LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Stewart Elliott had no great expectations about coming back to Kentucky. He’d probably get to ride a few, enjoy the sights of springtime and the festive crowds, sign some memorabilia, and maybe even bask in the nostalgia of his career pinnacle.
“Sure doesn’t seem like 10 years,” said Elliott.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The folks who were here in 1875 probably wouldn’t recognize Churchill Downs anymore. Not only were their beloved Twin Spires dwarfed by a massive remodeling almost 10 years ago, but lights have been installed, including some on the inner perimeter of a turf course, no less.
[bc_video_id:322252:]LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert entered two horses in the Derby Trial on the opening-night program Saturday at Churchill Downs, either of whom would be a decisive favorite if he ran.
But Baffert already has said that Chitu definitely will scratch from the Trial and instead run May 3 in the 140th Kentucky Derby. And it’s not beyond question that Bayern will scratch, too.
Social Inclusion, currently 24th on the points list and running out of time in his quest to qualify for the Kentucky Derby field, worked three furlongs in 34.41 seconds and galloped out a half-mile in 47.63 Thursday morning at Gulfstream Park. Elvis Trujillo breezed Social Inclusion for trainer Manny Azpurua, but regular rider Luis Contreras will be aboard if he runs in the Derby.
Chitu was entered on Wednesday in the Derby Trial on Saturday night at Churchill Downs, but will scratch from that race, work Sunday at Churchill Downs, and be pointed to the Kentucky Derby on May 3, trainer Bob Baffert said Wednesday afternoon.
Baffert said Martin Garcia, who rode Chitu to victory in the Sunland Derby in his last start, would retain the mount.
[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]
[bc_video_id:322143:]LOUISVILLE, KY. – The temperature may have dropped overnight but the tempo picked up appreciably on Wednesday when it came to meaningful activity from the steadily growing contingent of horses on the grounds here at Churchill Downs preparing for next Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
If we just looked at that race the first Saturday in May as a horse race and not the Kentucky Derby, the 2014 outcome would appear rather obvious. One horse’s last two Beyer Speed Figures are better than any figure any of the likely other 19 starters has ever had.
This, however, is not just a horse race. It is different – the field size, the preparation, the pressure, all of it. It is often about the horse that is doing best in the final days, not the horse that has performed the best in the final races.
He’s got the winner of the Louisiana Derby, a colt who was both runner-up in the Fountain of Youth and a close third in the Florida Derby, and a longshot, yet Mike Maker might be the least-known big-time trainer in this year’s Kentucky Derby.
Only Todd Pletcher, who has four horses in the current field of 20, has more prospective starters in the May 3 Derby than Maker. Both were born into the sport, with fathers who trained; both worked under D. Wayne Lukas before striking out on their own; and both will be sending out Derby starters owned by Ken and Sarah Ramsey.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The 15-minute period immediately after the renovation break, between 8:30 and 8:45 a.m., is reserved each morning at Churchill Downs during the two weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby for horses under consideration for the Derby or Kentucky Oaks. That session seemed even more exclusive than usual Tuesday, with only a limited number of horses from those races on the grounds.
Tuesday at Churchill Downs
63 degrees, cloudy, fast
