LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Monday figured to be a relatively quiet one for Kentucky Derby hopefuls. The threat of rain on Tuesday, though, had a couple of trainers move up their horse's final tune-ups by a day, including Wally Dollase, whose Ten Most Wanted put an exclamation mark on the morning's activity with his second impressive drill in five days.
Work of the day
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - After a three-month sabbatical, Gary Stevens had been riding for only a few days in February when he took the mount on the longshot Buddy Gil in the Baldwin Stakes, a turf sprint at Santa Anita.
Stevens could not have known it at the time, but Buddy Gil would turn out to be the Hall of Fame jockey's mount for Saturday's Kentucky Derby.
Following wins in the Baldwin, the San Felipe Stakes in March, and the Santa Anita Derby on April 5, Buddy Gil has secured a place in the Kentucky Derby as a top contender.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Empire Maker and Peace Rules, along with Atswhatimtalknbout and Ten Most Wanted, turned in their final works on Sunday morning at Churchill Downs for Saturday's Kentucky Derby.
Empire Maker and Peace Rules, both trained by Bobby Frankel, both were ridden by exercise rider Mitsu Nakauchida. Peace Rules went out earlier, and was timed by Daily Racing Form in 1:13.98 for six furlongs on the fast track. Empire Maker went out after the renovation break and was timed in 1:12.72. Peace Rules went by himself, while Empire Maker worked in the company of Requete.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Brancusi has been out of sight. Next Saturday, his trainer, Patrick Biancone, is hoping the colt runs out of his mind.
Brancusi has remained here at Keeneland Race Course since finishing second in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes on April 12. Far from the madding crowd gathering 72 miles west at Churchill Downs for the 129th Kentucky Derby, Brancusi has been able to train in relative quiet. In the two weeks since the Blue Grass, Biancone said the 3-year-old colt has made significant progress, and Biancone is hopeful of a big effort in the Derby.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Saturday may not have been the busiest morning on the Kentucky Derby workout patrol, but logistically it was the most difficult to cover. It began at 5:15 a.m. when Ten Cents a Shine stepped on the Churchill Downs track and ended five hours later at Keeneland following Brancusi's one-mile work over the turf.
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Domestic Dispute, the winner of the Santa Catalina Stakes in January who is winless in his last three starts, has been purchased by California owners David Bienstock and Chuck Winner and very likely will start in Saturday's Kentucky Derby.
The deal was finalized on Saturday after Bienstock, Winner and their trainer, Paddy Gallagher, spent the morning with trainer Bob Baffert watching Domestic Dispute gallop at Churchill Downs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Despite having won five times in eight starts, including the Louisiana Derby and the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, Peace Rules is becoming the forgotten horse of next Saturday's Kentucky Derby.
His trainer, Bobby Frankel, has been wearing a hat with the name of his highly regarded stablemate Empire Maker, the Derby favorite. Empire Maker has the better pedigree, and his jockey is better known. When Frankel is asked about his two Derby horses, the question is usually along the lines of, "What about your other horse?"
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - And on Friday it rained.
What was expected to be a quiet day for Kentucky Derby hopefuls stabled at Churchill Downs became even quieter after rain turned the racetrack sloppy from the start of training at 5:15 a.m. until the conclusion four hours later.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Between the routine gallops and occasional workouts that punctuate a training regimen, there are numerous details that a trainer must tend to leading up to a race. When you are training a colt for the Kentucky Derby, and that horse is the acknowledged favorite, the process is magnified.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Thursday was the first of two consecutive mornings during which none of the 18 prospective Kentucky Derby starters was scheduled to work. Even gallop activity was relatively light, the bulk of it coming after the renovation break.
Empire Maker was the first horse out on the track following the break, and anybody looking to find a chink in the Derby favorite's armor would have been hard-pressed to do so after watching him gallop 1 1/2 miles under his regular exercise rider, Jose Cuevas.
