LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A forecast of rain in the Louisville area over the weekend helped liven up Friday's activities at Churchill Downs as trainer Louis Roussel III opted to move Recapturetheglory's work forward 24 hours to avoid potential complications from the weather.
The Illinois Derby winner Recapturetheglory and Anak Nakal were the only two Kentucky Derby candidates to work over a racetrack that was arguably a trifle cuppier and slower than the previous two mornings.
Richard Dutrow Jr. enters his first Kentucky Derby as confident in his chances to win it as if it were the third race at Aqueduct on any January day. In Big Brown, Dutrow believes he has the best horse in what he feels is an inferior field for next Saturday's 134th Run for the Roses at Churchill Downs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Desperate times often make desperate men, but as desperate as owner William Warren is to get Denis of Cork into the Kentucky Derby next Saturday, he said Friday he did not accept a proposal days ago that would have significantly helped his chances.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - If Churchill Down next Saturday is bathed in the sunshine and warmth that has enveloped this area over the past few days, the sun surely will be shining bright on the old Kentucky home for the 134th Kentucky Derby. But the forecast for this weekend, and into the first part of Derby week, is not as hospitable, so several trainers have been attuned as much to The Weather Channel as reruns of "Seinfeld" on their hotel televisions, trying to glean the optimum time for a final workout for their Derby horses.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Recapturetheglory and Anak Nakal were the only two Kentucky Derby candidates to work Friday on another unseasonably warm morning at Churchill Downs.
Trainer Louis Roussel III moved Recapturetheglory's work forward 24 hours in deference to weather reports calling for rain in the area on Saturday. With jockey E.T. Baird aboard, Recapturetheglory worked five furlongs in 1:00.98 shortly after the renovation break.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Under normal circumstances, Thursday would have been a pivotal and extremely exciting morning at Churchill Downs, with the likely favorite for this year's Kentucky Derby scheduled for his final serious workout prior to the big event. Unfortunately, that particular drill came about 900 miles away at Palm Meadows training center in Boynton Beach, Fla., where Big Brown zipped five furlongs in 58.60 seconds under exercise rider Michelle Nevin.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - One of the most important elements to focus on during training hours in the final days leading up to the 2008 Kentucky Derby will be how horses who have had the bulk if not all of their success over artificial surfaces handle the conventional dirt track at Churchill Downs.
Much of the attention in this area will be focused on the Santa Anita Derby winner, Colonel John, who has yet to race over dirt. He had not even trained over it before his arrival here earlier this week.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kent Desormeaux said he remembers his first Kentucky Derby ride "like it was yesterday." Eighteen years old and riding a longshot named Purdue King in the 1988 running, Desormeaux was in danger of finishing last before he took drastic action.
"I almost dropped somebody," he recalled. "If you go back and watch the tape, way in the back, I'm coming over on another horse coming up the rail. It was horrible, but I sure didn't want to get embarrassed by running last in my first Derby."
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Rick Dutrow has said all along he would listen to what Big Brown tells him. After his penultimate work for the May 3 Kentucky Derby on Thursday, Big Brown must have told Dutrow to go jump out of a plane.
Dutrow said he was so amped up after watching Big Brown work that "I've got to get this anxiety out of me."
How so?
"I think I'll jump out of a plane today," he said via telephone from Florida. "I'm going tandem jumping."
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Rick Porter tried to get to the Kentucky Derby in 2005 with Rockport Harbor, but had to abandon ship when the colt's feet failed him. Porter got there last year and came tantalizingly close to winning with Hard Spun, who outran everyone but Street Sense. This year, Porter is back for more, with both caveats and a chance to make history.
