Due to rain, some trainers changed their plans Wednesday morning, with many opting to send their Kentucky Derby hopefuls to the track earlier than scheduled to beat the heavier rain.
A week out, the Kentucky Derby field is just about set. And I find myself not at all set. I need a horse.
The weather is beginning to warm up here, but action on the racetrack cooled down for Kentucky Derby prospects Tuesday at Churchill Downs following a flurry of activity the previous two mornings.
Churchill Downs racing officials are expecting perhaps eight or nine starters Saturday night, when the spring meet opens with the Grade 3, $175,000 Derby Trial.
While a full, 20-horse field looks likely for the 139th Kentucky Derby on May 4 at Churchill Downs, just who will obtain those coveted final spots remained in doubt Monday, and likely will remain so through this weekend. As of Monday, there were at least 25 horses still under consideration for the Derby, but at least two currently in the top 20 are uncertain to run, giving hope to those behind them and on the bubble.
Only one horse presently committed to the Kentucky Derby, Oxbow, turned in an official workout Monday during the 15-minute session reserved for Derby and Kentucky Oaks starters, with two other potential starters, both from the barn of trainer Bob Baffert, Power Broker and Code West, also breezing.
A busy morning got things rolling on the Kentucky Derby workout watch with five potential starters breezing at Churchill Downs on Sunday, including Verrazano and Normandy Invasion, the first two finishers from the Grade 1 Wood Memorial.
Trainer Todd Pletcher said Sunday morning at Churchill Downs that no decision will be made until as late as next weekend as to whether Winning Cause will run in the 139th Kentucky Derby.
Departing will not run in the Kentucky Derby, but his win Saturday at Hawthorne in the Illinois Derby suggested he is among the elite members of this year’s 3-year-old crop.
Kentucky Derby candidate Vyjack, the Grade 3 Gotham winner and third-place finisher in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial, worked a half-mile in 51.64 seconds Friday morning over the dirt surface at the Fair Hill training center.
