Diverse Group to Contest Bashford Manor at Churchill Downs

Six runners will contest the Bashford Manor at six furlongs on the main track. The pre-race buzz has centered around the Steve Asmussen trained Cinco Charlie, a 9-5 morning line favorite who posted an impressive score May 9 at Churchill in beating a maiden special weight field by two and three quarter lengths. The son of Indian Charlie showed impressive acceleration in the stretch for jockey Shaun Bridgmohan which could suggest the ease with which he handles the extra ground in the Bashford Manor.

Governmentshutdown takes winning form on the road

The second choice in the race is Maryland invader Governmentshutdown (2-1 ML), who is not only the most experienced horse in the field, but also the lone stakes winner. Governmentshutdown was a facile winner of the Rollicking Stakes May 16 at Pimlico. The colt will be making his fourth lifetime start and his first away from Pimlico where he won back to back starts after placing third in his career debut for trainer John Robb.

Field represents wide range of different state-breds

Despite being a small field, the race features horses bred in New York (Skyway 3-1 ML), Ohio (Draw Nigh 15-1 ML), Texas (Silverhill 6-1 ML), and Florida (Lucky Player 6-1 ML), in addition to the Kentucky bred Governmentshutdown and Cinco Charlie. In addition to Cinco Charlie, Steve Asmussen also sends out Lucky Player who will be ridden by Julian Leparoux. Both Skyway and Silverhill won at first asking.