William Butler

LOUISVILLE, KY -- Often seen jumping up and winning a race on a big day a square price, trainer Mike Maker did just that, taking the GII Eight Belles S. with William Butler and WinStar Farm's My Mane Squeeze (Audible). Sent off at odds of 6-1, My Mane Squeeze broke well and was a two-wide fifth as longshot Asternia (Astern {Aus}) cut out an opening quarter in :22.46. Urged forward by Luis Saez, she responded quickly and in a flash was on even terms with the pacesetter leaving the quarter...

This year will go down as one of the strangest in living memory. If in January you'd announced to owners and trainers that there would be no racing for two and a half months, it would have been met with widespread incredulity. But that was the situation in which British racing found itself in mid-March and, though the timing was a little off, it wasn't too dissimilar to how things used to be for the predominantly Flat racing heartland of Newmarket before the advent of all-weather racing through the winter...