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.
Skinner, third in the Santa Anita Derby on April 8, gained a berth in the Kentucky Derby on May 6 after Wild On Ice sustained a fatal injury during training early Thursday at Churchill Downs.
Skinner will have a new rider in Juan Hernandez, who replaces Victor Espinoza.
"We thought a change would maybe shake things up a little bit," trainer John Shirreffs said Thursday. "Maybe Skinner was used to the way Victor was riding him. It might help to have a different rider."
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Kentucky Derby hopeful Wild On Ice was euthanized Thursday morning after suffering a catastrophic injury to his left hind leg at Churchill Downs in a pre-dawn workout intended to prepare him for the Derby on May 6.
Churchill Downs
Wednesday, April 26
Weather: Clear
Temperature: 46
Track: Fast
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A serious drill by the two Japanese contenders in this year’s Kentucky Derby, Derma Sotogake and Continuar, and a test run with the addition of blinkers for Sun Thunder highlighted Wednesday’s Derby-Oaks training session at Churchill Downs.
He has won four of the last five Eclipse Awards as North America’s outstanding jockey and has averaged 320 wins annually the last eight years. At age 30, Irad Ortiz Jr. has risen to the top of his profession.
Ortiz also has developed a reputation as an aggressive rider, who in his quest to win walks the tightrope of daring and dangerous.
“I’m very competitive, but I would never try to put somebody in danger,” Ortiz said. “Everybody who knows me, knows how I am. I am very competitive but I’m not going to try and drop somebody, that’s for sure.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The skeptics who believed bubble horses only add clutter to the Kentucky Derby had their bubble busted last year when Rich Strike pulled his 80-1 stunner as a last-minute runner.
Will lightning strike in the same spot twice? The connections of a handful of horses eager to run next Saturday in the Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs sure hope so.
