LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Even the greatest of training careers has its low moments.
Six months ago, Tom Amoss was fresh from a 45-day suspension that he had fought with every ounce of energy (and dollar) he could muster. He wound up traveling to Europe, Mexico, and Florida, and he attended a lot of football games in his native Louisiana, but it was a vacation he did not accept willingly.
Trojan Nation, a surprise second at 81-1 in the $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 9, worked six furlongs in 1:12.60 at Santa Anita on Thursday in preparation for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 7.
Trained by Paddy Gallagher, Trojan Nation is a maiden after six races and will be a longshot in the Kentucky Derby. On Thursday, Trojan Nation worked alone.
“He seemed to do it the right way,” Gallagher said. “He seems quite happy.”
CHURCHILL DOWNS
Track: Good/Fast
Weather: Cloudy
Temp.: 67
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As if there aren’t enough variables in the equation to get a horse ready to be at his best on Kentucky Derby Day, you can now add weather to the mix. Overnight rain hit here Tuesday, and with more in the forecast as the week progresses, it is likely to have a major effect on training and workout schedules through the weekend.
The Kentucky Derby will be run for the 142nd time on May 7, but this year will be just the fourth since the current system to determine the starting field has been in effect – one based on points – and the implications are noticeable.
Exaggerator
Curlin – Dawn Raid, by Vindication
($110,000 purchase by Big Chief Racing at 2014 Keeneland September yearling sale)
Curlin, who is coming off a career-best season by his racing progeny in 2015, is a rising star in the North American sire ranks. The stallion will look to really break through with a Kentucky Derby winner in Exaggerator, the romping winner of the Santa Anita Derby.
The blood runs hot in the Thoroughbred, and few are hotter right now – on a number of levels – than those by Tapit.
Tapit is North America’s two-time reigning leading sire, breaking his own single-season earnings record last year, and is on track to surpass $100 million in career progeny earnings in 2016. The Gainesway Farm stallion stands for $300,000, the highest advertised fee in North America, and his yearlings averaged $603,074 at public auctions in North America last year.
Churchill Downs
Weather: Clear
Track: Fast Temp. 71
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Trainer Bob Baffert arrived in town on Monday and wasted little time getting down to work, sending out a handful of his stakes horses to breeze at Churchill Downs on Tuesday morning, including key Kentucky Derby contender Mor Spirit, who zipped five furlongs over a quick track under clear and relatively balmy conditions during the special Derby/Oaks training session shortly after 8:30 a.m.
Churchill Downs
Weather: Clear
Track: Fast
Temperature: 63
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Steve Asmussen had a very good morning on Monday. It began with his five potential Kentucky Oaks starters and two Kentucky Derby contenders turning in sharp works over a fast main track at Churchill Downs and ended several hours later with the announcement that he’d been elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.
The not-so-secret weapon that has carried owner Paul Reddam and trainer Doug O’Neill back to Louisville, Ky., is Doug’s older brother, Dennis O’Neill. The bloodstock wizard selected both the unbeaten champion Nyquist and Grade 2 winner Land Over Sea as unraced 2-year-olds. Nyquist is expected to be favored in the Kentucky Derby, while Land Over Sea is a strong contender in the Kentucky Oaks following the defection of Songbird.
