With reigning Eclipse Award-winning jockey Flavien Prat in from his new New York winter base, Godolphin's Turfway Park-loving Encino led all the way to win the $250,000 Prairie Bayou Stakes by 1 1/2 lengths over Horsepower. Encino now has three wins and two seconds in five starts over Turfway Park's synthetic surface, but he's also a winner on dirt and turf. We catch up with Prat and Michael Banahan, Godolphin's director of bloodstock, who said Encino could point to Turfway Park's G3 Kentucky Cup Classic, in which he finished second last year. Prat won four of the 10 races on the card, including the $250,000 My Charmer with Caitinhergrtness.

Cary Simon, whose mom Jo Leone has raised horses on her Summerhill Farm in Lexington for about six decades, was almost overcome with emotion after their homebred Mink's Palace ($26.28) came from last to blow past favored Pondering for a 2 1/4-length victory in Sunday's $250,000 Holiday Inaugural at Turfway Park. That's because Mink's Palace is Simon and Leone's only racehorse they currently have, as they mostly raise horses for other people and to sell. Mink's Palace reflects four generations of Summerhill, dating to when the late Ty Scheumann of Grousemont Farm sent Leone one of her first horses. That was Fortune Pending, who became the third dam of Mink's Palace. We speak with Simon and jockey Walter Rodriguez, who gained the mount on the Eddie Kenneally-trained Mink's Palace after Edgar Morales was involved in a spill two races earlier and sent to the hospital to be checked out. Mink's Palace won her first start in six races since taking Churchill Downs' Roxelana, though she had close seconds at Churchill and Ellis Park during that span. She's now 5-3-1 in 15 starts, earning $657,078 after winning her first start over a synthetic surface.

Caitlinhergrtness, who beat boys last year in Canada's King's Plate, came to Turfway Park and ran to her 1-2 odds, angling out from mid-pack under Flavien Prat to win the $250,000 My Charmer Stakes at Turfway Park by 1 1/2 lengths. Finishing second at 63-1 odds, the longest shot on the board, was Trial, who is co-owned by stakes presenting sponsor Claiborne Farm. We speak with Kevin Attard, Caitlinhergrtness' trainer, and Tommy Drury, trainer of Trial.

Hard-knocking 4-year-old Joe Shiesty, who sold for$16,000 as a short yearling and is named for Cincinnati Bengals' QB Joe Burrow's nickname, earned his third stakes victory, leading all the way to hold off G1 winner and odds-on favorite Howard Wolowitz by a head to take Turfway Park's $250,000 Holiday Cheer Stakes. The 6-furlong race, which Joe covered in 1:09.05 under Fernando De La Cruz, was rescheduled to Sunday, Dec. 21 from Saturday, Dec. 13 because of inclement winter weather. We speak with winning trainer and co-owner Eric Foster and Jose D'Angelo, trainer of Howard Wolowitz. Joe Shiesty now is 6-2-2 in 17 starts, earning $745,217 for Foster Family Stables, Lonnie Reynolds, Vicki Mills and Donald Coomes.

Laurel Park-based trainers Rick Sillaman and Rob Bailes are both at Churchill Downs for today's Claiming Crown, Sillaman in the $100K Iron Horse with 2024 runner-up Freedom Road and Bailes in his Claijming Crown debut with Next Girl in the Glass Slipper. The men have known each other for 50 years, both being sons of trainers. Their horses stabled together, the trainers are enjoying a few days in Louisville. Also in town are Rick's wife Lisa and son Ricky, co-owner Jim Rashid and wife Diane and co-owner Nick Peters and wife Dinyce.

David Bushey, managing partner of Bush Racing Stable, spent five years attending the Breeders' Cup at Gulfstream Park as a spectator. “The Claiming Crown is kind of a bucket-list thing for us," he said today at Churchill Downs, where he and his dad, Bryan, have their first Claiming Crown horse with $40,000 claim Point Dume in the $200,000 Jewel. “Getting here is important. Winning would be icing on the cake.”

The 4-year-old gelding Happy Strike, a $6,000 yearling, brings in a 7-for-14 record for $168,181 and a four-race win streak at Prairie Meadows into the $200,000 Claiming Crown Jewel at Churchill Downs. We catch up with owner-trainer Dewaine Loy, who is based on an Iowa-Arkansas circuit, and his wife Taylor -- and of course Happy Strike -- in the shedrow.

Trainer Rob Bailes, in from Laurel with Next Girl for Saturday's $100,000 Claiming Crown Glass Slipper, talks about the filly, being in his first Claiming Crown and growing up in Virginia on Meadow Farm during Secretariat's era. Gwen Davis/Davis Innovation photo of Rob Bailes with Next Girl at Churchill Downs.

Joe Sharp, who has seven horses entered in six Claiming Crown races Saturday at Churchill Downs, talks about the importance of celebrating "the bread and butter horses of Wednesday through Friday races... I saw some statistics about a lot of trainers from a lot of different venues, so it's exciting to get everyone here and show off our home track. Really full fields. That makes it more difficult, but rightly so. They're giving away a good bit of money. Some of these owners, this is a big time of year for them to come out and celebrate their claiming horses."