Kentucky Derby Clocker: Putting the final touches on

CHURCHILL DOWNS
Wednesday, April 30
Weather: Cloudy
Track: Fast
Temperature: 62 degrees

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The heavy lifting is done. Now it’s time to just get all the Kentucky Derby and Oaks horses through the next several days healthy and happy. That about sums up training hours Wednesday at Churchill, a relatively uneventful morning for the stars of the weekend’s two main events, the majority of whom put in routine gallops with a couple also doing a little schooling in the paddock along the way.

It may sound like a familiar tune, but Derby favorites Journalism and Sovereignty continue to thrive coming out of their final breezes on Sunday, Journalism particularly impressive again Wednesday morning cruising over the fast track in eye-catching fashion. Hard not to envision both to be sitting on their best efforts yet on Saturday.

Grande and Sandman were sharp once again during the special Derby/Oaks training session Wednesday morning while galloping in close proximity to one another throughout. Stablemates Publisher and Tiztastic came through the finish line single file going through their paces, while there have been no days off for Baeza, who tossed in a quick visit to the paddock before galloping for a second straight morning coming out of his maintenance-like five-furlong work Monday. In contrast, Coal Battle was a little conspicuous by his absence after the renovation break, apparently getting a second straight walk day after his little three-furlong blowout on Monday.

Among the fillies, Tenma was an absolute bundle of energy after cooling her heels until the second renovation break to train. The Santa Anita Oaks winner zipped around at better than a two-minute lick from the time she broke off near midstretch, dragging her rider down the lane the second time around in 27 and change before finally coming to hand and pulling up near the five-furlong marker.

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Weather could be a factor here over the next several days, with rain in the forecast right up through Derby Day.

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