(As per Churchill Downs release)
MINE THAT BIRD – The morning after the stunning victory in the $2,177,200 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) by Mine That Bird was a busy one for his owners and trainer – and for the 3-year-old gelding that won the roses with his last-to-first rally along the rail on Churchill Downs’ one-mile dirt oval..
Visitors to trainer Chip Woolley and owners Mark Allen of Double Eagle Ranch and Dr. Leonard Blach of Bueno Suerte Equine included three-time Kentucky Derby winner Bob Baffert, trainer of Derby 135 runner-up Pioneerof the Nile; winning jockey Calvin Borel; and Tom McCarthy, the owner-trainer of General Quarters the winner of the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (GI) and 10th to Mine That Bird in Saturday’s race.
There was also a live appearance by Woolley, Borel, Allen and Blach on NBC’s “Sunday Today” that included an appearance by the Kentucky Derby winner, as the horse stood behind the winning connections grazed in front of Barn 42 while wearing the winner’s saddle towel that bore the official Kentucky Derby 135 logo and the images of roses in the area that covered Mine That Bird’s withers.
Woolley, whose stable is based at New Mexico’s Sunland Park, said Mine That Bird was doing well after the race, and the gelding validated that assessment as he nibbled at the Churchill Downs grass and never turned a hair as a sizable crowd of reporters, videographers and well-wishers looked on.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” said Woolley. “It’s actually a little bit hard to get your arms around right at the moment. It’s hard to believe that you actually came in here and won this thing.”
The 45-year-old Woolley admitted to getting little more than an hour of sleep after the biggest win of his training career. Allen, when asked about how the night of celebration had gone, said “It’s still going,” and drew a hearty laugh from media members present on the morning after America’s greatest race.
Woolley said it will be a while before a decision is made on a possible bid for the $1 million Preakness (GI), the second jewel of the Triple Crown that will be run at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course on May 16.
“We’ll decide that today or tomorrow,” Woolley said. “Me and the owners will meet and have a little discussion. It really wasn’t something that was on our radar, so we’ll decide on it. We were looking to run the horse farther anyway, so we’ll just have to see what it brings today.
“You’ve got to do what’s best for the horse, and the horse comes first. So we’ll just see what happens.”
Blach and Allen agreed that the condition of Mine That Bird would be the basis for the ultimate decision on a Preakness bid, but Allen was most enthusiastic about the notion.
“We’re going to let the horse tell us that,” he said. “This horse is doing good and comes off this race good, you bet we’ll run, but he’s going to have to tell us.”
All three credited the patient, ground-saving ride by jockey Calvin Borel as being the key to the upset victory by the 50-1 shot, the second-largest upset in the 135-year history of the “Run for the Roses.” Mine That Bird was last in the field of 19 on the first run through the stretch after being jostled shortly after leaving the starting gate.
“The one-run was definitely the plan and we had talked about being eight-to-10 (lengths) from the lead,” Woolley said. “I had felt all along that’s where the horse needed to be, but we had just never gotten that trip. When he got annihilated leaving there – this is a little horse, he’s not very big – and when he got banged around leaving there, we were really concerned right away about that. I had told the press before that he couldn’t take a bunch of beating, so when he got shuffled that far back, I actually wasn’t too high on my chances when he came by me at the grandstand way last. But the horse responded and Calvin done a super job of riding the horse. So we’re just lucky to have been there.”
“It’s truly an honor to be a part of it, but I’m telling you guys that this horse never got nearly enough credit for his ability. You earned your way here. It’s not like we just paid him in here and brought him. The horse earned his way here and he deserved a chance to run in the Derby. He was doing super, the horse was training good and we just felt like he had earned his spot here and we had to come and take ‘em on. He anted up, I’m telling you. He’ll leave it on the track every time.”
Baffert, who spent more than a little time racing in New Mexico and at Sunland Park, dropped by the barn and said “Where’s that cowboy who beat me?”
After offering best wishes to Woolley, Allen and Blach, Borel arrived and receive a hearty handshake from Baffert, who told Borel that this weekend, which began with Borel’s 20 ¼-length victory in the Kentucky Oaks aboard Rachel Alexandra and reached its peak with his unlikely romp in the Kentucky Derby, had earned the Louisiana native a spot in racing’s Hall of Fame.
“He’s the only one who could have pulled that off,” Baffert said of Borel’s ride. “What he did was just incredible. He won that race. He sat back there and I watched the replay – and he’s last at the three-eighths pole – you just don’t do that. He weaved his way through there and everybody knows that the rail’s the place to be, but everybody gets off of it. I think he deserves a lot of credit, but that guy that trained him (Woolley), he did a great job with this horse. This horse was ready and he trained him, and even though he vanned him here an it was like “Casey’s Shadow,” they got here and they won the biggest race.”
PIONEEROF THE NILE (Second) – Trainer Bob Baffert was noncommittal about a run in the Preakness for Kentucky Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile.
“He looks good this morning, but I want to give him a couple of days and see how he comes out of it,” Baffert said.
The Zayat Stables’ color bearer had his four-race win streak snapped Saturday when he finished 6 ¾ lengths behind Mine That Bird.
“I saw Garrett (jockey Garrett Gomez) at the three-eighths pole and he was loaded and at the quarter pole he was still loaded,” Baffert said. “I didn’t see anything coming and I thought ‘Mine!’ Then that horse (Mine That Bird) went by me and I was like ‘What happened?’ My horse was battling with the others (Musket Man and Papa Clem) … it was a shocker.
“If he had won, I thought he had a shot at the Triple Crown. He can get the distance and he runs his race every time, Maybe the ‘Bird’ is for real.”
MUSKET MAN (Third) – Eric Fein and Vic Carlson’s Musket Man was scheduled to leave for Monmouth Park on Sunday.
“We will give it a few days,” trainer Derek Ryan said about making a decision on the Preakness. “I am sure the owners are looking at it.”
Musket Man now has a career record of five wins and two thirds in seven starts and Ryan was happy with the colt’s effort Saturday.
“I can’t complain. He had the two hole and I wish he could have stayed there, but he got bumped out of there,” Ryan said. “The rail was golden.
“You need the right kind of horse for a race like this. He has great temperament. He never schooled in the paddock and he might have been the best one in there. He’s got class and (Oaks winner) Rachel Alexandra, she never went to the paddock or gate.”
PAPA CLEM (Fourth) – Trainer Gary Stute said Sunday morning that Bo Hirsch’s Papa Clem would remain on the Triple Crown trail after his fourth-place finish Saturday behind Mine That Bird.
“With a little luck, I think he could have been second,” Stute said. “We will probably stay here a few days but we will go to Baltimore when there is a flight.
“He may go back to the track here, but I want to get him to Pimlico and have a work over the track before the Preakness.”
Papa Clem was in a three-horse photo for second with Pioneerof the Nile and Musket Man, finishing a head in back of Musket Man after being bumped near the sixteenth pole by Pioneerof the Nile.
“I thought we might get put up,” said Stute, who noted Papa Clem came out of the race with “one little scratch.”
CHOCOLATE CANDY (Fifth) – Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was on a plane Sunday morning jetting back to California, but his right-hand man – Galen May – was keeping a watchful eye on his Kentucky Derby runner Chocolate Candy, who had finished fifth in the mile and a quarter run on a “sloppy” track Saturday.
“He was trying to bite me this morning, so you know he’s fine,” May noted.
The Candy Ride colt had taken his share of flying mud racing on the inside for most of the trip, a point both Hollendorfer and May said they thought affected the good-sized bay.
“It’s too bad he couldn’t have gotten clear to do some running,” May said, “but sometimes things work out that way.”
Chocolate Candy had gone off at odds of exactly 10-1 and had picked up a check for $60,000 for running fifth, beaten 13 lengths.
May said the horse had come back without any nicks or cuts and had no problem cleaning his feed tub Saturday night. He also noted that he was likely to head back to California shortly and train up to the Belmont Stakes on June 6.
“His breeding and style say he should like that mile and a half,” May said.
SUMMER BIRD (Sixth) – K.K. and Vilasini Jayaraman’s Summer Bird was scheduled to ship Monday morning at 5 o’clock to Louisiana Downs, according to trainer Tim Ice.
“We have never thought about the Preakness; maybe the Belmont,” Ice said. “I have no interest at all in the Preakness because that track doesn’t suit his style of running.”
Ice said Summer Bird came out of the race in good order.
“He came back playing last night,” Ice said. “He galloped out second after the wire; the only one ahead of him was the other Birdstone (winner Mine That Bird).
“I was happy with his race. It was only his fourth race and he can only improve. He got lots of experience yesterday. He beat some nice horses and it proved we were not totally out of our minds.”
JOIN IN THE DANCE (Seventh), DUNKIRK (11th), ADVICE (13th) – Trainer Todd Pletcher reported some minor wounds, but no major damage, to his heralded Kentucky Derby runner Dunkirk, while stating at the same time that his other two competitors – Advice and Join in the Dance – had come out of the eventful renewal none the worse for wear.
“Dunkirk took the worst of it,” the five-time Eclipse Award winner said. “He’s got his share of nicks and cuts and he also grabbed a quarter on his left hind (leg). I think someone had to do it to him during the running. Where it is, it isn’t likely he did it to himself.
“He stumbled coming away from there, then he stumbled for several jumps just after they got running heading up the straight. Then he got caught in some of the jostling you always get in this race going through the stretch the first time. Add in the fact that that track was just what we didn’t want it to be – drying out and heavy – and it never allowed him to get a real grip on it. He just never got a chance to get in a rhythm.”
Dunkirk had gone off in Derby 135 at 5-1 and had finished 11th, beaten 19 lengths by 50-1 longshot Mine That Bird.
Pletcher said Dunkirk and his stablemate Take the Points would ship to his barn in New York at Belmont Park. Dunkirk’s next start was up in the air at the moment, but Take the Points, who was eligible to run in the Kentucky Derby but took a pass, would be prepared for a go in the May 16 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico.
Both Advice and Join in the Dance returned to Barn 38 after their Derby adventures in good shape and both “would be staying in Kentucky for right now,” according to Pletcher.
Advice had gone off at 49-1 in the mile and a quarter race and had finished 13th, 21 lengths behind the winner. Join in the Dance had performed the best of the barn’s runners, setting the pace in the race into the stretch, then holding on to finish seventh, beaten just over 14 lengths, despite his 51-1 odds.
“Join in the Dance was still bouncing after the race,” the trainer said. “He’s such a high-energy horse and we were proud of how well he did yesterday. There’s a chance he could come back in the Preakness. I’ll have to talk to his owners and see what they want to do.”
Join in the Dance, a Sky Mesa colt, is owned by Jake Ballis, Reagan Swinbank and Orlando Magic pro basketball player Rashard Lewis.
REGAL RANSOM (Eighth), DESERT PARTY (14th) – Both of the Godolphin colts, Desert Party and Regal Ransom, were fine Sunday morning, said Henry Spiller, an assistant to trainer Rick Mettee.
The colts are scheduled to be shipped back to Belmont Park on Tuesday. They are not being pointed toward the Preakness.
Regal Ransom, winner of the UAE Derby in his final start before the Derby, attended the pace set by Join in the Dance in the opening mile of the race. The Distorted Humor colt, sent off at odds of 22-1, finished eighth, 14¾ lengths behind the winner, Mine That Bird.
Desert Party, who was bumped at the start, was forwardly placed, about three lengths behind the leaders, by jockey Ramon Dominguez for a mile. He dropped out of contention in the second turn and finished 14th.
WEST SIDE BERNIE (Ninth), ATOMIC RAIN (16th) – George and Lori Hall’s West Side Bernie and Atomic Rain were scheduled to return to Monmouth Park on Sunday after their Kentucky Derby efforts.
“They came out of the race fine,” Breen said. “We are going to regroup and see what happens, but we are not looking at anything in two weeks.”
GENERAL QUARTERS (10th) – Owner/trainer Tom McCarthy said that General Quarters came out of Derby 135 in good order, but with no plans to continue on to the Preakness.
“The only excuse I can find for him was that he was not getting over the ground good,” McCarthy said. “I think we will go ahead and regroup and see what direction to go in. The Northern Dancer (on June 13 at Churchill Downs) is a possibility.”
The Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) winner raced in midpack most of the way around in splitting the field.
“He got bumped coming out of the gate and pushed to the inside, which is where we didn’t want to be,” McCarthy said. “He just wasn’t striding out like he usually does and one thing I learned yesterday is that I will keep him off wet tracks.
“He is better than what he showed yesterday.”
HOLD ME BACK (12th) - Elliott Walden, vice president and racing manger for WinStar Farm, said Sunday that Hold Me Back was fine and would be given a break. Walden wasn’t sure whether the colt would stay with trainer Bill Mott or be sent to the farm during his hiatus.
“He’s good,” Walden said. “He scoped good and looks like he came out of it OK. We’re going to regroup and go from there. He’s had a pretty solid six weeks.”
Hold Me Back won the Lane’s End (Grade II) on March 21 and finished second to General Quarters in the Toyota Blue Grass (Grade I) on April 11.
In the Derby, he was squeezed at the start and pinched back. Jockey Kent Desormeaux quickly rode him into contention – they were two lengths off the pace after a mile – but he could not sustain his run in the stretch and finished 12th, beaten 20 ½ lengths.
MR. HOT STUFF (15th) – Things were quiet Sunday morning at Barn 41 where the 15th-place Derby finisher Mr. Hot Stuff had spent an uneventful Saturday night following his little-impact journey in the 135th Run for the Roses.
“He’s fine,” reported groom Martin Rodriguez. “He was OK after the race; no cuts or bruises. He ate all his food last night.”
Rodriguez also reported that the dark Tiznow colt would be headed back to his Southern California base “in the next day or two.”
Mr. Hot Stuff, who went off at 28-1, was steadied, bumped and squeezed back at the start and never managed to make much headway on the “sloppy” racing strip. He was beaten 23 lengths.
NOWHERE TO HIDE (17th) – The Nick Zito-trained Nowhere To Hide wasn’t feeling any negative effects on the morning after his 17th-place Kentucky Derby finish.
“He came back perfect,’’ assistant trainer Stacy Prior said. “The jockey said after the race that he was just spinning his wheels out there.”
FRIESAN FIRE (18th) – Cindy Jones, the wife and assistant of trainer Larry Jones, reported that their Louisiana Derby winner was feeling reasonably well Sunday morning, considering that the 7-2 beaten favorite had suffered cuts in his left front foot while getting bumped shortly after the start of the Kentucky Derby.
“He grabbed his quarter. He’s got a pretty good cut on his quarter,” Jones said of Friesan Fire, who faded to 18th after his troubled start. “Mentally, he’s fine. He’s got a few cuts and scrapes, but we’ll get him healed. He ate up. He’s walking very well this morning. He’s not pulling, but he’s walking well. He did clean up (his feed tub) this morning.”
Friesan Fire, who was squeezed on both sides after bumping with Papa Clem out of the gate, got back into the race under Gabriel Saez but was hindered by traffic.
“I couldn’t see it at all. Larry said he got hit hard at the start. You can’t see anything. Larry said he couldn’t find racing room and everywhere he went sort of closed up on him,” Jones said. “I think he and Gabe had enough before the race was over with.”
Jones said the groom Corey York summed up the mood at Barn 45 perfectly.
“He said, ‘We’re very disappointed this morning, but we’re not heartbroken like last year,’ ” said Jones, whose stable was devastated by the death of Eight Belles, who suffered a fatal breakdown while pulling up from a sensational runner-up finish behind Big Brown in last year’s Derby.
FLYING PRIVATE (19th) – The D. Wayne Lukas-trained Flying Private was reported to have come out of his last-place finish in the Kentucky Derby in good order Sunday morning.
“The horse came back fine,” assistant trainer Gary Neece said. “He’s no worse for the wear.”
(As per Churchill Downs release)
ADVICE/DUNKIRK/JOIN IN THE DANCE – The Todd Pletcher Derby trio of Advice, Dunkirk and Join in the Dance were out early, exercised and back in Barn 38 before 7 a.m. Thursday, missing the rains that splashed down on Louisville a bit later in the morning.
Kevin Willey handled both Advice and Join in the Dance in their gallops, while Patti Barry was up for Dunkirk’s exercise.
“They all went about a mile and three eighths,” Pletcher said. “It’s all good.”
Just before 8 a.m., the trainer and his right-hand man, Mike McCarthy, each with a shank on one side, led Dunkirk from the barn to a patch of grass near Longfield Avenue for about 20 minutes of grazing. The tall colt with the distinctive white and pink facial markings, was feeling good and dove into the Kentucky grass with gusto, eliminating any need for lawn mowing in the general area of Barn 41.
Dunkirk will be making only the fourth start of his career in Saturday’s Derby 135. The $3.7 million yearling did not start as a 2-year-old. Advice has six starts under his belt, including a tally in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes (Grade II) April 18 at Keeneland. He started three times as a juvenile. Join in the Dance has been to the post eight times, five of them coming during his 2-year-old season.
Advice breaks from post four and will be ridden by Rene Douglas. Dunkirk will start from post 15 and be handled by Edgar Prado. Join in the Dance will leave from post nine with Chris DeCarlo aboard.
ATOMIC RAIN/WEST SIDE BERNIE – Both colts, Atomic Rain and West Side Bernie, went out before the break for easy one-mile gallops with trainer Kelly Breen aboard Thursday morning.
“They’re both doing fine,” Breen said. “Atomic Rain is doing quite well considering he worked in New Jersey on Tuesday and then sat on a van for 13 hours to get here yesterday. The way he’s acting, I don’t think the trip meant much to him.”
Breen had the No. 20 selection for West Side Bernie and the only spot in the gate left to him was No. 1. On the other hand, he had the No. 9 selection for Atomic Rain and took post 14 for the colt, who will be ridden by Joe Bravo.
“Atomic Rain is in a good spot,” said George Hall, who with wife Lori owns both colts. “It’s a good post for his style. West Side Bernie is in a tougher spot. Strategy is all up to Stew (jockey Stewart Elliott) when the gates open.”
Hall bought 20 yearlings at the 2007 Keeneland September sale, 10 fillies and 10 colts.
“It’s pretty amazing to have two starters in the Kentucky Derby from the 10 colts we got at the sale,” the owner said.
West Side Bernie, a son of Bernstein, was a $50,000 purchase, and Atomic Rain, by Smart Strike, cost $170,000.
“When Atomic Rain broke his maiden and then ran second in the Remsen as a 2-year-old, we expected a lot from him,” Hall said. “We’ve been disappointed in a number of his starts since then. But we still think he has a lot of talent, and will be able to show it.”
As a 3-year-old, Atomic Rain has run seventh in the Sam F. Davis (Grade III) and fourth in the Wood Memorial (Grade I). West Side Bernie was second in the Wood.
Hall said his wife Lori names all the horses, and West Side Bernie is all Broadway.
“He’s by Bernstein, so she immediately thought of Leonard Bernstein, who wrote ‘West Side Story,’ ” Hall said. “So that’s how Bernie got his name. They’re putting on a revival of ‘West Side Story’ now, and we’re involved in that as a fundraiser for the Hearing Center at New York University.”
CHOCOLATE CANDY – “Best morning I ever had with this horse.”
Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer was upbeat Thursday morning at Churchill Downs after overseeing business with his Kentucky Derby contender Chocolate Candy. The tall bay by Candy Ride went trackside shortly after 7 a.m. under regular exercise rider Lindsey Molina, stood in the gate briefly, then galloped a good mile and five-eighths before coming off the six-furlong gap looking like a happy horse.
“I messed him up yesterday and he didn’t like it,” the Northern California-based conditioner stated. “I got him out there when all those people were around (after the 8 a.m. renovation break) and he got a little hot. But today we put him back in his usual routine and he was back to his old self. I’m really pleased with how it went today. He galloped strong and he’s doing great.”
The late-running colt was bred by the late Sid Craig and his wife, Jenny, who is, of course, the weight-loss queen. He currently races in the silks of Craig Family Trust and Saturday will break from post 11 with Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith aboard.
Chocolate Candy will be making the 10th start of his career in Derby 135. Six of those outings came during his 2-year-old season.
DESERT PARTY/REGAL RANSOM – The Godolphin duo of Desert Party and Regal Ransom had a typical morning. Shortly after the track opened at 6 a.m. they were sent out to gallop what trainer Saeed bin Suroor said was a mile and three furlongs.
“They did it well,” bin Suroor said. “They’re in good form. Happy. Sound. Healthy. No problem at all with them.”
Bin Suroor said the colts schooled in the paddock before the seventh race Wednesday.
“Regal Ransom was sweating for about 10 minutes because he could see the horses racing and he got excited,” bin Suroor said. “But after that he was cool. Desert Party was fine.”
Bin Suroor said his colts are ready for the Derby.
“They are going into this race 110 percent fit,” he said. “There is no excuse afterwards for fitness. I hope no excuses happen in the race.”
FLYING PRIVATE – Flying Private went to the Churchill Downs track for a morning gallop under exercise rider Taylor Carty on Thursday morning. The son of 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus has been rated at 50-1 in the morning line, but trainer D. Wayne Lukas hardly views him as a desperate longshot.
Flying Private, who will break from the No. 20 post position, has won only one of 10 starts, but his trainer knows what it takes to win the Kentucky Derby, having saddled four Derby winners: Winning Colors (1988), Thunder Gulch (1995), Grindstone (1996) and Charismatic (1999).
“He’s as good as some of them I brought here, including some of them who’ve won,” the Hall of Fame trainer said. “Charismatic went on to be Horse of the Year, but at this stage, I think he’s every bit as good as Charismatic, and I think he’s better than Grindstone.”
When questioned about his opinion on synthetic surfaces, Lukas said that the new surfaces such as Keeneland’s Polytrack don’t just pose problems to those horses who don’t run their best over it.
“I’m not a synthetic person. I think it’s caused a nightmare for the bettors. The very lifeblood of our industry is the gambling public, and I think they’ve been put at such a disadvantage trying to sort this thing out,” Lukas said. “I think it’ll run its course, and maybe in a couple years, they’ll dig them all up and get back to natural dirt.
“They have that Gamblers Anonymous for people who have that bad gambling habit. Polytrack will take care of that. They won’t need to worry about that anymore. People will quit gambling.”
FRIESAN FIRE – Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farm’s Friesan Fire galloped a mile after the renovation break with trainer Larry Jones aboard Thursday morning.
“It was a successful morning,” Jones said. “We got out around there and came back home. He was much more relaxed this morning than yesterday when he was a little anxious after the day off.”
Friesan Fire, who worked five furlongs under jockey Gabriel Saez on Monday morning, walked Tuesday and enjoyed a “goof-off” day Wednesday.
“Apparently some people didn’t get the memo on what we did yesterday,” Jones said. “I turned on the news last night and they were talking about Larry Jones’ unorthodox training methods.
“I galloped him to the gate and then galloped back to the paddock and he maybe did five-eighths (of a mile) total. He enjoyed it out there. I just let him play around a little and have a good time. Horses don’t have to go out and gallop a mile and a half every day.”
The fourth choice on the morning line at 5-1, Friesan Fire will break from post position six under Saez in Kentucky Derby 135.
GENERAL QUARTERS – Owner/trainer Tom McCarthy’s Toyota Blue Grass (Grade I) winner General Quarters jogged 1 ½ miles Thursday morning under exercise rider Julie Sheets and was full of himself being led back to the barn by his 75-year-old trainer. Around a large gathering of well wishers, General Quarters enjoyed his bath and soaked in the surroundings.
“He likes people,” McCarthy said. “He sure enjoys the audience. That will help him Derby Day for sure, I’ll tell you that. A lot of people want to see him do well.”
The McCarthy stable handed out green General Quarters buttons to those who came by to visit the horse this morning, and among those who came by to check on the horse was Steve Bass, agent for General Quarters’ jockey Julien Leparoux and a former student of McCarthy’s in the Louisville school system.
HOLD ME BACK – Trainer Bill Mott sent WinStar Farm’s Hold Me Back out for a one-mile gallop Thursday morning.
“He had a good gallop,” Mott said. “We went early. The track was good. We went out before it was cut up. He went fine.”
Hold Me Back, the runner-up in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) following a victory in the Lane’s End (Grade II), will be ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Kent Desormeaux.
Desormeaux is a three-time Kentucky Derby winner and will be seeking to become to the first rider to win back-to-back Derbys since Eddie Delahoussaye in 1982 and 1983.
I WANT REVENGE – I Want Revenge went to the track for some light exercise at Churchill Downs on Thursday morning, jogging in the chute, galloping once around and schooling in the paddock.
The son of Stephen Got Even was installed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite for the 135th Run for the Roses, a turn of events that trainer Jeff Mullins couldn’t have envisioned while advising the colt’s breeder, David Lanzman, at the 2008 Barrett’s
2-year-olds-in-training sale. Lanzman had consigned I Want Revenge to the sale and considered buying him back when the bidding slowed.
“I was actually telling him to sell him. At that time, he was an ugly horse,” Mullins said. “He had a pot belly and long hair.”
Lanzman didn’t heed his trainer’s advice and bought back I Want Revenge for $95,000.
“If we all wanted to buy the same horse at a sale, then everybody would just try to buy the same horse and all the others would be bought back. I had a lot of people who loved the horse. The farm people are all here and they loved him. They told me he’s a racehorse,” Lanzman said. “We thought he was something. We signed the ticket and I handed it to Jeff. He looked at me and said, ‘I wouldn’t have bought him for one of my clients.’ ”
Lanzman would eventually sell a big chunk of I Want Revenge to IEAH Stables and Puglisi Racing while retaining control of the colt’s racing career. IEAH bloodstock agent Nick Sallusto subsequently sold “a minute share as a favor to Jeff Singer.”
MINE THAT BIRD – Mine That Bird, the 2008 Canadian champion 2-year-old, galloped two miles Thursday around 7:30 a.m. and gave New Mexico-based trainer Chip Woolley reason for optimism, despite a 50-1 morning-line assignment at Wednesday’s post position draw.
“He went super and really got over the ground well today,” Woolley said. “I’m trying to keep a level keel as Saturday approaches. It’s been exciting from Day One, and I’m just happy to be here. His (morning) line was right what I figured, which is fine with me. Besides, I’ve never bet a horse I’ve run in my entire life. I don’t ever want anyone to worry about that kind of stuff with me.”
Woolley said he will gallop Mine That Bird again Friday and then probably “backtrack” him on raceday morning and let him jog a bit.
Calvin Borel, winner of the 2007 Kentucky Derby aboard Street Sense, will have the mount Saturday.
MR. HOT STUFF – The Tiznow colt Mr. Hot Stuff galloped smartly Thursday morning at Churchill Downs, covering a mile and a half under exercise rider Paul Turner. Bowing his neck and grabbing the bit, the dark WinStar Farm homebred looked a picture when he went through his exercises shortly after 7 o’clock.
Half of the WinStar connections – Bill Casner, along with his wife Susan – looked on alongside their trainer, Eoin Harty.
“He’s more relaxed today,” the trainer said. “Today’s Day 3 (his third day at Churchill Downs since coming in from California) and he’s got it figured out now. He knows what’s going on.”
The conditioner said that he had paddocked Mr. Hot Stuff on Wednesday afternoon and would again Thursday during the races.
“He doesn’t need to go to the gate,” he said. “He’s fine in there.”
Mr. Hot Stuff will be making the eighth start of his career Saturday and will break from post three under John Velazquez. Three of his starts came during his 2-year-old campaign.
MUSKET MAN – The Yonaguska colt Musket Man was out early for a mile-and-a-half gallop Thursday morning as he eases into the Kentucky Derby.
“He’s doing fine,” trainer Derek Ryan said of his charge, who has won five of six lifetime starts and comes into the Kentucky Derby off consecutive victories in the Tampa Bay Derby (Grade III) and the Illinois Derby (Grade II).
Ryan had selection No.18 and few options left at the post position draw, and took post two for Musket Man.
“Strategy will be all up to the jockey (Eibar Coa),” Ryan said. “But I expect he’ll be somewhere behind the leaders in the second tier heading into the first turn.
“I don’t want him on the lead. He does his best when he has some horses to run at. I usually work him in company because he needs a target to do his best.”
Musket Man showed speed in his first three races, all sprints, but always sat off the pace before making a late move. In the Tampa Bay Derby, he got into a world of trouble early, and had to make a big wide run to get up. In the Illinois Derby, he gained command on the stretch turn and held stoutly to the wire.
“He’s got a high cruising speed,” Ryan said, “but the great thing about him is that he also has a real kick for an eighth of a mile.”
NOWHERE TO HIDE – Trainer Nick Zito’s eleventh-hour Derby 135 entrant met jockey Shaun Bridgmohan for the first time Thursday with a quarter-mile blowout down the lane in :25.20. Nowhere to Hide tugged hard for more as Bridgmohan worked overtime to get him pulled up, even midway down the backstretch.
“Shaun just got familiar with the horse this morning,” Zito said. “That’s all I wanted. The good thing is that he didn’t want to pull up.”
The two-time Derby-winning trainer and his owner, Len Riggio of My Meadowview Farm, have been accused of a case of Derby fever, but Zito reasoned that horse racing is the ultimate game of chance.
“No one has a lock on this game – no one,” he said matter-of-factly.
“He ran fourth three races in a row – the Risen Star, the Tampa Bay Derby and the Illinois Derby – and if he ran fourth in the Kentucky Derby, it would be all right by me,” Zito said. “We’ve been trying to get him here all along; we’ve taken him all over the country.”
PAPA CLEM – Arkansas Derby (Grade II) winner Papa Clem blew out three furlongs in :34 flat Thursday just before 7 a.m. with Derby 135 jockey Rafael Bejarano in the saddle.
In a true Stute family tradition, trainer Gary Stute said Papa Clem was now officially “Melvinized,” a term trainer Bob Baffert coined for the fast blowout works typically given by Stute’s father, Mel. The elder Stute was on hand to watch his son’s horse prepare for Saturday’s Run for the Roses and gave a smile of approval. It also brought good vibes to the younger Stute.
“You see me smiling, don’t you?” Gary Stute said. “If he gets beat, it’s all my fault.”
“He was so comfortable,” Bejarano said of the work, which drew splits of :11.20, :22.40 and a gallop-out of :47.20. “I didn’t have to push him or nothing. Past the wire, I just let him gallop out strong and stay up in the saddle.”
Thursday’s workout for Papa Clem perhaps stemmed the tide of a few unimpressive moves from the son of Smart Strike.
“Everyone has been criticizing his works,” Stute said, and then admitted, “I would have been worried if he didn’t work well today.”
Papa Clem will walk the shedrow for the next two days, Friday and race day. Stute indicated that if Papa Clem had worked slower this morning, he might have brought him to the track Saturday morning, but now feels they are ready to go.
PIONEEROF THE NILE – With owner Ahmed Zayat and trainer Bob Baffert watching from the gap closest to the five-eighths pole, Pioneerof the Nile galloped about a mile and a half right after the track reopened at 8:30 a.m. following the renovation break.
The Santa Anita Derby (Grade I) winner stood patiently for several minutes while people snapped photos before walking onto the track.
Baffert said the Empire Maker colt was moving toward the race according to plan.
“Everything is smooth and he looks good out there on the track,” Baffert said. “He’s been very relaxed. My whole mission was to get him here, keep the weight on him and keep his mind relaxed. He was getting a little racy on me at Santa Anita. I didn’t put any fast works into him, just decent works into him.
“He’s fit. He looks really fantastic, flesh-wise. His mind is great. He’s been handling everything. I want him to go up there and be a gentleman. I want him to walk into the gate. I don’t want him to get stirred up. So far, I haven’t seen that here. I’m really happy with that.”
Garrett Gomez will ride Pioneerof the Nile in the Kentucky Derby. Baffert used the fifth choice in the post position draw to select post 16.
SUMMER BIRD – Summer Bird, a lightly raced son of Birdstone, is one of the most relaxed horses on the Churchill Downs backside coming into the Kentucky Derby. Thursday morning the chestnut colt was lying down in his stall taking a nap at 7 o’clock because he wasn’t scheduled to go to the track until 8:30, after the break.
“He woke up early, ate up all his breakfast and then went back to sleep,” trainer Tim Ice said. “He is a very calm horse.”
Out on the track after the break, Summer Bird schooled in the gate, and then galloped one mile under jockey Chris Rosier.
Ice had selection No. 14 and chose post 17 for Summer Bird, who made his first start on March 1, broke his maiden on March 19, and finished third in the Arkansas Derby (Grade II) on April 11.
“Better 17 than post three,” Ice said. “I expect him to be mid-pack early, and make his way over toward the inside before the first turn. I think he’ll run well.”