as Marmalade Skye one race later, giving him a strong hand as he pursues a move up in the Churchill record books. Entering the start of the race week on Wednesday, Lanerie was two wins away from matching Calvin Borel’s 1,232 Churchill Downs victories, second all-time at the track. Borel, currently riding in Louisiana, is second only to retired Hall of Famer Pat Day, with 2,482 Churchill wins. Lanerie had three mounts Wednesday and three Thursday before a busy day with eight mounts Friday. He closes out the meet with three mounts Saturday.
The other allowance on Friday’s card is a $127,000 tilt for fillies and mares. All three allowance races are part of Friday’s jackpot pick six sequence. Entering Wednesday’s start of the race week, there was a $950,655 carryover. If that carryover survives into Friday, the heat will be building, with a mandatory payout looming for closing week.
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