CHURCHILL DOWNS
Saturday, April 18
Weather: Cloudy
Temperature: 73 degrees
Track: Fast
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With a forecast that called for a 90 percent chance of showers from mid-morning on, beating the rain became a major objective for the connections of the four potential Kentucky Derby candidates scheduled to work Saturday at Churchill Downs. Fortunately, the local weathermen proved to be very good handicappers, as all four got in those breezes with plenty of room to spare.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Multiple graded stakes winner Bella Ballerina turned in a serious piece of work toward the May 1 Kentucky Oaks on Saturday at Keeneland, sitting behind two stablemates and then passing them on the inside while breezing five furlongs in 1:00.20.
Bella Ballerina and jockey Tyler Gaffalione started off behind stablemates Diamond Eyed Jack and Get Them Roses on the backstretch, and there was still daylight between the Oaks filly and the top pair heading into the far turn. Bella Ballerina made up ground on the turn, then cut the corner inside of her stablemates.
So Happy has trained forwardly since winning the Santa Anita Derby on April 4, and on Friday morning the Mark Glatt-trained colt posted his first work since the Santa Anita Derby stamped him as a contender for the Kentucky Derby.
Jockey Mike Smith was aboard So Happy for the five-furlong drill in 59.60. He worked in company with a Glatt-trained stablemate.
Glatt said So Happy “broke maybe a half-length off, and then just kind of got to the [workmate] when he wanted to, and got by him slightly.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It was a busy morning, starting before dawn, for trainer Brad Cox’s team at Churchill Downs, with three Kentucky Derby candidates, all of whom won major races in the final stage of the prep season, and a potential Kentucky Oaks entrant all breezing beneath the twin spires.
The Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks, and a myriad of undercard stakes featuring top-level runners at Churchill Downs will dominate much of the attention in the coming weeks. But down the highway in Lexington, more Thoroughbreds also will be contesting the pinnacle of the sport in which they’ve found a home.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – It’s not how fast they work. It’s how they work fast.
Percy’s Bar, moving deceptively easily with jockey Luan Machado sitting chilly in the irons, turned in a solo work toward the Kentucky Oaks on Thursday morning at Keeneland, going a half-mile in a bullet 47 seconds, according to Keeneland clockers.
“She tricks you,” trainer Ben Colebrook said of the filly’s ease in turning in strong splits.
WHO’S HOT
There has been little to no change to the perspective field with no major defections. Renegade, the presumptive Derby favorite, was expected to return to the work tab on Thursday at Palm Beach Downs. It would be his first breeze since his victory in the Arkansas Derby on March 28.
With more than 4,500 wins and five Eclipse Awards to his credit in a career that is still in its prime, jockey Irad Oritz Jr. has had more than his share of memorable moments. None of them, however, have come in the Kentucky Derby.
Nine times Ortiz has ridden the Derby without success. His best Derby result came with Improbable, the favorite in 2019, who was elevated from fifth to fourth following the disqualification of Maximum Security from first. However, Ortiz feels Mo Donegal, fifth behind longshot Rich Strike was, to date, his best chance.
Fair Grounds Oaks winner Life of Joy, who was considered one of the early favorites for the Kentucky Oaks, has been declared out of the race as the picture for the filly classic continues to take shape.
Trainer Brad Cox told Churchill Downs representatives on Tuesday evening that Life of Joy – a stakes winner last fall at Churchill who impressively won the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks over Bella Ballerina on March 21 – has incurred a “minor setback” and will be pointed to a fall campaign.
Chief Wallabee, beaten a half-length when third behind Commandment and The Puma in the Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 28, will most likely be equipped with blinkers when he runs in the Kentucky Derby, trainer Bill Mott said Monday.
“To me, he seemed slightly distracted in his last run,” Mott said Monday. “Something to keep him a little more focused. He’s still a little green.”
