LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Every day is a logistical challenge for trainer Todd Pletcher, with all the horses for whom he’s entrusted, and though the stakes are magnified for the Kentucky Derby, his carefully planned workout scheme for Saturday morning at Churchill Downs seemed to go off flawlessly, as five of his prospective Derby runners, including unbeaten Verrazano, concluded serious preparation for next Saturday’s race.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The connections of Princess of Sylmar entered the weekend still on the fence about whether to run their 3-year-old filly in Friday’s $1 million Kentucky Oaks.
On Saturday morning, Princess of Sylmar put in her two cents with a solid four-furlong workout in 48.88 seconds at Churchill Downs that seemingly has owner Ed Stanco and trainer Todd Pletcher now leaning toward running in the prestigious race for 3-year-old fillies.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Derby week racing schedule has undergone quite a bit of tinkering over the years, but now that the Saturday opener is run at night, Churchill Downs officials seem to have settled on something that will work for years.
As of 2011, the first would-be Sunday of the spring meet is dark, replaced by the first (and only) Tuesday of the meet, allowing for some continuity and momentum-building into Derby weekend. And with three allowances and some decent-sized fields, the 10-race Tuesday card serves toward that end.
As the 7-2 second choice on the track’s morning line, Lucy Stragmore has a realistic chance to provide rookie trainer Jeff Englehart with his first career victory as a trainer in Monday’s featured eighth race at Finger Lakes. But to accomplish that feat, Englehart’s mare will have to find a way to beat the projected favorite, Untapped Secret, trained by the track’s perennial leader – and Jeff’s dad – Chris Englehart.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Stablemates Revolutionary and Verrazano topped a very busy Kentucky Derby/Oaks training session Saturday morning at Churchill Downs as trainers scrambled to beat the heavy rains predicted for later in the day.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Normandy Invasion was one of three potential Kentucky Derby starters to work prior to the renovation break Saturday at Churchill Downs, a session that also included breezes from all four of trainer Todd Pletcher’s prospective Oaks runners led by Dreaming of Julia.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - After the races Friday, Keeneland announced records for all-sources total handle ($158,640,589) and attendance (278,415) at the 16-day meet that began April 6.
The all-sources gross narrowly eclipses the former record of $158,368,309 set during the15-day spring meet in 2007. The attendance bettered the 269,292 who turned out here last spring during a 15-day meet.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Putting the proverbial icing on the cake, the owner-trainer-jockey team that dominated the 16-day spring meet at Keeneland had a final hurrah Friday when Dark Cove, exiting claiming races, ran off to a 4 1/4-length victory in the closing-day feature, the Grade 2, $150,000 Elkhorn Stakes.
Sunday’s Grade 3, $150,000 Whimsical Stakes drew a field of nine that includes supplementary entrants Acting Naughty, Northern Passion, and Sisterly Love.
Acting Naughty, a 4-year-old filly owned by John Hillier and trained by Don MacRae, will be seeking her first stakes win in the six-furlong Whimsical.
Claimed for $40,000 from her fourth career start as a 2-year-old, Acting Naughty won two $32,000 claiming races plus a first-level allowance and later finished second, beaten a head, in the seven-furlong Jammed Lovely for Ontario-bred 3-year-old fillies.
Worldventurer, who brought $150,000 during a Fasig-Tipton Texas auction April 3, now races for Peter Redekop, according to Bret Calhoun, who continues to train the horse he had for original owner Wesley Melcher.
Melcher offered Worldventurer at auction during a new horses-of-racing-age session conducted at the tail end of Fasig-Tipton’s annual sale of 2-year-olds in training at Lone Star. Bryan Anderson, agent, signed the ticket for Worldventurer, the highest-priced lot at the auction.
