Steve Asmussen was a busy man Monday morning at Churchill Downs, with all his hard work rewarded by a trio of spot-on breezes from his three Kentucky Derby hopefuls, highlighted by a razor-sharp half-mile drill by Hence.
The average cost at public auction for a Kentucky Derby contender in this year’s field was $274,043. Of the 24 horses still publicly in Derby contention through Monday, 16 of them changed hands at public auction a combined 22 times. Six of the hopefuls are campaigned as homebreds, and one horse, Santa Anita Derby winner Gormley, was acquired through a private purchase.
Trainer Steve Asmussen, 51, has pretty much done it all – except for one little something. He'd absolutely love to win the Kentucky Derby.
John Shirreffs trains Gormley, the Santa Anita Derby winner, and also Royal Mo, who finished third in the Santa Anita Derby. Gormley is safely in the field for the 143rd Derby on Saturday, but the number of points earned by Royal Mo has him sitting 21st in a race that has a maximum of 20 runners.
He is the four-time reigning champion jockey, is closing in on 100 Grade 1 stakes victories and just two weeks ago was elected into Thoroughbred racing's Hall of Fame. When it comes to the sport's Triple Crown races, however, Javier Castellano has not been nearly as successful.
Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas announced Sunday that he is donating his vast collection of racing memorabilia to the Kentucky Derby Museum.
Whitmore would have seemed a prime candidate for the Grade 2 Churchill Downs on the Derby undercard after emerging as one of the top sprinters in North America over the winter at Oaklawn Park. But trainer Ron Moquett said Monday he was very unlikely to enter him in the seven-furlong race.
Salomon Del Valle is smack in the middle of the first leg of the 2017 Triple Crown as a principal in Peacock Stable, owner of Gunnevera, one of the top contenders in the 143rd Kentucky Derby.
With two defections one week before the Kentucky Derby changing the makeup of the field, Sonneteer will seek to become the first maiden to win the Run for the Roses since Brokers Tip in 1933.
In the land of the Derby, might the one-eyed horse be King on Saturday? That is what those associated with Patch are hoping, as Patch, who had his left eye removed before he ever raced, attempts to become the first horse with just one eye to win the Kentucky Derby.
