Kentucky Derby: Maker has two strong contenders in Vicar's in Trouble, General a Rod

NEW ORLEANS – Vicar’s in Trouble, the winner of the Louisiana Derby here Saturday, came out of the race in good order and, by Sunday afternoon, was scheduled to be in Louisville, Ky., where he will be prepared for the Kentucky Derby along with his Mike Maker-trained stablemate, General a Rod, who was third Saturday in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park.

Maker was at his Fair Grounds barn to check on Vicar’s in Trouble very early in the morning Sunday. Vicar’s in Trouble left at 4:30 a.m. for a flight to Florida, where General a Rod was to join him en route to Louisville, where Maker trains at the Trackside training center, eight miles from Churchill Downs.

Maker said both horses came out of their races well, and “both will go straight to the Derby” on May 3 at Churchill Downs.

Vicar’s in Trouble earned 100 qualifying points for his Louisiana Derby victory based on the points system used by Churchill Downs to determine the field for the Kentucky Derby should more than 20 horses enter, and he now tops the points standings with 120. General a Rod ranks 14th with 40 points. That should be enough to get in, but 170-point races like the Santa Anita Derby, Wood Memorial, Blue Grass Stakes, and Arkansas Derby are still to be run.

Intense Holiday, who finished second in the Louisiana Derby, earned 40 points Saturday to bring his total to 93, 50 of which were earned when winning last month’s Risen Star Stakes. Like Vicar’s in Trouble, he has no worries regarding points.

“It was a credible effort. Hopefully, it moves him forward for Churchill,” Todd Pletcher, who trains Intense Holiday, said in Florida on Sunday.

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]

Pletcher said jockey Mike Smith believed his trip aboard Intense Holiday was compromised, owing to Vicar’s in Trouble getting loose on the lead through moderate fractions.

“He wanted to do something about it. Unfortunately, he couldn’t,” Pletcher said. “He checked on the first turn, checked on the far turn.” By that point, Vicar’s in Trouble, Pletcher said, “had too much left.”

There will be serious scoreboard watching among the third- and fourth-place finishers from the Louisiana Derby. Commanding Curve rallied for third after getting clobbered at the start by Rise Up. The 20 points he earned places him in a tie for 18th.

Albano, who finished fifth but was promoted to fourth via disqualification after being interfered with by In Trouble heading into the far turn, is 15th with 34 points.

The best results in upcoming weeks for horses like Commanding Curve and Albano would be for horses already ranked higher than them in the standings to glean the majority of points. Getting leapfrogged would make getting into the race more challenging.

– additional reporting by David Grening