LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bill Mott was in a bit of a quandary Monday morning when it came to his 3-year-old filly Carina Mia.
Sitting two spots out of the starting gate for Friday’s Kentucky Oaks, Mott was torn between entering the Grade 1, $1 million Oaks as an also-eligible or simply entering her in the Grade 2, $200,000 Eight Belles, a seven-furlong race on the same card. He is not allowed to enter in both races.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Although just 30 years old, Brian Hernandez Jr. has already done more as a rider than most jockeys could hope to accomplish with a full life in the sport.
The Eclipse Award-winning apprentice of 2004, he has become one of the most sought-after jockeys in his native Louisiana and in Kentucky, where he has spent the past 10-plus years plying his trade. He has also won North America’s richest horse race, the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic, guiding Fort Larned to a front-running victory in 2012 at Santa Anita.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Doug O’Neill’s barn, which supports racehorse aftercare via a number of outlets, is known for using off-the-track Thoroughbreds as stable ponies – most famously, the barn’s multiple Grade 1 winner Lava Man, who accompanied 2012 Kentucky Derby winner I’ll Have Another around the country.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer and co-owner Ron Moquett dubs Kentucky Derby contender Whitmore a “freak athlete” and named the gelding for an old friend who also fits that mold.
Moquett acquired Whitmore privately from breeder John Liviakis, and his Southern Spring Stables group owns him with Robert LaPenta and Harry Rosenblum. Moquett named the gelding for Wilbur Whitmore, a basketball teammate and football player at Pocola High School in Oklahoma.
Ever since the evening of April 17, when the connections of Songbird dropped the bombshell that they were declaring her out of the Kentucky Oaks as the heavy favorite, the filly classic has been a real scramble.
A half-dozen fillies in what is sure to be an oversubscribed field can now be considered favorites, with Rachel’s Valentina a likely lukewarm program choice after entries were drawn here Tuesday. Lewis Bay, the winner of the Gazelle Stakes at Aqueduct in her most recent start for Chad Brown, is part of that top flight of contenders.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Although the modest past performances of Tom’s Ready would suggest that he is a horse unlikely to challenge in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, the past performances of his trainer, Dallas Stewart, tell a different story. For three consecutive years, a Stewart-trained longshot has run second in one of the legs of the Triple Crown.
Golden Soul ran behind Orb in the 2013 Derby at 34-1 odds, Commanding Curve finished behind California Chrome in the 2014 Derby at 37-1, and Tale of Verve checked in behind American Pharoah in last year’s Preakness at 28-1.
Smokem Kitten is headed to Kentucky this week after winning last Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 Miami Mile at Gulfstream Park.
“Don’t have any set plans for him yet,” said trainer Mike Maker, who added that the Wise Dan Stakes was a possibility.
The Wise Dan Stakes, formerly called the Firecracker, is a Grade 2, $200,000 turf race over 1 1/16 miles scheduled for June 18 at Churchill.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Shortly after 10 a.m. Sunday, outside barn 41 on the Churchill Downs backstretch, a gaggle of media swarmed around trainer Doug O’Neill to get the lowdown on Nyquist, the undefeated 2-year-old male champion who likely will be favored in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
A furlong or so away, outside barn 42, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin sat by himself in a folding chair, having just finished a cellphone conversation. Had things worked out differently in the Florida Derby four weeks ago, it likely would have been McLaughlin at the center of the media scrum.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Dale Romans is back with a Kentucky Derby starter for the sixth time in seven years, which is pretty much the way he likes it.
“There’s nothing like leading one over for the Derby,” said Romans, a Louisville native and lifelong resident.
And with Brody’s Cause, the winner of the Blue Grass Stakes in his last start, Romans believes he has his best shot ever. Strictly in terms of odds, that could be true since the colt figures to be among the top five wagering choices in the 142nd Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs.
