No clear-cut pacesetter in this Kentucky Derby
There has been much wringing of hooves and gnashing of bridles this week at Churchill Downs about the state of pace in the Kentucky Derby.
Marcus HershMay 02, 2017
There has been much wringing of hooves and gnashing of bridles this week at Churchill Downs about the state of pace in the Kentucky Derby.
All the works are in the books, but there is still plenty of work left to do as horsemen put the key, final touches preparing their horses for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
Considering that a race is often won by the swift, here is a look at the Kentucky Derby contenders in an attempt to isolate the fastest horses, as well as those that exhibit favorable figure patterns leading into the race.
Louisiana Derby winner Girvin, troubled by a quarter crack in his right front hoof during the early part of last week, galloped Tuesday at Keeneland and remains on track to start in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
Irish War Cry, a multiple Grade 2 winner and Kentucky Derby hopeful, will stand at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Lexington, Ky., upon his retirement from racing.
When Victor Espinoza rides Gormley in the post parade of Saturday's Kentucky Derby, he will sneak a glance at the jammed grandstand at Churchill Downs.“The thing you see are the colors,” Espinoza recalled last weekend. “It never gets old. This is what we work for.”
Recently retired Tepin made her mark beating males in major turf races, and the Mark Casse-trained turf filly Catch a Glimpse has done the same. Now it's La Coronel's turn.
It's a very lucky racetracker who can hold dear the memory of winning a Kentucky Derby. Then there is Yvonne Azeff, who is lucky to have any memory at all. As chief assistant to trainer John Ward, Azeff was deeply involved in the development of 2001 Derby winner Monarchos.
The partnership formed to buy Grade 2 winner and Kentucky Derby hopeful Tapwrit for $1.2 million was at the same time relatively spur-of-the-moment and years in the making.
Hence won the Grade 3 Sunland Derby in his last start and has started to feel like a live horse in the Kentucky Derby here on Saturday, but if, for some reason, things don't work out on the racetrack, Hence can always turn to a career as a cutting horse.