Kentucky Derby: Epicenter dodges rain in morning gallop
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Epicenter, no worse than second choice for the Kentucky Derby, galloped one mile just after the Churchill Downs track opened for training on a rainy Tuesday morning. The Louisiana Derby winner came out of a five-furlong workout Sunday in good shape and after tack-walking on Monday quickly returned to galloping, a good sign for his Derby chances.
Trainer Brad Cox’s three Derby horses – Cyberknife, Zozos, and Tawny Port – had their final Derby works Saturday. They walked Sunday and, unlike Epicenter, merely jogged on the main track Monday. On Tuesday, all three were back to standard gallops, each going an easy 1 3/8 miles, trainer Brad Cox said. Like Epicenter, Cox’s trio trained shortly after the track opened rather than awaiting the special Derby-Oaks training slot at 7:30 a.m., but Cox said the three likely would gallop during the later session Wednesday in order to visit the starting gate.
Meanwhile, the Japanese horse Crown Pride returned to his more standard morning activity Tuesday after a light Monday morning. Monday always was meant to be an easy day for Crown Pride and rather than just walking him in the quarantine barn, exercise rider Masa Matsuda brought Crown Pride down to chute at the head of the Churchill backstretch. There, Matsuda, as he does every morning, trotted Crown Pride in little circles, varying direction and the tightness of the colt’s turns, exercising and loosening different parts of Crown Pride’s body and working on his balance.
Matsuda twice went to the chute Tuesday, in between galloping Crown Pride at least 1 1/2 miles. Crown Pride didn’t pick up his pace from the quarter pole to the finish as much as he has on some mornings, but still went along at about a two-minute clip, according to Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch, and clearly was eager to do more. Wednesday, Crown Pride will get his chance, with a timed workout scheduled. It’s standard practice for Japanese horses to breeze so close to their race.