4.29.02	Photo By: Jeremy Lyverse
		Kinsman Stable's Blue Burner, shown above breezing under exercise rider Judy Nicks, dilled five furlongs in a smart :59 flat on Apr. 29 at Churchill Downs in what was to be the colt's final major drill for the May 4 Kentucky Derby (GI). The French Deputy colt was timed in splits of :23.40, :35 and :46.80 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.80. "I thought it was good," stated trainer Bill Mott when asked his impression of the move. "I timed him in :59, too. I wanted to put a decent work into him and I got what I wanted."

Derby Candidates Active In A.M.; Buddha Is Coming
April 29, 2002
By Derby Notes Team

Kentucky Derby Headlines

• Ten Derby Candidates Drill
• Two Euro Horses Arrive Tuesday
  
• Buddha, U S S Tinosa Are Coming
  

"I thought it was good," stated trainer Bill Mott when asked his impression of the move. "I timed him in :59, too. I wanted to put a decent work into him and I got what I wanted."

Blue Burner, a chestnut homebred who first saw light of day at Kinsman Farm in Florida, had a set of black blinkers on his head and exercise rider Judy Nicks on his back when he came out just prior to 9 a.m. for his exercise. He entered the track at the five-furlong gap, backtracked to the frontside, then accomplished his drill in workmanlike fashion in the chilly Louisville air.

Blue Burner, who'll be ridden by Corey Nakatani Saturday, will get a day off tomorrow and merely walk the shedrow, Mott noted.

BUDDHA - Reports from the H. James Bond barn in New York were all good Monday morning concerning Kentucky Derby candidate Buddha, owned by Gary and Mary West of Omaha. The Wood Memorial (GI) winner had drilled six furlongs in 1:13.42 around the 'dogs' on a 'sloppy' Belmont Park training track Sunday morning, but was reported none the worse for the effort today.

The roan/gray colt by Unbridled's Song was said to have eaten all his feed last night and to be feeling good this morning. He has a departure time of 7 o'clock this evening aboard a van for a 10- to 12-hour ride to Louisville that should see him arrive here early tomorrow morning.

Trainer Bond had a 1:30 p.m. airplane awaiting him and was expected to be on the grounds at Churchill Downs in the morning to tuck his horse into a stall at Barn 48 on trainer Tony Reinstedler's shedrow.

CAME HOME - Farish, Goodman, McCaffery and Toffan's Came Home, unbeaten as a three-year-old, including victory in the Santa Anita Derby, displayed his sharpness this morning with a five-furlong breeze in 1:00.60 under jockey Chris McCarron.

Trainer Paco Gonzalez sent the son of Gone West to the track after the renovation break. With a lengthy run to the pole, Came Home had splits of :24.20 for the opening quarter and a half in :48 flat. He was timed galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.20.

McCarron and Gonzalez were pleased with Came Home's effort this morning.

"He went very well," said McCarron, who traveled overnight from California to pilot his Derby mount today. "He felt good going across the ground. He's showing us good signs. This is a determined colt with a lot of try in him."

"It was just what I wanted," said Gonzalez. "He didn't need any more this close to the race. I want him to stay happy and healthy."

Today's breeze was Came Home's second over the Churchill Downs track. Last Tuesday, he drilled six furlongs in 1:12.60 under McCarron.

CASTLE GANDOLFO/JOHANNESBURG - Trainer Aidan O'Brien's Kentucky Derby contingent is scheduled to arrive at Lexington's Blue Grass Airport Tuesday at 5:10 p.m. (EDT)

The colts will immediately ship to Keeneland where they will quarantine for up to 48 hours. Once cleared, they will be able to resume training.

On Saturday morning, the colts will ship to Churchill Downs and should arrive at approximately 10:00 a.m.

EASY GRADES - Desperado Stables' Easy Grades, the Santa Anita Derby runner-up, did some high stepping Monday morning at Churchill Downs as he motored through a five-furlong drill in 1:01.40 shortly after the mid-morning renovation break.

Jorge Chavez, the rider who won the Run for the Roses last year aboard Monarchos, was on board for Easy Grades' move, guiding the gelding through splits of :25 and :49.40 en route. This was the second time Chavez had been on Easy Grades' back after working him here April 22 in 1:29.40.

"Jorge said he felt good," said trainer Ted H. West, who - at the age of 28 - will be the youngest conditioner to saddle a horse in Derby 128. "He said he learned a little bit about his move this morning, so that's good. The work was just what I was looking for. It was perfect. I actually caught him going six furlongs in 1:13 and 3 (fifths). He'll walk a day tomorrow and then go back to the track."

ESSENCE OF DUBAI - UAE Derby winner Essence Of Dubai visited the paddock and starting gate for the second day in a row before galloping a mile and a quarter under exercise rider Lee Roebuck shortly before 7 o'clock on a brisk Monday morning.

The Godolphin runner is scheduled to work five furlongs before the renovation break Tuesday with Roebuck up. Essence Of Dubai usually goes to the track just after 6:30.

"He was really good today," said Tom Albertrani, assistant to trainer Saeed bin Suroor. "He still had that energy there, but he wasn't using himself up. We wanted to time it when the gate was opened up and didn't want to be hanging around there too early because yesterday he was anxious about walking around there.

"He has a tendency of getting a little silly, and we just wanted to make sure we got him up there when he could go straight into it."

Essence Of Dubai, who will be ridden by David Flores in Kentucky Derby 128, schooled in the paddock Sunday afternoon during the race card.

"It went good and he behaved well," Albertrani said. "He got a little warm in there, which was to be expected. I would expect him to be better the second time we go there, which may be Thursday."

HARLAN'S HOLIDAY - Starlight Stable's Harlan's Holiday jogged back to the chute by the starting gate and then galloped a mile and five-eighths under exercise rider Helen Pitts after the renovation break.

Trainer Ken McPeek was satisfied with the morning's activity and has the likely morning-line Derby favorite scheduled for a half-mile breeze after the renovation break Tuesday with Derby rider Edgar Prado up.

Since winning the Blue Grass Stakes on April 13 at Keeneland, Harlan's Holiday has worked once at Churchill Downs, going five furlongs in :59.40 under Tony D'Amico last Wednesday.

IT'SALLINTHECHASE - Darwin Olson's It'sallinthechase had a morning off following his five-furlong drill in 1:01.60 Sunday. The Kentucky-bred colt by Take Me Out merely walked the shedrow on a nippy Monday morning after eating up the night before.

"He's feeling frisky today. He was a bit of a handful in his stall," said groom Rusty Paul. "He's not the nasty kind, though. He's just a good-feeling colt."

Trainer Wilson Brown, who is greatly enjoying his first experience at the Kentucky Derby, said It'sallinthechase will walk again tomorrow, then gallop on up to the race Saturday.

LUSTY LATIN - Wendy and Joey Platts' Lusty Latin worked five furlongs in 1:01 after the renovation break with Derby rider Glenn Corbett up. Churchill Downs clockers caught the gray son of El Prado in :12.40 for the first eighth, :24.60 for the first quarter, :37.60 for three-eighths, :49 for the half and galloping out six furlongs in 1:14.80.

"I let him do his own thing early and then turning for home I kind of clucked to him and let him stretch on out down the lane and he finished up real well," said Corbett, who left after the work to return to Prairie Meadows where he had seven mounts Monday afternoon.

"This morning, he galloped out nicely, very smooth. The work was just as good if not better than last week. He seems to get over this track very well."

Lusty Latin, outfitted in blinkers as he was last week, was working at the same time Santa Anita Derby winner Came Home was working his five-eighths.

"I saw him in front of us and decided to wait a little bit longer to break off to let Came Home go on," said Corbett, who will return to Louisville on Thursday for his Kentucky Derby debut. "I didn't want my horse to work terribly hard."

Lusty Latin worked a half-mile in :49.20 last Monday with Corbett up.

"He actually worked five-eighths last week and the clockers only got him for four," said trainer Jeff Mullins, who returned to Louisville Sunday night from his Hollywood Park base. "He was a little stronger last week and more relaxed today, but he finished up strong."

Mullins said Lusty Latin would walk in the morning and then return to the track Wednesday.

MAYAKOVSKY - Michael B. Tabor's Mayakovsky galloped a mile and a half after the renovation break with exercise rider Cyril Desplanques up. Trainer Patrick Biancone said Demi O'Byrne, racing manager for Tabor, was scheduled to arrive in Louisville Tuesday night and a decision on the colt's Derby status would be made Wednesday, the day of entry.

MEDAGLIA D'ORO - Trainer Robert Frankel likes to look for every little plus or edge he can find for his horses, so he noted with pleasure that his Derby charge Medaglia d'Oro was the very first horse to break off and drop to the rail for a work Monday morning following the 8 o'clock renovation break.

The dark El Prado colt had a clear lane along the inside starting at the five and a half-furlong marker and he picked up the pace immediately when asked by Marco Ramirez, Frankel's regular exercise rider who was flown in from California to handle the drill. The Churchill clockers caught the San Felipe (Grade II) winner in :24, :36, :48.60, 1:01.60 en route to a final clocking of 1:13.80 for the six furlongs. He was timed going out an additional furlong in 1:28.20.

Ramirez, a jockey who still holds a license and rides occasionally, but primarily has worked mornings for Frankel for the past decade, clocked the horse himself and got his mount in 1:13.60. "He felt good; he likes this track," Ramirez said.

Frankel, the Hall of Fame conditioner who has been on a roll for what seems like forever, pronounced himself happy with the exercise.

"It was a good work, just about what I wanted," the trainer said. "I wanted him to go in :13 (1:13) and he went just a bit slower. We try to make this business an exact science and, of course, you can't do that. There is a human element in all that happens. But the horses seem to overcome that and run well most of the time anyway.

"And I'm a good adjuster. I've got five days here (until the Derby) to get him right where I want him to be. He's doing great and we just want to keep moving ahead."

Medaglia d'Oro, second in New York's Wood Memorial (GI) in his latest outing, will be ridden by Laffit Pincay, Jr. in Derby 128 Saturday.

Ocean Sound - With trainer Jim Cassidy on the scene, Irish-bred Ocean Sound (Ire) galloped a mile and one-half under exercise rider Adam Kitchingman.

Cassidy said Ocean Sound's workout schedule is contingent upon the weather. The plan is to breeze Ocean Sound a half-mile Tuesday if conditions are favorable or three furlongs Wednesday if they aren't. "I'd like him to go a little quicker this time," said Cassidy, "possibly a half in :47 and change or :48." Last Tuesday, the Mujadil colt worked seven furlongs in 1:28.20, a move characterized by Cassidy as one designed to build the colt's stamina.

Alex Solis, who rides Ocean Sound in the Derby, isn't due to arrive in Louisville until Thursday, so Cassidy was attempting to line up a rider for his horse's workout Tuesday or Wednesday.

PERFECT DRIFT - Stonecrest Farm's Perfect Drift galloped a mile and a half under Joe Deegan Monday morning at the Trackside Training Center.

Trainer Murray Johnson labeled it as another good morning for the Dynaformer gelding, who will be ridden Saturday by Eddie Delahoussaye.

Perfect Drift is scheduled to work five furlongs Tuesday morning at Trackside after the renovation break, which Johnson said would put the work time at approximately 8:20.

PRIVATE EMBLEM/WINDWARD PASSAGE - Cassels and Zollars' Private Emblem and Team Valor's Windward Passage, trainer Steve Asmussen's twin hopes in Saturday's 128th Kentucky Derby, completed their major preparations this morning with half-mile workouts under jockey Donnie Meche.

Windward Passage, a son of 1997 Derby runner-up Captain Bodgit, was first to the track, at approximately 6:30 a.m. He accomplished his breeze in :48.60 and was timed in 1:02.40 galloping on out five furlongs.

Stablemate Private Emblem, the son of Our Emblem who won the Arkansas Derby (GII) in impressive fashion, came out approximately a half-hour later, again with Donnie Meche, who will ride him Saturday, and drilled his half-mile in :48.80, striding out five furlongs in 1:01.80. Split fractions on his breeze were :12.40 for the opening eighth, :25.40 for the quarter-mile and three furlongs in :37 flat.

"Both horses did well," said Asmussen later at the barn. "I'm pleased with the way they are getting over the track. This was one of Windward Passage's better moves ever. I was disappointed with the way he was training in Arkansas, but he's been a lot more into his works here. He was aggressive to the pole today, as was Private Emblem. Both horses have seemed to accept their surroundings.

"In his last work, Private Emblem was noticing things in the infield and not really paying attention. Since then he's acted like he knows where he's going. Both of these horses are traveling well and faster than ever which they are going to need to be Saturday."

Regarding the fact that Private Emblem didn't run for six weeks prior to the Arkansas Derby and will be running back in the Derby after only three weeks, Asmussen said, "The spacing of his races was so that he would be in the shape he is now coming up to the Kentucky Derby."

Asmussen said the schedule for Windward Passage and Private Emblem during the remainder of Derby week will include walking under the shed Tuesday, schooling in the gate, a return to galloping Wednesday and possibly afternoon schooling in the Churchill Downs paddock.

"I feel extremely fortunate to have two horses in the final 20 from a foal crop of approximately 30,000 in the Kentucky Derby," Asmussen said. "The physical shape these horses are in is a credit to my crew, which has done a great job."

PROUD CITIZEN - Bob Baker, David Cornstein and Bill Mack's Proud Citizen sizzled over a fast Churchill Downs racing surface Monday morning, going five furlongs in :58.80 under exercise rider Stacy Maker.

The D. Wayne Lukas trainee came on the track immediately after it opened for training at 5:45 a.m.

"He looked fine this morning and everything went smooth," said Lukas of the son of Gone West. "He will walk tomorrow and then go back to the track Wednesday."

Proud Citizen is coming into the Derby off the same route as Lukas' most recent Kentucky Derby winner, Charismatic. The 1999 Horse of the Year had his last two Derby preps in the Santa Anita Derby and the Coolmore Lexington Stakes (GII) and final work the Monday before the Derby in 1:02.80 over a sloppy track.

"This horse is a little quicker and he gives more of himself in the morning," Lukas said. "You can do almost anything with this horse."

Mike Smith, who rode Proud Citizen in the Lexington, has the call for the Derby.

REQUEST FOR PAROLE - Jeri and Sam Knighton's Request For Parole galloped a mile and a half after the renovation break with exercise rider Loren Diego up.

Request For Parole was on the track about the time five Kentucky Derby hopefuls were putting in their final major works.

"All of the people out there didn't bother him at all," Diego said. "He was very good."

Steve Margolis, one of six trainers who will be saddling their first Kentucky Derby starters, was pleased with the morning's activity.

"He had a good strong gallop today," said Margolis of Request For Parole, who comes into the Derby off a six-week break from his third-place finish in the Spiral Stakes. "He is doing well, and he is not affected at all by all the people. We have shipped him to four or five tracks with no problems."

Robby Albarado will have the mount Saturday.

SAARLAND - Cynthia Phipps' Saarland, a come-from-behind threat in Saturday's Kentucky Derby, worked for the first time over the Churchill Downs track this morning, stepping five furlongs in 1:02 flat with Adolph Krajewski up.

The son of 1990 Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled had split times of :13 flat, :25.20, :38 flat and 50.40. He galloped on out six furlongs in 1:15.60.

Trainer Shug McGaughey, who arrived in Louisville Sunday evening, expressed satisfaction with the drill, saying, "That was fine, what I was looking for. He got over the ground very well with a last eighth in :11 and change."

McGaughey, whose last Derby starter was Easy Goer, second to Sunday Silence in 1989, said Saarland will walk under the shed Tuesday, resume galloping Wednesday and possibly school in the paddock Wednesday afternoon.

STRAIGHT GIN - Marylou Whitney's Straight Gin galloped a mile under exercise rider Jamie Sanders before the renovation break.

With $52,500 in graded earnings, it appears unlikely that the Nick Zito trainee will make the Kentucky Derby field, which is limited to the top 20 graded money earners that enter.

SUNDAY BREAK (Jpn) - Japanese-bred Sunday Break (Jpn), third in the Wood Memorial but an unlikely participant in Saturday's Kentucky Derby because of a lack of graded stakes earnings, nevertheless was sent to the track for a six-furlong breeze in company early this morning by trainer Neil Drysdale.

The Forty Niner colt had Marcelino Olguin up as usual and was timed in 1:14.40, pleasing his conditioner who won the Derby two years ago with Fusaichi Pegasus.

"He was spot on," said Drysdale. "He went in :25, :50 and when Marcelino asked him to pick it up in the final 70 yards he finished out strongly."

With Sunday Break unlikely to get into Saturday's race, Drysdale said he will "see what shakes out after the Derby" and then decide about the Preakness or another opportunity.

U S S TINOSA - Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer reported that his roan/gray runner U S S Tinosa will ship to Louisville with a stablemate Tuesday by air from his Northern California headquarters. Expected time of arrival on the Churchill Downs backstretch is 4:00 p.m.

The Foxhound colt will be boarded at Barn 42, the most popular Derby barn of them all this year. Already in residence there are It'sallinthechase, Easy Grades, Wild Horses and Ocean Sound.

U S S Tinosa, named for a highly honored U. S. submarine during World War II, will need a bit of help to actually get to run in the 128th Kentucky Derby. He's currently No. 21 on the earnings list and needs a withdrawal from one of the 20 ahead of him if he's to be in action on Saturday. Hall of Fame candidate Kent Desormeaux has the call on the Ohio-bred stretch runner.

WAR EMBLEM - War Emblem, The Thoroughbred Corp.'s hopeful in Saturday's Kentucky Derby, galloped a mile and one-half again this morning under Mick Jenner and is on schedule to breeze a half-mile or five furlongs Tuesday for trainer Bob Baffert. Dana Barnes will be aboard to work War Emblem after the renovation break.

Tuesday's workout will be the Our Emblem colt's third at Churchill Downs since arriving April 11. The Illinois Derby winner breezed five eighths in :59.60 April 18 and followed that with a six-furlong move in 1:12.40 April 24.

Victor Espinoza, who finished third on the Baffert-trained Congaree a year ago, has the call on War Emblem.

WILD HORSES - Peachtree Stable's Wild Horses was back on the track for a mile and one-half gallop Monday morning following his five-panel drill (1:01.20) the previous day. Besides his gallop, exercise rider and assistant trainer Cindy Hutter also took the Saint Ballado colt for a tour of the Churchill paddock.

"He ate up last night and he's bright and sharp this morning," said trainer Todd Pletcher. "We're real happy with where he is."

Wild Horses is the only likely Derby runner left who does not have a rider for the mile and one quarter classic.

"John (Peachtree owner John Fort) and I are going to put our heads together today and come up with one," said Pletcher. "We know it's getting late in the day, but we've been hanging back seeing how the situation shakes out. It could well be that Rene (rider Rene Douglas who rode him in his second-place finish in the Arkansas Derby) will be our guy. He's a good rider and we have a lot of confidence in him. It's just that if you can get one of the stars, you try to get one of the stars. It's how this business works."

« Back To Derby Updates