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Derby & Auction Prices Santa Anita Derby Day Wood Memorial Day Derby Future Pool 6 Kentucky Derby Contenders |
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 It was a muddy Tuesday morning and not all the horses liked it. Turnerloose was especially unappreciative. |
Tuesday was rainy and after rain all night long, the track was quite muddy. The temperature was in the high 60's and thankfully the rain held off during the special time for Kentucky Derby and Oaks horses.
Below are photos for 20 Derby horses and 15 Oaks fillies from this morning on the track or in the paddock schooling with comments for each. You can watch video of today's training session here.
Kentucky Derby
Barber Road galloped one mile and visited the paddock Tuesday during the special 7:30 a.m. training time. "He's doing great. He's loving this. He was enjoying himself in the mud. The track isn't a concern," Ortiz said. "He just walked around the paddock like it was nothing. He's ready. I was more concerned with the pony than him this morning."
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Charge It galloped 1 1/16 miles at 7:30am under exercise rider Hector Ramos. Trainer Todd Pletcher said, "I was thinking about taking my Derby and Oaks horses out first thing (5:15) to beat the rain but there was too much lightning in the sky for my liking. So we waited for the 7:30 special training period. We wanted to get them out and back safely this morning."
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Classic Causeway had a one-mile jog early Tuesday morning under trainer Brian Lynch's exercise rider Calamity Compton. Lynch reported there are some minor equipment changes that Classic Causeway will race with in the Derby, including a new bridle with an adjusted nose strip. Julien Leparoux has the call.
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Crown Pride jogged for 10 minutes in the mile chute and then galloped the Kentucky Derby distance of 1 1/4 miles under Masa Matsuda. "From Dubai he has really improved and he likes this track. He will have a fast work in the morning and (jockey) Christophe Lemaire will be on him. In Japan, when the track is muddy a horse's foot can sink into the surface. This track, there is more cushion and it is safer. I don't see that as being a problem."
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Cyberknife galloped 1 1/2 miles under exercise rider Katie Talbot. "I'm good with where they are starting from," trainer Brad Cox said. "Cyberknife is a quick gate horse, so he should he fine. He has one speed horse to his outside (Classic Causeway) and that should help him. If we get a wet track on Saturday, I'm fine with that. We train over a wet track all the time and they all handle it good. So far so good, I'm happy with all of them. The key is getting a good trip. I expect all of them to make a good showing."
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Epicenter returned to the track at his usual 5:30 a.m. time to gallop. The morning rains had turned the track muddy, but that did not stop him from impressing his trainer, Steve Asmussen. "He is a horse that has not skipped training days in the mud but he has not performed in a race (in the mud). My favorite thing today about Epicenter is how consistent he has been, how he has looked (in the mornings). I think he looked the same on the racetrack today, four days before the Derby, as he did at New Orleans this winter. Very professional. Very consistent with his temperament and his stride. We are just wanting more of the same, just a little faster which is what he has done in every one of his starts this year and there is no reason he shouldn't carry on."
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Ethereal Road galloped 1 1/2 miles during the special 7:30 a.m. training time. He will be the 50th Kentucky Derby starter for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who already has four Derby trophies. His most recent starter was Bravazo, who finished sixth in 2018. "I guess getting 50 horses qualified for the Kentucky Derby is an achievement," Lukas said. "I'm real tickled to get this horse qualified because this is a new client. He wanted to get in and have this experience, so I'm happy for (owner Aaron Sones). It's important to get them this experience because it's what it is all about. Ethereal Road is doing good. He's has a good of couple weeks here. I was surprised how well he handled the wet track this morning. He did really good out there. He got over it awfully nice."
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Happy Jack schooled in the starting gate and galloped 1 1/4 miles under exercise rider Tony Romero. "He was good this morning," Romero said back at Barn 41. "He was nice and quiet." Trainer Doug O'Neill looked on at the exercise and was pleased by the results. "Touch wood," the conditioner said doing just that. "It's all good so far."
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Messier schooled in the starting gate then galloped 1 1/4 miles under exercise rider Beto Gomez. Trainer Tim Yakteen said, "We had a pretty good rain and an off track at Santa Anita a couple of weeks back and they handled it well. No problems today. Things are good. Thumbs up."
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Mo Donegal galloped 1 1/16 miles at 7:30am under exercise rider Amelia Green. Trainer Todd Pletcher said, "I was thinking about taking my Derby and Oaks horses out first thing (5:15) to beat the rain but there was too much lightning in the sky for my liking. So we waited for the 7:30 special training period. We wanted to get them out and back safely this morning."
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Pioneer of Medina galloped 1 1/16 miles at 7:30am under exercise rider Carlos Perez. Trainer Todd Pletcher said, "I was thinking about taking my Derby and Oaks horses out first thing (5:15) to beat the rain but there was too much lightning in the sky for my liking. So we waited for the 7:30 special training period. We wanted to get them out and back safely this morning."
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Rattle N Roll galloped in the rain and dark early in the morning. “It was a routine day, and everyone came out of it just fine," said Greg Geier, assistant to trainer Ken McPeek.
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Rich Strike, the first horse on the also-eligible list for Kentucky Derby 148, visited the starting gate in the mile chute and then galloped a mile and a quarter under Gabriel Lagunes for trainer Eric Reed.
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Simplification galloped 1 1/2 miles under exercise rider Ismal Ramirez for trainer Antonio Sano. The Fountain of Youth winner drew post 13 for Saturday's Run for the Roses and will be ridden by Jose Ortiz. “The 13 is perfect, a little outside and toward the middle,” Sano said. “I didn't want to be inside.” Simplification has not raced on an off track but Sano feels from the colt's works that a muddy surface would not be a problem. Simplification had his final work for the Derby Friday at Gulfstream Park with a bullet five furlongs in 1:00.44.
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Smile Happy galloped 1 1/2 miles under exercise rider Danny Ramsey. Greg Geier, assistant to trainer Ken McPeek said, "It was a routine day, and everyone came out of it just fine."
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Taiba schooled in the starting gate then galloped 1 1/4 miles under exercise rider Beto Gomez. Trainer Tim Yakteen said, "We had a pretty good rain and an off track at Santa Anita a couple of weeks back and they handled it well. No problems today. Things are good. Thumbs up."
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Tawny Port galloped 1 1/2 miles under exercise rider Edvin Vargas. "I'm good with where they are starting from," trainer Brad Cox said. "The post doesn't really matter with Tawny Port. If we get a wet track on Saturday, I'm fine with that. We train over a wet track all the time and they all handle it good. So far so good, I'm happy with all of them. The key is getting a good trip. I expect all of them to make a good showing."
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Tiz the Bomb galloped 1 1/2 miles under exercise rider Edwardo Ruvacalba in company with stablemate Cocktail Moments (Kentucky Oaks). Greg Geier, assistant to trainer Ken McPeek said, "It was a routine day, and everyone came out of it just fine."
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White Abarrio was on the track for the first time Tuesday. “He jogged a mile today and did fine,” trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. said. “He's going to gallop every day, and go to the gate. How about this Kentucky weather? You're always hoping for a fast track for the Derby, and hopefully it won't be sloppy. They say grays like the slop. So hopefully, if it is sloppy, this gray will do great.”
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Kentucky Oaks
Candy Raid made her way to the muddy track at 7:30 a.m. under exercise rider Alex Cano, where he jogged her 1 1/2 miles. Asked how Candy Raid would handle a wet track, trainer Keith Desormeaux said, "It might move her up."
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Cocktail Moments galloped 1 1/2 miles with exercise rider Albert Kelly. The Kentucky-bred filly, who was a $190,000 purchase at the Keeneland September yearling sale, pressed stablemate Tiz the Bomb and exercise rider Edwardo Ruvalcaba during the outing on a sloppy and sealed track.
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Desert Dawn went to the track shortly after it opened at 5:15 a.m. They galloped a mile and a quarter as the rain began to fall. "We tried to beat the rain today," trainer Phil D'Amato said. "We'll go back to the 7:30 time tomorrow. She's a happy horse now."
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Echo Zulu kept to her routine Tuesday, being led over with trainer Steve Asmussen's barn first set at 5:15 a.m. One day after drawing post seven outside the other likely early speed fillies, the undefeated 2-year-old Eclipse Champion galloped about 1 1/4 miles in the rain over the muddy track. "She drew a great spot," Asmussen said of her post position. "We'll see what we can do."
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Goddess of Fire galloped 1 1/16 miles under exercise rider Humberto Zamora. "Wanted to get them out and back safely," trainer Todd Pletcher said.
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Hidden Connection galloped about 1 1/2 miles early Tuesday morning.
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Nostalgic galloped 1 1/2 miles at 7:30 a.m. under exercise rider Penny Gardiner.
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Kathleen O kept to her 6 a.m. routine of galloping for one mile under exercise rider David Jego. The difference today was the soaking rain and muddy track. Asked about the possibility of a wet track for Friday's Oaks, trainer Shug McGaughey said, "She broke her maiden in the slop so we are not worried about that."
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Nest galloped 1 1/16 miles under exercise rider Nora McCormack. "Wanted to get them out and back safely," trainer Todd Pletcher said.
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Secret Oath galloped 1 1/2 miles at 5:15am under exercise rider Danielle Rosier. "If it was the Kentucky Derby with 20 horses, you'd be sick about (drawing post 1)," Lukas said. "Being the Oaks, we'll be starting in the middle of the track, so it's not nearly as bad. There will be quicker horses in there than her, so we can deal it. I normally get up at 3:15 a.m. every morning, but I was up at 3 today. It is horses like this that keep me going. I love the competition."
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Shahama galloped 1 1/16 miles under exercise rider Humberto Zamora. "Wanted to get them out and back safely," trainer Todd Pletcher said.
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Turnerloose was the only horse from the Brad Cox barn to come out during the 7:30 a.m. special training time, but she's likely to have some company Wednesday from her three Kentucky Derby-bound stablemates after they trained earlier in the morning on Tuesday. The filly, coming off a fourth in the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2), galloped 1 1/2 miles with regular Edvin Vargas.
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Venti Valentine was on the track with exercise rider Luis Peña, galloping a mile and a quarter, trainer Jorge Abreu said. "After galloping a mile and a quarter, she also went and stood in the gate," Abreu said. "It went very, very well. Now she'll gallop to the race and school." Weather predictions for the Louisville area call for a chance for rain Thursday through Saturday. Unlike many of the others in the Longines Kentucky Oaks, New York-bred Venti Valentine won on a sloppy Belmont track last October, in just her second lifetime start. "It seems like she can handle the slop just fine," Abreu said. "It shouldn't be a factor."
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Yuugiri went to the track at 7:30 a.m. with trainer Rodolphe Brisset aboard and schooled in the gate before galloping 1 1/2 miles over the sloppy track. "She continues to do very well here," Brisset said. "We're happy with our post position (six). She has the tactical speed to do well from there." Brisset said he's seen a big change in Yuugiri for the better this year. "She's definitely matured," he said. "She used to be rank in the mornings and hard to train. She really did well this winter at Oaklawn. It's so busy there in the mornings that horses either get used to it and settle down or they don't. She's settled and has done very well."
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