Sway Away, excluded from the Kentucky Derby when the race overfilled Wednesday morning, is now being considered for two alternative races: the Grade 2 Peter Pan at Belmont Park on May 14 or the Grade 1 Preakness at Pimlico on May 21, trainer Jeff Bonde said.
Before making a decision on which race might be next, “I’ll have to speak to my clients first,” Bonde said late Wednesday morning.
Not since 1882, when Apollo did it, has a horse won the Kentucky Derby without racing as a 2-year-old. It is a streak that Midnight Interlude will try to end Saturday.
Many have tried and failed in that quest, including Curlin, a two-time Horse of the Year. It is an admittedly daunting task to go from an unstarted maiden to a Derby winner in four months. But Bob Baffert, the trainer of Midnight Interlude, is holding out hope that in a year without a standout horse, Midnight Interlude is just as good as any.
Though Wood Memorial winner Toby’s Corner returned to his barn at the Fair Hill training center from the New Bolton Center on Tuesday night, trainer Graham Motion said Wednesday morning there is still no definitive diagnosis on what caused the horse to go lame in his left rear leg.
When he watches the replay of last year’s Kentucky Derby, trainer Nick Zito still cringes somewhat when he sees jockey Jose Lezcano getting shut off repeatedly in the stretch aboard Ice Box, who finished second behind Super Saver.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With the majority of the Kentucky Oaks fillies training at the same time as the Kentucky Derby horses on a daily basis, it was impossible to get a real close look at everybody in Friday’s Oaks lineup. But I was able to come away with some definite impressions on most of the starting lineup for this year’s very competitive edition of the Oaks.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Easily the deepest turf race in North America so far this year is on tap for Saturday with the Grade 1, $500,000 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, the main secondary feature on the Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs.
An oversubscribed field of 17 older horses jammed the entry box for the 1 1/8-mile Woodford. The lineup includes such accomplished turfers as Little Mike, Prince Will I Am, Smart Bid, Get Stormy, Doubles Partner, Al Khali, Court Vision, Battle of Hastings, and Expansion.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Wednesday was the coldest morning yet during the final two weeks leading up to the 137th Kentucky Derby, but at least it was dry, with the rains finally abating in the Louisville area. The racetrack still had some lingering moisture in it from two days of heavy downpours and was officially rated as good throughout the four-hour training session.
Keeneland Racecourse on Wednesday released purses that had been withheld from its April 15 card following notification from the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission that one or more suspicious postrace samples from horses who performed in the day’s 10 races had tested clean for prohibited substances, according to racing officials.
The wagering format changes, and facility improvements Louisiana Downs has made for its 84-date meet that opens Friday were done with the horseplayer in mind. The Bossier City, La., track has even moved the date of the Grade 2, $500,000 Super Derby back two weeks to Sept. 10, with the hopes of putting on the most competitive running possible. The race is the richest of the meet that continues through Sept. 25.
OLDSMAR, Fla. – April in Oldsmar usually has the racing community thinking about travel plans. Horse vans on the backstretch increase in numbers. Grooms, exercise boys, and assistant trainers are packing tack and arranging housing for their summer headquarters, and the racing program slows a bit. Some of the fields are smaller, and stables that have been quiet most of the meeting start to win a race or two as the competition gets a bit easier.
