Kentucky Derby: Churchill Downs gate crew checks out new 20-stall starting gate

The new 20-horse starting gate that Churchill Downs acquired to accommodate what is typically a large field for the Kentucky Derby is in use during morning training for this year’s contenders and will get a test run in a race this week.

The starting gate has been parked in the seven-furlong chute during morning training. Derby candidates Winning Impression, trained by Dallas Stewart, and Enforceable, trained by Mark Casse, both visited the gate to stand and back out during the training window reserved for classic hopefuls Sunday morning. Enforceable schooled in the gate again Monday morning, along with Major Fed, trained by Greg Foley, and Necker Island, trained by Chris Hartman. The Derby had 18 horses under consideration as of Monday.

“The horses are comfortable, the guys seem all right in it,” head starter Scott Jordan said of his crew. “It’s maybe a little more space in there for the horses. The partitions between the horses are narrower, so the horses are maybe a little closer standing together. But they’ve got an ample amount of room in there, and the guys leading the horses in this morning were comfortable with it.”

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The new starting gate, a custom design for Churchill from Australian company Steriline Racing, was conceived partially to eliminate the wide gap between post position No. 14 in the standard gate and No. 15 in the auxiliary gate used to accommodate the Derby field, which can have a maximum of 20 starters. Horses in and around those post positions can be disadvantaged by contact at the break as a result of horses’ tendency to move toward open space. Jordan said the new design also will allow the horses drawn in the inside and outside posts some more room to maneuver.

“I can get them off the rail a little bit,” Jordan said. “They’ll be coming out of like the three path. The 20 moves in that much farther, too. For those two horses, it’s a real advantage. We’re going to gain about 10 to 15 feet on each end.”

Jordan said that assembly of the gate was completed several weeks ago, giving he and his crew time to become familiar with it both on their own and in morning training. He recently set the gate at the Derby starting point in order to check his visibility from the starter’s stand, even putting a member of his crew in the No. 20 post to make sure he could see well. His crew also pulled the gate on and off the track to test its maneuverability.

Along with its use in the mornings, the new gate will get a live test run on Tuesday, opening day of Derby week. The second race of the day is a maiden special weight for 3-year-olds going 1 1/4 miles on dirt, the same route as the Derby. It has drawn seven entrants.

“It’s important to us just for our confidence, and for the guys to be comfortable working out of it,” Jordan said of Tuesday’s race. “It’s new. In the horse world, anything new, they don’t like change. So if we can get it where everyone’s comfortable, we’re good.

“[The crew is] all horsemen, and they all know what they’re doing. It’s just getting comfortable. It’s not anything unique or anything different – it’s the same working parts and everything else.”

A handful of jockeys named to ride in this year’s Derby also will get a test ride Tuesday. Julien Leparoux, named on Storm the Court, Ricardo Santana, Jr., named on Max Player, and Miguel Mena, who will ride Necker Island, all have mounts in the maiden race.