LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It was not a good weekend if your name was Syndergaard.

On Saturday night, the equine Syndergaard finished fifth – elevated to fourth by the stewards – in the $100,000 William Walker Stakes at Churchill Downs. On Sunday, the pitcher for whom the colt is named, Noah Syndergaard of the New York Mets, left his start against the Washington Nationals with an injury.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Always Dreaming, the Florida Derby winner and a leading contender for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, has made life challenging for trainer Todd Pletcher since his arrival at Churchill Downs.

Always Dreaming has been too aggressive in his morning gallops for Pletcher’s liking. On Monday, Pletcher made a change of equipment and a change of rider, with mixed results.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There are clear differences between Nyquist, who came into his Kentucky Derby win as an unbeaten juvenile champion, and Irap, who won his maiden in the Blue Grass Stakes for the same connections.

“Nyquist is LeBron James, and Irap’s more like Charles Barkley,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “[Irap is] solid. Even if he’s in the gym every day, he’s always going to be a little bit heavy. He continues to carry a lot of weight, and he’s got tremendous amounts of stamina.”

The chasm between pedigrees of American dirt horses and the international mainstream of pedigrees of the rest of the world’s elite Thoroughbreds, which race mostly on turf, has widened in the last two decades. Although more than 95% of the world’s Thoroughbreds descend in male line from American-bred stallions, grass racing in the rest of the world has selected different descendants of Northern Dancer and Mr. Prospector that work better in their local environment than the strains that work here on dirt.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Masochistic, the brilliant sprinter who has gained no small amount of notoriety, is returning to where he first became infamous.

It was three years ago, on the Kentucky Derby undercard, when Masochistic won a six-furlong maiden race by 14 lengths under Victor Espinoza in a major betting coup, having been hammered down to 2-1 after he had finished fifth at 8-1 in his debut at Santa Anita against California-breds seven weeks earlier.

CHURCHILL DOWNS
Weather: Cloudy  
Track: Fast   
Temp.: 73

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Unseasonably warm weather greeted horsemen when training began at 5:45 Sunday morning, but things were really heating up about three hours later when McCraken put in his final major work for the 2017 Kentucky Derby.

The racetrack was on the quick side throughout the session; horses were working into a stiff headwind down the stretch that became even more pronounced after the renovation break.  

Jockey Rajiv Maragh could hardly contain his enthusiasm for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby after getting the chance to sit on Irish War Cry on Sunday morning.

Maragh guided Irish War Cry through a six-furlong workout timed in 1:13.20 at the Fair Hill training center in Maryland; it was the colt’s one workout between his 3 1/2-length victory in the April 8 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – McCraken, one of the favorites for the Kentucky Derby next Saturday, and Fast and Accurate, one of the longer shots in the field, both completed their serious training for the Derby with five-furlong workouts Sunday morning at Churchill Downs.

They were two of three Derby runners to work Sunday. At the Fair Hill training center in Maryland, Wood Memorial winner Irish War Cry had his final work.

McCraken was timed by Daily Racing Form in 1:00.67 under his regular rider, Brian Hernandez Jr.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Gormley, the winner of the Santa Anita Derby on April 8, worked seven furlongs in 1:26.20 at Santa Anita on Saturday in his final major preparation for the Kentucky Derby next weekend.

Later in the morning, Royal Mo, third in the Santa Anita Derby, worked six furlongs in 1:13. His next race was not clear as of Saturday but could be the Kentucky Derby.