Churchill Downs
Saturday, April 20
Weather: Clear
Temperature: 48
Track: Fast
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Saturday morning was a busy one under the Twin Spires, not only for potential Kentucky Derby starters but the general population as well. Seven Derby hopefuls got in what, for most, will be their penultimate works for the big event now just two weeks away as part of a clocker’s tab that included over 210 names when the final drill went in the books shortly before 10 a.m.
Amr Zedan, owner of Arkansas Derby winner Muth, has filed an appeal of a Kentucky Circuit Court ruling issued Thursday that denied his request for a temporary injunction against a ban by Churchill Downs of Muth’s trainer, Bob Baffert.
DELRAY BEACH, Fla. – As far as trainer Todd Pletcher is concerned, the 2024 Kentucky Derby can’t get here soon enough – especially not after watching his Florida Derby winner and likely Kentucky Derby favorite Fierceness breeze an extremely impressive and very easy five furlongs in 1:00.35 early Friday morning at Palm Beach Downs.
WHO’S HOT
Encino’s wire-to-wire victory in the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland earned him sufficient qualifying points to make the Kentucky Derby field following the defection of No More Time. The top 19 on the points list, in addition to Japan Road to the Derby points leader T O Password, gain a Derby berth.
A Kentucky circuit court judge said Monday he will issue a ruling by the end of the week on whether to grant a temporary injunction that would allow horses trained by Bob Baffert and owned by Amr Zedan to start in this year’s Kentucky Derby despite a ban by Churchill Downs on the trainer.
ARCADIA, Calif. – One year after riding in his first Kentucky Derby, champion Canadian jockey Kazushi Kimura picked up his second Derby mount. Kimura will ride lightly raced Japanese colt T O Password in the 2024 Kentucky Derby, his California agent Brian Beach confirmed.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Sunday was a very good day for trainer Victor Barboza Jr. and the connections of Grand Mo the First, who got in his first work since finishing a well-beaten third behind Fierceness in the Grade 1 Florida Derby while also moving one step closer to gaining a spot in this year’s Kentucky Derby.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Encino dug in in the stretch to turn back The Wine Steward by three-quarters of a length in the Grade 3, $400,000 Lexington Stakes on Saturday at Keeneland, a victory that may earn him a shot at Triple Crown competition.
WHO’S HOT
Sierra Leone’s impressive 98 Beyer Speed Figure victory in the Grade 1 Blue Grass at Keeneland cemented his status as one of the top choices in the Kentucky Derby; Derby Watch linemaker David Aragona lowered Sierra Leone to 7-2, a tick below 3-1 favorite Fierceness.
