Churchill Downs
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Weather: Cloudy
Temperature: 52
Track: Fast
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Nine of the 20 confirmed starters for the 2023 Kentucky Derby, along with two others still hoping to draw into the field, got in their final works for the most important start of their careers Saturday at Churchill Downs.
The majority came during a hectic 15-minute session reserved for Derby and Oaks starters only immediately following the first renovation break.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Skinner runs and trains like a colt who will relish the 1 1/4-mile distance of the Kentucky Derby, and he finished his six-furlong solo workout Saturday at Santa Anita like a colt who will deliver the best race of his career next weekend at Churchill Downs.
New rider Juan Hernandez was on Skinner for the first time Saturday; the Santa Anita Derby third-place finisher was the first horse to work after the 6:30 a.m. break.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Brad Cox, who trains one-fifth of the expected Kentucky Derby field, sent that strong hand out Saturday morning for their final breezes toward the race, now one week off, at Churchill Downs.
The most prominent of Cox’s four expected Derby entrants, Arkansas Derby winner Angel of Empire, worked in company with Louisiana Derby third-place finisher Jace’s Road during the training window reserved for Derby and Oaks hopefuls at 7:30 a.m., following the first morning renovation break.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - From the time Forte left the Keeneland winner’s circle following his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile last November, everything has gone according to plan for the horse who will most likely be the favorite for next Saturday’s Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
It's kind of scary, when trainer Todd Pletcher thinks about it.
Churchill Downs
Friday, April 28
Weather: Cloudy
Temperature: 54
Track: Sealed/Sloppy
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hopefully, we’ll all be as accurate with our Derby selections as the weathermen were when predicting the heavy rainfall that passed through the Louisville area Thursday night into early Friday morning, allowing trainers to accurately adjust their workout schedules for those key final Derby preps, the majority of which will now take place here Saturday morning.
Practical Move, the leading 3-year-old in California, and Reincarnate, third in two graded stakes in Arkansas this year, worked quickly Friday at Santa Anita for trainer Tim Yakteen in advance of scheduled starts in the Kentucky Derby on May 6 at Churchill Downs.
Practical Move, winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 8, worked five furlongs in 59.60 seconds under exercise rider Baltazar Contreras, while Reincarnate worked a half-mile in 46.40 under jockey Drayden Van Dyke. Reincarnate’s work was the fastest of the morning at the distance.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Since the filly Regret did it in 1915, only two horses have won the Kentucky Derby having made just three previous starts. In 2018, Justify did it on his way to becoming the first undefeated Triple Crown winner since Seattle Slew in 1977. In 2008, Big Brown, also undefeated, won the Kentucky Derby from post 20, a spot the brash trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. picked on purpose.
The dark bay foal’s white markings were distinctive, so much so that he was nicknamed “Gaudy” by the farm staff. But his personality didn’t match the moniker at first.
“He was somewhat shy when he was with his mother,” breeder Amy Moore recalled of the youngster at her South Gate Farm in Virginia. “He’d hide behind her in the stall.”
But now? Forte has come into his own.
“He’s gained his confidence,” trainer Todd Pletcher said of Forte, the Kentucky Derby favorite. “He’s proud of himself, as he should be.”
Churchill Downs
Thursday, April 27
Weather: Clear
Temp: 53°
Track: Fast
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Ten potential Kentucky Oaks fillies worked within about a 12-minute window following the first renovation break on a somber Thursday morning at Churchill Downs after Kentucky Derby contender Wild On Ice suffered a catastrophic injury to his left hind leg while pulling up after a work shortly after the track opened at 5:15 a.m. Wild On Ice was later euthanized.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Raise Cain turned in his final work for the Kentucky Derby on Thursday morning at Keeneland as trainer Ben Colebrook continues to weigh his jockey options for the colt.
Raise Cain, with Gerardo Corrales in the irons, worked in company with the unraced filly Merrily Rush, Luan Machado up, as they went a half-mile in 49 seconds on a fast main track.
