As many of three horses will run next Saturday in the Kentucky Derby in the name of Calumet Farm, which has won a record eight editions of the Kentucky Derby. But while a winner would add to that history, he would be the first of the group to carry the colors of current Calumet owner Brad Kelley, a deeply private man who assumed control of the historic property five years ago.
For a Kentucky Derby starter, Irap has had a fluctuating status in the last five months.
Bodemeister and Union Rags were major factors on the 2012 Triple Crown trail, and five years later, both are expected to have starters from their first crops in the Kentucky Derby.
All eyes Thursday were focused on Florida Derby winner Always Dreaming following a quite unsettled first appearance here Wednesday morning. And while Always Dreaming was a little less rambunctious on his second day in Louisville, he still proved a handful at times for his exercise rider to handle.
Louisiana Derby winner Girvin is recovering from a quarter crack in his right front hoof and swam and was treated in a hyperbaric chamber at Kesmarc Rehabilitation facility in Lexington, Ky., on Thursday, rather than train at Keeneland, trainer Joe Sharp said.
It took John Oxley more than a decade after Monarchos won the Kentucky Derby to make it back to the Derby, and when he did, his operation had drastically changed. Oxley has revitalized his racing string in recent years, thanks to his partnership with trainer Mark Casse. The duo will participate in the Derby for the third time in its last seven renewals with champion Classic Empire, a horse unlike any they've had together before.
Luis Saez will replace the injured Robby Albarado aboard J Boys Echo in the Kentucky Derby. Albarado underwent surgery Monday to repair a broken leg he suffered in a Sunday spill at Keeneland.
For what figured to be a relatively quiet and uneventful morning, with nary a single Kentucky Derby workout on the schedule, Wednesday's Oaks-Derby training session produced more than its share of newsworthy developments.
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So just what is up with Girvin? Video of the horse taken earlier this week at Keeneland clearly shows Girvin with Z-bar shoes on both front hooves. Z-bar shoes are used on horses for any number of hoof issues, ranging from a problem with the sole, the frog, to an abscess, to a quarter crack.
