A half-hour window at Churchill Downs June 27 showed why Oaklawn stakes winners Midnight Bisou and Tom’s d’Etat rank 1-2, respectively, in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association Top Thoroughbred Poll.First, heavily favored Midnight

Bisou crushed six rivals in the $200,000 Fleur de Lis (G2) for older fillies and mares. Then, favored Tom’s d’Etat narrowly missed a track record in the $500,000 Stephen Foster (G2) for older horses, while finishing 4 ¾ lengths in front of Oaklawn Handicap winner By My Standards. Making her first start since finishing

second against males in the $20 million Saudi Cup – the world’s richest race – Feb. 29 in Saudi Arabia, Midnight Bisou captured the Fleur de Lis by 8 ¼ lengths under Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith. She covered 1 1/8 miles over a fast track in 1:48.99 for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, who has topped the Oaklawn standings 10 times since 2007. Motion Emotion, among Oaklawn’s

top 3-year-old fillies of 2019, finished second in the Fleur de Lis.

Midnight Bisou, who races for Bloom Racing, Madaket Stables and Allen Racing, was the country’s champion older dirt female of 2019 after winning 7 of 8 starts, including Oaklawn’s $350,000 Azeri Stakes (G2) and $750,000 Apple Blossom Handicap (G1). She has won 13 of 21 starts overall and bankrolled $7,371,520. The victory earned the 5-year-old daughter of

sprint champion Midnight Lute an automatic berth into the $2 million

Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) Nov. 7 at Keeneland.G M B Racing's Tom’s d’Etat earned

an automatic berth into the $7 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) Nov. 7 at Keeneland with a scintillating performance in the Stephen Foster, which marked his first start since winning the $150,000 Oaklawn Mile April 11 in his 2020 debut. Tom’s d’Etat won the Stephen Foster

by 4 ¾ lengths under Miguel Mena, covering 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.30 for trainer Al Stall. Multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Victory Gallop set the track record (1:47.28) winning the 1999 Stephen Foster en route to an Eclipse Award as the county’s champion older male. Also on June 27, Oaklawn-raced

Dean Martini was a three-quarter length winner of the $500,000 Ohio Derby (G3) for 3-year-olds at Thistledown. The colt was making his second start

for trainer Tom Amoss after being claimed for $50,000 out of a May 17 maiden victory at Churchill Downs. Amoss was among Oaklawn’s top-ten trainer this year with 14 victories. He ran in two maiden special weights events at Oaklawn, finishing second Feb. 29 and third April 11. Storm the Court finished third in

the Ohio Derby. The Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old male was making his first start since finishing sixth in the second division of the $500,000 Arkansas Derby (G1) May 2.

Despite the barn area remaining open several weeks later this year to accommodate horsemen who had their schedules disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the track and barn maintenance crews are hard at work getting things ready for 2021 and everything is on target to be completed by the time horses start returning in late November. By the last week of June, the

track maintenance crew had removed most of the surface of the track and was preparing for the process of testing the material, screening it and returning it to the track along with new material. This is the same procedure that Oaklawn

has followed the last few years, working with renowned track expert Mick Peterson and engineer Matt Breckenridge with Crafton Tull Civil Engineering. The barn maintenance crew is

in the process of cleaning out all 1,550+ stalls and making all necessary repairs to the stalls and barns. By the time the horses begin arriving in November, the crew will have touched each stall at least three times between cleaning the stalls out, making any repairs, and leveling the stall floors.

OAKLAWN WINNERS LEAD THE NATION; EARN BERTHS TO BREEDERS’ CUP

TRACK AND BARN MAINTENANCE IN FULL SWING

Racing ForwardRacing Forward JULY2020

Oaklawn Mile winner Tom's d'Etat (left) and multiple Oaklawn stakes winner Midnight Bisou (right) earned berths to the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) and Distaff (G1), respectively, with stakes wins at Churchill Downs June 27.

By the end of June, most of the track surface had been removed and will undergo a stringent process before being replaced later this summer.

Congratulations to Hall of Fame Trainers Steve Asmussen and Bill Mott for reaching significant career milestones during the month of June. Asmussen became the

winningest trainer in Churchill Downs history when the Oaklawn-raced Drop Dead Gorgeous gave him his 738th career victory under the famed Twin Spires June 12. Mott became the seventh trainer

in North American history to reach 5,000 career victories when Moon

Over Miami captured the third race at Churchill Downs June 20, according to Equibase, racing’s official data gathering organization.Mott, 66, became the third

Oaklawn training champion to reach 5,000 career victories, following fellow Hall of Famers Jack Van Berg and Asmussen. Mott had a strong presence at Oaklawn during the early and mid-1980s, topping the standings in 1986 with 35 victories.

Construction on Oaklawn’s new luxury hotel and multi-purpose event center continues and remains on target for completion prior to the 2021 live season. Oaklawn expects to have at least a couple of the new dining options open by late fall and the hotel open by the

Christmas holidays. The Spa and Event Center will be finished in late January 2021. The new dining options

include a coffee shop, New York-style deli, 50s-themed diner, and upscale restaurant overlooking the racetrack.

EXPANSION WORK CONTINUES

HALL OF FAME TRAINERS REACH CAREER MILESTONES

Hall of Fame trainers Steve Asmussen (left) and Bill Mott (right) both reached career milestones in June.

While Tiz the Law stole the show in the Belmont Stakes, Oaklawn-raced horses dominated the undercard, winning the $250,000 Woody Stephens Stakes (G1) for 3-year-old sprinters and the $300,000 Acorn Stakes (G1) for 3-year-old fillies June 20 at Belmont Park.Maggie Moss and Greg

Tramontin's No Parole remained unbeaten sprinting with a front-running 3 ¾-length victory in the 7-furlong Woody Stephens under Luis Saez. Trained by Amoss, No Parole was exiting a front-running 2 ¾-length allowance victory sprinting April 24 at Oaklawn. No Parole, a Louisiana-bred son of Violence, is 5 of 6 overall, with his only setback an eighth-place finish in the $1 million Rebel Stakes (G2) at 1 1/16 miles March 14 at Oaklawn.

Runner-up in the Woody Stephens was Echo Town, an entry-level allowance winner March 13 at

Oaklawn before finishing second to Long Weekend, a stablemate of No Parole, in the $100,000 Bachelor Stakes April 25 at Oaklawn. Woody Stephens third was Shoplifted, who

cut back to a sprint after finishing fifth in the $200,000 Oaklawn Stakes at 1 1/8 miles April 11.

Several races later, unbeaten Gamine, who won her two-turn debut by a neck May 2 at Oaklawn, had a much easier time in her second route race.

Recording the largest victory margin in race history, heavily favored Gamine, in her stakes debut, captured the Acorn (G1) by 18 ¾ lengths. Gamine, under Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez, ran the one-turn mile over a fast track in 1:32.55, just off Najran’s track record, 1:32.24, set in 2003.Gamine was making her first start

since an entry-level allowance race at 1 1/16 miles on the final day of the Oaklawn meeting for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert and owner Michael Lund Petersen, who purchased the daughter of Into Mischief for $1.8 million at Fasig-Tipton’s 2019 Midlantic 2-year-old in training sale. Gamine’s time of 1:41.91 marked the fastest 1 1/16-mile race of the 2020 Oaklawn meeting.

OAKLAWN WINNERS DOMINATE ON BELMONT STAKES CARD

Oaklawn allowance winners No Parole (left) and Gamine (right) both dominated stakes on the Belmont Stakes undercard June 20.

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