There are not many trainers who have their first Kentucky Derby starter from three decades ago stabled just a few steps from their main residence. But that’s the case for Donnie Von Hemel and Clever Trevor, a 30-year-old millionaire who lives on the trainer’s farm in Piedmont, Okla.
“He’s still living at home,” quipped Von Hemel.
It is not out of the ordinary for an Eclipse Award-winning horse or two to run on Kentucky Derby Day. But Saturday, three are expected, all in different races – with Nyquist going in the Kentucky Derby, Tepin in the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile, and Big Blue Kitten in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic.
Nyquist and Tepin will be clear-cut favorites to win their races, though perhaps not Big Blue Kitten. The champion turf horse of 2015, he is likely to face a deep, talented group in his first start of 2016.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The globetrotting Lani, who enters the Kentucky Derby off a victory in the Group 2 United Arab Emirates Derby, will become just the second Japanese-based horse to start in the run for the roses. The first was Ski Captain, who finished 14th in the 1995 edition behind Thunder Gulch. In the irons that day was Yutaka Take, who has been aboard Lani in five of his six starts and will ride him in the Derby.
CYPRESS, Calif. – Los Alamitos completed its 12-day spring meeting Sunday with a single-day record for all-sources handle but a decline in average field size compared with its three meetings in 2015.
The track did not release detailed business figures but said statistics would be published this week.
Saturday’s nine-race program had an all-sources handle of $8,286,660, the highest since daytime Thoroughbred racing began at the Orange County track in 2014 following the closure of Hollywood Park the previous year.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Kentucky Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association has partnered with the children and grandchildren of Kentucky Derby trainers to launch the "Kentucky Derby Kids" campaign on social media. The campaign offers a behind-the-scenes look at the Derby experience, with the kids sharing their experiences and emotions, interviewing their parents, and handicapping the race.
The richest of the races on the list assembled by Churchill Downs that award Kentucky Derby qualifying points is run about 7,400 miles from the twin spires, and some would argue that the winner of the $2 million United Arab Emirates Derby, despite being assured entry into the Kentucky Derby by earning 100 points, is not necessarily qualified.
ALBANY, Calif. – Golden Gate Fields announced Sunday that it has hired the first full-time female race-caller in the U.S., Angela Hermann, to replace Michael Wrona, who has been hired as Santa Anita's announcer.
Wrona concluded his 24-year stint with Golden Gate Fields after the final race Sunday.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Taris, the five-time stakes winner who was third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Keeneland last October, worked five furlongs in 1:02 at Santa Anita on Sunday in advance of a start in the $300,000 Humana Distaff at Churchill Downs on Saturday.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Songbird, the undefeated champion 2-year-old filly of 2015, jogged at Santa Anita on Sunday, her first day of racetrack exercise after being knocked out of Friday’s Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs with a fever last month.
Songbird will jog for a week before her training intensifies through May. Songbird won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks on April 9 in her most recent start.
“She looked like she was happy to get out there,” Hollendorfer said.
CYPRESS, Calif. - The result of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs next weekend will play a key role in whether Uncle Lino progresses to the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 21 following his win in Saturday’s $151,035 California Chrome Stakes at Los Alamitos.
Trainer Gary Sherlock said on Sunday that he wants to assess Uncle Lino’s condition in coming days and analyze the outcome of the Kentucky Derby before finalizing plans.
“He’s acting okay,” Sherlock said. “We have the extra week and we’ll watch the Derby and see what happens there.
“I have no plan B.”
