ELMONT, N.Y. – Conquest Big E has been a work in progress for years. He’s a horse with a lot of potential who has never quite lived up to expectations.

Until now.

The 5-year-old is coming off a front-running victory over Always Dreaming and Tommy Macho in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park Mile. The win prompted owner Daniel Hurtak and his wife, trainer Donna Green Hurtak, to ship Conquest Big E from their Gulfstream Park base to Belmont Park late last week.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Few would compare Kentucky Derby longshot Combatant to any of the leading contenders for Saturday’s race, although the colt reminds his trainer, Steve Asmussen, of another prominent horse – 2017 Derby runner-up Lookin At Lee. Like him, Combatant is an Asmussen-trained closer that heads into the Kentucky Derby after competitive but losing efforts in preps in Arkansas.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Monomoy Girl was assigned post 14 and Midnight Bisou got post 10 as the morning-line favorites for the 144th running of the Grade 1, $1 million Kentucky Oaks, to be run on Friday at Churchill Downs.

A full field of 14 3-year-old fillies was entered Monday morning at the post-position draw in the track’s Aristides Lounge for the 1 1/8-mile Oaks, which will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network (post time, 6:12 p.m. Eastern).

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Steve Asmussen is on the verge of becoming just the second trainer in North American racing history to hit the 8,000-win mark, although obviously the monumental feat would be obscured by all the Derby goings-on if he happens to reach the milestone this weekend.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 36 hours prior to the Monday morning post-position draw of the Oaks led to quite a bit of reshuffling of the field, although Churchill still got a full gate of 14 for the filly classic.

Blamed was withdrawn after emerging from a half-mile Saturday breeze at Churchill with what trainer Joel Marr described as a small hairline fracture of her right hind pastern. The injury is not believed to be career-ending.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Corey Lanerie has been the leading jockey at 15 of the last 17 meets conducted at Churchill Downs, but it will be his wife of 21 years, Shantel, who will have the brightest spotlight here on Kentucky Oaks Day.

Shantel Lanerie has been diagnosed with Stage 1 breast cancer, and her recovery efforts will be recognized in a big way during the track’s annual Oaks Day push to raise research funds for and increase awareness of breast cancer.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – He rode back on his pony after overseeing the training of his horses, just as he’s done for decades, the only concession to age being that he used a stepstool to help him dismount when he reached his barn at Churchill Downs.

His wit is still sharp, and while the bite it once had has softened with age, trainer D. Wayne Lukas still wants things done his way. The straw in the stalls just so, the shed row raked and cleaned as though a state dinner will be served. It’s all black and white. The only gray area is Winning Colors.

CHURCHILL DOWNS
SUNDAY, APRIL 29
WEATHER: SUNNY    
TEMPERATURE: 40    
TRACK: FAST 
TURF: FIRM

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It was the calm after the storm on a crisp and clear Sunday morning at Churchill Downs. The racetrack was nearly deserted during the special session reserved for Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks contenders following two whirlwind days during which the majority of the horses stabled locally turned in their final preps for those races.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Trainer Bill Mott found himself in an unusual position Sunday morning on the backside of Churchill Downs. He was the center of attention in a media scrum, talking about his participation in Saturday’s 144th Kentucky Derby after the 3-year-old Hofburg worked a half-mile in 48.03 seconds over the main track.

“It’s nice to be here, we’re glad to be here and we’re glad to be here with a good horse,” Mott, who hasn’t run a horse in the Derby since Hold Me Back in 2009, told the assembled media outside barn 19, where he has kept a string at Churchill Downs since 1980.