Trainer Bob Baffert said early Saturday he “definitely” will run Bayern, who figures as a heavy favorite, in tonight's Grade 3, $150,000 Derby Trial, which goes as the eighth of 10 races on a Downs After Dark card that starts at 6 p.m. Eastern.
With the prospects of Bayern making the Kentucky Derby next Saturday growing increasingly doubtful, trainer Bob Baffert on Saturday morning said Bayern would run tonight at Churchill Downs in the Derby Trial.
Wicked Strong won’t be the favorite for the 140th Derby to be run on May 3, but he could battle Hoppertunity for second choice behind California Chrome.
The prospect of heavy rain falling around the local area late Thursday night and into the morning fell well short of some dire early predictions, giving horsemen a “good” racetrack, though tighter than it has been, to train over Friday.
The Belt Parkway was the conduit for the major activity Friday in preparation for the 140th Kentucky Derby. One had to navigate the eight-mile stretch of highway – during rush hour no less – a mile or so from Belmont Park to Aqueduct in order to see the three New York-based 3-year-olds put in their final serious workouts leading up to the Run for the Roses.
There will likely be more than 150,000 people in attendance at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby Day, but it shouldn’t be hard to spot Wildcat Red’s co-owner Salvador Delfino, even amongst a crowd of that magnitude.
Wicked Strong, Samraat, and Uncle Sigh – the first, second, and fifth finishers in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial – all put in their last major workouts Friday in New York for the $2 million Kentucky Derby on May 3 at Churchill Downs.
The donkeys. He would only ride the donkeys around his father’s goat farm because the horses were terrifying. But the donkeys, they were okay. Then one day, he remembers he was probably 7, he summoned enough courage to climb atop one of the farm ponies.
It has been eight months since Jose Espinoza was thrown from his mount, Heading to Toga, a few yards past the finish line on Alabama Day at Saratoga.
The fillies took center stage during the Oaks/Derby training session at Churchill Downs on Thursday, with the only four workouts during that period turned in by horses currently pointing to next Friday’s Kentucky Oaks.
