ATSWHATIMTALKNBOUT - San Felipe Stakes runner-up Atswhatimtalknbout galloped a mile and a half under exercise rider Raul Vizcarrando after the renovation break over a fast track Thursday morning at Churchill Downs. Trainer Ron Ellis, who returned Wednesday night from a quick trip to his home base in California where he has a 40-horse string, said that Derby rider David Flores was going to catch a red-eye flight out of Los Angeles that would get him in Louisville at 6 a.m. Sunday, in time to work Atswhatimtalknbout that morning.

BRANCUSI - Blue Grass Stakes runner-up Brancusi galloped a mile and a half under jockey Tony Farina on Thursday morning at Keeneland. Trainer Patrick Biancone plans to bring Brancusi to Churchill Downs Friday afternoon with a work scheduled for Saturday. "It is supposed to rain a lot Friday, so I have a Plan A and a Plan B," Biancone said. "I will see how much it rains and if necessary we can wait a day (to work)."

BUDDY GIL - Desperado Stable's Buddy Gil, winner of the Santa Anita Derby, jogged a mile and galloped a mile under exercise rider Amy Mullins, the wife of trainer Jeff Mullins.

EMPIRE MAKER/PEACE RULES - After a day off from serious training during which both horses walked under the shedrow, Hall of Fame trainer Bobby Frankel send his major Kentucky Derby contenders to the track for gallops on Thursday. Juddmonte Farm's Empire Maker, the Derby favorite and winner of the Florida Derby (GI) and Wood Memorial (GI), visited the starting gate and then galloped 1 1/2 miles under Jose Cuevas. Edmund Gann's Peace Rules, winner of the Toyota Blue Grass (GI) and the Louisiana Derby (GII), galloped 1 3/8 miles with Antonio Graell up. The only anxious moment of the day came when a loose horse scooted past Empire Maker, but he never posed a significant threat to the Derby favorite. "It actually went right by him, they tell me," Frankel said. "I wasn't there, I was driving here. But it's Derby Week and things happen. When you've got the favorite, a lot of things happen." Frankel, who is bidding for his first Kentucky Derby victory, said both of his horses continue to thrive in the days leading up to Derby 129. He said that the job of training a heavy Derby favorite, and all the media coverage and attention from the public that goes with it, has not been a problem. "I think he's the legitimate favorite," said Frankel. "I'm pretty relaxed about him. I have a lot of confidence in this horse." Frankel was asked to assess the competition for Empire Maker in the Kentucky Derby and he did not have to look far to find the horse that he described as the main threat to the favorite. "My other horse," said Frankel. "I really honestly believe he's the second-best horse going into the race. He's a tough little horse. I've got a feeling he'll make the lead turning for home and it'll be tough running by him. He's a very, very good horse. "There are some others that can run: Atswhatimtalknbout, if he runs a big race, and Ten Most Wanted is a very good horse and he's improving. There are a few horses that can run, but like I said, the horse has got to do the talking. Me being interviewed and telling you how great everything is doesn't mean anything." The Kentucky Derby is one of the few major races in America that Frankel has not won during his spectacular career and it is a major goal for the New York native. And Frankel said the desire to win the Derby's roses is no recent development. "This is the one race that I definitely want to win," he said. "It's my best shot ever, so far. If I don't win it this time, I'll probably never win it. It's a race that everybody knows about. It's America's race. I mean you can win the Santa Anita Handicap three times and the Pacific Classic 20 times and all that doesn't mean anything. People don't know those races. This is the race everybody knows about." If Frankel can win that first Kentucky Derby with Empire Maker, it will be all the better because he believes the son of 1990 Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled's best performances are yet to come. "I don't think he's reached his potential yet," Frankel said. "I think he's got a long way to go to reach his potential. I think maybe one day he will be a great horse, but he has to show it. He has to do the talking, not me." Frankel said both Empire Maker and Peace Rules would likely work on Sunday, but there is a slight chance that the final pre-race move for Peace Rules could be moved up to Saturday.

NOTE TO MEDIA: Trainer Bobby Frankel has requested that media members wait until the end of training hours for interviews regarding his Kentucky Derby contenders and other horses pointed toward Derby Week stakes races at Churchill Downs. Mr. Frankel will meet with print and electronic media roughly 10 minutes after the close of training hours at 9:15 a.m. (EDT).

EVOLVING TACTICS - Moyglare Stud Farm's Evolving Tactics will not be coming to Churchill Downs for Derby 129. "Horse America, which is the shipping agent, notified us this morning that the horse is not coming," said Mike Hargrave, Churchill Downs stall superintendent. "No reason was given."

EYE OF THE TIGER - Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said by telephone that John D. Gunther's Coolmore Lexington (GII) runner-up Eye of the Tiger remains "possible" for the Kentucky Derby. He said the son of American Chance would ship by van from Keeneland to Churchill Downs on Saturday and the colt is scheduled to work on Monday.

FUNNY CIDE - Wood Memorial runner-up Funny Cide jogged and a cantered a total of a mile and a half Thursday morning at Belmont Park with assistant trainer Robin Smullen up. "He went very well and he will gallop in the morning," said Smullen. The New York-bred gelding is scheduled to work a half-mile Tuesday and then ship to Louisville on Wednesday. "He is supposed to get there about 3:15 and we (trainer Barclay Tagg and Smullen) will get there a couple hours later." Jose Santos has the mount.

KAFWAIN/INDIAN EXPRESS - Trainer Bob Baffert said his pair of Kentucky Derby 129 contenders - The Thoroughbred Corporation's San Vicente (GII) winner Kafwain and Phil Chess' Santa Anita Derby (GI) runner-up Indian Express - came out of Wednesday's six-furlong works in good shape. The colts, who worked as a team, both walked under the shedrow on Thursday.

LONE STAR SKY - Walter "Buddy" New's Lone Star Sky, winner of the Bashford Manor (GIII) at Churchill Downs, galloped a mile under exercise rider Kathy Sanchez in his first trip to the track since a strong six-furlong work on Tuesday. Trainer Tom Amoss said he remains "possible" for the Kentucky Derby, with a final decision to be made after a work on Tuesday.

OFFLEE WILD - Azalea Stable's Offlee Wild returned to the track for the first time since a five-furlong work on Tuesday and galloped 2 ½ miles under exercise rider Rob Smith. "He galloped a mile and a half, then we let him walk a bit and then he galloped another mile," said trainer T. V. Smith. The trainer has yet to decide if the son of Wild Again would work again before the Derby. Smith said he would assess that prospect on a "day-to-day" basis.

OUTTA HERE - With assistant trainer Pat Seeley up, Outta Here worked five furlongs in :59 4/5 before the renovation break Thursday morning at Hollywood Park. "I told Pat to shade a minute and he went 59 and 4 by himself and was never touched," said trainer and co-owner Bill Currin. "I was very pleased with his work and that was the last major thing we had to do. Now we are ready to ship Sunday." Currin opted to work Outta Here before the break at Hollywood. "The track had a little moisture in it this morning and I didn't want to wait until after the break and have him go in 58 and 1 or 2," Currin said. "As it was, he could have gone faster, but there was no need to. He is ready." Kent Desormeaux, who has spent the month at Keeneland and who was on the Churchill Downs backstretch Thursday morning, has the call on Outta Here. "I may let Kent blow him out three-eighths or just down the lane late next week," Currin said. Outta Here will be housed in Barn 42, Stall 11 upon arrival at Churchill Downs.

SCRIMSHAW/TEN CENTS A SHINE - Trainer D. Wayne Lukas now has a pair of Derby contenders in Robert and Beverly Lewis' Scrimshaw, winner of the Coolmore Lexington (GII) at Keeneland, and Ken and Sarah Ramsey's Ten Cents A Shine, who is described as "possible" for the May 3 "Run for the Roses." Scrimshaw galloped Thursday under exercise rider Stacey Maker in his second trip to the track since Saturday's victory at Keeneland. "He's good," said Lukas. "He's got good energy and I feel real good about him. He galloped strong this morning. Stacy thought he felt as strong and had more energy than he did before the race." Ten Cents A Shine has re-entered the Kentucky Derby picture for Lukas despite a disappointing 3-year-old campaign that included an eighth-place finish in the Toyota Blue Grass (GI) at Keeneland in his most recent start. But Lukas said the colt has turned around since that race. He turned in a blazing five-furlong work last Saturday in :58.40, the best of 34 moves at the distance on that day, and that work prompted Lukas to take another look at the colt. "I've made a lot of changes and they were all positive," Lukas said. "I really feel like I might have been too soft on him. He has some quirks - he's got an attitude. I was trying to help him work himself through it, but the more I fooled with him I thought that maybe I'd better have some 'tough love' here and I went after him. Boy, did it make a change and he is responding." Lukas described last week's work as "testing the water" to see where Ten Cents A Shine now stands. He also said that some dental work may have helped improve the colt's outlook on life. "That was bothering him,' said Lukas. "(Jockey) Mike Smith said he could guide him (in the Toyota Blue Grass) and couldn't put him where he wanted. We got in there and those 3-year-old caps were undermined and there was debris underneath it and they were probably killing him. He was cocking his head, but as soon as we fixed that he was fine." Lukas said Ten Cents A Shine is scheduled to work on Saturday, if weather permits, and a final decision on a Derby bid by the runner-up in the Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) would be made after that move. The four-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer said that the work would not be a test of the colt's physical ability at this point. He said Ten Cents A Shine's talent has never been in question. "Who'll be the first to say he hasn't got a shot?" Lukas asked. "That horse can run. He's dead-fit. I've honed him to a fine edge. Fitness is not the problem. It's not the physical, it's the mental aspect that we've had to deal with."

SIR CHEROKEE - Arkansas Derby winner Sir Cherokee galloped a mile and three-quarters after the renovation break at Churchill Downs with exercise rider D.W. Fries up. The morning activity represented Sir Cherokee's first trip to Churchill Downs from Trackside Training Center since winning the Arkansas Derby on April 12. "You gotta do what you gotta do," said trainer Michael Tomlinson, who has 12 horses stabled at Trackside. "We got everybody out that had to get out before the break and he was the only one left. We left about 7:30 and should get back to Trackside about 11." Tomlinson's plans call for Sir Cherokee to return to Churchill Downs for a paddock schooling session on Sunday, a five-eighths work on Tuesday at Trackside and then another gallop session at Churchill next Thursday. Sir Cherokee, who broke his maiden here last fall prior to placing fourth in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, will be ridden by Terry Thompson in Derby 129. Sir Cherokee will be Tomlinson's first Kentucky Derby starter.

SUPAH BLITZ - Bee Bee Stables and Jacquelin Tortora's Supah Blitz walked the shedrow at trainer Manny Tortora's barn at Calder Race Course Thursday morning and then boarded a van at 11 a.m. to begin his journey to Louisville for Derby 129. Upon arrival, Supah Blitz will be housed in Barn 14. "The weather is not supposed to be hot heading up there," said Manny Tortora, who along with rider Rosemary Homeister Jr., is scheduled to arrive in Louisville on Monday with a work tentatively scheduled for Tuesday. Supah Blitz worked six furlongs in 1:13 on Wednesday at Calder and the trainer said the Mecke colt came out of the move "super."

TEN MOST WANTED - Illinois Derby winner Ten Most Wanted made a surprise return to the track Thursday morning, a day after working seven furlongs in 1:25 3/5. With exercise rider Enrique Alferez up, Ten Most Wanted jogged for about 10 minutes before the renovation break in the mile chute. "I don't usually (go to the track the day after a work), but he was feeling so good, I knew I had to do something with him," trainer Wally Dollase said. "The chute they have here is great for horses to jog." Ten Most Wanted will be ridden in the Derby by Pat Day, who was shaken up in a spill in the third race at Keeneland on Wednesday, when he was unseated by a 2-year-old named Nut Lovin. "I didn't see it, but I heard about it a couple of races later," Dollase said. "Somebody asked me if I had heard about my jock, and they told me about Pat. But Pat called me later and said he was OK."

« Back To Derby Updates