LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The mood around the Brad Cox barn a week before Kentucky Derby 152 was much more upbeat than it was the week before Kentucky Derby 151. On Saturday, Cox put all three of his Kentucky Derby hopefuls – Commandment, Further Ado, and Fulleffort – through their final workouts at Churchill Downs and as well as they all went, the best part was they all seemed to come out of it sound and healthy. On this same day last year, Cox put Tappan Street, one of the expected favorites for the Kentucky Derby through his final workout. As he was watching other horses work on the frontside, Cox got a call from an assistant that Tappan Street was off. He was later diagnosed with a condylar fracture and missed virtually the rest of his 3-year-old year. Cox got things started early Saturday sending his pair of Grade 1 winners Further Ado and Commandment out for workouts just after the track opened at 5:15 a.m. The track was rated “good” after overnight rains. Further Ado, with John Velazquez up for the first time, worked five furlongs in 1:00.21, per Mike Welsch, breaking off at the 4 1/2-furlong pole and working a sixteenth past the wire while continuing out six furlongs in 1:13.16. :: Get DRF Kentucky Oaks & Derby Betting Strategies by Marcus Hersh and David Aragona. Full analysis and wager recommendations! It has been a good three weeks for Further Ado since his monster 11-length win in the Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes as Cox feels he’s moved forward from the race. “I thought the track was maybe a touch heavier earlier as opposed to [after the break], but I thought everything went really well,” Cox said. While Further Ado was galloping out after, the sirens came on indicating there was an incident on the track. A horse from another stable had unseated its exercise rider while galloping and the rider lay prone on the track while the horses was quickly apprehended. While EMTs were summoned to the rider, horses on the track waiting to train had to stay put. That included Commandment, this year’s Florida Derby, who was tucked away with his workmate Rock Music at the top of the stretch. After about a 15-minute delay – which included the presence of a tractor to harrow the area where the rider went down – Commandment and Rock Music got into their breeze. Commandment started just off Rock Music, quickly crept up alongside and the two finished together, completing five furlongs in 1:01.23. Commandment, under exercise rider Jonathan Santiago, galloped out all the way to the far turn. “He’s not flashy, that’s him,” Cox said. “You look at his workab and I think he may have broken 1:01 once here last year. We liked him, but he’s definitely been very good in the afternoons having won four straight.” Commandment comes in off stakes victories in the Mucho Macho Man, Grade 2 Fountain of Youth, and Grade 1 Florida Derby. About 90 minutes later, during the training time reserved for Oaks and Derby horses, Fulleffort, winner of the Jeff Ruby Steaks, worked five furlongs in 59.09 seconds, per Welsch, who clocked Fulleffort’s final three furlongs in 34.59 seconds with a six-furlong gallop-out time of 1:11.51. Fulleffort, a son of Liam’s Map, has never raced on dirt, but his last two workouts over Churchill’s main track have been solid. Last year, Cox finished fourth in the Derby with Final Gambit, who was making the similar synthetic-to-dirt move. “His work this morning was really good, we weren’t looking to go quite that quick, but he did it well in hand, galloped out huge,” Cox said. “His last two works have been big-time moves…. Last week, we were looking to do more, we got what we were looking for, this week we’re looking to go in a minute. He went 59 and did it the right way. I wouldn’t be shocked if he was a big player next weekend.” The only other confirmed Derby starter to work Saturday was Right to Party, the Wood Memorial runner-up trained by Kenny McPeek. He went five furlongs in 1:01.47 in company with Very Connected. Back at the barn, Right to Party had a cut on his right hind ankle, but McPeek didn’t seem overly concerned about it. On Friday, McPeek said that Right to Party popped a couple of teeth loose, which McPeek said caused him to hold his head oddly during his morning gallop. “So this morning we did a little tooth work on him and I think he went a lot better,” McPeek said. Derby horses scheduled to work Sunday included Albus and Incredibolt for Riley Mott; Chief Wallabee for Bill Mott, Potente (Bob Baffert), Intrepido (Jeff Mullins) and Pavlovian (Doug O’Neill). :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.