AFLEET ALEX - Multiple graded stakes winner Afleet Alex walked the shedrow a day after working a bullet five furlongs in :59 on Tuesday. Trainer Tim Ritchey said the Northern Afleet colt came out of the work in good order and would return to the track to jog Thursday morning. Owned by Cash is King Stable, Afleet Alex will be ridden in Derby 131 by Jeremy Rose.

MEDIA ADVISORY: Ritchey has requested that media members with questions about Afleet Alex gather each day at 10:30 a.m. (all times Eastern). Afleet Alex is stabled in Barn 41.

ANDROMEDA'S HERO/BELLAMY ROAD/HIGH FLY/NOBLE CAUSEWAY/ SUN KING -- If the weather cooperates, two-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer Nick Zito may work two of his five Derby hopefuls on Thursday morning.

"Sun King would go about 6:45 and Andromeda's Hero maybe after the break, but again, that's weather permitting," said Zito of a forecast that calls for an 80 percent chance of rain in Louisville for both Thursday and Friday. "If he (Andromeda's Hero) does not work tomorrow, he will stay here and work Friday and then go back (to Keeneland)."

Andromeda's Hero, owned by Robert LaPenta, has been stabled at Keeneland since his third-place finish in the April 16 Arkansas Derby (GII). "He is doing super over there," Zito said. "If I only had the one horse (for the Derby), he'd still be over there."

The son of 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus galloped Wednesday morning at Keeneland under regular exercise rider Megan Smillie. No rider has been confirmed for the Derby. Sun King, owned by Tracy Farmer, galloped 1 ½ miles at Churchill Downs under regular exercise rider Carlos Correa. The son of 1999 Kentucky Derby winner Charismatic is looking to rebound from a fourth-place finish in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (GI) at Keeneland on April 16.

"That was not him in the Blue Grass," Zito said. "He's too good a horse to have run that race. I know he likes this track, he likes Churchill Downs."

Sun King finished third in last year's Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (GI) and, should Wilko, Afleet Alex and Consolidator all make the Derby field with Sun King, it would mark the first time that the 1-2-3-4 Breeders' Cup Juvenile finishers had competed in the Kentucky Derby.

"That's good for the Breeders' Cup," Zito said. "It shows it was a quality group of 2-year-olds." Edgar Prado has the mount on Sun King.

Zito's other three Derby hopefuls at Churchill Downs, Kinsman Stable's Bellamy Road, Live Oak Plantation's High Fly and My Meadowview Farm's Noble Causeway galloped 1 ½ miles. Carlos Correa was on Bellamy Road and Noble Causeway, and Maxine Correa was on High Fly. The trio is expected to work on Saturday, again, weather permitting. Riding assignments for the trio are Javier Castellano on Bellamy Road, Jerry Bailey on High Fly and Gary Stevens on Noble Causeway. MEDIA ADVISORY: Zito has requested that media members who wish to discuss his Derby 131 contenders gather each morning for a question-and-answer session beginning at 9:30 a.m. His horses are stabled in Barn 36.

BANDINI/COIN SILVER/FLOWER ALLEY - All three of trainer Todd Pletcher's hopefuls for Derby 131 were on the track Wednesday morning. Peachtree Stable's Coin Silver jogged two miles under Hall of Famer Angel Cordero, Jr., in his first appearance on the track since winning the Coolmore Lexington Stakes (GII) at Keeneland on April 23. "His energy level was very good this morning and I was happy with that," said Pletcher, who has not confirmed a rider on Coin Silver for the Derby.

Flower Alley, owned by the Melnyk Racing Stable, galloped 1 ½ miles under Michelle Nihei. The Distorted Humor colt accomplished his morning duties without the blinkers he had worn the past few days. Jorge Chavez has the Derby call. Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith's Bandini jogged two miles under exercise rider Frederic Buscail. John Velazquez has the Derby call on Bandini.

Like many other trainers preparing for Derby 131, Pletcher is keeping an eye on the weather with regard to works for his hopefuls. "I am undecided on Coin Silver, maybe Monday or Tuesday, because I am on a different schedule with him," Pletcher said. "The other two will be Saturday or Sunday, but I can push it back to Monday. But the way the forecasts look now, it looks like it will be Sunday."

BUZZARDS BAY - Fog City Stable's Santa Anita Derby (GI) winner is scheduled to work at Santa Anita on May 2. He will ship to Churchill Downs on Wednesday, May 4.

CLOSING ARGUMENT - The Holy Bull (GIII) winner is stabled at Keeneland. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin plans to ship the colt by van to Churchill Downs on Friday, gallop on Saturday and work on Sunday - weather permitting. If that schedule should change, the son of Successful Appeal will work at Keeneland on Sunday and ship to Churchill Downs on Monday.

CONSOLIDATOR/GOING WILD - Bob and Beverly Lewis' Consolidator was on the track at 6 a.m. for a five-furlong work with exercise rider Stacy Maker up. Clockers caught the move in 1:01.40 over a track labeled "muddy" with fractions of 12.40, 24.40, 36.40, 48.80 and an out time of 1:15.80. "I thought it was good," trainer D. Wayne Lukas said. "The track is a little bit like peanut butter this morning. It was a little bit sticky, so I think the work was a little bit more significant. "It was pretty much what we wanted, a good strong gallop out. At this point we are just trying to maintain the energy level." Consolidator, who will be ridden Rafael Bejarano, comes into the Derby off a fifth-place finish in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (GI) at Keeneland on April 16.

"I think the Blue Grass is a throw-out for everybody - Consolidator, Sun King. I think you can throw it out for Bandini," Lukas said. "I don't think the Blue Grass equates to anything. You see horses all the time do well in the Blue Grass or horses that do well at Keeneland in the third or fourth race on the card and come over here and you can't find them. You see horses that run back and come over here and win, so I don't put any stock in the Blue Grass.

"When he shows up, he's OK. He's a very nice horse. I am looking for him to do that. I think we are going to be fine. I know he likes this racetrack. He worked very well before the Blue Grass here." Stablemate Going Wild galloped with exercise rider Derek Smith up.

"He was a handul this morning. He is really doing well here," Lukas said of Going Wild, who fifth in the Coolmore Lexington (GII). "I just want him to show up like he has been early in the spring," Lukas said. "I am going to rely on 25 years of experience and hope that maybe I am OK. I am not going to try to sell him to you, because I think that would be impossible, but I think that he will make some noise in there. He likes this racetrack and he is a nice horse. I know I am not wrong there. I've got two bad (races) on him that will just drive the odds up, but three of the four I won here had big odds."

No rider has been confirmed for Going Wild. "I am still looking at the rider situation," Lukas said. "It's going to be a hungry, young kid."

GENERAL JOHN B - Ross McLeod's Santa Anita Derby (GI) runner-up is stabled at Santa Anita, but is scheduled to ship to Churchill Downs on Saturday. Trainer Roger Stein plans a five-furlong breeze on Monday.

GIACOMO - Mr. and Mrs. Jerome Moss' son of Holy Bull is stabled at Hollywood Park. Trainer John Shirreffs plans to breeze the colt on Sunday and ship to Churchill Downs on Wednesday, May 4.

GREATER GOOD - Lewis Lakin's Greater Good galloped a mile and a half Wednesday morning under exercise rider Betsy Couch. The Bob Holthus trainee is scheduled to work six furlongs Thursday morning at 7 o'clock. Regular rider John McKee will be up.

GREELEY'S GALAXY - B. Wayne Hughes' Greeley's Galaxy visited the starting gate and galloped a mile and a half before the renovation break with exercise rider Mikki Fincher up. Trainer Warren Stute is scheduled to arrive in Louisville from his California base Wednesday night with a Thursday work set, most likely after the renovation break. Jockey Kent Desormeaux has the Derby call.

HIGH LIMIT - Mary and Gary West's Louisiana Derby (GII) winner High Limit galloped after the renovation break with exercise rider Jose Cuevas up. Ramon Dominguez is slated to ride the Bobby Frankel trainee in the Derby.

SORT IT OUT - Stonerside Stable and Preferred Pals Stable's Sort It Out jogged this morning and is scheduled to gallop tomorrow, according to John Good, an assistant to trainer Bob Baffert. Good said a decision a Kentucky Derby (GI) bid for the son of Out of Place would be made after he works sometime this weekend. Baffert will be in town at that time to oversee the breeze. The distance of the work and a possible jockey for the Coolmore Lexington Stakes (GII) runner-up have not been determined.

WILKO - The winner of the Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (GI) is stabled at Hollywood Park. Trainer Craig Dollase plans to work the colt on Saturday, weather permitting, and then ship Wilko to Churchill Downs on Sunday.

« Back To Derby Updates