Trainer Gustavo Delgado confirmed on Sunday that Emisael Jaramillo will ride Majesto in the Kentucky Derby, Paola Queen in the Kentucky Oaks, as well as Grand Tito in the Woodford Reserve.
Exaggerator and Brody’s Cause beat the rain, albeit just barely, turning in their final Kentucky Derby works over a fast track just as a light shower began to fall during the special Derby/Oaks training session shortly after 8:30 a.m. on Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Going a little quicker than expected, Danzing Candy worked five furlongs in 59.80 seconds at the San Luis Rey Downs training Center in Bonsall, Calif., on Saturday, the colt’s final major exercise before the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7.
Exaggerator, the Santa Anita Derby winner, on Saturday at Churchill Downs turned in his final work for the Kentucky Derby seven days hence, one of five potential Derby runners who worked at two different locales.
Friday presented an unusual Kentucky Derby workout daily double for those ambitious enough to undertake the 72 mile trip from Churchill Downs, where the action began with Whitmore at 5:45 a.m., to Keeneland, where it ended with Derby favorite Nyquist breezing one mile prior to the afternoon's racing program nearly seven hours later.
Nyquist completed his serious training for the Kentucky Derby with a one-mile workout timed by Daily Racing Form in 1:41.01. His work was the last of 11 drills turned in by Derby prospects on Friday, with the other 10 earlier in the morning 72 miles west of here at Churchill Downs, the home of the Derby.
The inaugural Kentucky Derby sire future wager didn't generate a large pool, but offered plenty of value for savvy horseplayers who took pedigree into account.
While a strong performance in the Kentucky Derby can carry a horse all the way to a stall at a major stallion farm, several in this year's field enter the gates with their stud careers already secured.
The small-scale, but quality, operation Hinkle Farms will have a strong rooting interest in both the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, as its broodmare band of about 30 includes the dams of both Derby favorite Nyquist and Oaks contender Weep No More.
As the Kentucky Derby nears, handicappers pore over mounds of statistics, historical records, breeding theories, and other information to find the winner. Each tries to figure out the most important factor or factors: recent form, ability to get 10 furlongs, trainer, sire, dam, post position, or a combination of the above.
