Baffert flies in to supervise Improbable's workout

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bob Baffert can slip in and out of town as unnoticed as anybody else with white hair and five Kentucky Derby wins to his credit. Baffert flew into Louisville late Sunday from California on something of a stealth mission, intent on overseeing a key pre-Derby workout Monday morning at Churchill Downs for Improbable without alerting track officials or drawing an inordinate amount of attention.

And yet, there was Baffert in his first appearance on campus before the 145th Derby, surrounded on the Churchill backside by a couple dozen media members some 30 minutes after Improbable went a smooth half-mile in 48 seconds over a fast track. Baffert was impressed by the breeze, perhaps even more than with how word had spread so quickly that he was on the grounds.

“I came into check on the horse before I head down to Ocala for a couple days at the sale,” said Baffert, whose next Derby victory will tie him with Ben Jones for the most in race history. “He went really nice. I’m really happy with the way he bounced over the track. Everybody’s happy with him.”

Improbable, second to Omaha Beach in the Arkansas Derby in his most recent start, worked without the blinkers he had worn in that April 13 race at Oaklawn Park. Turns out, that’ll be a one-and-done experiment, as the colt had not worn them in his four prior starts.

“He got a little anxious in there with them, so I don’t think he needs them,” Baffert said.

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Improbable had exercise rider Jose Contreras aboard for his breeze, which was a highlight of the training period (7:30-7:45 a.m. Eastern) reserved exclusively for Derby and Kentucky Oaks prospects. Irad Ortiz Jr. has the mount for the May 4 race.

Baffert said Improbable will have one more pre-race work here at Churchill. His other two Derby hopefuls, Roadster and Game Winner, are still at Baffert’s Santa Anita base. Baffert said he would decide Tuesday whether they would travel to Kentucky on Wednesday and have their final work at Churchill, or work Friday at Santa Anita and travel Saturday. There are charter flights from California both Wednesday and Saturday.

Other Derby works on a bright and busy Monday at Churchill were turned in by By My Standards, the Louisiana Derby winner who went a strong six furlongs in 1:12.80 for trainer Bret Calhoun; Tacitus, who went an easy half-mile in company in 50 seconds for Bill Mott; and Long Range Toddy, five furlongs in 1:02.60 for Steve Asmussen.

“That was about as good as you can get two weeks out from the race,” Calhoun said. “This horse is just hitting his best stride, and I think that’s what we’ll see from him going into the Derby.”

Tacitus was in his first work since winning the April 6 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. “He doesn’t work fast,” Mott said. “He does what his companion does. I thought his gallop-out was very good.”

Meanwhile, Omaha Beach was out for a long, uneventful gallop Monday, one day after being reshod and having a quarter-crack patch replaced. The colt was fitted with a patch for each of his last two races, both of which resulted in victory and catapulted him to possible favoritism for the 1 1/4-mile Derby.

“He had a good gallop with his new shoes and new laces,” trainer Richard Mandella said.

From Maryland, trainer Mike Trombetta laid out his plans for Win Win Win, the Blue Grass Stakes runner-up who breezed five furlongs Sunday in company in 1:01 over the Tapeta surface at his main base, the Fair Hill Training Center in northern Maryland. Win Win Win will be vanned overnight Wednesday into Thursday, with a final-pre race work at Churchill tentatively scheduled for Sunday with jockey Julian Pimentel aboard.

Live streaming of the Derby/Oaks training period is available every morning through May 2 on kentuckyderby.com and Churchill’s social-media platforms.

Entries for the Derby will be drawn Tuesday (April 30). The track’s spring meet starts Saturday night with a Downs After Dark program.

– additional reporting by Jay Privman