LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With the remnants of Hurricane Laura expected to douse this region later in the day, a handful of contenders for Kentucky Derby 146 led by Art Collector were out for their final pre-race workouts Friday morning at Churchill Downs amid humid but dry conditions.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Runhappy Travers runner-up Caracaro was removed from consideration for the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5 after pulling up bad following a workout Friday morning at Saratoga.
Trainer Gustavo Delgado said exercise rider J.J. Delgado told him the horse took a bad step after completing a six-furlong workout in 1:12.31 over the main track.
Delgado followed the horse back to the barn and didn’t like what he saw.
“I don’t like the ligament,” Delgado said.
Art Collector, who figures as the second or third wagering choice behind Tiz the Law in the Derby, was back on familiar ground Thursday when galloping a mile during the designated training period reserved for Derby and Oaks horses. The colt arrived Wednesday from the nearby Skylight training center, trainer Tommy Drury’s main base.
Brian Hernandez Jr., the colt’s regular jockey, was aboard for the gallop because regular exercise rider James Lopez was unavailable due to coronavirus-related protocols.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – After a couple of weeks of indecision, Attachment Rate has been confirmed as a starter for the 146th Kentucky Derby next Saturday.
“My mind was actually made up when he was cooling out after his last race,” in the Aug. 9 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby, trainer Dale Romans said Thursday morning from New York. “It just took a little arm-twisting to convince the owners to head that way. They’d been on the fence.”
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Dr Post, runner-up to Tiz the Law in the Belmont Stakes and third to Authentic in the Haskell, is likely to bypass the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5 and could run either in the Jim Dandy that same day at Saratoga or perhaps wait for the Preakness on Oct. 3.
Todd Pletcher trains Dr Post for Vinnie and Teresa Viola’s St. Elias Stable. Pletcher said Viola seems to be leaning more toward Dr Post taking his next shot against Tiz the Law in the Preakness.
Storm the Court
Court Vision – My Tejana Storm, by Tejano Run
Bred in Kentucky by Stepping Stone Farm ($5,000 Fasig-Tipton February weanling purchase by Bryan Rice; $60,000 OBS spring 2-year-old purchase by Exline-Border Racing)
WHO’S HOT
There have been no adjustments to the Derby Watch top 20 lineup or the odds penned by Daily Racing Form’s Marty McGee since last week. Tiz the Law remains the 6-5 favorite. Assuming his starting price will be no higher than 9-5, he will be the first horse to go off at less than 2-1 in the Derby since Point Given in 2001. The last odds-on favorite was Arazi in 1992. Entries for the Derby are to be taken Tuesday morning, and posts drawn later that morning.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As contenders for the 146th Kentucky Derby continue to settle into the stable area at Churchill Downs, the final round of breezes for the Sept. 5 race are set for a busy coming weekend – both at Churchill and elsewhere.
Tiz the Law, expected to be the heaviest Derby favorite since Arazi was 9-10 in 1992, is scheduled to work Sunday at Saratoga before being flown Monday to Louisville via equine charter. The New York-bred colt, winner of the Belmont Stakes and Runhappy Travers, will be bedded down in Barn 20 upon his arrival at Churchill.
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.
