Arkansas Derby win extra special for Asmussen family
The Arkansas Derby was the biggest win the Asmussens have celebrated with their own horse – after a lifetime of working in the industry.
Mary RampelliniApr 11, 2021
The Arkansas Derby was the biggest win the Asmussens have celebrated with their own horse – after a lifetime of working in the industry.
King Fury ran back to the form that made him a stakes winner last fall when he splashed to an 18-1 upset Saturday at rainy Keeneland in the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes, a race that seems unlikely to produce a starter for the Kentucky Derby.
Like the King, who punched his ticket to the Kentucky Derby by winning the Grade 3 Jeff Ruby on Turfway's Tapeta, began his serious preparations for the Derby with an in-company work on the turf Saturday morning at trainer Wesley Ward's Keeneland base.
Hot Rod Charlie, the Louisiana Derby winner, worked five furlongs in 1:01.20 on Saturday morning at Santa Anita as he moves on toward the Kentucky Derby on May 1, but it was the person on his back, as much as the quality of the work, that was noteworthy.
Rock Your World galloped 1 1/2 miles on Friday at Santa Anita, six days after his win in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in his main-track debut. Unbeaten in three starts, Rock Your World is scheduled to have workouts on April 17 and April 24 at Santa Anita in advance of the Kentucky Derby on May 1 at Churchill Downs.
The initial thought when Known Agenda stepped out on the racetrack Friday morning at Palm Beach Downs to work for the first time since his victory in the Grade 1 Florida Derby was the fact he was not equipped with the blinkers that have seemed to take him to the next level in his last two starts. The second impression, after watching Known Agenda breeze a very easy half-mile in 50.37, is that he's probably not the type of horse who is going to wow anybody, blinkers or not, in the morning.
The Kentucky Derby favorite could be decided at Oaklawn Park on Saturday when Concert Tour attempts to remain unbeaten in four starts in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby. Juvenile champion Essential Quality, undefeated in five starts, is the early favorite for the May 1 classic at Churchill Downs.
Next stop, Louisville. The road to the Kentucky Derby makes its way through a couple of final checkpoints Saturday, with the closest to Churchill Downs being the one just up Interstate 64 at Keeneland in the rival town of Lexington.
Bourbonic and Dynamic One, the one-two finishers in last Saturday's Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial, will ship to Churchill Downs Sunday to prepare for the May 1 Kentucky Derby, Todd Pletcher, who trains both 3-year-olds, said Wednesday.
The potholes that can be found on the road to the Kentucky Derby knocked out one of the top contenders Wednesday, when Greatest Honour was ruled out of the race.