LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Last month, an all-time record rainfall for April was recorded here. And there has been no let up as the 137th Kentucky Derby approaches on the first Saturday in May, forcing trainers to make last-second adjustments, hold their breath, and hope their horses handle whatever surface gets thrown at them.
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Purses for the April 15 race card at Keeneland Racecourse have yet to be paid out, according to horsemen, their representatives, and track officials, because of at least one suspicious post-race test from an unidentified horse on the card.
After trainer Kathleen O’Connell saw her Watch Me Go struggle to a sixth-place finish in the Illinois Derby over a racetrack officially listed as fast but which had plenty of moisture in it, the last thing she needed to see after arriving at Churchill Downs on Friday was more rain. But that’s exactly what O’Connell has gotten a steady dose of for the last three days while attempting to get a final prep into the horse representing her first Kentucky Derby starter on Saturday.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario – Dreamy Moonlite, who was scratched from Saturday’s Fury Stakes, heads an eight-horse field of Ontario-sired 3-year-old fillies Wednesday night at Woodbine, in a six-furlong allowance for nonwinners of two.
Dreamy Moonlite started four times at 2. After notching her debut in an Ontario-sired maiden special in August, she competed in three consecutive restricted stakes. Following a two-month layoff Oct. 2, she wound up fourth after breaking awkwardly in the six-furlong Victorian Queen.
Back when Hall Of Fame jockey Pat Day rode at Churchill Downs, his popularity could result in the odds on his mounts dropping, even in a race with a massive betting pool, such as the Kentucky Derby.
With Day now retired, the “Pat Day effect” no longer exists – though if any rider can still move the Churchill Downs tote board in the Derby, it would be Calvin Borel, who has won this race three of the last four years.
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Andrew McKeever was mired in one of those horrible training slumps when he turned to the iconic veterinarian, the late Alex Harthill, for career advice.
“I told Doc I was tired of keeping people employed and costing me all this money,” said McKeever, a 44-year-old Irishman who moved to the United States from his native country more than 20 years ago. “Doc said, ‘Andrew, you’re too stupid to do anything else, just keep plugging.’ So I did.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - R Heat Lightning, the probable favorite for the 137th Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs on Friday, was declared from the race Monday morning after being diagnosed with a possible knee injury, said trainer Todd Pletcher.
"We detected heat in her right knee this morning and she was slightly off at the jog," said Pletcher. "It's unfortunate. She's a very talented filly and has been training great."
ELMONT, N.Y. – Lots of Stones and Cuff Me, a pair of 4-year-old fillies in the habit of winning, try seven furlongs for the first time when they clash in Wednesday’s $60,000 Cupid’s Way overnight stakes at Belmont Park.
Six other New York-bred fillies and mares entered, including the Pont Street Stable entry of Devilish Spirit and Freud’s Notebook, with David Cohen named on both. Freud’s Notebook, one of two seven-furlong stakes winners in the lineup along with Big Brownie, is cross-entered in an open second-level allowance Thursday.
