It’s a pretty exclusive club – just 20 living members – and many of them weren’t exactly household names when they showed up in Louisville. But when they left town, they were known far and wide in the world of sports as trainers who somehow got the job done in the game’s most unforgiving crucible. They had won the Kentucky Derby.
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With rain predicted to fall this weekend at Churchill Downs, workouts for several contenders for the May 4 Kentucky Derby are being adjusted, with Falling Sky, among others, going out Friday, and trainer Todd Pletcher deciding to work the majority of his Derby, and all his Kentucky Oaks candidates, on Saturday now instead of Sunday.
The eighth season of Countdown to the Crown returns as one of the most comprehensive handicapper’s scouting reports of the 3-year-old scene. Posted each Friday at DRF.com from Jan. 4 through the Belmont Stakes, Countdown keeps you apprised of the rising stars of the 3-year-old class from the maiden ranks through the Grade 1 stakes. You can access daily updates, opinions and interactive features at Countdowntothecrown.com as well.
Straight from the Gate
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – As of nine days before the Kentucky Derby, most of the Derby horses are completing their final preparations, with most having one more workout left before next Saturday’s race.
Many excited horseplayers are getting preparing, too – poring over past performances, watching replays, and forming opinions. And this Thursday, I was no different – going through the Derby prospects and assigning them into five running-style categories in an effort to get a feel for the pace of Derby.
ELMONT, N.Y. – Jockey John Velazquez, who fractured a rib in a spill at Aqueduct on April 7, said everything is on schedule for him to return to the saddle next Wednesday, four days before he is to ride Verrazano in the Kentucky Derby on May 4.
Velazquez said Thursday that he is scheduled to meet with his orthopedist on Monday to get final clearance and he hopes to get on a horse or two Tuesday morning at Belmont.
In a phone interview Thursday, Velazquez said he is “doing really good” and that he has been working out for several days.
[bc_video_id:290322:]LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The rain was gone, but remnants of Wednesday’s downpours remained as the racetrack still had moisture in it and was designated as good during training hours Thursday at Churchill Downs. The rain, which disrupted normal training to some degree the previous morning, was replaced by frigid temperatures, low enough for frost to form on windshields and horses to be on their toes.[:slideshow-right:]
One recent arrival, Orb, especially relished the cooler air, having trained extensively throughout the winter in southern Florida.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The days until the big race have dwindled into single digits, and with most of the major players having settled in comfortably at Churchill Downs, only a few things are left to be done toward the Kentucky Derby.
Lynn Whiting sure wouldn’t mind having a horse in the Kentucky Derby again, but it won’t be this year with Officer Alex, a four-time winner who runs Saturday night in the Derby Trial.
Whiting, who won the 1992 Derby with Lil E. Tee, said the new points system that would appear to allow the Derby Trial winner to run back in seven days in the Derby is irrelevant to his agenda with Officer Alex, a Pennsylvania-bred who was a nose winner of the six-furlong Bachelor Stakes at Oaklawn Park earlier this month.
Goldencents, the winner of the Santa Anita Derby on April 6, breezed a slow six furlongs in 1:16.20 on a cloudy morning at Santa Anita on Thursday, never being asked for a significant effort by exercise rider Jonny Garcia.
Two days before the 1989 Kentucky Derby, favorite Easy Goer went through his final timed workout for the race. The work started at Churchill’s half-mile pole, near the end of the backstretch, and as Easy Goer loped around the far turn he clicked off a quarter-mile in a moderate 24.40 seconds. Then trouble came. Let David Carroll, now a trainer but then Easy Goer’s regular morning rider, supply the details.