Mark Reid cut back his stable drastically in the mid-1990s, and in 2000 stopped training completely, switching his focus to the bloodstock side of the industry. At the time, he was the all-time leading trainer at Philadelphia Park and Garden State Park.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The field for one of the most wide-open renewals of the Kentucky Oaks in recent memory has been set, with California invader Stellar Wind being pegged as a slight program favorite in an oversubscribed lineup.
Churchill Downs linemaker Mike Battaglia has a core of five favorites bunched closely together on the morning line, with Stellar Wind the 7-2 choice over Condo Commando (4-1), I’m a Chatterbox (4-1), Lovely Maria (5-1), and Birdatthewire (6-1) in the 1 1/8-mile filly classic Friday.
It looks like a rematch is in the offing for the Grade 3 All American at Golden Gate Fields on May 25.
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said G. G. Ryder and stablemate Summer Hit, who ran one-two in the Grade 3 San Francisco Mile last weekend, will be pointed to the one-mile All American on the main track.
G. G. Ryder ran down Summer Hit late to score his first graded stakes victory. Summer Hit suffered what track announcer Michael Wrona described as an “exasperating loss” in the San Francisco Mile for the third straight year.
LOUISVILLE, KY. – Wayne Catalano is just happy to be here at Churchill Downs – and not in the usual sense that the trainer of a Kentucky Oaks filly feels fortunate.
Catalano, the trainer of Oaks contender Oceanwave, was hospitalized for several weeks last summer in suburban Chicago with a severe bout of influenza and pneumonia. He eventually recovered, but the scare gave him a renewed appreciation for life.
“Makes ya think,” he said Tuesday on the Churchill backside.
LOUISVILLE, KY. – Assistant trainer Norman Casse doesn’t like using the word “mean” to describe strong-willed Derby hopeful Danzig Moon. The colt’s exploits around the barn have been well documented on social media, with various members of the barn staff sharing photos of their “war wounds.” But Casse smiles when discussing the topic.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Rosemary Homeister Jr. became part of Kentucky Derby lore 12 years ago when she became just the fifth woman to ride in the race, and now she’s poised to make more Churchill Downs history.
Homeister will ride Include Betty in the $1 million Kentucky Oaks on Friday and become just the third woman ever to ride in both the Derby and Oaks, following Julie Krone and Rosie Napravnik. Homeister has the call on Include Betty in the 141st Oaks at Churchill Downs for owners Brererton Jones and Tim Thornton and trainer Tom Proctor.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hall of Fame trainer Wayne Lukas has saddled 47 Kentucky Derby starters, winning four editions of the classic along the way. He has just one shot at his fifth Derby victory on Saturday, sending out longshot Mr. Z. However, don’t think the Lukas influence isn’t all over this Derby. Eight of the projected 20 starters are trained by Lukas or a former assistant.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – “Rules were made to be broken.”
“There’s an exception to every rule.”
In the cliché handbook, phrases about rules aim at a demonstration of their flimsiness.
But in the Kentucky Derby, one rule approaches the status of founding principle: To win, a horse must have started as a 2-year-old.
It has been 133 years since Apollo upset the 1882 Derby. He is the last unraced 2-year-old to wear roses. Since then, 58 such horses have run in the Derby: three finished second, four third.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Some have compared both of Bob Baffert’s Kentucky Derby hopefuls, American Pharoah and Dortmund, to Seattle Slew, who won the Triple Crown in 1977, 38 years ago.
American Pharoah, some say, moves like Seattle Slew. Dortmund, like Seattle Slew, enters the Derby undefeated.
Jean Cruguet, the man who rode Seattle Slew, said he prefers American Pharoah to Dortmund.
As if Saturday’s championship fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao needs any more publicity, along comes the aptly named Itsaknockout, who’ll provide fans one last reminder of the bout four hours before the fight starts as one of the 20 starters in this year’s Kentucky Derby.
