LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Florida Derby runner-up Shackleford led a small cast of prominent Kentucky Derby and Oaks hopefuls breezing at Churchill Downs Saturday, working five furlongs in 1:00.20 over a sloppy racetrack hammered by overnight and morning rain.
Working by himself with Tammy Fox up, Shackleford skipped over the wet surface, going in steady splits of 12 seconds, 23.80, 35.60, and 47.80, before galloping out in 1:14. His work was among the best of the morning.
Shaun Bridgmohan will ride Santiva in the May 7 Kentucky Derby, reuniting the team that won the Kentucky Jockey Club over the Churchill Downs track last fall, trainer Eddie Kenneally said Friday.
Santiva most recently finished ninth as the favorite in last Saturday’s Blue Grass Stakes, in which he was the favorite. He was ridden that day by Julien Leparoux, whose Derby mount is Dialed In, the likely favorite for the race.
Even though he has won the Kentucky Derby three times in the last four years, jockey Calvin Borel, as of Friday, still did not have a confirmed mount for this year's race on May 7, according to his agent, Jerry Hissam.
"If I had one, I'd jump for joy," Hissam said.
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail
Uncle Mo galloped 1 1/4 miles at Churchill Downs on Friday morning and will have a workout on Tuesday, trainer Todd Pletcher said Friday.
KENTUCKY DERBY NEWS: Track all the 3-year-olds on the Triple Crown trail
No decision has yet been made on whether J P's Gusto will run in the May 7 Kentucky Derby, Steve Bajer, who works as a bloodstock adviser to owner Dr. John Waken, said Friday.
Bajer said J P's Gusto was sent to Kentucky following last week's Arkansas Derby, in which he finished eighth in the 13-horse field. In his prior start, J P's Gusto finished seventh in the Rebel Stakes.
Your browser does not support iframes
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Eighty miles separate Keeneland and Churchill Downs – but for Silver Medallion, who runs Saturday in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes in an effort to make the field for the 137th Kentucky Derby, the more apt measurement is in dollars.
LEXINGTON, Ky. − Interstate 77 and Interstate 95 have seen a lot of Dianne Cotter over the last few years. At 9 a.m. Monday she was driving that route again, headed south and hauling a horse. This year, Cotter made the 8 1/2-hour trip between Elkin, N.C., and Alachua, Fla., to retrieve Tuff Tuc, a 4-year-old Concerto filly who, in retrospect, she gave away too hastily.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Jaycito was not among the six 3-year-olds entered to run Saturday at Keeneland in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes, but trainer Bob Baffert said he is hopeful the colt still will be able to run in the 137th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
“He just wasn’t quite ready for this,” Baffert said Wednesday morning from California. “We are still pointing for the Derby, though.”
