DEL MAR, Calif. – Take two.
One day after Authentic had to have a work aborted through no fault of his own, he motored around Del Mar’s track early Tuesday morning in a demanding drill designed to have him on edge for the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs.
Authentic was given an official time of 1:38.60 for one mile under exercise rider Juan Ochoa, and he continued a bit farther on the gallop-out.
ETOBICOKE, Ontario — There’s a lot of “speight” in trainer Roger Attfield’s barn, but in a good way.
The unbeaten Kentucky Derby prospect, Shirl’s Speight, recorded his second fast work over the dirt training track at Woodbine last Friday. He went an old-school mile in 1:39.20 in company with five others, starting off slowly under jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson and then finishing well under a drive.
“He came out of the work really, really well,” Attfield said. “It didn’t quite go the way I wanted it to. Right now, we’re still on the Derby thing.”
DEL MAR, Calif. – After going off form earlier this year, Thousand Words seemed invigorated once relocating here to Del Mar, where he trained sharply heading into the Shared Belief, in which he scored a 9-1 upset over Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Barclay Tagg is not babying Tiz the Law into the Kentucky Derby.
Fifteen days after Tiz the Law won the Runhappy Travers emphatically and 13 days before he runs in the Derby as the favorite on Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs, Tagg sent Tiz the Law out early Sunday morning for a rigorous five-furlong workout that he completed in 59.47 seconds, according to Daily Racing Form clocker Mike Welsch’s watch, over Saratoga’s main track.
DEL MAR, Calif. – The second of the three afternoon workouts for Honor A. P. at Del Mar leading up to the Kentucky Derby was supposed to be the most serious of them, and the intent was evident on Saturday, as jockey Mike Smith had the long-striding colt continue out strongly, turning what was listed officially as a five-furlong drill into what was more like a seven-furlong move.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - A heavy thunderstorm hit Saratoga at about 8 a.m. Saturday morning, dropping .36 of an inch of rain and turning a fast main track into a mud pit, prompting the connections of Tiz the Law to postpone a scheduled workout in preparation for the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5.
The connections of Caracaro, however, went ahead with their planned work and the Travers runner-up went five furlongs in 1:01.88 under exercise rider J.J. Delgado in his first of two works for the Derby.
The Kentucky Derby will be run without fans this year for the first time in its history.
On Friday, Churchill Downs announced that it had canceled its plans to allow a limited number of ticketholders into the track on Derby Day, taking place this year on Sept. 5 because of the disruption caused by the coronavirus. The cancellation comes at a time when Kentucky has failed to show any meaningful progress in slowing the spread of the coronavirus, and at a time of general unrest in Churchill’s city, Louisville.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – A final decision on his participation in the Kentucky Derby was to be made over the weekend, but Dr Post signaled his preparedness for the race with a solid five-furlong workout in 1:00.75 on Friday morning over Saratoga’s main track.
Tiz the Law and Art Collector have arrived at this point of their 3-year-old seasons by different avenues. New York-bred Tiz the Law, purchased as a yearling by Sackatoga Stable, was a Grade 1-winning juvenile. Art Collector, a Kentucky homebred for Bruce Lunsford, was a late developer.
However, both are unbeaten this year and are expected to be the top two choices in the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby. Both also share similar pedigree patterns.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Ny Traffic has improved with every start since launching his 3-year-old campaign with an easy allowance win at Gulfstream Park more than seven months ago. And trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is hoping that Ny Traffic – the “other” New York-bred in the field along with heavy favorite Tiz the Law – will have one more forward move in him on Kentucky Derby Day.
