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Six Speed, Wonder Dean, and Danon Bourbon secured their respective spots in this year's Kentucky Derby by earning points on the Japan and European/Middle East roads to the race. All three were in the spotlight Monday at Churchill Downs during the special training session reserved for Derby and Oaks horses at 7:15 a.m. after the renovation break.
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The success of Japan-based horses in America and internationally has fueled thoughts that a Kentucky Derby may soon be within reach for a horse from the Land of the Rising Sun. For the fourth straight year, two horses from Japan are entered in the Kentucky Derby, earning their way in from results in Derby qualifying races run in Japan and Dubai.
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Great White is running on Saturday at Churchill Downs. Trainer John Ennis just doesn't know yet in what race, or crucially, at what distance.
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Jockey Cristian Torres won arguably the two most important races of his career the afternoon of Feb. 6 at Oaklawn Park. He captured the Grade 3, $1 million Southwest Stakes aboard Silent Tactic for John Oxley, and the $300,000 Martha Washington with Search Party for Tracy Farmer. Fast forward to this weekend, and the 3-year-olds trained by Hall of Fame horseman Mark Casse will be Torres's first mounts in the respective Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks.
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Spendthrift Farm's orange and purple silks will be carried by just one horse in the Kentucky Derby. But, in addition to focusing on dominant Blue Grass winner Further Ado, the farm's principals could be forgiven if their eyes stray elsewhere in the big field on Saturday.
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Four Kentucky Derby entrants are from the first crops of their respective sires, which could give a big leg up to young stallions still building their résumés.
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This is the first Kentucky Derby week in the memory of most at Churchill Downs in which the legendary D. Wayne Lukas is not on his stable pony pre-dawn, with an eagle eye on his own horses and the competition.
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Bob Baffert is no longer coming to Kentucky Derby 152 under the radar. Potente, a 20-1 shot on the morning line, may have raised his profile while lowering his odds with a scorching five-furlong workout in 57.77 seconds Sunday morning over the Churchill Downs main track. It’s not so much that he worked fast – the main track produced many fast times Sunday morning – as it is how he did it and how he seemingly came out of it.
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Sunday proved the busiest morning yet on the Churchill Downs Kentucky Derby workout watch, with seven potential starters getting in their final major preps for the race.
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Renegade was among the last of the Kentucky Derby starters to arrive on the grounds when his van from Florida came through the Churchill Downs gates around 2:45 a.m. Saturday.
