LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Tom Amoss said he was disappointed with himself far more than with Sum of the Parts when the colt was virtually eased in his 4-year-old debut this winter.
“I didn’t have him ready enough, obviously,” Amoss said. “Since then, he’s really trained well. I think he’ll give a much better account of himself this time.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Joel Rosario is going so good these days that even when he finishes second, he wins.
Rosario was aboard Overwhelming on Monday morning when that 3-year-old maiden served as a workmate for Orb in that colt’s final timed drill at Churchill Downs in preparation for Saturday’s $2 million Kentucky Derby.
[DERBY WATCH: Top 20 Kentucky Derby contenders with odds and video]
Believe You Can, the winner of last year’s Kentucky Oaks, will make an appearance on Friday’s Kentucky Oaks undercard in the Grade 2, $300,000 La Troienne Stakes.
On Sunday, she completed preparations for the La Troienne with a five-furlong workout in 1:00.80.
“She did well,” trainer Larry Jones said. “It wasn’t a fast work. She looks like she’s finally starting to settle down and relax.”
Joel Rosario continued his domination of the local jockey ranks by winning five races on the 11-race opening-night program at Churchill, highlighted by a sweep of the late pick four that included the Derby Trial aboard Forty Tales.
Rosario, who will ride here through Derby Day before heading to Belmont Park, set a spring-meet record at Keeneland by riding 37 winners, surpassing the old mark of 32. This is the first time Rosario has ridden regularly in Kentucky.
Perfect Officer, who came within a head of winning the Grade 3 Shakertown at Keeneland for the second time less than three weeks ago, towers over his nine rivals in Wednesday’s closing-day feature at Atlantic City Race Course, the $50,000 Tony Gatto Dream Big Stakes.
The five-furlong sprint goes as race 6 on a seven-race card that closes out the six-day, all-turf mini-meet at South Jersey’s lone remaining racetrack.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Charlie LoPresti all but confirmed a Kentucky Derby Day appearance by the reigning Horse of the Year early Monday from Keeneland, saying that “unless something unforeseen happens,” Wise Dan will run Saturday in the Grade 1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic.
“It’s sure looking like it,” LoPresti said. “Obviously, we’ll monitor everything up to race day, but he is really sharp right now. If things stay the same, we’ll run. All systems are go.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky -- The likely field for the 139th Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs came into sharper focus Monday, when trainer Bob Baffert finally made it official that neither Govenor Charlie nor Code West would run, trainer Todd Pletcher decided to pass the race with Winning Cause, owner Stephen Young said Tiz a Minister would not travel from California, and trainer Mike Maker added Fear the Kitten to the prospective line-up.
[bc_video_id:290780:]LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When it came to this year’s Kentucky Derby workouts, they saved the best for last.
The majority of the final Derby works were already in the books by the time the racetrack opened for training Monday morning at Churchill Downs. Only one important piece of business remained, a final breeze from Florida Derby winner Orb, who delivered all that everybody expected and then some.[:slideshow-right:]
