The Past Two Days Have Been Busy With Derby And Oaks Contenders

The past two days have seen the Churchill track busy with Derby and Oaks contenders getting in their most serious workouts before the final day.

I'll begin with the three Oaks fillies who worked on wednesday morning. I liken these works to the Good, the Bad , and the Ugly in style. You, for trainer Bobby Frankel, certainly was the Good. This filly is training much more relaxed and professional then she was for the Breeders Cup last fall and it showed in her breeze. She went away from the six furlong pole well within herself and throughout the entire work,as the excersize rider never moved his hands or asked her in any form to extend herself. To see this work at first I thought she was going slowly because it looked as though she was in a mere gallop . The final time of 113.2 was tremendous in that it was an effortless performance for her. You broke her maiden first time out over the Churchill surface and certainly has a fondness for it. Habibti who has been runner up to You twice and defeated her once unfortunately falls into the category of the Bad. Trainer Bob Baffert was looking for a strong work and put her in company with stablemate Danthebluegrassman for a six furlong work. This filly never looked comfortable at any point and rider Dana Barnes had to get after her aggressively with her hands and a whip to make her finish. Her haircoat is dull and she is very thin in her bodyweight suggesting she just isn't doing very well at this time. Trainer Niall O'Callahagn had his Oaks contender Gary Tanaka's Ms. Brookski out shortly after the renovation for a five furlong move. She gets the title of the Ugly not because of her appearance as she looks very well, but because of the way she travelled in this work and the way circumstances unfolded. As she went away from the pole, she could not get her action together cross-firing behind (on the right lead in front , but leading with the left leg behind) . She continued doing this around the turn where she was unlucky to encounter a great deal of other traffic, horses breezing inside of her that caused her to go very wide. Things did not get any better for her down the stretch as she continued to cross-fire behind, and was fanned extremely wide by another horse galloping near the inside of the track. All things considered, the final time of 100.3 was excellent and she should not be overlooked because of that.

The boys were much more consistent in their pre Derby workouts wednesday and thursday. War Emblem was the first to go wednesday for trainer Bob Baffert and the Thoroughbred Corporation. Dana Barnes up once again on the Illinois Derby winner had a bit of trouble at the beginning of the work with war Emblem trying to bolt quickly to the outside . She got him under control though and went away from the pole easily. The colt picked it up nicely down the stretch with only slight urging from Dana and finished the workout and gallop out well. Potential Derby favorite Harlan's Holiday went five furlongs shortly after with jockey Tony D'Amico aboard. Trainer Ken McPeek always put a fast workout in this colt and this one was no different to all the ones I have seen leading up to his races. Tony asked him to finish strongly urging him aggressively with his hands. I have two small negatives about this work, the first being that he seemed to be drifting out fairly significantly in the final eighth and he shut down quickly following the wire not galloping out well. Godolphin Stable's UAE Derby winner Essence of Dubai worked 7 furlongs thursday before the break over a track that was made glib by overnight rains. He went very evenly throughout the work and even when he was asked to pick it up slightly seemed to maintain the same pace. It was a good work especially since he was without company. My only drawback I see from watching this son of Pulpit daily is that he is a very light framed horse without a lot of constitution which may effect him with the occaisional rough running in the crowded Derby field. Steve Margolis sent out Request For Parole after the renovation in company of another horse for a six furlong move. Robbie Albarado was in the irons and seemed to have a bit of difficulty at first galloping into the pole. The son of Judge TC was pulling very hard going to the pole, but when they broke off, he relaxed and rated well off his company. At the top of the stretch Robbie asked him to pick it up which he did in a hurry. Robbie gave him a couple of taps with the whip and he responded well getting low to the ground and galloping out strongly. He looked much better than his work from last week and travelled smoothly throughout suggesting he is heading in the right direction again.

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