HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Traffic problems might cost the average person a few minutes on the road each morning. Traffic problems in the Florida Derby might have cost trainer Michael Matz the opportunity to defend Barbaro's title in the Kentucky Derby.
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DRF Past Performances
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Bill Currin lives in a Hollywood Hills residence once owned by Clark Gable, and owns horses named Call Me Rhett and Where's Scarlett. But for many, including rival trainers, who have observed Currin's handling of Stormello this spring, they think Currin has gone with the wind.
When one man has a lot of dominoes, and one of them falls, it sets off a chain reaction. Such was the situation on Wednesday, when trainer Todd Pletcher announced that Sham Stakes winner Ravel, who was scheduled to head the field in the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 7, was out of that race and off the trail for the Kentucky Derby because of an injured left front leg.
The spectacular stretch run between Street Sense and Any Given Saturday in the Tampa Bay Derby, coupled with outstanding performances from Curlin in the Rebel Stakes, Cobalt Blue in the San Felipe Stakes, and Song of Navarone in the WinStar Derby this past weekend, were more examples of a developing trend this spring: that this year's crop of 3-year-olds has depth, is fast and consistent, and has numerous candidates who won't find the Kentucky Derby's 1 1/4 miles a daunting task.
As problems go, these are nice ones to have. By virtue of victories last weekend with Circular Quay in the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds, Cowtown Cat in the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct, and the filly Rags to Riches in the Santa Anita Oaks, trainer Todd Pletcher enhanced his already powerful hand for the May 5 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. But with so many horses now funneling into a finite number of final preps, Pletcher has to decide who goes where, which of his horses might have to run against one another, and - here's a really tricky part - who will ride them.
NEW ORLEANS - This has been the year of bad trips, be it stuck on the tarmac in poor weather in Austin, Texas; aboard Jet Blue flights in a snowstorm a few weeks ago at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City; or behind Slew's Tizzy, which is the predicament Circular Quay found himself in last month in the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds.
In the winner's circle following the $250,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park on Monday, Jamie Sanders looked like the happiest person in the world. And why not? She trains Teuflesberg, the Southwest winner, and owns 25 percent of the colt.
"I was really happy," she said Wednesday.
Teuflesberg will now head down the trail to the May 5 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, with his next stop the Grade 3, $300,000 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn on March 17. Sanders has never run a horse in the Derby as a trainer. But, partner, this ain't her first rodeo.
Wagering and attendance figures at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on Saturday for the 2006 were up across the board, establishing North American betting records for a single race and a single card.
All-sources betting on the Kentucky Derby was a record $118,426,674, up 13.9 percent over last year's all-sources wagering total of $103,985,374. The Derby field included 20 horses in both 2005 and 2006.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The top three choices from the on May 20 at Pimlico, their respective trainers said Sunday morning at Churchill Downs.
Barbaro, who was the second choice, "looks bright," his trainer, Michael Matz, said Sunday morning.
Barbaro was scheduled to go to Matz's barn at the Fair Hill training center in Maryland on Sunday afternoon. Matz said he would likely come to Pimlico a couple of days before the Preakness.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Apprentice rider Julien Leparoux, the leading jockey in the country by wins, scored the first graded-stakes victories of his career Friday by guiding Man of Illusion to victory in the Grade 3 Aegon Turf Sprint and Stream Cat to victory in the Grade 3 Crown Royal American Turf.
By winning those races, the 22-year-old Frenchman proved he could more than hold his own against the nation's elite riders, many of whom were in town to participate in the Kentucky Oaks and the many stakes that supported the card.