Cox hopes Cyberknife can take another leap forward in Kentucky Derby

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Cyberknife for the first time in his career has won back-to-back races, owing to his Arkansas Derby victory on Saturday, in which he earned a career-best Beyer Speed Figure of 92, and his trainer, Brad Cox, is hoping he’s got another forward move in him five weeks hence in the Kentucky Derby.

“I’m hopeful,” Cox said at his Oaklawn Park barn on Sunday morning. “He still showed a touch of being green through the lane. But he ran into a swift pace, finished up well, showed heart, ability, and determination. Now he’s a Grade 1 winner. It takes a little pressure off. But now we’ve got five weeks of pressure.”

A mere 12 hours after the race, Cyberknife “looks good, scoped good,” Cox said. He said Cyberknife would head to Churchill Downs on Tuesday to prepare for the Kentucky Derby. Cox currently has two candidates for the race with Zozos, the Louisiana Derby runner-up. Cox is the defending Derby-winning trainer, with his Mandaloun having been elevated to first place with the disqualification of Medina Spirit.

Barber Road, who was a fast-closing second in the Arkansas Derby, will proceed to the Kentucky Derby, trainer John Ortiz said Sunday. The horse had a demanding trip in Saturday’s race, as he was bumped and also sprung a front shoe.

“He got bumped around pretty hard yesterday,” Ortiz said. “He sprung a shoe, his right front, the last final stretch [of the race]. Even with the sprung shoe he was trying to pick them all off.

“We fixed the shoe. He jogged sound and the foot is cold. We’re on the right path.”

And it’s the path to Louisville.

“We have no other choice but to go to the Kentucky Derby,” Ortiz said with a big grin. “He was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning.”

Barber Road was third in the Grade 2 Rebel on Feb. 26 and also ran second in Oaklawn's Grade 3 Southwest and the Smarty Jones, all points races for the Kentucky Derby. He will have a light week at Oaklawn, Ortiz said.

He said Reylu Gutierrez has the mount in the Kentucky Derby.

Secret Oath, the filly who was favored in the Arkansas Derby when taking on males for the first time, was “tired, but she earned that part,” her trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, said Sunday morning as he took his first set to the track to train.

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“As tired as she is, it’s good that we’ve got five weeks to her next race,” which, Lukas said, would definitely be the Kentucky Oaks and back with fillies.

Lukas had said before the Arkansas Derby that the Oaks was the likely spot regardless of Saturday's outcome. Running against males on Saturday was owing to a combination of factors, including the Arkansas Derby being worth more than two times the prize money of the Fantasy for fillies, being a Grade 1 versus a Grade 3, and there being five weeks until the next race, recovery time Lukas desired if, as it turned out, the race was taxing. Secret Oath now is Grade 1-placed, important regarding her residual value.

Doppelganger, who was fourth after getting shuffled back in traffic, “came out of his race in good shape,” said trainer Tim Yakteen, who said Doppelganger would return to California on Tuesday.

We the People, who finished seventh in the nine-horse field, “scoped clean, looked good this morning,” said trainer Rodolphe Brisset, who said the wide draw resulted in a “very tough trip.”

“No fault of Flavien,” he said, referring to jockey Flavien Prat. “It’s just the way it came up.”

Brisset said We the People’s inexperience – this was only his third start – betrayed him when in traffic.

“On the backside, he got a little lost. He was off and on the bridle,” Brisset said. “There was never a quarter-mile where he could find his stride. He just needs seasoning.”

Un Ojo, who finished eighth, had the biggest excuse. He needed two staples in his left shoulder post-race to close a nasty gash, according to assistant trainer Clay Courville. Un Ojo was injured when twice being knocked into the rail between the five-sixteenths pole and the quarter pole, an incident that can clearly be seen on the head-on views of the race.

“He’s happy, but he’s got some battle scars,” said Courville, son of trainer Ricky Courville. “His shoulder was cut open. We needed to hold the flap down to staple it. He was making a good run when it happened. He might have been right there. He went from fourth to last.”

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Indeed, Un Ojo was alongside Barber Road – the subsequent second-place finisher – at the time of the incident.

Un Ojo does have 50 points earned from his upset victory in the Rebel, so he’s got a berth in the Derby if his connections desire. And Courville is certainly hoping that’s the case.

“He seems fine now. We’ll just have to see how his shoulder is,” Courville said.

Un Ojo was scheduled to be vanned on Sunday to Copper Crowne Training Center in Opelousas, La., where the Courvilles are based.

- additional reporting by Mary Rampellini