My Pal Charlie

Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Accredit remained perfect on wet tracks as he scored a front-running 1 ¾-length victory under Julien Leparoux to take the 75th running of the $280,500 Churchill Downs Presented by Carewise Health (Grade II) on Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs.

The Churchill Downs, for 4-year-olds and up, was the first of six graded stakes on the Kentucky Derby 135 card.

Accredit took the lead out of the gate and was pressured in the run down the backside by Hewitts and Joe Talamo through fractions of :22.94 and :45.59. Hewitts drew even at the top of the stretch, but Accredit opened a daylight advantage and had enough left to hold off My Pal Charlie in finishing the seven furlongs on a “sloppy” main track in 1:23.24.

The victory was worth $166,954 and increased Accredit’s career earnings to $427,738 with six victories in 16 starts, including a perfect five-for-five on wet tracks.

Accredit returned payoffs of $10.60, $5.40 and $4. My Pal Charlie, ridden by Garrett Gomez, returned $5.40 and $4 with The Roundhouse, ridden by Edgar Prado, rallying for third another 1 ¼ lengths back to pay $5.40 to show.

Accredit is a 4-year-old Florida-bred son of E Dubai out of the Montbrook mare Pocketbook.

CHURCHILL DOWNS QUOTES

JULIEN LEPAROUX (rider of winner Accredit) – “He loved the ‘off’ track. I guess this worked out to be a perfect day for him. Everything went his way. Every time a horse made a run and I asked him for run, he was there for me. He ran a big race for me. I was waiting for Kodiak Kowboy to make his move but my horse just ran big today.”

MIKE MAKER (trainer of winner Accredit) -- “It’s fabulous to win a race like this on Derby Day and sure were glad it rained. Hopefully we can reverse the story about the claim (Maker and Ramsey originally lost Kentucky Derby 135 starter General Quarters in a $20,000 claiming race). Julien (Leparoux) rode a great race. This horse was four-for-four on off tracks and now five-for-five. Every time he runs, we have to watch the weather forecast. He’s a classy horse and there are plenty of spots for classy sprinters. We’ll look at Calder (Summit of Speed) and Saratoga perhaps.”

GARRETT GOMEZ (rider of second-place finisher My Pal Charlie) – “He ran really good. The leader kind of snuck away turning for home. My horse put in a solid run and he ran his race. It’s sloppy and a lot of horses have trouble getting through it and it’s very hard to see so he was able to run a really good race.” On the track conditions: “It’s still a little wet, a little greasy, but it’s in pretty good shape. It’s got a good bottom and it’s safe and that’s our main concern.

EDGAR PRADO (rider of third-place finisher The Roundhouse) – “He ran good. He was right behind the speed, starting picking them up right around the turn. He finished real well. Unfortunately, the speed held on a lot better than I thought. (The track) is real wet but it’s safe and my horse ran on it very well. I was very happy.”

A trio of contenders for the 134th running of the $2 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) turned in strong workouts on Sunday at Churchill Downs in preparation for races that will serve as their final preps for the “Run for the Roses” on May 3.

Mr. and Mrs. William Warren Jr.’s unbeaten Denis of Cork and Dogwood Stable’s Blackberry Road breezed for trainer David Carroll, while B. Wayne Hughes’ My Pal Charlie turned in a blistering work for trainer Al Stall Jr.

My Pal Charlie, runner-up to Pyro in the Louisiana Derby (GII), covered five furlongs over a “fast” track in a sizzling :58.20 in preparation for a run in the $1 million Arkansas Derby (GII) on April 12 at Oaklawn Park.  Southwest Stakes (GIII) winner Denis of Cork breezed five furlongs in :59.40 in his final workout prior to a run in Saturday’s $500,000 Illinois Derby (GII) at Hawthorne, while Blackberry Road, runner-up in the Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) at Churchill Downs and the Lecomte (GIII) at Fair Grounds, covered the same distance in 1:01.60 while prepping for the Arkansas Derby.

Jockey James Lopez was in the saddle aboard Denis of Cork worked over a freshly harrowed track just after the mid-session break for track maintenance.  His work was the third fastest of 15 at the five-furlong distance and Denis of Cork galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.

“He’s been on edge now for a little while and we just wanted him to go out there and stretch his legs this morning, and he did it beautifully,” Carroll said.  “The track’s in great shape.  It’s playing fast this morning, but it’s a got a great cushion on it, a great bounce to it.  We’re very happy with him and now hopefully he’ll run big in Illinois.  We need to run big there.”

The son of Harlan’s Holiday is perfect in three starts over three different tracks, but the colt’s connections bypassed a planned run in the Rebel Stakes (GII) after his Southwest victory in favor of a single prep for the Kentucky Derby.  He has earned $198,552, but would likely need a big effort in the Illinois Derby to raise his level of graded stakes earnings to the level that would ensure that he would make the maximum field of 20 horses for the Kentucky Derby.  He currently has $150,000 in graded earnings from his win in the Southwest.

Denis of Cork will have a new jockey for the Illinois Derby in Julien Leparoux.

“I think Julien is kind of a quiet rider and can get this horse in a nice rhythm,” said Carroll.  “He’s kind of push-button horse and I think he’ll fit him beautifully.”

Carroll was in the saddle aboard Blackberry Road for a work that was intended to be an easy move following the colt’s fourth place run behind Pyro in the Louisiana Derby.  The son of Gone West, a half-brother to former 2-year-old champion Vindication, galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.60 prior to the maintenance break.

“The Louisiana Derby was a very hard race on him,” Carroll said.  “He was in the race from the get-go and got beat a length and a half for second.  Pyro was definitely the best horse that day, but that’s not our style of racing.”

The stretch-running Blackberry Road will face a bulky field in the Arkansas Derby, but Carroll believes it will be the type of race that best suits the Dogwood colt.

“I felt like the Arkansas Derby would give him an extra week (between races) and it should be a true-run race,” said Carroll.  “He’s always been in races that have been slowly run and he’s had to close off a slow pace.  The Arkansas Derby will be a full field and the draw will be a factor, but we feel it’ll be a true-run race, a fast-run race.”

Blackberry Road has a 1-2-2 in nine races with earnings of $158,235.  His graded stakes earnings stand at $123,417.

My Pal Charlie, a son of Indian Charlie who will be on the list of late nominees for the Kentucky Derby and Triple Crown announced this week by Triple Crown Productions, sizzled in his work that came about 30 minutes after the maintenance break.  It was the fastest work at the distance by better than a full second by a quick colt who set the pace in the Louisiana Derby and figures to be among the early leaders at Oaklawn.

The move was faster than Stall expected, but he was pleased with My Pal Charlie’s effort.

“Today was the first day I’ve worked horses over the track, so I was caught a bit off guard by the time,” said Stall.  “This was his major work two weeks out and he hadn’t done anything in 22 days from the Louisiana Derby.  He had a little breeze at the Fair Grounds, but this was his major work.  He cooled out like he’d galloped and that’s the most important thing.”

My Pal Charlie has a record of 2-1-0 in six races with earnings of $161,310, with $120,000 in graded earnings from his runner-up finish in the Louisiana Derby.  That setback snapped a two-race winning streak for Stall’s horse that included a victory in a $50,000 claiming race that was the first win of his career and a victory in an allowance race.  Both races were at Fair Grounds.