[bc_video_id:322822:]LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Untapable was assigned the outside post as the heavy favorite in a field of 13 3-year-old fillies entered in the Grade 1, $1 million Kentucky Oaks, to be run Friday at Churchill Downs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainers tend to follow the same routine with their horses, morning after morning, at most any racetrack, whether a half-mile bush track or Churchill Downs during Kentucky Derby Week. But there was nothing routine about training hours under the Twin Spires on Monday morning, with torrential downpours and severe lightning interfering with the plans of a couple of top Derby contenders. Ultimately, however, it did not deter either Tapiture or Hoppertunity from getting in key workouts over the sloppy Churchill strip.
Twenty-three horses ran in a rough-and-tumble edition of the Kentucky Derby in 1974, and that was too many, track officials decided before the 1975 Derby, capping the maximum number of starters at 20, though a court injunction permitted a 21st runner in 1981.
It wasn’t until 1999 that the Derby drew more than 20 entrants again and the 20-horse maximum, determined by graded-stakes earnings, had to be invoked, but since 2004, a full Derby entry box of 20 horses has become the rule.
Trainer Todd Pletcher was candid following We Miss Artie’s workout Sunday, describing it as poor for a horse who usually works well on dirt, even though his best races have been on turf and synthetic.
On Monday, upon more reflection, Pletcher said he still wasn’t happy with the way he worked but did offer a few reasons why We Miss Artie wasn’t as sharp as he had hoped.
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
Fairmount Park opens a 52-day meeting Tuesday, and while the number of race days has dropped from the 68 cards run last year, there could be far graver changes on the horizon at Fairmount after this season.
This is the third and last year that impact fees garnished from the gross profits at the highest-earning Illinois casinos will be added to purse money generated through betting handle, and the St. Louis-area track faces difficult decisions if a new revenue stream supplying the purse account isn’t opened soon.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Chitu, who lost his special right front shoe Sunday during his final workout for the Kentucky Derby, was re-shod in a conventional shoe and will wear that for training the rest of the week as well as for the Derby itself Saturday at Churchill Downs.
Chitu had the morning off Monday, which is standard procedure the day after a drill for trainer Bob Baffert.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Skychai Racing and Starlight Stables have purchased Kentucky Derby contender General a Rod from his previous owner, J. Armando Rodriguez, the new ownership group announced on Monday.
General a Rod, runner-up in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth and the third-place finisher in the Grade 1 Florida Derby, will remain with trainer Mike Maker and be ridden by Joel Rosario in the Kentucky Derby, according to the new owners. He will wear the silks of James Shircliff, who is a partner in both Skychai and Starlight, in the Derby.
At age 20, Jose Ortiz, the rider of Samraat, will be the youngest jockey in this year’s Kentucky Derby. Rick Violette, the trainer of Samraat, has as much confidence in Ortiz as if he was a 20-year veteran.
Twinspires.com, the account-wagering company owned by Churchill Downs Inc., will offer its customers a chance to contribute to the betting action of one of two teams that will play the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby cards for profit and charity.
The two teams consist of cast members of the reality show “Horseplayers” that recently aired on Esquire Network. One team will consist of Peter Rotondo Sr. and Lee Davis, and the other will consist of Michael Beychok and John Conte.
