LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- It may not be a rivalry yet, but it sure will be an interesting match. Limehouse and Cuvee, unbeaten colts who have each won a stakes at the Churchill Downs spring meet, will clash Sunday in the third and decisive stakes of the meet for 2-year-olds, the $150,000 Bashford Manor Stakes.

Limehouse won the Three Chimneys Juvenile on the May 3 Kentucky Derby day undercard, and Cuvee won the Kentucky Breeders' Cup on May 26. Neither colt raced in the other's win, a fact that gives closing day of the 52-day spring meet a rather powerful first-time match-up.

Cuvee, with Lonnie Meche to ride, most likely will be the favorite in the Grade 3 Bashford Manor, a six-furlong race that represents the longest distance that any of the starters will have raced. But Limehouse, with Robby Albarado taking the call, also figures to take plenty of support.

Steve Asmussen and his Churchill-based assistant, Scott Blasi, have been enamored with Cuvee since well before the Carson City colt ran off to win by 6 1/4 lengths in his debut on May 2, Kentucky Oaks Day. In his only subsequent start, Cuvee, owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds, was even more impressive in taking the Kentucky BC by 8 1/4 lengths.

Limehouse, a Grand Slam colt owned by a Dogwood Stable syndicate, has been less flashy but equally effective, winning an April 16 maiden race at Keeneland before rallying to win the Three Chimneys by 1 1/4 lengths.

Limehouse was part of an entry in the Tremont Stakes at Belmont Park last weekend with Heckle, who won the race as the lone Dogwood starter following the scratch of Limehouse. Trainer Todd Pletcher is flying Limehouse to Churchill this week from his Belmont base.

Dogwood president Cot Campbell said he and the other syndicate members have been "anxious" to have Limehouse run back at Churchill. Campbell said Limehouse was entered in the Tremont as a precautionary measure in case Heckle had to be taken out but that "we have always wanted to run Limehouse back in Kentucky."

One other unbeaten also will run in the Bashford Manor: Next Bandit, a Texas shipper trained by Bret Calhoun. Next Bandit won the June 7 TTA Sales Futurity to run his record to 2 for 2.

Other probables include Bustin' Out, Exploit Lad, and First Money.

Royal Spy vs. Rock Slide
Royal Spy, winner of the Maker's Mark Mile at Keeneland in April, and Rock Slide, winner of the Sea o' Erin at Arlington in his last start, are the likely highweights for the $250,000 Firecracker Handicap here Saturday.

A field of 10 older horses is shaping up for the Firecracker, a one-mile turf race that carries a Grade 2 ranking. With weights, the probable starters include Royal Spy, 118; Rock Slide, 117; Pass Rush, 115; Political Attack, 115; Tap the Admiral, 115; Freefourinternet, 114; Package Store, 114; Classic Par, 112; Drewman, 112; and Entitlement, 111.