Kentucky Derby: Animal Kingdom goes it alone
A scheduled six-furlong workout for Kentucky Derby hopeful Animal Kingdom didn't exactly work out the way trainer Graham Motion planned at Keeneland on Saturday.
Marty McGeeApr 23, 2011
A scheduled six-furlong workout for Kentucky Derby hopeful Animal Kingdom didn't exactly work out the way trainer Graham Motion planned at Keeneland on Saturday.
After watching Pants On Fire scorch five furlongs in 58 and change eight days earlier, trainer Kelly Breen wanted a little something easier out of his Louisiana Derby winner Saturday morning at Palm Meadows. And that’s exactly what he got.
Florida Derby runner-up Shackleford led a small cast of prominent Kentucky Derby and Oaks hopefuls breezing at Churchill Downs Saturday, working five furlongs in 1:00.20 over a sloppy racetrack hammered by overnight and morning rain.
Shaun Bridghoman will ride Santiva in the May 7 Kentucky Derby, reuniting the team that won the Kentucky Jockey Club over the Churchill Downs track last fall, trainer Eddie Kenneally said Friday.
Even though he has won the Kentucky Derby three times in the last four years, jockey Calvin Borel, as of Friday, still did not have a confirmed mount for this year's race on May 7, according to his agent, Jerry Hissam.
Uncle Mo galloped 1 1/4 miles at Churchill Downs on Friday morning and will have a workout on Tuesday, trainer Todd Pletcher said Friday.
No decision has yet been made on whether J P's Gusto will run in the May 7 Kentucky Derby, Steve Bajer, who works as a bloodstock adviser to owner Dr. John Waken, said Friday.
Brilliant Speed and Twinspired, the top two finishers in last week’s Blue Grass Stakes, are two of the four newcomers to this week’s top 20 of Derby Watch. Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form’s national handicapper, has Brilliant Speed at 25-1 on his Kentucky Derby future line, with Twinspired at 40-1.
Eighty miles separate Keeneland and Churchill Downs – but for Silver Medallion, who runs Saturday in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes in an effort to make the field for the 137th Kentucky Derby, the more apt measurement is in dollars.
Unexpected successes such as Toby's Corner's upset victory in the Wood Memorial have taught breeders Dianne and Julian Cotter how quickly plans can change.