Pioneerof the Nile

The current stars of the 3-year-old crop – headed by Kentucky Derby (Grade I) winner Mine That Bird, Kentucky Oaks (GI) filly Rachel Alexandra and Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile – are among 13 three-year-olds doing battle in the 134th running of the Preakness (GI) at Pimlico.
 While several of those horses figure to be major players in the crop of Kentucky Derby-aged horses through the rest of the year, others that could be significant factors in the division are in the wings at Churchill Downs and awaiting their chance.
One is A. Stevens Miles Jr.’s Warrior’s Reward, an impressive winner over a strong allowance field on Kentucky Oaks Day.  Another is James C. Spence’s homebred Flying Pegasus, a strong runner-up to beaten Kentucky Derby favorite Friesan Fire in the Risen Star at Fair Grounds but idle since a poor effort behind that same rival in the $600,000 Louisiana Derby (GII) on March 14.  
The Ian Wilkes-trained Warrior’s Reward breezed four furlongs in :49.40 over a
“sloppy” track on Saturday at Churchill Downs.  The son of Medaglia d’Oro is being pointed toward a run in the $100,000-added Northern Dancer (GIII) for 3-year-olds on the Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) undercard on June 13.  
Flying Pegasus, a son of 2000 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus trained by Ralph Nicks, is finally ready to return to serious training after falling ill just after a disappointing eighth-place run in the slop in the Louisiana Derby.
Warrior’s Reward has been just below the radar of the 3-year-old picture after he
scored a 30-1 upset in his career debut on Jan. 31 at Gulfstream Park over a race that marked the racing debut of Nicanor, the full-brother to ill-fated 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro.  He followed that with a runner-up finish to Dunkirk, the eventual runner-up in the Florida Derby (GI) who finished 11th in the Kentucky Derby.
    Wilkes gave Warrior’s Reward a chance to place himself on the Kentucky Derby trail with a run in the Tampa Bay Derby, but he finished eighth that day behind the victorious Musket Man, who would finish third in the Kentucky Derby; runner-up Join in the Dance, seventh in the Derby; and General Quarters, who would win the Toyota Blue Grass (GI) before running 10th in the “Run for the Roses.”
    Warrior’s Reward had a round of throat surgery to correct a breathing problem after the race at Tampa Bay, and then returned with his sparkling 2 ½-length allowance win over the well-regarded Munnings and Reynaldothewizard on Oaks Day.
    “To win the Derby you’ve got to be right on the first Saturday in May, and I wasn’t quite there,” Wilkes said.  “My horse didn’t get a race last year and that really hurt.  But things happen for a reason, and maybe that race at Tampa happened for a reason.”
    Warrior’s Reward has earned $58,980 while compiling his 2-1-0 record in those four races.  If all goes well, the 1 1/16-mile Northern Dancer will serve as a springboard to bigger races in the second half of the year.
    “There are plenty of races,” said Wilkes.  “I know there’s only one Derby, but it was probably the best thing that ever happened to him.  I gave him a little break, we did a little throat surgery on him and he’s a better horse now.”
    Meanwhile, Flying Pegasus is scheduled to return to serious training with a light breeze on Sunday that will be his first work since the Louisiana Derby.  Nicks said his colt fell ill after the Louisiana Derby and it took a while for Flying Pegasus to get back to the track.  
    Nicks can’t be sure, but Flying Pegasus is doing so well now he believes the infection that hit him a couple of days after the Louisiana Derby could have affected him in the race.
    “The last few days going into the Louisiana Derby, he got a little quiet,” said Nicks.  “It wasn’t enough to make you think anything was wrong, and we thought he might have just been settling.  But it’s obvious now that whatever hit him was coming.  He never had a fever or nothing until two days later.”
    Nicks said the infection proved to be stubborn, which extended his colt’s stay on the sidelines.
    “It took him forever,” he said.  “It just kept coming back.”
    Nicks had high hopes for Flying Pegasus from the moment the bay colt entered his barn and he won at first asking in a Churchill Downs maiden race on July 2.  He followed that with an allowance win at Delaware and then a second to recent Peter Pan (GII) winner Charitable Man in the Belmont Futurity (GII).  Friesan Fire finished third in that race.  
    It would prove to be the last start of the year for Flying Pegasus, who fractured a hind cannon bone in training after that race and underwent surgery to place a screw in the injured bone.  
    He returned from a five-month break with a strong runner-up effort behind Friesan Fire in the 1 1/16-mile Risen Star (GIII) at Fair Grounds that fueled hopes in his camp that the colt would make the Kentucky Derby, but those hopes were dashed by the Louisiana Derby run and the illness that followed.
    “We were scrambling the whole time trying to get to where we were,” Nicks said.  “I’m not too sure the Risen Star didn’t knock him out a little bit and lead to everything that happened.  But you’ve got the 3-year-old hype and do what you’ve got to do to get to the ‘big dance’.  Fortunately he got through it, but we’re dealing with some repercussions from it.”
    Although Nicks has had to be patient with Flying Pegasus, he is ready to get his colt back in competition and Sunday’s breeze will be the first step.  
    “He’ll have that little light breeze tomorrow and we’ll see where we go from there,” he said.  “He’s been galloping, so it won’t take him a long time to get ready.”

VETERAN BRASS HAT SHARP IN FINAL DRILL FOR LOUISVILLE – Fred Bradley’s homebred Brass Hat has never been known for dazzling speed in his morning workouts, but a sharp work on Saturday by the 8-year-old veteran could indicate the old boy is sitting on a big effort in next week’s $100,000-added Louisville Handicap (GIII).
    Brass Hat tuned up for that 1 ½-mile turf test with a five-furlong breeze over a sloppy t rack in 1:01.  The work was a ‘bullet’ move under jockey Charles Woods Jr. as it ended up as the fastest of 20 at the distance.
    “He worked really well,” trainer William “Buff” Bradley said. “Charlie said he worked ‘awesome,’ and then said, ‘How’d he get beat?’  But that’s just Charlie.  He said he just sat on him the whole way, and that he just picked it up, put his head down and then galloped out good.”
    Brass Hat won the Grade I Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park in 2006 and finished second in the $5 million Dubai World Cup (GI) on dirt before being disqualified for a medication infraction.  Despite the loss of that $1 million runner-up purse in Dubai, Brass Hat has won eight of 29 races and earned $1,825,814.
    He has yet to win in seven tries on the turf, but is coming off a good third-place finish to Spice Route in the Elkhorn (GIII) at Keeneland.  And he had very little luck in last year’s running of the Louisville in which he dropped far off a slow pace under jockey Calvin Borel, but rallied wide to finish fifth and was beaten only 2 ½ lengths by the victorious Lattice.  Borel will return to the saddle aboard Brass Hat next week.
    “Calvin took the blame last year – he had him too far back off that slow pace,” Bradley said.  “I’ve got to tell Calvin not to ride him like Mine That Bird – ride him like Rachel.”
    Brass Hat will bid to snap a 10-race losing streak in the Louisville.  He last visited the winner’s circle in the $500,000 Massachusetts Handicap at Suffolk Downs in September 2007.

PREAKNESS HORSES DUE BACK ON SUNDAY – A plane carrying Preakness (GI) contenders Rachel Alexandra, Pioneerof the Nile and Terrain is due to land at Louisville International Airport on Sunday at 9:30 a.m. (EDT).
    Scheduled to make the trip from Baltimore-to-Churchill Downs by van are Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, General Quarters and the D. Wayne Lukas-trained duo of Flying Private and Luv Guv.

BARN TALK – Domino Stud’s Miss Isella, upset winner over previously unbeaten One Caroline in the Louisville Distaff (GII) on Kentucky Oaks Day, breezed four furlongs on Saturday in :50.20 over a “sloppy” track.  The Ian Wilkes-trained daughter of 1997 Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm is scheduled to run next in the $200,000-added Fleur De Lis (GII) on the June 13 Stephen Foster Handicap undercard.  One Caroline, who is in training at Keeneland for trainer Rusty Arnold, is being pointed toward a rematch with Miss Isella in the 1 1/8-mile race. … Gold Square’s Lady Chace, a candidate for next week’s $100,000-added Winning Colors (GIII), breezed five furlongs in 1:02.20 over a “sloppy” track on Saturday for trainer Steve Margolis. The Tiznow filly finished third in the recent Giant’s Causeway on the Keeneland turf.  Others expected to run in the Winning Colors include Tiz To Dream, Keep the Peace, Marina Ballerina, Nadeshiko and Tar Heel Mom. … Also showing up on the Saturday work tab was 2008 Travers (GI) runner-up Mambo in Seattle.  The Neil Howard-trained son of Kingmambo, fifth behind Bullsbay in the Alysheba (GIII) on Derby Day, breezed five furlongs over “sloppy” going on Saturday in 1:03.80. … Miguel Mena took advantage of the absence of Julien Leparoux, Jamie Theriot and Calvin Borel – the top three riders in the Spring Meet heading into Friday’s racing program – to score four wins during the 10-race program.  Mena’s big day enabled him to slide past Theriot into second place in the Spring Meet jockeys’ race.  Leparoux has a meet-leading 22 wins, while Mena (17) and Theriot (16) are second and third.  Leparoux, Theriot and Borel were at Pimlico on Friday to ride in Preakness weekend races, and the Churchill trio was to be joined Saturday in Baltimore by Robby Albarado. … With no live racing on Wednesdays for the remainder of the Spring Meet, Churchill Downs will offer free general admission for ITW simulcast wagering on Wednesdays through the remainder of the Spring Meet

PREAKNESS CONTENDERS RACHEL ALEXANDRA, PIONEEROF THE NILE DEPART CHURCHILL DOWNS FOR BALTIMORE – The exodus of Churchill Downs-based contenders for Saturday’s 134th running of the $1 million Preakness (Grade I) was completed on Wednesday when major contenders Rachel Alexandra and Pioneerof the Nile stepped onto separate vans around 12:30 p.m. (EDT) on Wednesday for the short trip to Louisville International Airport for their flight to Baltimore.
    Those major players figure to be the top two betting choices in Saturday’s second jewel of racing’s Triple Crown.  Post positions for the 1 3/16-mile Preakness will be drawn this afternoon at Pimlico.
    Kentucky Oaks (GI) winner Rachel Alexandra, running for the first time for new owners Stonestreet Stables and Harold T. McCormick, was led from the barn of new trainer Steve Asmussen to her waiting van by assistant trainer Scott Blasi.  She had galloped and stood briefly in the starting gate on her final morning of training before traveling to take on the boys in the Preakness.
    Assistant Jim Barnes accompanied Zayat Stables LLC’s Pioneerof the Nile, runner-up to Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) and winner of the Santa Anita Derby (GI), to his van.  The son of Empire Maker also galloped and spent a little time standing in the starting gate on his final morning of Preakness preparations at Churchill Downs.
    Also leaving Churchill Downs for the flight to Baltimore was Adele Dilschneider’s Terrain, the fourth place finisher in the Toyota Blue Grass (GI) and third in the Louisiana Derby (GII) for trainer Al Stall Jr.
    Mark Allen and Dr. Leonard Blach’s Mine That Bird traveled to Baltimore in trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley’s horse trailer on Tuesday.  Also making the trip to Pimlico by van on Tuesday were owner-trainer Tom McCarthy’s Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (GI) winner General Quarters, who finished 10th in the Kentucky Derby, and the D. Wayne Lukas-trained duo of Flying Private, last of 19 in the Kentucky Derby, and Marylou Whitney’s Luv Gov, who notched his first career victory in Churchill Downs maiden race on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

‘CANDYMAN’ READY FOR CHURCHILL DOWNS RETURN – A lot has happened to Joseph Rauch and David Zell’s Capt. Candyman Can since he stamped himself as one of the top 2-year-olds on the grounds – and in the country – during the Fall Meet at Churchill Downs.
    After a win in the Iroquois Stakes (GIII) and a gritty third-place run in the Kentucky Jockey Club (GII) over this track, trainer Ian Wilkes gave the Candy Ride gelding the opportunity to prove himself as a candidate for the Kentucky Derby.  The first step, a victory in the seven-furlong Hutcheson (GII) at Gulfstream Park, was promising, but he faltered in a fourth-place run behind Quality Road in the one-mile Fountain of Youth (GII) over the same track.  The latter convinced Wilkes that 1 ¼ miles on the first Saturday in May was not the goal that Capt. Candyman Can should pursue.
    “Seven furlongs, I think, is the max he wants to go,” Wilkes said.  
    Capt. Candyman Can returned to form, and to the national racing consciousness, with a sharp victory in the seven-furlong Bay Shore (GIII) at Aqueduct.  On Saturday he’ll be back at the seven-furlong distance when he starts as the likely favorite in the $100,000-added Matt Winn Stakes for 3-year-olds over his home track at Churchill Downs.
    Wilkes said the Bay Shore was a big step for Capt. Candyman Can, who is being pointed toward a run in the seven-furlong King’s Bishop (GI) this summer at Saratoga.
    “He’s got a lot of talent,” Wilkes said.  “The win was good just to prove that we were doing the right thing with him in taking him back short.”
    With Capt Candyman Can’s focus back on one-turn distances, the Matt Winn – which is being run for the second time at seven furlongs – was a natural spot for Wilkes’ young star.
    “I don’t have to ship him, that’s the good thing about it,” Wilkes said.  “We’re in our own backyard, he likes this track and it’s worked out perfect.”
    Capt. Candyman Can tuned up for the Matt Winn with a sharp five-furlong work in 1:00.60 on Monday, the second-fastest of 19 works at the distance that day.  The steady gelding brings a record of 4-0-1 in seven races and earnings of $344,145 into Saturday’s Matt Winn.

VETERAN SILVERFOOT GEARS UP FOR ANOTHER CAMPAIGN – When the $100,000-added Louisville Handicap (GIII) is run over the Memorial Day holiday weekend at Churchill Downs, do not expect the veteran Silverfoot to be among those who enter the starting gate for the 1 ½-mile turf test.
    But just because Chrysalis Stables LLC’s gray – now nearly white – campaigner will not be competing in his favorite race should not be interpreted as a sign that the now 9-year-old son of With Approval will not be chasing lofty goals this year.
    Silverfoot, winner of three consecutive runnings of the Louisville Handicap from 2004-06 and fifth behind the victorious Lattice a year ago, is just gearing up for a campaign that will span the final six months of 2009.  He worked a solid six furlongs around the dogs on the Matt Winn Turf Course on Tuesday in 1:16.80, and trainer Dallas Stewart likes what he sees in the old boy.
    “He’s doing great,” Stewart said. “He’s nine years old.  We’re just going to give him steady workouts for the rest of the month and sometime in mid-June he’ll be ready.”
    Silverfoot managed only one win in 10 starts in 2008, but that was a victory in the $175,000 Stars and Stripes (GIII) at Arlington Park.  He finished a good fourth to the front-running Spirit One in the Arlington Million (GI) and was beaten just 2 ½ lengths by the winner in that important race.
    “He ran really well in the Stars and Stripes, and had a bad trip in the Arlington Million,” Stewart said.  “So that’s kind of the schedule we’re looking at, hoping we’ll have him back on target for that this year.”
    After those good efforts at Arlington Park in 2008, Silverfoot ended his season with a fourth-place run as the favorite in the Kentucky Cup Turf (GIII) at the all-turf Kentucky Downs and a fifth-place finish behind Always First in Keeneland’s Elkhorn (GIII).
    “We give him a break every year – every year he gets a couple of months off,” Stewart said.  “After the Kentucky Cup and the Keeneland race, we just turned him out.  But he’s sound.”
    Silverfoot has a career record of 10-1-2 in 34 races and has earned $909,515.  He has won five of seven races over the Churchill Downs turf.

KENTUCKY DERBY WINNER MINE THAT BIRD HEADS TO PIMLICO – A few minutes after 9 o’clock Tuesday morning, Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s Mine That Bird rolled out of the Churchill Downs barn area headed for Baltimore and the second leg of racing’s Triple Crown.
    With trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley behind the wheel of the Ford F-450 Lariat and exercise rider Charlie Figueroa riding shotgun, the Kentucky Derby-winning team left Barn 42 with Mine That Bird comfortably ensconced in the trailer behind the truck.
    “I think he is ready,” Woolley said. “If we make the trip up there good and he eats good, I couldn’t ask for anything better.”
    Woolley arrived pulling the trailer at 6 a.m. and began the process of loading everything for the 10-hour trip to Pimlico. Mine That Bird, who had worked a half-mile in :49.20 on Monday morning, walked the shedrow for 20 minutes and grazed behind the barn for another 15 minutes before returning to his stall for 10 minutes before loading on the trailer at 9 o’clock.
    The only stops Woolley planned to make was the occasional restroom break and to grab a bite to eat.
    “I have about 115 gallons and hauling the trailer I get about 8 ½ miles a gallon,” Woolley said. “This will be about like our first day coming here when we went from El Paso on Lone Star Park (in suburban Dallas). We won’t need to stop for gas. When we stop to eat, I’ll open the top of the window and let him look out and take things in. He’s a good shipper. Nothing bothers him.”
    Woolley was eager for the trip to begin.
    “It’s getting exciting; things are starting to build and I am eager to run again,” Woolley said. “I came here as the underdog with no pressure. Things have changed slightly.”
    Before Mine That Bird walked into the trailer, Bob Baffert, astride his stable pony Leo, rode up from Barn 33 where his Kentucky Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile is housed.
    “I just want to see how this is done,” Baffert said with a laugh.
    The two trainers shook hands, wished each other luck and then it was time to go.
    With Baffert running interference on Leo, Woolley pulled in right behind and had a clear shot to Gate 6 and the open road east.

PREAKNESS-WINNING RIDER ROSE GETS MOUNT ON TERRAIN – Trainer Al Stall Jr. said Jeremy Rose would have the mount on Adele Dilschneider’s Terrain in Preakness 134 on Saturday.
    “He has won the race (on Afleet Alex in 2005) and he knows the track there,” Stall said of Rose.
    Julien Leparoux had ridden Terrain in his first two starts of 2009, but has the call on General Quarters in the Preakness.
    Terrain, with exercise rider Jimmy Valdez up, jogged in the mile chute alongside a pony for about five minutes and then galloped once around the main track before the renovation break Tuesday morning.
    Stall said Terrain would gallop in the morning and is scheduled to be on a 1:30 p.m. flight to Baltimore.

HULL TO BYPASS PREAKNESS – “Looks like we’re not going,” trainer Dale Romans said Tuesday morning about the undefeated winner of the Derby Trial (Grade III) Hull. “I just don’t like the shape-up of the whole race.”
    Hull, who had worked a bullet, five furlongs in :59.40 on Sunday, returned to the track Tuesday morning to jog. Owned by Heiligbrodt Racing Stable, Team Valor International and Gary Barber, Hull will now be pointed to the Grade II Woody Stephens at seven furlongs on June 6 at Belmont Park.

BARN TALK – Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) winner and Preakness possible starter Rachel Alexandra was on the track at 6:20 a.m. Tuesday, going once around with exercise rider Dominic Terry up. Rachel Alexandra had worked a half-mile in :48.40 on Sunday and walked Monday.
    Zayat Stables Pioneerof the Nile walked the shedrow a day after working a half-mile in :47.60 on Monday. Trainer Bob Baffert said Pioneerof the Nile would go to the track in the morning and then leave for Baltimore on a 1:30 p.m. flight.
    Getting a jump on the migration east to Baltimore was owner/trainer Tom McCarthy’s General Quarters as well as five horses trained by D. Wayne Lukas including Preakness hopefuls Flying Private, owned by Robert Baker and William Mack, and Luv Gov, owned by the Marylou Whitney Stable. All were gone before the track opened for training at 6 o’clock.

KENTUCKY OAKS WINNER RACHEL ALEXANDRA WORKS FOR NEW BARN – Possible Preakness candidate Rachel Alexandra, a record-smashing 20 ¼-length winner of the Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) tuned up for a possible bid for Saturday’s $1 million Preakness Stakes (GI) with an easy four-furlong work on Sunday at Churchill Downs.
    The 3-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, working for the first time for new trainer Steve Asmussen, covered the half-mile distance over a “fast” track in :48.40.  Exercise rider Dominic Terry was in the saddle as Rachel Alexandra turned out fractional times of :12.40 and :24.40 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:02.  The move ranked 13th  among 81 works at the distance.
    “I thought it went beautiful,” Asmussen said.  “I’m surprised the racetrack dried out so well considering they cancelled (races) two days ago.
    “She’s a beautiful filly.  I think she’s doing extremely well.  Every sight of her has been impressive and I’m just very happy to get this light move in this morning under very good conditions.”
    Rachel Alexandra was transferred from the care of trainer Hal Wiggins to Asmussen when the filly was purchased for an undisclosed price early last week by Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Farm and Harold McCormick.   Jackson had indicated that the filly would be made a supplemental entry to the Preakness, the second jewel of the Triple Crown, if she continued to do well in her new barn.  But Asmussen said on Sunday that a decision on Rachel Alexandra’s Preakenss bid had yet to be made.  
    “That’s Mr. Jackson’s discretion – whatever timetable he wants to be on,” said Asmussen.  “We’re just very fortunate to have her in our care and we’ll just communicate what we think we’re seeing.”
    Asmussen won the Preakness in 2007 with eventual “Horse of the Year” and 3-year-old champion Curlin, who rallied to edge Kentucky Derby (GI) winner Street Sense in that race.  He declined to speculate where Rachel Alexandra fits among the males being toward Saturday’s race at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course.
    “I think it’s like all races – you only worry about what you can take care of,” he said.  “The filly has proven what a tremendous mare she is.  Mr. Wiggins has done a remarkable job with an amazing filly and we’re just very fortunate to be around her.”
    Rachel Alexandra’s win in the Kentucky Oaks was her fifth consecutive victory – all in stakes competition – and lifted her career earnings to $958,354.  Her career record stands at 7-2-0 in 10 races.

UNBEATEN HULL ZIPS FIVE FURLONGS IN PREAKNESS DRILL – Unbeaten Derby Trial (GIII) winner Hull tuned up for a possible run in the Preakness with a sharp five furlong work over a “fast” track on Sunday at Churchill Downs.
    Heiligbrodt Racing Stable, Team Valor International and Gary Barber’s 3-year-old son of 1994 “Horse of the Year” Holy Bull covered the distance in :59.40.  Jockey Miguel Mena was aboard for the “bullet” move that was the best of 35 at the distance.
    The Dale Romans-trained colt covered the distance in fractions of :23.20 and :35.20 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.80.
“He worked really good – I had him in :59-flat,” Romans said.  “It looked like he was doing it easy.”
    Romans said there’s no final decision at this point on whether Hull will run in Saturday’s second jewel of the Triple Crown at Pimlico.  He said the status of Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra, who could be made a supplemental entry to the race, would be part of the discussion.
    “It makes it a tougher decision to go,” Romans said.  “We’re going to sit down and talk about it on Tuesday and see if we want to go up there and run against her.  Right now, I think we’re still gonna go, but we’ll see what happens.  She changes the dynamics of the whole race.”
    Hull figures to be prominent from the start if he runs in the Preakness, but Romans said Rachel Alexandra would figure to be close by at all points of the race.
    “She’s true speed that keeps on going,” he said.  “She’s real quality.  I don’t know it’s going to be for a filly to come back in two weeks – I think it’s harder for the fillies than it is for the colts.  But I’m sure if Steve (Asmussen) takes her over there, then she’s ready to go.”
    Romans had high hopes for Hull going into his stakes debut in the Derby Trial on April 25, which is run at Churchill Downs’ one-turn mile distance.   He was impressed by the colt’s effort in that four-length win and that’s why the 1 3/16-mile Preakness is being considered so strongly.
    “We knew he was good, but when you’re stepping up into stakes company for the first time there’s still some unknowns,” said Romans.  “But he proved he can run with anybody, because that was a solid field of horses.”

TERRAIN WORKS IN COMPANY FOR PREAKNESS  – Adele Dilschneider’s Terrain tuned up for a probable run in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes by working five furlongs in company with Map of the World in 1:02.60, 19th fastest of 35 at the distance.
With jockey Jamie Theriot up, Terrain broke off about two lengths behind Map of the World with Julien Leparoux up. Terrain drew even at the eighth pole and finished on even terms.
     “I had worked a few horses earlier in the morning and the track was fast. I didn’t want any lights out work,” trainer Al Stall Jr. said. “He is ready to run. He got dialed in today. I told Jamie just to sit behind him and when he chirped to him, he was right on him and they finished heads up. Jamie was happy with him.”
    Stall has not named a rider for Terrain for the Preakness.
    The work was the third for Terrain since his fourth-place finish in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) on April 11. He had worked in :47.60 in company for a half-mile on April 24 at Keeneland and then turned in a :50.40 half while working solo on May 3, also at Keeneland.

GENERAL QUARTERS TO BREEZE ON MONDAY MORNING – With exercise rider Justin Court up, General Quarters galloped a mile and a half before the renovation break.
Owner/trainer Tom McCarthy plans to work the 10th-place Kentucky Derby finisher an easy half-mile Monday morning before the break with Court up.
“I just want to give him a little bit of a maintenance move,” McCarthy said. “I will breeze him a slow half, just something to take the edge off.”
General Quarters, winner of the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I), is scheduled to leave early Tuesday morning by van to Pimlico for the Preakness.

BAFFERT GETS HIS DERBY … A WEEK LATE – “I got my Derby,” a smiling Bob Baffert said Sunday morning upon his return to Churchill Downs after a successful foray to Texas where Peachtree Stable’s Mythical Power won Saturday’s Lone Star Derby (Grade III) by 7 ½ lengths.
The Derby that eluded Baffert the week before was, of course, Kentucky Derby 135 in which his Pioneerof the Nile finished second to Mine That Bird.
With exercise rider George Alvarez up, Pioneerof the Nile galloped a mile and a half after the renovation break.
“It was great to gallop on a fast track,” Baffert said.
Pioneerof the Nile is scheduled to work Monday morning, most likely after the renovation break. Joe Steiner, who handled Pioneerof the Nile’s two pre-Derby works here, is flying in to Louisville on Sunday night and is slated to be aboard in the morning.

BOOKEND DERBY FINISHERS GALLOP EARLY SUNDAY -- Galloped Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and 19th-place finisher Flying Private both galloped before the renovation break Sunday morning at Churchill Downs.
Mine That Bird, owned by Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine, galloped a little more than two miles with exercise rider Charlie Figueroa up.
    “He’s doing super, as good as ever,” said Figueroa, who has been the regular morning exercise partner for Mine That Bird since arriving in Kentucky on April 21. “I know he hasn’t backed off. There is no regression at all.”
    Trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr. was pleased to see the first “fast” track in the morning since Wednesday.
    “I can’t believe how fast they can get it good here,” Woolley said of a track that went from “muddy” during the latter part of training hours Saturday to “fast” fewer than four hours later.
    Mine That Bird is scheduled to train here the next two mornings and leave for Pimlico around mid-morning on Tuesday.
    Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said that Flying Private, owned by Robert Baker and William Mack, would not train here Tuesday because of an early departure time by van for Pimlico.

BARN TALK – Stone Legacy, runner-up to Rachel Alexandra in the Kentucky Oaks, worked a half-mile in :49.20 after the renovation break. The move was the 27th fastest of 81. The D. Wayne Lukas trainee leaves Tuesday for Pimlico where she is scheduled to run in Friday’s Black-Eyed Susan (Grade II).
    Trainer Tom Amoss notched Churchill Downs career victory No. 299 in Saturday’s ninth race with a triumph by Double Espresso. Eight trainers have reached the 300-win plateau, led by Bill Mott’s 615. Amoss has three chances on Sunday’s card to join the club: Best Buddy in the second, I Know It’s True in the fourth and Mining for Silver in the eighth.

RACHEL ALEXANDRA MOVES TO NEW BARN – Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick’s new purchase Rachel Alexandra began her new life in the care of trainer Steve Asmussen on Thursday morning by galloping once around a sloppy Churchill Downs main track under exercise rider Dominic Terry.
    The dominating, 20 ¼-length winner of last Friday’s Kentucky Oaks (Grade I), Rachel Alexandra was sold by the L and M Partners of Dolphus Morrison and Michael Lauffer on Wednesday.  Rachel Alexandra was transferred from trainer Hal Wiggins’ barn to Asmussen’s at 5:15 (EDT) Thursday morning.
    Jess Jackson, who campaigned two-time Horse of the Year,2007 Preakness (GI) winner and 2008 Stephen Foster Handicap (GI) winner Curlin under his stable colors, was asked what he thought of the latest addition to his stable after her morning exercise.
    “She is a graceful athlete; she moves like a ballerina and has the size of some of the colts,” Jackson said. “I am looking forward to seeing her compete.”
    Jackson was asked when the “ballerina” might run next.
    “The ink is not even dry yet,” Jackson said. “The only decision was to bring her to Steve’s barn. No decision has been made on any race or a rider. Basically the same team is in place as we had with Curlin, and like Curlin, we will let her decide when she runs and where she runs.”
    Asmussen, who saddled Curlin to his Preakness victory, indicated that like most of his runners nine to 10 days after a race, Rachel Alexandra would have her first recorded workout on Sunday or Monday. Terry would be her regular exercise rider and she would go out in the second set, around 6:15, each morning.
    “She’s a tremendously fast filly,” Asmussen said. “Hal (Wiggins) and his team did a tremendous job with her. We just got her today and we have no timetable or any plans to announce at this time.”
    For Wiggins, Thursday was anything but business as usual.
    “They came and got her at 5:15,” Wiggins said. “I didn’t know anything about it (the sale) until Tuesday night. I hope I see her in the winner’s circle many more times.”
    Racing for Wiggins, Rachel Alexandra compiled a record of 10-7-2-0 with earnings of $958,354. In addition to the Kentucky Oaks triumph, Rachel Alexandra scored Grade II victories in the Fantasy, Fair Grounds Oaks and Golden Rod plus added runner-up finishes in the Grade III Pocahontas and Debutante at Churchill Downs.
    “It was pretty tough (this morning),” Wiggins said. “When a horse is injured, that’s tough, too. As a trainer, you never know what you will find (in the morning). We will get over it. We were blessed to have her and experience the joy of winning the Oaks here.
    “It will be a little hard walking by that stall,” Wiggins continued, knowing he will still see her on the track. “It will be a joy to see her. I’ll have a smile on my face and a good feeling. I wish the new owners nothing but the best. I know she is in good hands and they will do right by her. I will be pulling for her every time she runs.”    
 
MINE THAT BIRD CONTINUES PREAKNESS PREPARATIONS – Kentucky Derby 135 winner Mine That Bird galloped two times around the main track at Churchill Downs on Thursday morning before the renovation break with exercise rider Charlie Figueroa up.
    Trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr. expressed satisfaction with the morning activity and remains on track to bring Mine That Bird, owned by Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine, to Pimlico on Tuesday.
    “He is doing good and I am surprised how he has bounced back because he had to run hard,” Woolley said. “But he is pretty easy on himself and doesn’t pound the ground.”
    But the overriding issue Thursday morning was the possibility that Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra could be supplemented to the Preakness and Woolley could possibly lose the services of jockey Calvin Borel, who swept the Oaks and Derby last weekend.
    “I hope they go to the Acorn (on June 6) with that mare,” Woolley said. “I told people that day (Derby Day) that I was glad she was not in the Derby.”    
    Woolley was bracing for the prospect of maybe losing his rider.
    “It’s a possibility; it could happen,” Woolley said. “But I don’t think I will have a hard time finding a rider if it happens.”

PREAKNESS PROBABLES GALLOP ON “SLOPPY” TRACK -- Zayat Stables’ Pioneerof the Nile galloped a mile and a half on a “sloppy” track after the renovation break with exercise rider George Alvarez up.
    Trainer Bob Baffert is scheduled to return to Louisville Saturday night and Pioneerof the Nile is tentatively slated to work Monday before shipping to Maryland on Wednesday if Baffert decides on a Preakness bid.
            Bo Hirsch’s Papa Clem galloped a mile and a half before the renovation break under exercise rider Mundo Gonzalez. The fourth-place Kentucky Derby finisher is scheduled to gallop again Friday and may leave for Pimlico later in the day or Saturday.
         Owner/trainer Tom McCarthy was happy with the mile and a half morning gallop from General Quarters before the renovation break, but he had a question for a bystander as exercise rider Julie Sheets brought the colt off the track.
    “What are they doing with that filly?” McCarthy asked referring to Rachel Alexandra. “She’s an awfully good filly.”
    Rachel Alexandra could be supplemented to the Preakness, but McCarthy is planning to head east on Tuesday.
    “I would hate not to go and have her not get in,” McCarthy said. “I went back and looked over the Oaks field and it didn’t look like she was facing the quality of competition that she will face in the Preakness.”
    McCarthy plans to gallop General Quarters the next five days, including next Tuesday before vanning to Baltimore.
    “I’d like to train here that morning if at all possible and then be able to jog Wednesday morning at Pimlico to allow him to get a feel for the track,” McCarthy said.
    Julien Leparoux, who was aboard in Kentucky Derby 135 in which General Quarters finished 10th, retains the mount for the Preakness.
        Robert Baker and William Mack’s Flying Private galloped shortly after the track opened Thursday morning at Churchill Downs with Taylor Carty up.
    Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said he likely would name a rider for Flying Private on Friday.
    Asked about the prospect of facing Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness, Lukas said: “I don’t like the idea at all. I’d like to run against the third-place finisher in the fifth at Beulah!”
       Adele Dilschneider’s Terrain galloped a mile and a half before the renovation break with exercise rider Jimmy Valdez up.
    Trainer Al Stall Jr. plans to work Terrain on Saturday or Sunday.
    “Looks like Sunday may be the work day,” Stall said as he monitored a Weather Channel forecast that called for rain the next three days in Louisville. “But we are in no rush. We have the luxury of time with five weeks (between the Toyota Blue Grass and the Preakness).”
       Trainer Dale Romans sent Heiligbrodt Racing Stable, Team Valor International and Gary Barber’s undefeated Hull out for a gallop after the renovation break.
    Asked if the presence of the speedy Rachel Alexandra might alter his Preakness plans for Hull, Romans said, “She might.”
    Hull is scheduled to work five furlongs on Saturday.

BARN TALK – Julien Leparoux rode two winners on Wednesday’s card to take a one-win lead (12-11) over Jamie Theriot in the race for leading rider. Leparoux’s career win total stands at 993 entering Thursday’s card.
    Trainer Al Stall Jr. said that B. Wayne Hughes’ My Pal Charlie has been nominated to the $600,000 Shadwell Metropolitan Handicap (Grade I) to be run May 25 at Belmont Park.
    “He came out of the race Derby Day (a runner-up finish in the Grade II Churchill Downs) in great shape,” Stall said. “A mile on the dirt may not be a bad way to go with him.”

MINE THAT BIRD ‘LOPES’ ONCE AROUND – Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s Kentucky Derby 135 winner Mine That Bird back-tracked to the paddock tunnel and then ‘loped’ once around a “fast” Churchill Downs main track Tuesday morning before the renovation break.
    Trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr. liked what he saw and said Mine That Bird would ‘lope’ around twice on Wednesday.
    “The only reason we are staying here is because he is very comfortable here and training well,” Woolley said. “We will leave Monday or Tuesday, probably Tuesday.  He may jog the morning we leave. I’d like to leave about 9 and get into Pimlico around 7 that evening.”
    The magnitude of pulling off the second-largest mutual shocker ($103.20) still has not sunk in on Woolley.
    “The whole thing is still a whirlwind,” Woolley said. “It is hard to get a grip on it that it really happened. Eventually you’ll get used to the fact that it really did happen.
    “Sunday I was in the paddock getting ready to do an interview and looked up at the sign ‘Kentucky Derby 2009, Mine That Bird’ and I almost started crying. I couldn’t believe it.”
    Winning jockey Calvin Borel, who saw his bid for a Triple Crown end two years ago at Pimlico on Street Sense when he was nipped by Curlin, came by the barn to look in on the Derby winner.
    Woolley was asked what Borel told him after he worked Mine That Bird five furlongs the Monday before the Derby after being on the gelding for the first time.
    “I was looking for 1:01 that morning and he went in 1:02 but he got off a little slow,” Woolley said. “Calvin never moved on him and he said ‘He will finish’ and that gave Calvin the confidence to take back and come driving.”

PAPA CLEM RETURNS TO THE TRACK – Bo Hirsch’s Papa Clem returned to the track at Churchill Downs at 6:15 Tuesday morning for the first time since running fourth in Kentucky Derby 135.
    With exercise rider Mundo Gonzalez aboard, Papa Clem jogged the wrong way around accompanied by a pony. Gonzalez said Papa Clem would gallop in the morning about the same time.
    Trainer Gary Stute is scheduled to return to Louisville this weekend and the colt is scheduled to fly to Baltimore on May 13.

PIONEEROF THE NILE HEADS BACK TO TRACK WEDNESDAY – Zayat Stables’ Pioneerof the Nile is scheduled to return to the track Wednesday morning for the first time since his runner-up finish in Kentucky Derby 135.
    Trainer Bob Baffert is scheduled to return to Louisville on Saturday night. Two of the nine runners he has at Churchill Downs, Mike Pegram’s Mayor Marv and Peachtree Stable’s Mythical Power, will be heading to Texas on Wednesday for Saturday’s $400,000 guaranteed Lone Star Derby (Grade III) at a mile and a sixteenth.

GENERAL QUARTERS REMAINS PREAKNESS POSSIBILITY – Owner/trainer Tom McCarthy walked General Quarters on Tuesday morning and plans to return the 10th-place Kentucky Derby 135 finisher to the track Wednesday morning.
    “The Preakness is a possibility, but I want to see how he gallops and go from there,” McCarthy said. “He is doing so well. I’d like to get him over there (Pimlico) and get a few turns around the track.”
     McCarthy is not sure when he would bring General Quarters to Pimlico if he decides to try the Preakness. A charter flight leaves from Louisville on May 13, but, McCarthy said, “He ships so well, I may van him up.”
    
HULL, MENA TO TEAM UP IN PREAKNEES FOR ROMANS – Heiligbrodt Racing Stable, Team Valor International and Gary Barber’s undefeated Hull galloped Tuesday morning at Churchill Downs.
    Trainer Dale Romans said the undefeated winner of the Grade III Derby Trial on April 25 would work Saturday morning and fly to Baltimore on May 13. Miguel Mena, who was aboard for the Derby Trial win, has the Preakness call.

TERRAIN HEADING FOR TEXAS … OR BALTIMORE – “We’ve got a decision to make,” trainer Al Stall Jr., said Tuesday morning. “The plane for Texas leaves at 7 o’clock in the morning.”
    The decision will be whether Adele Dilschneider’s Terrain goes to Lone Star Park for Saturday’s Lone Star Derby or remains in Stall 7 at Barn 47 at Churchill Downs and trains for the Preakness.
    “We are not 100 percent for the Preakness,” Stall said. “He is at Keeneland and is coming over here this afternoon. If he does not go to Texas, he will work here this weekend and fly to Baltimore next Wednesday.”
    Terrain ran fourth in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) at Keeneland on April 11 in his most recent start.
    “We gave him a little time off after the Blue Grass and he has had two works since,” Stall said of Terrain, who worked a half-mile in :50.40 at Keeneland on Sunday. “He has done real well since the Blue Grass.”
    Terrain has run twice this year, opening with a third-place finish in the Louisiana derby (Grade II) on March 14. Fourth in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Grade I), Terrain closed 2008 with a fifth-place finish in the Grade III Delta Jackpot behind possible Preakness rival Big Drama.

BARN TALK – IEAH Stables, Lewis Lakin and Pegasus Holding Group Stable’s Pure Clan, winner of last year’s Grade III Regret at Churchill Downs and the American Oaks Invitational (Grade I) at Hollywood Park, worked five furlongs on a “fast” main track in 1:00.40, second best of 25 at the distance, under regular morning partner Steve Schmelzel.
    “When we got her back off the farm, she had a stone bruise and that put us about 30 days behind with her,” trainer Bob Holthus said of Pure Clan, a three-time stakes winner at Churchill Downs and third-place finisher in the 2008 Kentucky Oaks (Grade I). “I had been working her on Saturday, but I didn’t want to go on Derby Day.”
    Pure Clan’s return is expected to come in the Early Times Mint Julep (Grade III) at a mile and a sixteenth on the Matt Winn Turf Course.
    “She worked well this morning, but her next work or two will probably be on the grass,” Holthus said.
The only faster work was turned in by three-time graded stakes winner Capt. Candyman Can, owned by Joseph Rauch and David Zell in 1:00.20 for trainer Ian Wilkes.
Robby Albarado joined the 800-win club at Churchill Downs last week, becoming only the sixth rider in track history to reach that milestone. He hit the mark in Thursday’s eighth race when he guided La Mousse (ARG) to victory.
    Calvin Borel, currently third in the rider standings with nine victories, is six wins shy of becoming the fourth rider in Churchill Downs history to reach 900 victories. Victory No. 9, which came aboard Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby, gave him 4,729 for his career.
    Jamie Theriot and Julien Leparoux lead the rider standings with 10 victories each.
Trainer Ken McPeek enters Wednesday’s card with 996 career victories, 231 of them at Churchill Downs. McPeek has two horses entered on Wednesday’s card: Biden Our Time in the second and Mimi’s Kids in the sixth.
Nominations close Wednesday for the eighth running of the $100,000 Matt Winn for 3-year-olds going seven furlongs on the main track on May 16. Zayat Stables’ Eaton’s Gift gave trainer Dale Romans his second consecutive Matt Winn victory in the 2008 running.
    Closing Saturday are nominations for the 72nd running of the $100,000 Louisville Handicap (Grade III) for 3-year-olds and up going a mile and a half over the Matt Winn Turf Course and for the sixth running of the $100,000 Winning Colors for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going six furlongs on the main track. The Louisville Handicap will be run May 23 and the Winning Colors on Memorial Day, May 25.
    Adele Dilschneider and Claiborne Farm’s Lattice won last year’s Louisville Handicap for trainer Al Stall Jr. Graeme Six, trained by Tom Amoss for the ownership of Tom O’Grady, Johns Martin and Team West Side Stables, won the 2008 Winning Colors.
Tracy Farmer’s Commentator, a two-time winner of the Whitney (GI) at Saratoga, worked four furlongs in :47.60 for trainer Nick Zito.  The 8-year-old Distorted Humor gelding is coming off an upset loss in his 2009 debut in the $500,000 Charles Town Classic at West Virginia’s Charles Town Races & Slots.
Chrysalis Stable LLC’s Silverfoot, the 9-year-old three-time winner of the Louisville Handicap (GIII), continued to work toward his 2009 debut with a five-furlong breeze around the dogs on “good” turf in 1:03.40.
Mr. Nightlinger, winner of the 2008 Aegon Turf Sprint (GIII), breezed four furlongs on the grass in :49.40.

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.

Catch the latest and final updates on your Derby favorites, one day in advance of Kentucky Derby 135!

ADVICE / DUNKIRK / JOIN IN THE DANCE – The trio of Todd Pletcher horses was out and done with their leg stretching prior to 7 a.m. (all times EDT) Friday, each galloping approximately a mile and three eighths around the “sloppy” Churchill Downs oval that had been pelted with some fairly serious overnight rains.

Advice, the last of the barn’s Derby contenders came off the strip just prior to 7 with Pletcher looking on near the six-furlong gap.

“If it is ‘fast’ or ‘sloppy’ tomorrow for the race, I think we’ll be fine,” Pletcher said. “Dunkirk went over this ‘slop’ a little earlier and he handled it well. He was good with it. But I don’t think we’ll want to see a ‘good’ or ‘muddy’ track. That won’t help my horses. We’ll hope we don’t have to deal with that.”

The third Pletcher runner, Join in the Dance, made his first racing appearance at Churchill Downs on May 14 last year on a “sloppy” racing surface and finished second in a straight maiden race. He also ran on a “sloppy” track at Monmouth Park in New Jersey on Sept. 27 in the NATC Futurity, showing early speed, but finishing fourth.

Advice will be ridden by Rene Douglas on Saturday and break from post four. Dunkirk was assigned post 15 and will be handled by Edgar Prado. And Join in the Dance will have Chris DeCarlo up as they leave from post nine.

ATOMIC RAIN / WEST SIDE BERNIE – Trainer Kelly Breen waited until daylight hit the Downs to get West Side Bernie and Atomic Rain out on the track Friday morning.

“The track was sloppy, and I wanted to wait until there was enough light to see well before I took them out,” Breen said.

West Side Bernie went out at 7 a.m., and Atomic Rain was on the track by 7:30. Both colts jogged one mile with Breen aboard. They were ponied to the track by George Hall, who owns the horses with his wife, Lori.

The 6-year-old pony Hall was aboard is a story of his own. He is a Thoroughbred named Fagan’s Legacy and won the Grade III Pilgrim Stakes at Belmont as a 3-year-old. He’s named in honor of Hall’s grandfather, Larry Fagan.

“My grandfather took my brother John and me to the track at Belmont and Aqueduct when we were kids,” Hall said. “He’s the one that got us interested in racing.”

Hall ponied one of his horses to the track for a race Thursday, but says he has no plans to repeat that in the Kentucky Derby.

“I thought about it,” he said, “but the Derby is too big a race. I might get too nervous. Plus, I’m looking forward to the walk over there with family and friends.

“It was fun and exciting yesterday, and I’m glad I did it,” Hall said. “The pony, being a racehorse, got excited about it, too. He got to the top of the stretch and I think he was expecting to go to the gate.”

Breen, who has been smiling most of the week as he approaches his first Kentucky Derby, was coming back to the barn aboard West Side Bernie when he saw Michael Matz on the path.

“Got any pointers for me?” Breen said to Matz.

Barbaro’s trainer just smiled and said, “You’ll be fine.”

CHOCOLATE CANDY – The bay son of Candy Ride was out for some 7 a.m. exercise Friday at Churchill Downs, moving over a racing strip called “sloppy” after some heavy overnight rains.

Exercise rider Lindsey Molina led Chocolate Candy through a drill similar to the one he’d gone through the day before – a short stand in the starting gate and a good gallop of about a mile and five-eighths.

“He’s never run on an ‘off’ track,” trainer Jerry Hollendorfer said back at Barn 42, “but he’s handled it well the couple of times he’s been on one here this week. This morning when he came around the second time on his gallop he was going even better than the first. Once he got a feel for the track he liked it even more. If it comes up ‘off’ tomorrow, I think we’re going to be OK.”

Mike Smith will handle Chocolate Candy for the first time Saturday and they’ll leave from post 11. This will be the colt’s fourth race of 2009 and his fourth Derby. He started the year back on Jan. 17 by winning the California Derby at Golden Gate Fields in the Bay Area, then came back at that track on Feb. 14 to capture the El Camino Real Derby (Grade III). His most recent outing was a second-place finish (behind Pioneerof the Nile) in the Santa Anita Derby (Grade I) April 4.

DESERT PARTY / REGAL RANSOM – Trainer Saeed bin Suroor sent his Godolphin runners, Desert Party and Regal Ransom, out Friday morning to gallop a mile and three-eighths.

“They’re looking good,” bin Suroor said. “Happy. Fresh. Sound. Healthy. No problem at all. Now the job is done and we’re looking forward to tomorrow. We’re happy with them.”

Bin Suroor is optimistic his colts won’t be affected adversely by running over what is likely to be a wet track in the Derby.

“I think Desert Party will handle it. He’s won on it before,” bin Suroor said. “All week, Regal Ransom has handled the ground good, but in the race it could be different. It’s hard to say.”

Desert Party won the Sanford Stakes (Grade II) at Saratoga Race Course last summer over a track rated as “muddy.”

Bin Suroor said he thinks Godolphin has the right horses prepared properly, with three races in Dubai, for the Derby.

“There is no excuse for them,” he said. “If they are good enough, they are going to win.”

FLYING PRIVATE – Trainer D. Wayne Lukas sent Flying Private to the track for a routine gallop with Taylor Carty up Friday morning at Churchill Downs.

The Hall of Fame trainer, who has saddled four Kentucky Derby winners, has always had an astute eye for the competition during Derby Week.

“Desert Party appeals to me in this race. They have quality horses, and that horse looks excellent to me. I think he’s going to be a factor,” Lukas said. “I like (Bob) Baffert’s horse (Pioneerof the Nile). I think he’s adjusted (to the dirt surface). I wasn’t an I Want Revenge fan earlier in the week, but he’s starting to come around, too.”

Lukas views handicapping Derby 135 as a particularly tough endeavor.

“The only thing that’s confusing about it are those horses coming from different areas with synthetic surfaces,” he said. “It’s hard to evaluate how good they are. Some of them could adapt to this beautifully and others bomb, so it makes it a nightmare to handicap. There could be a 50 or 60 dollar payoff pretty easy.”

Robby Albarado will ride Flying Private, whom Lukas has compared favorably to two of his Derby winners: Grindstone (1996) and Charismatic (1999).

FRIESAN FIRE – Louisiana Derby (Grade II) winner Friesan Fire visited the paddock and galloped five-eighths of a mile with trainer Larry Jones in the saddle.

“We just wanted to keep his legs fresh,” Jones said. “I let him go to the paddock and look around and he was much more relaxed in there than the other day when he went to the gate.”

Owned by Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farms, Friesan Fire enters Kentucky Derby 135 on a three-race win streak. Listed at 5-1 on the morning line, Friesan Fire will be ridden by Gabriel Saez and break from post position six.

Jones, who saddled Hard Spun and Eight Belles to runner-up finishes in the past two Derbys, was asked about his confidence level with Friesan Fire.

“There is no way you can get too confident, because it is a horse race,” Jones said.

“He is coming into the race as good, if not better, than the last two. We have had no issues with him at all. Some others were battling quarter cracks and some other things, but everything has fallen perfectly in place for him.”

Jones, who plans to retire from training after this year’s Breeders’ Cup, was asked if he could pen the perfect script for Derby 135, how it would read.

“That’s easy. We win,” Jones said with a laugh. “We win in Baltimore and then Belmont. What a way to go out!”

GENERAL QUARTERS – The eyes of Louisville will be on local owner/trainer Tom McCarthy as he saddles Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) winner General Quarters in Saturday’s Derby 135. But don’t look for McCarthy to be hobknobbing in the grandstand.

“I’ll be sitting right there in that tack room and be with my horse all day,” McCarthy said. “I don’t get into all that other stuff. We’re here to do a job, and he’s the only one I really need to be with on Derby Day. I’m letting my son handle all the tickets and people and such.”

General Quarters galloped 1 ½ miles Friday morning under exercise rider Julie Sheets, and McCarthy loved what he saw on the sloppy track.

“Oh, boy, I think I’m hoping for rain now to be honest,” he said. “He just skipped over the mud and loved it.”

HOLD ME BACK – WinStar Farm’s vice president and racing manager Elliott Walden checked on WinStar’s three Derby starters, Hold Me Back, Mr. Hot Stuff and Advice on Friday morning.

Hold Me Back, handled by Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, galloped a mile and a half. The Lane’s End (Grade II) winner and Toyota Blue Grass (Grade I) runner-up will start from post five, while Lexington winner Advice is in post four and Mr. Hot Stuff, third in the Santa Anita Derby (Grade I), is in post three.

Walden acknowledged that is quite an accomplishment to get three horses into the Derby field.

“All three are coming off very good races, so you feel good about that,” Walden said. “Hold Me Back is a horse that has developed very quickly with the last two races and he seems to be doing very well.

“Mr. Hot Stuff is a horse that is a little further behind, as far as his development is concerned. He’s only won one race, but we feel that the X factor is that he’ll love the mile and a quarter. He’s galloped out his races extremely well and he is progressing physically and mentally. He’s a little bit slower to come to the party than his full brother Colonel John, who had more of a 2-year-old career. We’re excited about how he’s coming in and we hope we’re right, but we’re guessing a little bit on that. Advice ran a big race and he’s worked great over the dirt, so we felt like he deserved a chance, too.”

Since all three colts have an off-the-pace running style, Walden said that WinStar officials were happy to see the speedy Join in the Dance, trained by Todd Pletcher, get a spot in the field this week.

“We had Advice sitting on the fence to run and a lot of that was because of the fact that he came to it late by winning the Lexington, but we also wanted the speed in the race from Todd’s horse.

“When Todd’s horse got in by another defection, that’s when we decided to run Advice. We probably wouldn’t have run Advice if he was 20 (on the earnings list) and  Join in the Dance was 21. We would have let him run because of the speed. We do need speed for all three horses. So we would have probably held Advice back.”

I WANT REVENGE – The Wood Memorial (Grade I) winner galloped a mile and jogged a mile under excise rider Joe Deegan on Friday morning at Churchill Downs. Trainer Jeff Mullins expressed satisfaction with I Want Revenge’s preparation for his start in Kentucky Derby 135.

“The only thing I could ask for is better weather and a fast racetrack,” the Southern California-based trainer said.

I Want Revenge will enter the Derby coming off an impressive victory in the Wood Memorial, in which he overcame a very late start and severe traffic in the stretch under jockey Joe Talamo.

Although Talamo will be riding in his first Derby, Mullins said that the 19-year-old jockey will be on his own without any instructions on how to get to the finish line first.

“I haven’t given him any yet, so I don’t think I’m going to start now,” Mullins said. “I could have given him all the instructions in the world for the Wood and look what happened.”

MINE THAT BIRD – While Tom McCarthy might be the most hands-on owner in this year’s Kentucky Derby with General Quarters, Mine That Bird co-owner Mark Allen isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, either. The rancher and owner of Double Eagle Farm doubled as groom Friday morning, giving his pint-sized Kentucky Derby contender a sponge bath.

Allen and trainer Chip Woolley go back more than two decades and are making their first appearance on Thoroughbred racing’s biggest stage. Mine That Bird galloped 1 ½ miles Friday morning and impressed Allen with how he responded to the conditions.

“He handled the track really, really well,” Allen said. “Chip could not have this horse doing any better.”

Both Allen and Woolley have worked extensively with Quarter Horses over the years in New Mexico, and Allen said he has big dreams in 2009 for both breeds.

“How amazing would it be to have a horse in the Kentucky Derby and the All American Futurity in the same year?” he asked. “I’d call that a perfect year. That’s what we’re hoping for. We have four or five really quality 2-year-old Quarter Horses that we’re aiming for at Ruidoso.”

MR. HOT STUFF – WinStar Farm’s Mr. Hot Stuff went trackside at 6:45 Friday morning and galloped a mile over a “sloppy” racetrack.

“A mile was enough,” trainer Eoin Harty said. “I didn’t want to chance any more.”

The transplanted Irishman was asked how he thought his Kentucky-bred son of Tiznow might handle a possible “wet” surface in Kentucky Derby 135 on Saturday.

“Haven’t a clue,” the conditioner said. “He’s never been on one, but I guess there’s a fair chance we might find out.”

Harty was asked if Mr. Hot Stuff’s full brother – Colonel John, whom he trained and saddled to run sixth in last year’s Derby – had any history of “off” track performance.

“No help there,” he said. “Don’t believe he was ever on a wet track.”

Wet or fast, Mr. Hot Stuff will break from post three Saturday at 6:24 p.m. with John Velazquez doing the steering.

“We’re ready for it now,” Harty said. “We’re as ready as we can be.”

MUSKET MAN – Trainer Derek Ryan had Musket Man out early Friday morning for a one-mile gallop around the sloppy Churchill Downs oval.

After that, the colt by Yonaguska calmly munched grass behind Barn 41, looking the picture of a happy, healthy horse.

“He’s doing great,” Ryan said as he prepares for his first Kentucky Derby. “I’m doing OK, too. It’s like all the other races – if you win, you celebrate; if you lose, you go home. Except this is the big one, so that makes it different.”

Ryan has been able to celebrate five times in Musket Man’s six-race career. The colt has lost only once, and comes into the Derby off consecutive victories in the Tampa Bay Derby (Grade III) and Illinois Derby (Grade II). Eric Fein and Vic Carlson own Musket Man, a $15,000 yearling purchase who already has earned $572,600.

NOWHERE TO HIDE – My Meadowview Farm’s Illinois Derby (Grade II) fourth-place finisher walked the shedrow under tack Friday morning, one day after blowing out a quarter-mile in :25.20 for Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito.

“Everything’s good and he’s ready,” Zito said.

The two-time Derby-winning trainer is among a trio of multiple Derby winners in this year’s cast, joining four-time winner D. Wayne Lukas and three-time winner Bob Baffert. But recent history indicates those three may not have an edge as six of the past seven Derby winners have been trained by conditioners making their debut in the Run for the Roses.

What does Zito make of the recent trend?

“It’s terrific and great for the game, are you kidding me?” he responded. “It shows you how great this race is, and how hard it is to win and also how many people are trying to come here and win it.

“Everybody wants to win this race from the moment they look at a horse in a yearling sale. That wasn’t always the case. When I bought Go for Gin for $150,000 in 1992, it wasn’t with one race in mind like buyers are aiming for today. Things have changed. Almost everyone today is looking for a Triple Crown or Breeders’ Cup winner, and that’s about it. As a trainer, you know what they want and that’s what you aim for.”

PAPA CLEM – With his pre-Derby work completed Thursday after a three-furlong blowout in :34 flat, the Arkansas Derby (Grade II) winner walked the shedrow Friday morning and was feisty as trainer Gary Stute met him afterward in his stall. Papa Clem took a nip at his trainer, eliciting some laughter and the declaration, “I think that means he’s ready.”

Stute will stick to his plan and walk Papa Clem on Derby morning as well. The trainer reported that Papa Clem’s legs were “ice cold” after the final breeze and that “he has not missed an oat this week, according to my barn foreman.”

Saturday’s famed Kentucky Derby walkover will be an exciting time, Stute said, as he makes the long journey from the stable area to the paddock with Papa Clem. He joked Friday morning that he hopes it goes better than the first time he made the trek in 1980 with his father, Mel.

“When my dad ran Bold n’ Rulling, I wanted to walk over with the horse,” he recalled. “But as I leaned to duck under the rail to go on the track, my pants split right down the seam! I had to run back to the barn and duct-tape them together. Let’s just hope that doesn’t happen Saturday on national TV.”

PIONEEROF THE NILE – Trainer Bob Baffert said Friday morning he has tried to prepare Pioneerof the Nile mentally and physically for the grind of running three times in five weeks in the Triple Crown series of the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont Stakes.

“He’s filled out. He’s carrying a lot of flesh,” Baffert said. “I’ve worked on his mind pretty well. He’s the kind of horse that is going to be able to handle the three races. I sort of brought him in here good enough to do this one but still have him for the next one. I didn’t want to do too much here. I wanted to do enough to get him to win this one so he can go to the next one. I’m still trying to win that damn Triple Crown.”

Pioneerof the  Nile has won all four of his starts since being moved to Baffert’s care late last year. The Empire Maker colt, to be ridden by Garrett Gomez, galloped a mile and a half Friday morning.

“He looks good. He had a good day,” Baffert said. “Everyday has been a good day for him. You need that.”

Pioneerof the Nile pulled Gomez to the lead early in what turned into a victory in the Santa Anita Derby (Grade I). The colt will be making his first start on dirt and Baffert chose post 16 in the starting gate in hopes that it will reduce the amount of dirt Pioneerof the Nile has kicked in his face. The key, he said, is for Gomez to get the colt to relax early.

“He didn’t want to settle the last time,” Baffert said. “That’s why I didn’t take a chance of putting him on the inside, especially with the wet. If it’s wet and he’s down on the inside and that mud starts hitting him, sometimes it can get to them.”

SUMMER BIRD – Trainer Tim Ice had Summer Bird out very early Friday morning, and the Birdstone colt jogged two miles over the sloppy track with jockey Chris Rosier aboard.

“It was dark, I didn’t even see him out there,” Ice said. “But I wanted to get out early and get him back to his stall today. Chris told me he went good out there, which is what I wanted to hear.”

Ice, who went out on his own as a trainer less than a year ago, has been the picture of placidity this week as he saddles his first Kentucky Derby starter.

“I’m trying to do everything like I normally do,” Ice said. “I’m not approaching this like it’s the world’s greatest race – which it is, of course – but I’m trying to stay calm and just go through my routine. It’ll probably all hit me Saturday.

“Chris and I were talking about that the other day,” Ice said. “Chris said that he’s ridden with all those jocks, so he has that experience to go with. Of course, when they play ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ that’s when the butterflies will really start. If you don’t get butterflies in your stomach at that point, you probably shouldn’t be here.”

David Lanzman, IEAH Stables & Puglisi Racing’s I Want Revenge, a dazzling winner of Aqueduct’s Wood Memorial (Grade I) and Gotham (GIII) since his move from synthetic racetracks to traditional dirt, was installed as a solid 3-1 favorite when he faces 19 rivals in Saturday’s 135th renewal of the $2 million-guaranteed Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) on Saturday at historic Churchill Downs.

    The 3-year-old son of Stephen Got Even could give IEAH Stables its second consecutive victory in America’s greatest race, following a dominant performance in last year’s Derby by the then-unbeaten Big Brown.  A victory by I Want Revenge would provide California-based trainer Jeff Mullins with his first Kentucky Derby victory in five tries, and give 19-year-old jockey Joe Talamo a victory in the famed “Run for the Roses” in his first attempt.  The Louisiana native would be the youngest jockey to win the Derby since Kentucky-born racing legend Steve Cauthen, then 18, won the 1978 Derby and swept the Triple Crown with Affirmed in 1978.

    But to win the 1 ¼-mile classic I Want Revenge will have to turn back an accomplished and consistent group of rivals headed by Zayat Stables’ Pioneerof the Nile, whose four-race winning streak includes a victory in the Santa Anita Derby (GI); Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith’s Dunkirk, a $3.7 million yearling sale purchase who was runner-up in the Florida Derby (GI); Friesan Fire, a son of A.P. Indy whose three consecutive victories include a 7 ¼-length romp in the Louisiana Derby (GII); Papa Clem, winner of the $1 million Arkansas Derby (GII); Godolphin’s Dubai-based stars Regal Ransom and Desert Party, the 1-2 finishers in the $2 million UAE Derby; and Toyota Blue Grass (GI) winner General Quarters, the sole runner in the one-horse stable of former Louisville, Ky. educator Tom McCarthy, who claimed his horse for $20,000 a year ago and now stands on the verge of a triumph of America’s most important race and one of the most unlikely victories in the history of the great race.

    The Kentucky Derby again used its unique process of establishing post positions for the 20 horses in which the connections of each horse selected their preferred slot in the starting gate after a blind draw was conducted to establish selection order.  I Want Revenge ended up with the 10th spot in selection order, and co-owner David Lanzman chose post 13 for the colt.

       “We wanted the 14, but they took it right in front of us,” Lanzman said.  “We just wanted to avoid a disaster. We didn’t want (post position) one, two, three, four and we didn’t want 17, 18, 19, 20. So, we couldn’t be happier.”

    Churchll Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia installed Dunkirk and Pioneerof the Nile, who ended up alongside each other in posts 15 and 16 in the auxiliary starting gate, as the 4-1 co-second choices.  Dunkirk, one of three Derby entrants trained by Todd Pletcher, will bid to give his four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer his first victory in the Kentucky Derby.  A win by Pioneerof the Nile would be Baffert’s fourth, but his first since War Emblem in 2002.

    Edgar Prado, who won the 2006 Derby aboard Barbaro, will ride Dunkirk.  Garrett Gomez, last year’s Eclipse winner as America’s top rider, will seek his first Derby victory aboard Baffert’s colt.

    Vinery and Fox Hill’s Farm’s Friesan Fire is the fourth choice in the morning line at 5-1.  Trainer Larry Jones has saddled the last two runners-up in the Kentucky Derby in Fox Hill’s Hard Spun, second to Street Sense in 2007, and the filly Eight Belles, last year’s ill-fated second-place finisher.  

    Lane’s End Stakes (GII) winner Hold Me Back will carry the hopes of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, the all-time leading trainer at Churchill Downs who is winless in the track’s biggest race, and WinStar Farm, which also owns Derby contenders Advice, the Pletcher-trained winner of Keeneland’s Coolmore Lexington (GII), and Mr. Hot Stuff, third in the Santa Anita Derby (GI) for trainer Eoin Harty.  If all three horses run on Saturday, WinStar would become the first owner to start three horses in a Kentucky Derby since Maine Chance Farm sent out Lord Boswell, Knockdown and Perfect Bahram to finish fourth, fifth and ninth, respectively, behind eventual Triple Crown winner Assault in the 1946 Kentucky Derby.

    A sentimental choice for many Kentucky Derby fans will be General Quarters, who emerged over the winter and spring as a contender for owner-trainer Tom McCarthy with victories in the Sam F. Davis (GIII) at Tampa Bay Downs and his recent upset in the Toyota Blue Grass.  Julien Leparoux, coming off a record-smashing Fall Meet riding title at Churchill Downs, will have the mount aboard General Quarters, a son of Sky Mesa that McCarthy claimed for $20,000 out of a maiden race at Churchill Downs nearly a year ago.

    General Quarters is the only horse currently in training for the 75-year-old McCarthy, a retired teacher and a principal at three Louisville area high schools.  A victory by the sole member of McCarthy’s stable would make him the first person to own and train a Kentucky Derby winner since owner-trainer-breeder T.P. Hayes saddled 91-1 shot Donerail for his surprise win in the 1913 Derby.

    If all 20 horses start, the purse for the Kentucky Derby will be $$2,202,200 and the winner’s share will be $1,442,200.    

Post time for the 135th Kentucky Derby is set for 6:24 p.m. (all times EDT) on Saturday.  The race will be televised nationally by NBC Sports from 5-7 p.m.