The city of Pleasanton seeps racing tradition. It has the oldest one-mile track in the United States, the track where 1922 Kentucky Derby winner Morvich trained before heading east. The town was known for its horse farms before urban sprawl swallowed up land.
The people of Pleasanton, naturally, are excited about the Kentucky Derby, and on Saturday they will be able to relive a season when one of their own made a big impact on the Triple Crown.
When he went to Churchill Downs last year, trainer Doug O’Neill said, “I felt like the luckiest guy in the world to be part of the Kentucky Derby.” But after he saddled I’ll Have Another to win America’s most famous race, he could scarcely have imagined what the success would be like.
Most people’s recollections of school field trips involve museums and much yawning.
The young men and women from the North American Racing Academy were treated to something far more engaging Monday. On the Churchill Downs backstretch while awaiting the works and morning training of Kentucky Derby and Oaks competitors, they listened to retired Hall of Fame jockeys Chris McCarron and Pat Day recount their Derby experience from 1987.
Even people not in the NARA group stopped by to listen, taking in the comments of the two Derby-winning riders.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Both the likely field, and perhaps even the likely favorite, for the 139th Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs came into sharper focus Monday, when Code West, Govenor Charlie, Tiz a Minister, and Winning Cause all were officially taken out of consideration for the Derby, and Florida Derby winner Orb turned in an eye-catching workout that, combined with his improving form, may propel him to favoritism over the heretofore acknowledged favorite, the unbeaten Verrazano.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Cameras were clicking on the Churchill Downs backstretch Monday morning, the norm in the media storm of Derby Week. Most were focused on the racetrack, capturing the leading Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks runners as they galloped and breezed around the track.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Joel Rosario is going so good these days that even when he finishes second, he wins.
Rosario was aboard Overwhelming on Monday morning when that 3-year-old maiden served as a workmate for Orb in that colt’s final timed drill at Churchill Downs in preparation for Saturday’s $2 million Kentucky Derby.
[DERBY WATCH: Top 20 Kentucky Derby contenders with odds and video]
LOUISVILLE, Ky -- The likely field for the 139th Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs came into sharper focus Monday, when trainer Bob Baffert finally made it official that neither Govenor Charlie nor Code West would run, trainer Todd Pletcher decided to pass the race with Winning Cause, owner Stephen Young said Tiz a Minister would not travel from California, and trainer Mike Maker added Fear the Kitten to the prospective line-up.
[bc_video_id:290780:]LOUISVILLE, Ky. – When it came to this year’s Kentucky Derby workouts, they saved the best for last.
The majority of the final Derby works were already in the books by the time the racetrack opened for training Monday morning at Churchill Downs. Only one important piece of business remained, a final breeze from Florida Derby winner Orb, who delivered all that everybody expected and then some.[:slideshow-right:]
Courtesy Gainesway FarmTapit
Wood Memorial runner-up Normandy Invasion is looking to give Rick Porter his first Kentucky Derby victory after the owner came close twice before, and could give trainer Chad Brown his first win in the classic in his first attempt.
