LOUISVILLE, Ky. - That guy in a green jersey-style T-shirt and white visor pulling up to Barn 41 on a rusted low-end mountain bike late Monday morning - that guy was a groom, right? Hotwalker?
Guess again. That was trainer Derek Ryan. And for a man about to send out his first Kentucky Derby starter, Musket Man, Ryan is keeping things typically low-key at Churchill Downs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It took eight days in Kentucky to finally see a workout that would blow my socks off, a la Street Sense or Barbaro, in the weeks leading up to this year's Kentucky Derby. That work came Monday at Churchill Downs, but it was not turned in by a prospective Derby starter but by Rachel Alexandra, who will be the odds-on favorite to capture the 2009 Kentucky Oaks.
Churchill Downs
Sunny, track fast, 71 degrees
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Friesan Fire and Pioneerof the Nile, two of the leading contenders for the 135th Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs, were among a slew of workers on Monday morning, along with Kentucky Oaks favorite Rachel Alexandra, whose drill was delayed by a gruesome accident involving two unraced runners.
ELMONT, N.Y. - Quality Road's bid to make Saturday's Kentucky Derby ended Monday morning when the colt's right front foot was simply too sore to allow him to train.
Quality Road had developed a quarter crack on his right front foot last Thursday, but his connections were hopeful the horse could still make the Derby. Quality Road needed to get a workout in Monday morning, but instead was relegated to standing in a tub of hot water and Epsom salts in an attempt to get the soreness out of the foot.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The sun was shining bright on the old Kentucky home of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, when Churchill Downs began its spring meeting with plenty of action in the morning and the afternoon on a warm, summer-like day. The day here commenced with workouts for five of the 20 horses scheduled to run in the 135th Derby next Saturday and concluded with the Grade 3, $100,000 Derby Trial, which has become more of a trial in recent years for the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Every trainer has a different approach to preparing a horse for the Kentucky Derby, and Saturday morning proved a contrast in both methodology and performance at Churchill Downs where five 3-year-olds turned in their final Derby workouts.
Churchill Downs
Sunny, 73 degrees, Track Fast
The Godolphin pair of Desert Party and Regal Ransom were definitely the stars of the day but were a contrast in styles themselves despite turning in similar work and gallop-out times.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - There was Kentucky Derby news on three fronts Saturday morning, with Quality Road jogging to test his injured quarter cracks at Belmont Park in New York, Dunkirk working at Palm Meadows, and five Derby contenders turning in their final drills here at Churchill Downs.
Quality Road, the Florida Derby winner, jogged 1 3/4 miles on Belmont's training track. Ian McKinlay, the foot specialist who is treating the colt, told owner Ned Evans, "No blood, he's sound. You can't ask for more than that."
ELMONT, N.Y. - Just when it seemed Quality Road had overcome a quarter crack in his right hind foot, another crack has developed on the inside part of his right front foot, once again putting his status for the May 2 Kentucky Derby in jeopardy.
Trainer Jimmy Jerkens had planned to work Quality Road at Belmont Park on Saturday but now will put that off to at the earliest Sunday, but most likely Monday. Quality Road, who would be one of the Derby favorites based on victories in the Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby, is scheduled to fly to Kentucky on Tuesday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - For all his success, and there has been plenty, trainer Jeff Mullins has long been dogged by questions over his methods. He has racked up major wins, as well as fines and suspensions. Sometimes, as happened three weeks ago, he lands uncomfortably atop that tightrope.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Both the weather and the activity level coming into Kentucky Derby 135 are really beginning to heat up at Churchill Downs, where the temperature rose into the 70s before the end of training hours on Friday morning.
There was only one Derby horse on Friday's clocker tab, Summer Bird, but there was plenty to see on the racetrack as prospective members of the field continue to arrive on a daily basis.
Churchill Downs
Clear, track fast, 67 degrees
