(Oct. 29, 2008) – Janis R. Whitham’s homebred 3-year-old filly Nursery Rhyme overcame trouble in traffic at the head of the stretch to rally for a head victory over Kiawah’s Magic in Wednesday’s $48,000 The Lord’s Kitchen allowance feature at Churchill Downs.
Trained by Ian Wilkes, Nursery Rhyme ran six furlongs over a “fast” main track in 1:11.97 with jockey Jaime Theriot in the saddle. It was her second victory in 10 starts and the $30,024 first-place check jumped her career earnings to $95,187.
Nursery Rhyme, a Kentucky-bred daughter of Tale of the Cat out of the Sunny’s Halo mare Our Suzette, raced just behind the leaders near the inside fence in the early stages of the sprint. On the final turn, she was full of run but trapped behind a wall of six horses. Theriot and the filly found clear room near the outside, finished with a good kick and grabbed the lead with about 50 yards to the wire.
Nursery Rhyme, the 9-5 favorite in a field of 10 fillies and mares, returned $5.60, $3.80 and $2.60. Kiawah’s Magic, a 13-1 longshot, paid $11 and $7. Pump Up finished third and paid $5.40.
For Theriot, it was his third victory on the afternoon. He also rode Calbo ($9) and Native Ruler ($5) to victories in the sixth and eighth races, respectively.
Live racing resumes Thursday at Churchill Downs with a 10-race program that begins at 12:40 p.m. ET. The featured ninth race is an allowance/optional claiming event at five furlongs on turf worth $56,000.
Thursday’s program also will showcase a $28,754 carryover in Race 3 in conjunction with the revamped Z-5 (Super Hi-5) that requires bettors to pick the top five finishers in a race in exact order. There were no winning tickets in Races 3 or 10 on Wednesday, which triggered the jackpot pool. There also will be a two-day Pick 6 carryover of $6,364.31 on Races 5-10.