Musket Man

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 (2nd) – 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 (3rd) – 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 (4th) – 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 (5th) – 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 (6th) – 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 (7th), 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 (8th), 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 (9th), 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.”

Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s Mine That Bird, one of the longest shots on the board at 50-1, exploded along the rail down the stretch under Calvin Borel to win the 135th running of the $2,177,200 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I).

Mine That Bird rallied from last in a field of 19 Thoroughbreds to win by 6 3/4 lengths before a crowd of 153,563, seventh-largest in race history.

The victory margin was the largest in the Kentucky Derby since eventual Triple Crown winner Assault won the Kentucky Derby by eight lengths in 1946.  Prior to Mine That Bird’s win, the 6 ½-length win by Barbaro in 2006 had been the largest win margin since Assault’s Derby romp.

Pioneerof the Nile, Musket Man and Papa Clem battled for second, with the former finishing a nose in front of Musket Man, while Papa Clem was a head farther back.  Friesan Fire, the 7-2 favorite, finished 18th.

The 42-year-old Borel collected his second Kentucky Derby victory after taking its 2007 renewal aboard Street Sense.  He had won Friday’s $500,000 Grade I Kentucky Oaks, the Derby’s sister race, aboard heavily favored Rachel Alexandra, who won by a record 20 ¾ lengths.  Borel became the seventh rider to achieve the Oaks-Derby sweep in the same year Jerry Bailey did it in 1993 aboard Dispute and Sea Hero, respectively.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Borel.  “I took the rail the whole way, we had a good trip, got stopped maybe one time going around the turn but after that, it was awesome. I knew he was going to win by the 3/8th pole. I knew if we could just find our way through that we were going to win from there.”

Trained by Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr., Mine That Bird became the ninth gelding to win the Kentucky Derby and first since Funny Cide in 2003, who in turn had been the first gelding to take the “Run for the Roses” since Clyde Van Dusen in 1929. Mine That Bird is a Kentucky-bred son of 2004 Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone out of the Smart Strike mare Mining My Own.  The Derby winner won the Sovereign Award that honored Canada’s 2-year-old champion in 2008, and became the first Canadian juvenile champion to win America’s greatest race since Sunny’s Halo in 1983.

The winner ran the mile and a quarter on a “sloppy” main track in 2:02.66 in turning back 18 rivals.

The victory was worth $1,417,200 and increased Mine That Bird’s career bankroll to $1,791,581. Mine That Bird, who came into Derby 135 off a fourth-place finish in the Sunland Park Derby on March 29 at New Mexico’s Sunland Park, has now won five of nine career starts.

“It’s wonderful, it hasn’t sunk in,” said Woolley, whose stable is based at the New Mexico track.  “I just can’t say enough. I’m feeling like I never have before. I was thinking Calvin Borel is the best, he just rode a huge race, and everybody around him did a great job and we just were lucky to get here.”

Mine That Bird paid $103.20 to win, the second-largest payoff in Derby history, ranking only behind Donerail’s $184.90 payoff in 1913. Mine That Bird returned $54 to place and $25.80 to show. Pioneerof the Nile returned $8.40 and $6.40 with Musket Man paying $12 to show.

Join in the Dance, ridden by Chris DeCarlo, led the field under the wire the first time in :22.98 with Regal Ransom, Pioneerof the Nile and Papa Clem in closest pursuit. At the back of the pack was Mine That Bird, who found a spot along the rail.

The top four remained unchanged through a half-mile in :47.23 and Mine That Bird had not changed his position. Approaching the half-mile pole, Join in the Dance and Regal Ransom were joined near the front by Hold Me Back, who made a bold move on the inside under Kent Desormeaux. Mine That Bird, who  was still last.

As the battle continued up front, Borel started his “Street Sense-like move”, skimming the rail without a straw in his path. Borel moved Mine That Bird off the rail only once, to move past Atomic Rain and then cut back to the rail for an unimpeded run.

Once in the stretch, Mine That Bird squeezed by a tiring Join in the Dance and raced into Thoroughbred history.

Pioneerof the Nile saved second by a nose over Musket Man, who was a head in front of Papa Clem. Completing the field in order were Chocolate Candy, Summer Bird, Join in the Dance, Regal Ransom, West Side Bernie, General Quarters, Dunkirk, Hold Me Back, Advice, Desert Party, Mr. Hot Stuff, Atomic Rain, Nowhere to Hide, Friesan Fire and Flying Private.

The field was reduced to 19 by the withdrawal Saturday morning of morning-line favorite I Want Revenge because of heat in the left front ankle. There was inflammation above and below the sesamoids.  It marked the first time since the morning line was published in the program in 1949 that the favorite was scratched the day of the race.

How are your favorite contenders training up to the first Saturday in May?  Check back daily with the Churchill Downs Notes Team for all the latest.

ADVICE / DUNKIRK / JOIN IN THE DANCE – Trainer Todd Pletcher sent his chief Derby threat Dunkirk through a five-panel drill in company at the training center at Palm Meadows in Florida on Saturday morning – and he was tickled with the outcome.

Clockers gave the Unbridled’s Song colt a final time of 1:01.05 for the drill, while his workmate – the 3-year-old stakes-placed Munnings – was given a time of 1:01.25.

“I was very, very pleased with the work,” Pletcher said. “I caught him (Dunkirk) in splits of :12 4/5, :24 4/5, :36 4/5 and 1:01, and I had him galloping out in 1:14 2/5. He started out about a length and a half or two lengths behind the other horse, then he finished up about a half-length ahead. It was a very good move for him.”

The five-time Eclipse Award winner as the nation’s top trainer said he couldn’t be happier with the way his $3.7 million yearling was coming up to Derby 135.

“We couldn’t be more pleased with the way things have gone as he’s come up to this race,” Pletcher said. “Everything has fallen into place. Every one of his works has taken place when we wanted it to and they have all come off the way we hoped. He’s coming up to the race right and we’re feeling very good about him. We couldn’t be happier.”

Pletcher said Dunkirk would ship by air from Florida on Tuesday. Pletcher himself was coming to Louisville late Sunday.

Coolmore Lexington Stakes (Grade II) winner Advice galloped a mile and three-eighths at Churchill Downs under exercise rider Kevin Willey shortly after the 8:30 renovation break.

Pletcher’s right-hand man, Mike McCarthy, oversaw the exercise out of their Barn 34 headquarters.

Advice, a son of Chapel Royal, is scheduled to have his final blowout toward his possible Derby start on Monday. To this point, no rider has been assigned to the colt, who is owned by WinStar Farm.

Join in the Dance, expected to be a serious forward factor in Derby 135 if he gets to run, continued his training toward next Saturday’s race with a mile and three-eighths gallop under Willey.

Join in the Dance is currently No. 21 on the graded stakes list and would need one of the horses ahead of him to withdraw prior to the taking of entries on Wednesday if he is to get to dance.

CHOCOLATE CANDY – The big bay colt with the mellow disposition came trackside under exercise rider Lindsey Molina Saturday at 7 a.m., but Chocolate Candy wasn’t in any rush. He stepped into the clearing near the six-furlong chute and stopped to look around. He moved forward a few yards and halted to take it all in again. And then he did it once more before walking through the chute and going about his business.

“He’s such a big, easy goin’ fella,” said Galen May, the right-hand man on the scene for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. “Nothing bothers him. That’s why I like him so much.”

Chocolate Candy took a tour of the paddock, then galloped a solid mile and a half, doing it in his low-key style out in the middle of the track.

Hollendorfer, the king of Northern California racing, had a busy day at Golden Gate Fields where he was going to saddle – among others – Our Partner the San Francisco Mile. He was scheduled to travel to Louisville on Sunday.

DESERT PARTY / REGAL RANSOM – With exercise rider Bob Chapman up, the Godolphin duo of Regal Ransom and Desert Party put in their final works for Kentucky Derby 135.

Regal Ransom was first out shortly after the track opened at 6 a.m. Accompanied by a pony, Regal Ransom backtracked to the front side then galloped to the backstretch where he broke off at the five-eighths pole. Churchill Downs clockers caught Regal Ransom in fractions of :12.40, :23.80, :35, :47 and completing the five furlongs in :59.20 for the fastest clocking of 30 at the distance.

Regal Ransom galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.40 and pulled up seven-eighths in 1:27 over a track labeled “fast.”

Desert Party came out without a pony after the renovation break and worked in :59.60, second-fastest of the morning. Fractions for the work were :12.60, :24.60, :36.40 and :48.20 with a six-furlong out time of 1:12.40 and up seven-eighths in 1:25.80.

Chapman, who has been wearing a finger watch for 10 years when working horses, had Desert Party covering the final quarter mile in :22.91.

“They both worked nicely this morning,” trainer Saeed bin Suroor said. “They are really in good form here and that is a good sign. They will walk tomorrow, jog Monday and then gallop up to the race. They both may go to the gate and paddock one time next week.

“Regal Ransom goes out with a pony because he is always keen in the morning. Desert Party is a more laid back and relaxed and always easy to train.”

The works were the second for each at Churchill Downs. Regal Ransom worked five furlongs in :59.80 and Desert Party 1:00.20 last Saturday.

Desert Party and Regal Ransom will represent the sixth and seven Kentucky Derby starters for Godolphin. They had three starts in Dubai before shipping to Churchill Downs and only one of the stable’s previous starters had had more: Curule, who had four starts in Dubai in 2000 before running seventh here.

“They are fit and ready to go,” bin Suroor said in explaining why this year may be different than in previous Derby attempts. “There will be no excuses for our horses.”

Alan Garcia will have the Derby riding assignment on Regal Ransom and Ramon Dominguez is on Desert Party.
    
FLAT OUT – Oxbow Racing's Flat Out was taken to Lexington's Hagyard-Davis Equine Clinic on Friday afternoon and underwent a precautionary scan Saturday morning.

“He's fit and there is no problem,” trainer Charles “Scooter” Dickey said. He said the owners just wanted the scan as a precaution to make sure the heel bruise he suffered in the Southwest Stakes on Feb. 16 is not redeveloping.

Flat Out is scheduled to return to Churchill Downs early Sunday morning in hopes of making it on the track before training hours are over.

He is currently 22nd on the graded earnings list and needs a couple of defections in order to make the field for Derby 135.

FLYING PRIVATE – Robert Baker and William Mack's Flying Private galloped under exercise rider Taylor Carty. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Flying Private would likely work Monday or Tuesday depending on weather. Robby Albarado has the Derby riding assignment on Flying Private.

FRIESAN FIRE – Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farm’s Friesan Fire made his first appearance on the track at Churchill Downs, galloping a mile and a half under trainer Larry Jones after the renovation break.

“Everything is good here,” Jones said. “I like the way he handled his first day here.”

Friesan Fire enters the Kentucky Derby on a three-race win streak, having taken the LeComte (Grade III), Risen Star (Grade III) and Louisiana Derby (Grade II) at Fair Grounds this winter. Friesan Fire had been stabled at Keeneland for a month before shipping to Churchill Downs on Friday afternoon.

Gabriel Saez, who has been aboard for Friesan Fire’s past three victories, has the Derby riding assignment and is scheduled to work Friesan Fire on Monday morning after the renovation break.
Friesan Fire worked three times at Keeneland.

GENERAL QUARTERS – Toyota Blue Grass (Grade I) winner General Quarters galloped 1 ½ miles just after 7:30 a.m. Saturday, tugging at exercise rider Julie Sheets. Today’s routine will become ”routine” for the Sky Mesa colt, who had what is expected to be his final Derby 135 workout on Thursday.

Owner-trainer Tom McCarthy said General Quarters will gallop up to the Derby in all likelihood.

General Quarters was calm and composed walking to and from the track, led by hand by McCarthy, a retired Louisville teacher and principal who has become the Derby darling of 2009. On Friday night McCarthy was featured on ABC World News with Charles Gibson as the newscast’s “Person of the Week.”

“The phone has been ringing off the hook in all honesty,” McCarthy said of his recent fame. “Old friends, people I haven’t heard from in years, they’re all calling. It’s great, but it has not changed me. I just go on every day and keep doing what I do. Hope springs eternal. Everybody who trains horses hopes someday to be here. We’re going to enjoy it.”

General Quarters likely will become the most famous one-horse stable in America over the next seven days. But he won’t fly solo for long. McCarthy said he has a 3-year-old filly, Miss Sunshine, ready to come to the track this summer after the Derby hub-bub subsides.

HOLD ME BACK – WinStar Farm’s Hold Me Back went twice around under assistant trainer Kenny McCarthy before the renovation break.

Trainer Bill Mott said the winner of the Lane’s End (Grade II) would work “maybe Sunday; maybe Monday.”

Three-time Kentucky Derby-winning rider Kent Desormeaux will have the riding assignment next Saturday.
Hold Me Back has a record of three wins and a runner-up finish in four starts on synthetic surfaces. In his lone dirt try, Hold Me Back ran fifth in the Grade II Remsen.

“He was a big, tall, light 2-year-old who needed time to fill out,” said Elliott Walden, vice president and racing manager for WinStar. “His Ragozin number in the Remsen was the same he ran at Keeneland (in an allowance win).

“It would be reasonable to question that (his ability on dirt). But I am more confident in him than one would have just by looking at the past performances.”

I WANT REVENGE – Wood Memorial (Grade I) winner I Want Revenge galloped two miles Saturday morning with regular exercise rider Joe Deegan aboard.

Bobby Troeger, assistant to trainer Jeff Mullins, supervised the exercise. He said that Mullins was en route from California and was expected to arrive in Louisville at 7 p.m. Saturday.

I Want Revenge, a Stephen Got Even colt, has been working on Tuesdays the past month, and is expected to have his final Derby breeze this Tuesday. He’s worked twice at Churchill Downs, a 1:01.60 breeze on April 21, and a :50 half-mile on April 14.

MINE THAT BIRD – Last year’s Canadian champion 2-year-old Mine That Bird logged two miles Saturday morning, jogging a quarter-mile before galloping 1 ¾ miles under exercise rider Charlie Figueroa.

“He looks like he’s getting over the ground a little better than yesterday and better than the day before,” trainer Chip Woolley said “That’s what we’re hoping to see – him getting better each day until next Saturday.”

The son of Birdstone will breeze five furlongs Monday (approximately 8:50 a.m.) with Calvin Borel in the irons. Woolley said that he never has had Borel aboard one of his horses in a race, but that the rider of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense makes a lot of sense.

“We just weighed our options of riders out there and kept coming back to him,” Woolley said. “I’ve always liked him and thought he’d fit this horse. He’s patient and that’s the trip we’re likely to get if we’re to do any good in the Derby.”

Woolley has spent much of his training career with Quarter Horses, but said the increased chances to run Thoroughbreds in slots-rich New Mexico was part of the reason his stable has branched out in breeds in recent years. Plus, he said, “The Quarter Horse game can be awfully tough. You do everything right; but one bad break, and you’re done. It’s different with Thoroughbred racing. Look at I Want Revenge in the Wood. He stumbled, but still had a chance to run to his ability. In Quarter Horse racing, he would have been done in at the start.”

MR. HOT STUFF – WinStar Farm’s Mr. Hot Stuff, third in a pair of graded stakes at Santa Anita in his most recent starts, will put in his final Kentucky Derby drill Sunday morning at the Los Angeles track.

“He’ll go five eighths with one of our exercise riders up,” said his trainer, Eoin Harty, via phone, from a working trip in Chicago. “We’ll work him tomorrow and he’ll fly out Monday. I’ll be flying to Louisville Sunday afternoon.”

Mr. Hot Stuff, a son of Tiznow, is still missing a jockey for Derby 135 after his regular rider, Corey Nakatani, chose to jump ship and ride Square Eddie.

“We don’t have a rider yet,” Harty said, “but we’ve got lots of time to get one. We will. You can be sure of that."

MUSKET MAN – The Yonaguska colt Musket Man had his final Kentucky Derby breeze Saturday morning, and the move was a little more exciting than trainer Derek Ryan would have liked.

“A horse crossed in front of him when he broke off,” Ryan said, “and that got him a little excited. Then, near the eighth pole, some guy going the wrong way of the track ducked over toward the rail. A little excitement, but no big deal. Nothing happened.”

With Derby jockey Eibar Coa aboard, Musket Man broke off at the 5 ½-furlong pole and breezed straight through the wire to the 15/16ths pole. He was credited with a move of five furlongs in 1:01.60, out the six furlongs in 1:14.80.

“It was a good work, just what we wanted,” Ryan said. “I didn’t want him to do too much a week before the race.”

This was the second time Musket Man had worked over the Churchill Downs strip. The Illinois Derby winner breezed six furlongs in 1:13 flat last Saturday.

“I was happy with him today, and I know Coa was more impressed this morning than he was last week,” Ryan said.

“I was happy with him this morning,” Coa said. “He was more aggressive than usual, I think because that horse crossed in front of us when we broke off. He’s usually a very quiet horse.”

Musket Man has now won stakes at a mile and a sixteenth and a mile and an eighth his past two starts. Ryan, who is participating in his first Derby, has no doubts the colt can get a mile and a quarter.

“I’ve been hearing about his distance limitations since October,” the trainer said. “So far he’s handled every track and every distance. He’s improved off his last start each time, and each race he gets a little better.”

Coa rode Musket Man for the first time in the Illinois Derby and has been impressed since.

“He’s an easy horse to ride,” Coa said. “He’ll sit behind horses and wait. He runs better with a target. He’ll have plenty of targets Saturday.”

Ryan purchased Musket Man for $15,000 as a yearling from the Keeneland September Sale in 2007 on behalf of owners Eric Fein and Vic Carlson.

PAPA CLEM – Arkansas Derby (Grade II) winner Papa Clem worked seven furlongs in 1:29.20 Saturday just after the renovation break in what could be his final major preparation for Derby 135. Trainer Gary Stute said that the Bo Hirsch home-bred could blow out a quarter-mile in the final day or two before the Derby “if he’s biting and kicking.”

“The main goal was just to get him tired,” Stute said of Saturday’s drill, which went in splits of :12.60, :24.80, :37.00, :49.60, 1:02.40 and 1:15.40. “He broke off kind of fast and got a little ‘late’.”

Exercise rider Mundo Gonzalez was aboard for the workout and had a few anxious moments at the gap as Papa Clem bucked before heading onto the track and also was stirred up on the front side.

“With him,” Stute said, “I always take him with a pony. He gets to feeling pretty good.”

Fitness should not be a question with Papa Clem, who has rattled off four consecutive route races (three in stakes company) since the opening of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting. But while the first three of those races went in moderate paces with easy trips for Papa Clem, Stute said the Arkansas Derby (Grade II) provided the most education.

“He had trouble on the first turn and got dirt in his face,” Stute said of the Oaklawn experience. “Everything wasn’t just handed to him. He had to work for it.”

Papa Clem will walk the shedrow next two days and is expected to return to the track Tuesday morning. Rafael Bejarano will be in from California for the mount Saturday.

PIONEEROF THE NILE – Looking an absolute picture on a sunny and warm Kentucky morning, the dark son of Empire Maker went trackside under exercise rider George Alvarez immediately after the morning renovation break at 8:30. Assistant trainer Jim Barnes astride his pony led Pioneerof the Nile on a backtrack to the frontside, then let him do his thing – and do it he did.

Galloping well out in the middle of the track, the Zayat Stables’ homebred was strong, then stronger, going through his mile and a half exercise, finishing up just as well as he started in an impressive display or readiness for his upcoming 10-furlong task.

“He’s doing good,” said his trainer, Bob Baffert, the man who just had his ticket punched to racing’s Hall of Fame. “He likes it here. In fact, I think he might like this track more than he does Santa Anita (where he is a three-time graded stakes winner this year). He seems to lower his head and stride out even better here.

“But he’s in a tough race with some nice horses and we’ll need some luck. Twenty horses; anything can happen. We’ll need some luck.”

Pioneerof the Nile, a winner of five of his eight starts and $1,234,200, is scheduled to have his final Derby work Monday morning.

QUALITY ROAD – Florida Derby (Grade I) winner Quality Road jogged 1 ¾ miles at Belmont Park, just one day after a second quarter crack appeared. Quality Road’s latest malady appeared in his right front hoof, adding to the quarter rack he suffered in his right hind hoof after his signature win at Gulfstream Park on March 28.

“Jogging is obviously a lot easier on the horse in all ways, respiration-wise and on the legs, than galloping is,” trainer James Jerkens said of the reduced workload this morning. “It’s not quite as good of a conditioner … but it was all we could do to be on the safe side. He came back and the crack was dry and (there was) no blood seeping from it. We’re planning on patching him at 7 o’clock tomorrow morning and galloping him at about 9:20 after the second harrow break.”

According to the NYRA Press Office notes, noted hoof specialist Ian McKinlay reported, “There was no blood and he’s sound. He’s feeling good and I couldn’t be happier.”

McKinlay “laced” the half-inch quarter crack Friday and treated it with antiseptic and a “hoof toughener,” Jerkens said.

Jerkens addressed a national media teleconference Saturday morning and said the Kentucky Derby still remains in Quality Road’s crosshairs. “The way things are going, I’m pretty confident,” Jerkens said, then admitted, “I’m usually negative about everything by nature.”

If Quality Road gallops sound on Sunday, he’ll advance on to a serious workout Monday. “Tomorrow is the big day in finding out where we’re going,” Jerkens said, adding that the acrylic patch will be tested for pressure by the gallop.

Quality Road last worked five furlongs April 10 in 1:02.19 at Belmont, but Jerkens said more will need to be done to be Derby-ready.

“That was quite a while ago and we’ll definitely have to do something by Monday to be prepared,” he said. “A mile-and-a-quarter against the best horses in the country, you don’t want to be going in short of conditioning. That’s for sure.”

Jerkens said the quarter-crack problems may have more to do with pedigree and Quality Road’s build than anything. “For a horse his size,” Jerkens said, “(his feet) in comparison to the rest of him, are a little on the small side. His (hoof) walls are kind of thin.”

He said Quality Road’s three-quarter sister, Kobla Road, was a quarter-crack nightmare. “We had a horrible time with her. We were forever patching quarter-cracks up.” Her racing career had to be cut short and now is a broodmare.

While the quarter crack remains a serious concern, Jerkens said, “He hasn’t been weight-bearing sore on it.”

Quality Road will ship to Churchill Downs Tuesday if all goes well over the next two days.

SQUARE EDDIE – Square Eddie was out for a very easy jog once around the Churchill oval Saturday morning at 6:30. Exercise rider Tony Romero did the honors, moving easily alongside a big pony.

“Nice and easy today,” said assistant trainer Leandro Mora, who is holding down the fort until chief trainer Doug O’Neill makes the scene. “He’s going to work tomorrow morning after the break, so we want him fresh for that.”

Square Eddie announced his return to the racing wars with a swooping move to the front in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes on April 18 at Keeneland, only to fall back and finish third behind winner Advice. That start was the first in three months for the Smart Strike colt, who last year won the Lane’s End Breeders’ Futurity (Grade I) at Keeneland and then finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Grade I) at Santa Anita.

Square Eddie is scheduled to work Sunday morning. Mora wasn’t sure whether or not his new rider, Corey Nakatani, would be coming from California for the exercise.

Mora noted further that Square Eddie’s conditioning for his comeback has been supplemented by “swimming” on an equine treadmill.

“His work routine wouldn’t have been enough to get him ready for this race on his own,” he stated. “The swimming has been a big help. In fact, we’re going back over to Keeneland with him this afternoon and let him ‘swim’ for 45 minutes or so. We’ll try to keep that up during the week, but it may be that we won’t be able to take him out of here (because of security concerns) as we get closer to the race. But we’ll keep ‘swimming’ him as long as we can. He loves it.”

Mora, a veteran of the Southern California racing scene, remembered another case of a “swimming” Derby horse.

“I was at Hollywood Park back in 1983 when David Cross Jr., had Sunny’s Halo. He’s only had a few races prepping for the Derby and a lot of people didn’t think he could be ready. But I saw David ‘swim’ that horse for 40 straight days at the old pool and treadmill they had there and I knew he was going to be fit. And he was.”

Sunny’s Halo, with only two 3-year-old prep races coming into Kentucky Derby 109, was always prominent under Eddie Delahoussaye and drew clear to win by two lengths.

SUMMER BIRD – The lightly raced colt by Birdstone who had his final major Derby work on Friday here (6 furlongs in 1:15.80) just walked under the shedrow Saturday morning.

Trainer Tim Ice and jockey Chris Rosier were off to Lone Star Park in Texas, where the trainer has three horses entered, including Catmantoo in the Texas Mile Stakes and Affirmed Truth in the Richmond Hills Stakes.

Both trainer and rider are due back in Louisville on Sunday. Before Ice left at 6:30 he had a chance to take in the pre-dawn work of Godolphin’s Regal Ransom.

WEST SIDE BERNIE – West Side Bernie had his final Kentucky Derby breeze Saturday morning, drilling a half-mile over the fast main track in :48.20 with jockey Stewart Elliott aboard.

“I told ‘Stew’ to go in :48, so it was just what I wanted,” trainer Kelly Breen said of the move. “Better a fifth slower than a second too fast.

“The track has been kind of dull, so I think that was a very good work. And ‘Stew’ told me that he had a lot of horse left when he passed the wire. So I was happy he stayed well within himself today, instead of leaving his race on the track.

“He got something out of the work without knocking himself out. The time was as close to the plan as you can get, so I’m happy.”

Breen, who will be saddling his first Kentucky Derby starter, said that West Side Bernie will gallop up to the race now.

This was the first recorded breeze West Side Bernie has put in since he drilled a half in :48.80 at Palm Meadows on March 12. He went on to run second in the Wood Memorial (Grade I) on April 4.

“I want to have a sharp horse in the Derby,” Breen said. “That’s why he worked a half-mile.”

Elliott, who won the Derby aboard Smarty Jones in 2004, said he thought the work was perfect.

“He went just like we wanted him to,” the rider said. “A very good work.”

And was the rider happy to be back at Churchill Downs?

“Thrilled,” he said. “It’s great to have a horse in the Derby.”

Breen gave $50,000 for West Side Bernie at the Keeneland September yearling sale in 2007 on behalf of George and Lori Hall.

WIN WILLY – Win Willy, a son of 2001 Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos jogged a mile and galloped a mile Saturday morning with exercise rider Elias Lopez aboard.

Luis Moldonado, who is caring for the horse at Churchill Downs, said that trainer Mac Robertson is due in Monday or Tuesday to supervise final preparations for Win Willy, who won the Rebel Stakes and then ran fourth in the Arkansas Derby. Cliff Berry, who was aboard in those races, will again be the rider next Saturday.

Moldonado said that Robertson was in the process of moving his entire string of some 60 horses from Oaklawn Park to Canterbury Downs, his summer headquarters.

Godolphin’s pair of contenders for the $2 million-guaranteed Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) – Desert Party and Regal Ransom – turned in sharp works Saturday in their first serious training at Churchill Downs, while Illinois Derby (GII) winner Musket Man worked a strong six furlongs under Derby jockey Eibar Coa.

UAE Derby (GII) winner Regal Ransom turned in one of the best works of the day as he zipped five furlongs over a “fast” track in :59.80 under exercise rider Bob Chapman.  The son of Distorted Humor worked shortly after the track opened for training on the perfect spring morning and carved out fractions of :12/60, :24.20, :35.80 and :48 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.

    Desert Party, winner of last fall’s Sanford (GII) at Saratoga and the UAE 2000 Guineas and runner-up to Regal Ransom in the UAE Derby at Nad Al Sheba, worked just after the mid-session break for track maintenance and breezed five furlongs in 1:00.20.  Chapman was aboard as the son of Street Cry covered the distance in fractions of :12.20, :24.40, :37 and :48.80 and galloped out strongly with six furlongs in 1:13.20.

    “Both of them seemed to grab the track really good,” said Rick Mettee, assistant to Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor.  “This is the first these two have worked over a dirt track since last fall.  Of course they ran over the dirt at Nad Al Sheba, but that’s one reason why Saeed wanted to get them in here earlier.  They’ve been training at the (synthetic) Tapeta track over at Al Quoz and then before they got there they trained over the conventional Polytrack at Keeneland.”\

    Desert Party had some unexpected company on the track as he encountered Nowhere to Hide, the Nick Zito-trained fourth-place finisher in the Risen Star (GIII), Tampa Bay Derby (GIII) and Illinois Derby (GIII), at the head of the stretch and quickly blew past that colt as he split Zito’s colt on the rail and a galloper to the outside.

    “He had some competition there turning for home and that kind of spurred him on a little bit,” said Mettee.  “He grabbed the track fine and galloped out good and we’re really happy with that. He probably isn’t as a good a work horse as the other.  The track might not have been quite as fast as it was early.  That’s what my rider said.”

    Mettee said there has still been no formal decision as to whether both colts will run in the 135th Kentucky Derby on May 2, but said today’s efforts by Regal Ransom and Desert Party could accelerate that decision.

    “I think we wanted to kind of get past this hurdle and see how both of them were doing,” he said.  “Both of them worked good before we left – both of them worked sharp halves.  So this was the next step.  Saeed and Shiekh Mohammed will go over that, and it probably won’t be that long before they make a decision.”

    Mettee said Regal Ransom and Desert Party would have one more work in the days leading up to the Derby.

    “We’re kind of ahead of the game now, so we could go anywhere from Saturday to Tuesday of next week,” he said.  “Depending the weather and the track, we’d just wait and see.”

    Desert Party has a career record of 4-1-0 in six races and has earned $688,467.  Regal Ransom’s record stands at 2-2-0 in five races with earnings of $1,297,200.

    Meanwhile, Eric Fein and Vic Carlson’s Musket Man, the winner of the Illinois Derby (GIII) and Tampa Bay Derby, breezed six furlongs in the company of a stablemate for trainer Derek Ryan.  Coa guided the son of Yonaguska through the distance in 1:13 just after the break for track maintenance.

    Musket Man pulled away from his workmate, the 3-year-old colt Bull Toccet, at the top of the stretch and was about four lengths clear at the finish.  Bull Toccet covered the distance in 1:13.80.

    The work started at the 5 ½ furlong pole and finished up at the 7 ½ pole, and clockers caught Musket Man through his final quarter mile in :24.40.

    “I was pretty happy the way he worked,” said Coa.  “He just sat next to that horse all the way to the eighth pole and when I asked him he really finished up good.  That was what we were looking for today, and he did it the way we wanted to.”

    It was the first work over the track for Musket Man since his arrival at the track on April 5, the day after his victory in the Illinois Derby at Hawthorne Park.  

    “It went very well – it couldn’t have been a better work,” said trainer Derek Ryan.   “I always work him in company.  Every work he’s ever had has been in company, because he’s a little bit laid-back on his own and we needed to get a good work in him.”

    Musket Man has won five of six career starts with earnings of $572,600.

BAFFERT RETURNS TO THE CHURCHILL FOR DERBY – Three-time Kentucky Derby winner Bob Baffert was back at Barn 33 on Saturday to oversee the training of Zayat Stable’s Pioneerof the Nile in the two weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby.

    The son of Empire Maker galloped Saturday morning following the break for track maintenance with Baffert looking on.  Baffert last participated in the Kentucky Derby when he saddled three horses in 2006.

    “It’s good to be back,” said Baffert. “You miss having a good horse for it.  But if you don’t have the right horse, you don’t miss it.  It’s not the same – it doesn’t get the juices flowing.  This time, coming here with a horse like this, I feel like I have a good chance to win it, so it’s exciting when you know you have a good horse.”

    Pioneerof the Nile has won four consecutive stakes races, including the Santa Anita Derby in his most recent outing on April 4.  Baffert’s colt has yet to run on traditional dirt – all of his previous races have been on turf or synthetic courses – but Baffert is encouraged that horses that he had beaten in California – such as Wood Memorial (GI) winner I Want Revenge and Arkansas Derby (GII) winner Papa Clem – traveled East and performed well on dirt courses.

    “It’s good that horses that left town to get away from him did well,” he said.  “This horse is improving and I think he should move up on the dirt, but you never know.”

    Baffert said Pioneerof the Nile would work Tuesday or Wednesday.

SUNDAY WORKS – Trainer Gary Stute said Bo Hirsch’s homebred Papa Clem, winner of the Arkansas Derby (GII), would work seven furlongs at Churchill Downs on Sunday.  

    Stute, who was traveling to Louisville on Saturday, said the colt would work close to the break for track maintenance.  

    Also scheduled to work on Sunday is Starlight Partners’ Take the Points, the runner-up in the Sham (GIII) who could enter the Kentucky Derby picture if there are defections from the list of possible starters over the next few days.  Take the Points is trained by Todd Pletcher.

 

After spending the winter on synthetic surfaces in California, Zayat Stables Pioneerof the Nile and the Sid and Jenny Craig Trust’s Chocolate Candy got a feel for the traditional dirt track at Churchill Downs on Friday as they began their first full day at the home of the Kentucky Derby.

    The Bob Baffert-trained Pioneerof the Nile, whose win in the Santa Anita Derby (GI) marked his fourth straight stakes victory, and Chocolate Candy, the Jerry Hollendorfer-trained runner-up in the Santa Anita Derby, both jogged over a “fast” surface after the mid-session break for track maintenance on Friday.  

    The two horses arrived at Churchill Downs early Thursday afternoon.  Chocolate Candy is scheduled to work on Tuesday, April 28 at Churchill Downs with new jockey Mike Smith in the saddle.  Smith, who won the 2005 Kentucky Derby aboard Giacomo, piloted the homebred Candy Ride colt in his last work before his departure from California.  Hollendorfer will accompany Smith to Kentucky for the work.

    Trainer Bob Baffert is scheduled to arrive in Louisville Friday evening and will be at Barn 33 on Saturday to supervise the training of Pioneerof the Nile and Kentucky Oaks (GI) hopeful Gabby’s Golden Gal.

Four Kentucky Derby contenders are scheduled to work at Churchill Downs over the weekend:

• Godolphin’s pair of Kentucky Derby hopefuls will work on Saturday.  UAE Derby winner Regal Ransom is scheduled to work as soon as the track opens at 6 a.m. (all times EDT), while UAE 2000 Guineas winner Desert Party will work just after the maintenance break around 8:30 a.m.
• Illinois Derby (GII) and Tampa Bay Derby (GIII) winner Musket Man will work just after the break with jockey Eibar Coa up.
•  Arkansas Derby (GII) winner Papa Clem will work seven furlongs on Sunday, according to trainer Gary Stute.

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, a four-time winner of both the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, has arrived on the scene with Kentucky Derby hopeful Flying Private and Oaks candidate Be Fair.  Lukas said Flying Private would work “Monday or Tuesday,” and was leaning toward the latter.  Be Fair is set for a Sunday breeze.

    Wood Memorial (GI) winner I Want Revenge is scheduled for a Tuesday work.  

    Three other Kentucky Derby contenders are on the grounds at Churchill Downs.  Toyota Blue Grass (GI) winner General Quarters, Wood Memorial (GI) runner-up West Side Bernie and Smarty Jones winner Flat Out all galloped on Friday.

LEPAROUX TO RIDE TOYOTA BLUE GRASS WINNER GENERAL QUARTERS IN KENTUCKY DERBY 135 -- Four-time Churchill Downs’ riding champion Julien Leparoux has been named to ride owner-trainer Tom McCarthy’s Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) winner General Quarters in the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) on May 2 at Churchill Downs.
    McCarthy said Wednesday that the 25-year-old native of Senlis, France would ride his gray son of Sky Mesa in the Derby.  McCarthy named Leparoux to the mount after he became frustrated by a lack of a commitment or communication from jockey Eibar Coa, who rode the colt in the Toyota Blue Grass.  Coa is also the regular jockey aboard Kentucky Derby contender Musket Man, the winner of the Illinois Derby (GII).
    “Julien is a nice, sit-still rider and he’s fairly aggressive,” said McCarthy.  “I think he’d fit this horse very nicely.”
    The 72-year-old McCarthy, a retired educator and former principal at three Louisville high schools, has a long relationship with Steve Bass, Leparoux’s agent and a former student of McCarthy’s at Louisville’s Seneca High School.   Leparoux’s success at Churchill Downs was also a selling point for McCarthy.
    “That’s a big thing,” McCarthy said.  “He’s been riding here and he knows the track.  After I get through talking with him we’ll have a plan we’ll use in the Derby.”
    Leparoux’s riding titles at Churchill Downs include a sensational record-smashing 2008 Fall Meet.  He recorded 63 wins during that session, which broke a record of 55 set in 1984 by Hall of Famer Pat Day, the track’s all-time leading jockey.  During that meet Leparoux also collected seven wins in a single day, which tied a record set by Day.
    General Quarters returned to the track on Wednesday for the first time since his Blue Grass victory.   He galloped 1 ½ miles under exercise rider Julie Sheets.
    McCarthy said General Quarters would probably have just one work between the Toyota Blue Grass and the Kentucky Derby.  His plan is not yet firm, but McCarthy said that he anticipates a work about eight days out from Derby 135.

GOLDOPHIN DUO SET FOR SATURDAY WORKS – Godolphin’s Kentucky Derby duo of UAE Derby (GII) winner Regal Ransom and runner-up Desert Party galloped over a “fast” track at Churchill Downs on Wednesday under the gaze of Rick Mettee, the assistant to trainer Saeed bin Suroor.
    “They trained great, both of them,” said Mettee. “They galloped really well. They had jogged for a few days since clearing quarantine and they both seemed to grab the track real nice.”
    The horses cleared quarantine at Churchill Downs on Saturday and are now stabled at Barn 41. 
    Mettee said that Godolphin and bin Suroor had not made a “definitive decision” on whether both horses would run in the May 2 Derby.
    “Both are going to work this weekend and that might help sort things out,” Mettee said.  “No definitive decision has been made, but right now we’re planning on running both.”
    Regarding Godolphin’s rider situation, Mettee said Alan Garcia, who rode Regal Ransom in the UAE Derby, was committed to ride for the stable in the Kentucky Derby.  If both horses are entered in the Derby, the decision would be made then as to which horse Garcia would ride.

WEST SIDE BERNIE JOGS – Wood Memorial (GI) runner-up West Side Bernie jogged on Wednesday at Churchill Downs in his first trip to the track since his pre-dawn arrival at the home of the Kentucky Derby on Monday.
    Trainer Kelly Breen was happy with the way the 3-year-old son of Bernstein looked on the track, but was unsure of the colt’s training schedule for the just over two weeks that remain before the “Run for the Roses.”
    “He had a little bit of a bout with colic when he shipped in here,” said Breen.  “He went to the track today, which is as good a schedule as we thought we’d be on.  I’m not sure if I’m going to breeze him on Sunday or just open gallop him.  I’m going to see how he feels.  I think he’s gotten over it (the colic) and put it past him, but I’m on the cautious side right now.”
    West Side Bernie would be Breen’s first Kentucky Derby starter.  Stewart Elliott, who won the 2004 Kentucky Derby aboard Smarty Jones, was in the saddle aboard West Side Bernie in the Wood Memorial and is scheduled to ride the colt in the Derby.

MUSKET MAN SET FOR SATURDAY WORK – Trainer Derek Ryan said Illinois Derby (GII) and Tampa Bay Derby (GIII) winner Musket Man would work on Saturday, April 18, “weather permitting.” 
Ryan said Musket Man would work just after the renovation break and jockey Eibar Coa would be at Churchill Downs for the move.

DERBY CONTENDERS ON THE GROUNDS – With Tuesday’s arrival of Arkansas Derby (GII) winner Papa Clem, there are seven Kentucky Derby hopefuls on the grounds.  Also here are Wood Memorial (GI) winner and possible favorite I Want Revenge; General Quarters; Musket Man; West Side Bernie; and the Godolphin duo of Desert Party and Regal Ransom.  The 1-2 finishers in the Santa Anita Derby – Pioneerof the Nile and Chocolate Candy – are scheduled to arrive on Thursday, April 16.

KENTUCKY OAKS FAVORITE RACHEL ALEXANRA TO BREEZE ON THURSDAY – L & M Racing’s Rachel Alexandra, winner of the Fantasy (GII) and Fair Grounds Oaks (GII), is set to work on Thursday, April 16 at Churchill Downs.
    Trainer Hal Wiggins said the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro would breeze around 8:30 a.m. (EDT), just after the break for track maintenance.

David Lanzman and IEAH Stable's I Want Revenge, winner of the Wood Memorial (Grade I) and one of the early favorites for the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI), arrived at Churchill Downs early Tuesday, April 7 to continue his preparation for the May 2 "Run for the Roses."

    The Jeff Mullins-trained son of Stephen Got Even arrived at Churchill Downs around 5:45 a.m. following a van ride from New York.  I Want Revenge is stabled in Barn 24.

    I Want Revenge will attempt to become the second consecutive Kentucky Derby winner for IEAH Stable, which won last year's race with Big Brown.  The stable completed a deal last week to purchase half-interest in the colt from Lanzman.. Mullins is seeking his first Kentucky Derby victory in what will be his fifth attempt to win the race.

    With the arrival of I Want Revenge, two of the three horses that won major Kentucky Derby prep races last weekend are now on the grounds at Churchill Downs.  Illinois' Derby winner Musket Man arrived at the track on Sunday following a van ride from Chicago's Hawthorne Race Course.

    Santa Anita Derby (GI) winner Pioneerof the Nile is schedule to arrive at Churchill Downs on April 14.  Zayat Stables' son of Empire Maker will attempt to become the fourth Kentucky Derby winner trained by Bob Baffert.

After a successful debut in New York in the Gotham Stakes (Grade III) that bordered on effortless, David Lanzman and IEAH Stables' California invader I Want Revenge encountered nothing but trouble in last Saturday's Wood Memorial (GI).  But the result in each was the same: a victory that enhanced his status as one of the major contenders for the $2 million guaranteed Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) at Churchill Downs on May 2.

In a performance that sent witnesses searching for superlatives, I Want Revenge and 18-year-old jockey Joe Talamo burst through an opening in the stretch on his way to a 1 ½-length victory over the stretch-running West Side Bernie.  The Jeff Mullins-trained son of Stephen Got Even, who won just one of six races on synthetic tracks in California, improved his record on traditional dirt to two-for-two in a dazzling effort that boosted the colt into the role of 9-2 favorite in the third and last pool of Churchill Downs' 2009 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which ended its four-day run on Sunday evening.

"What he did today was really special," Mullins said after the Wood.  "He had every trouble you could have in a race and overcame it.  We've got one more show to go, and if he can win that one he's a pretty special animal."

I Want Revenge started from the rail post as the 1-2 favorite in the field of eight, but was flat-footed at the start and was last in the early stages of the 1 1/8-mile race.  He gradually worked his way through the field, but became trapped behind horses on the far turn and remained bottled up and looking for an opening through most of the stretch run.  A hole finally materialized and I Want Revenge accelerated quickly and drew clear.  He covered the distance over a "fast" track in 1:48.48.

"To be honest, he only ran an eighth of a mile, so I don't think it took too much out of him" Talamo said.  "That was the first time he got real dirt in his face, and he took it like he's had it before 100 times."

Just a Coincidence finished third.  Imperial Council, the Gotham runner-up and the 5-2 second choice, was prominent in the stretch but faded to finish fifth.

Mullins will waste no time in getting I Want Revenge to Churchill Downs.  The colt is scheduled to arrive at the Louisville track on Monday, April 5.

'Candyman' takes Bay Shore - Capt. Candyman Can, once considered a major contender for this year's Kentucky Derby, proved again that he is a major force at one-turn sprint distances when he rallied from just off the pace to score a 3 ½-length victory over Taqarub in the $200,000 Bay Shore (GII) at seven furlongs on the Wood Memorial undercard.

The Ian Wilkes-trained son of Candy Ride was ridden by Javier Castellano.

WEST/BAFFERT BACK WITH PIONEEROF THE NILE AFTER SANTA ANITA DERBY WIN - The Santa Anita Derby (GI) lost some of its luster when morning line favorite The Pamplemousse was scratched shortly before the race, but Zayat Stable's Pioneerof the Nile had no trouble grabbing the spotlight as he rolled to his fourth consecutive stakes victory in Southern California's major prep for the Kentucky Derby.

In a race that had little early speed in the absence of The Pamplemousse, Pioneerof the Nile - a stretch runner through most of his young career - pressed the pace under Garrett Gomez and cruised to a one-length victory over Chocolate Candy.  Mr. Hot Stuff finished third as Pioneerof the Nile covered the 1 1/8 mile distance over the synthetic Pro-Ride surface in 1:49.17.

It was a record fifth Santa Anita Derby win for Baffert, who will bring Pioneerof the Nile to Churchill Downs in search of the trainer's fourth Kentucky Derby win.  That would tie him with Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas for second on the all-time win list for trainers in the "Run for the Roses."  Calumet Farm legend Ben A. Jones leads all trainers with six Kentucky Derby wins.  Baffert has not saddled a Derby starter since 2006.

"I'm glad to be back in the show," said Baffert, who won his Kentucky Derbies with Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998) and War Emblem (2002).

The Pamplemousse Is Off Derby Trail - When morning line favorite The Pamplemousse was scratched before Saturday's Santa Anita Derby, co-owner Alex Solis II said the colt had suffered a tendon injury in his left front leg - but he did not rule out a Kentucky Derby bid.

That tune had changed by Sunday morning, when Solis announced that concern over the soft tissue injury had ended the Kentucky Derby dream pf the winner of the San Rafael (GII) and Sham (GIII).  Solis said Sunday that the colt would be sidelined indefinitely.

"He's going to run again," said Solis.   "He's not finished, but he will not run in the Kentucky Derby."

Wagering on The Pamplemousse in Pool 3 of he Kentucky Derby Future wager was suspended upon word on the colt's defection from the Kentucky Derby scene.

MIDWEST/ MUSKET MAN EARNS RESPECT, TRIP TO DERBY 135 - A victory in the recent Tampa Bay Derby (GIII) had turned some heads, but an emphatic victory by Eric Fein and Vic Carlson's Musket Man in Saturday's $500,000 Illinois Derby (GII) earned the son of Yonaguska some respect and a trip to Churchill Downs for the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby.

Musket Man, a late nominee to the Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown, rolled from off the pace under Eibar Coa to win the 1 1/8-mile race at Hawthorne Race Course by two lengths.  Giant Oak was second and His Greatness was third.  The winner covered the distance in 1:49.91 as he won for the fifth time in six career races for trainer Derek Ryan.

"He really ran a big race today," Ryan said. "Everybody has been questioning his ability to get the distance, but they don't know the horse like I do."

Musket Man arrived at Churchill Downs on Sunday following a van ride from Chicago.

TOYOTA BLUE GRASS, ARKANSAS DERBY LOOM - Two major Kentucky Derby preps loom on Saturday, April 11 when the $750,000 Toyota Blue Grass (GI) over Polytrack at Keeneland and the $1 million Arkansas Derby (GI) will be run over traditional dirt at Oaklawn Park.

A Saturday that featured three major prep races for the $2 million-guaranteed Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) ended with a new favorite in the third and final pool of Churchill Downs' 2009 Kentucky Derby Future Wager ("KDFW") as a dazzling win in Aqueduct's Wood Memorial propelled I Want Revenge into the pool's top spot.

David Lanzman and IEAH Stables' 3-year-old son of Stephen Got Even overcame a slow start and major traffic problems to score a dramatic victory under Joe Talamo in the 1 1/8-mile Wood and saw his KDFW Pool 3 odds drop to 9-2 by the end of the day's betting.  He had opened the day at 10-1.  Florida Derby (GI) winner Quality Road, the favorite through the first two days of the four-day pool, was the second choice at 6-1 and Louisiana Derby (GII) winner Friesan Fire was a close third choice at 7-1.

The day's other major Kentucky Derby prep races featured victories by odds-on favorite Pioneeerof the Nile in the Santa Anita Derby (GI) and Musket Man in the Illinois Derby (GII) at Hawthorne Park.  Pioneerof the Nile was the 11-1 fourth choice after Saturday's Pool 3 betting, while Musket Man's odds stood at 33-1, a considerable drop from his 96-1 odds that were in place at the start of the day's betting.

The Kentucky Derby Future Wager, now in its 11th year, provides offers Derby fans the opportunity to bet on contenders for the 135th renewal of the Kentucky Derby at odds that could be more attractive than those available when the race is run on May 2 at Churchill Downs.  Along with the Future Wager's traditional $2 "win" bet, this year's third pool is only the second in history to offer exacta wagering.  Both the KDFW "win" bet and its exacta wager require a $2 minimum bet.  There are no scratches or refunds in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager.

A total of $217,791 has been wagered during the first three days of Pool 3, which pushed the total betting for all three 2009 KDFW pools to $1,076,932.  That marks the tenth consecutive year in which total wagering in the three Derby Future pools has surpassed the $1 million mark.  Exacta betting in Pool 3 stood at $53,960 heading into Sunday's final day of Derby Future betting.  Betting in KDFW Pool 3 resumes at noon (all times EDT) on Sunday, April 5 and the pool will close at 6 p.m.

Real time odds, exacta payouts and other information on the Kentucky Derby Future Wager are available on the official event Web site at www.kentuckyderby.com.