Lone Sailor had his first breeze since finishing second in the Louisiana Derby when he went a half-mile in 47.80 seconds before dawn Wednesday over a fast Churchill Downs track. James Graham, who has the mount for the Kentucky Derby, was aboard.
“He’s always been a very good work horse,” said Tom Amoss, who trains Lone Sailor for GMB Racing. “He was in hand and showed good extension of stride and all the things you’re looking for in an important work like this.”
Except for the college basketball teams at Villanova and Notre Dame, no one has had a better spring than trainer Todd Pletcher, who has shrewdly plotted the placement of his 3-year-olds to knock off three of the biggest final-round Kentucky Derby preps in this country and will seek a fourth on Saturday in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby with Magnum Moon.
Magnum Moon
Malibu Moon–Dazzling Song, by Unbridled’s Song
Bred in Kentucky by Ramona S. Bass LLC ($380,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase by Robert and Lawana Low)
Grade 2, $1 million Wood Memorial; 1 1/8 miles; Aqueduct; April 7, 2018
(100 Derby qualifying points for a win, 40 for second, 20 for third, 10 for fourth)
Winner: Vino Rosso, by Curlin
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Jockey: John Velazquez
Owner: Repole Stable and St. Elias Stable
Beyer Speed Figure: 98
Victor Espinoza, a three-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, will go for his fourth when he climbs aboard Bolt d'Oro in this year's running on May 5 at Churchill Downs.
Mick Ruis, the trainer and owner of Bolt d'Oro, made it official late Monday, informing Espinoza's agent, Brian Beach, after a dinner meeting between Ruis and Espinoza that Espinoza would indeed have the mount.
Javier Castellano has called an Audible in his quest for his first Kentucky Derby victory.
Castellano said on Monday that he would ride Audible for trainer Todd Pletcher in the 144th Kentucky Derby on May 5, thus giving up the mount on Bolt d’Oro, on whom he finished second to Justify in last Saturday’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby.
There are just two more prep races for the Kentucky Derby to be run, both on Saturday, and the combination of top runners from last year holding their form, a carve out for one horse from Europe, and few defections among the leaders has raised the likely point total needed to make this year’s field.
Mike Smith followed his Derby-Oaks double last Saturday at Santa Anita with a trip to Keeneland on Sunday, where he finished third in the Beaumont Stakes with the California-based filly Uppercut. While there, Smith joined with fellow riders taking phone calls for the nationwide telethon in support of the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund, an effort that raised more than $200,000.
Betting on the Kentucky Derby could turn out to be very interesting. The undefeated Justify very likely made himself the favorite with his dazzling victory over Bolt d’Oro in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, but there are perhaps a half-dozen colts who could legitimately start at single-digit odds.
