Friesan Fire

FLYING PEGASUS BEGINS THE ROAD BACK FRIDAY NIGHT – The road with Flying Pegasus has been anything but smooth for trainer Ralph Nicks, but he’ll saddle the promising 3-year-old for a return to action following a three-month break when he competes in a seven-furlong allowance test on Friday night at Churchill Downs.

    “With 3-year-olds, you hope they bounce back quick,” Nicks said of Flying Pegasus, who came down with a lung infection after running sixth in the Louisiana Derby (Grade II) on March 14.

    Owned and bred by James Spence, Flying Pegasus won his first career start on July 2 by 2 ¼ lengths at Churchill Downs and followed that up with an allowance win as the 3-5 choice five weeks later at Delaware Park. His 2-year-old campaign ended after a runner-up finish to Charitable Man in the Futurity (Grade II) at Belmont Park in September when he exited the race with a bone chip in a hind ankle.

    Nicks brought Flying Pegasus back to the races in February with a runner-up finish to Friesan Fire in the Risen Star (Grade III), but Kentucky Derby (GI) hopes for the son of 2000 Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus ended in at the Louisiana Derby.

    “I don’t want to say ‘confidence builder’, but we hope to use this race to go on to the next race that is not a graded stake,” Nicks said. “There are a lot of races for 3-year-olds in August and September.”
    
GETTING READY FOR SOME NIGHT MOVES – So, what do you do if you are saddling a horse in the nightcap, scheduled for 11:11 p.m. (all times EDT), in the historic debut of Churchill Downs’ “Downs After Dark” night racing?

“I guess I’ll sleep on the couch (at the barn) that night,” trainer William “Buff” Bradley said with a laugh.
Con Lover is in Friday’s finale and will be Bradley’s only starter on the 11-race card that begins at 6 p.m.  A regular on the Kentucky circuit, Bradley is a veteran of night racing at Turfway Park.

“I would usually stay up there if we were in a late race,” Bradley said. “I never thought I would see lights here, and if it works, fine. We need to do whatever we can to boost racing.”

One of the effects of the night card for Bradley will be adjusting work schedules, including barn star Brass Hat, winner of the recent Louisville Handicap (Grade III) and earner of more than $1.8 million.

“I am going to work him Friday instead of Saturday, and that (the night card) is one of the reasons,” Bradley said. “I have a few that will work longer and harder and then will walk for two days, so we won’t have so many going to the track Saturday.”

TRACK RECORD HOLDER HOT DIXIE CHICK TOPS DEBUTANTE NOMINATIONS – Grace Stables’ Hot Dixie Chick, who established a Churchill Downs track record for five furlongs (:56.48) in her second career start on June 13, tops a list of 23 nominations for the 109th running of the $100,000-added Debutante (Grade III).

    The six furlong race for 2-year-old fillies is scheduled to be run on June 27.

    Hot Dixie Chick is one of five fillies nominated to the Debutante trained by Steve Asmussen, a four-time winner of the race. Included among the quintet are two Churchill Downs maiden winners: Lewis Lakin and Roger Stanton’s Wild Forest Cat, and Heiligbrodt Racing Stable’s Fiesty Ex.

    D. Wayne Lukas, who owns the Debutante record as the trainer of six winners, has nominated four fillies including Westrock Stables’ Decelerator, who beat Hot Dixie Chick when they met on May 14. Decelerator worked a bullet five furlongs in 1:00.40 on a muddy track Tuesday morning.

    Silverbulletday, who will be inducted into the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame this summer, is the most recent Debutante winner to return the following spring and win the Kentucky Oaks. Silverbulletday achieved her double in 1998-99.

    Last year’s Debutante runner-up, Rachel Alexandra, won this year’s Kentucky Oaks and followed that with a win over the boys in the Preakness (GI).    

BARN TALK – Rapport, a $475,000 yearling purchase, will be the first runner from the Legends Racing Stable to make the races when she goes postward in Friday’s fifth race. Legends Racing Stable is a partnership between multiple Kentucky Derby-winning trainers D. Wayne Lukas, Nick Zito and Bob Baffert.  The three Hall of Fame trainers selected horses at public auction last year for owners who joined the Legends partnership and split those purchases between the three.  Rapport, a 2-year-old daughter of Songandaprayer, is one of 13 Legends horses stabled at Churchill Downs with Lukas. “They are a nice set of horses,” Lukas said. Legends, which purchased 38 horses at auction in 2008 for $15,285,000 plus one private acquisition, also has 13 horses each with Nick Zito and Bob Baffert.

Leading rider Julien Leparoux and Corey Lanerie will be at Colonial Downs on Saturday for the $500,000 Colonial Turf Cup (Grade II). Leparoux will be riding Lime Rickey and Lanerie is named on Final Count. Both riders have mounts in the $150,000 All Along (Grade III): Leparoux on Icon Project and Lanerie on Precious Princess.

Saturday, June 20 is the deadline for nominations for the final three stakes of the Spring Meet. Closing that day will be the $100,000-added Bashford Manor (Grade III) for 2-year-olds going six furlongs on the main track to be run July 3, the $150,000-added Firecracker Handicap (Grade II) at a mile on the Matt Winn Turf Course for 3-year-olds and up on July 4, and the $100,000-added Locust Grove Handicap (Grade III) for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up also going a mile on the turf on closing day July 5.

MILESTONE WATCH – Greg Foley, who has saddled 297 winners at Churchill Downs, has a chance Thursday to become the 12th trainer to achieve 300 victories beneath the Twin Spires. Foley is scheduled to send out Faithope in the second, Western Frontier in the fourth and Badger Barry in the seventh. Foley has no horses entered Friday, but two on Saturday: Oh Charlie Boy in the fifth and Cajun Prize in the 10th.

    Bill Connelly, who has saddled 998 winners in his career, has Buckeye Buddy entered in Thursday’s seventh race and Sweetasnails in Friday night’s 11th race.

WORK TAB – Aegon Turf Sprint (Grade III) winner Chamberlain Bridge worked a half-mile in :50 over a fast track, the 15th fastest of 31 at the distance. Tizdejavu, winner of the 2008 Jefferson Cup (Grade II), worked six furlongs in 1:16.20.

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

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.”

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.”

The following quotes and comments were collected by the Churchill Downs Notes Team following the draw for post positions for the 135th Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I), to be run on Saturday, May 2.

ADVICE (Selection No. 13, Post position No. 4, morning line 30-1)
DUNKIRK (Selection No. 6, Post position No. 15, morning line 4-1)
JOIN IN THE DANCE (Selection No. 1, Post position No. 9 morning line 50-1)

Trainer Todd Pletcher on Dunkirk
“We talked about it this morning and our first choice was 15. So we got what we wanted. I was a little hesitant about going in next to Pioneerof the Nile (who picked fifth and selected No. 16) because I know he doesn’t always come out of there the right way. But 15 is a good spot. You’ve got some room there (it is the first opening in the auxiliary gate with space to the inside) and being outside you can fall into a good spot. We’re happy with it.”

On Join in the Dance
“Well, we thought about it a lot – sort of. Then when you know that Rashard’s jersey number is 9, you’ll know why we picked it.” (Rashard Lewis, a 10-year veteran of the NBA who currently plays for the Orlando Magic, wears No. 9 on his basketball jersey. He is one of the horse’s three owners along with Jake Ballis and Reagan Swinbank.)

Elliott Walden, vice president and racing manager of WinStar Farm, on Advice
“We like it. It’ll be fine. We like the selections for all our horses.” (The other two WinStar horses drew on either side of Advice – Mr. Hot Stuff in No. 3 and Hold Me Back in No. 5.)

ATOMIC RAIN (Selection No. 9, Post position No. 14, morning line 50-1)
WEST SIDE BERNIE (Selection No. 20, Post position No. 1, morning line 30-1)

Trainer Kelly Breen on Atomic Rain
“It’s a good post for him, just outside the speed. It should be OK.”

On West Side Bernie
“It is what it is. I’ll get together with Stew (jockey Stewart Elliott) and we may have to change our tactics.”

CHOCOLATE CANDY (Selection No. 3, Post position No. 11, morning line 20-1)

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer
“It’s good; good. I would rather have had the 10, but 11 is the next best thing. We’re happy.”

DESERT PARTY (Selection No. 17, Post position No. 19, morning line 15-1)
REGAL RANSOM (Selection No. 2, Post position No. 10, morning line 30-1)

Trainer Saeed bin Suroor on Regal Ransom
“That’s a good draw. The horse always shows a good turn of foot. He can take a good position early in the race. It depends how fast they go, but if he sits close behind the lead I’ll be really happy.

On Desert Party
“He’s been more calm and relaxed in his races. If he can take a nice position, I’d be happy with that. I’m happy with the draw.”

FLYING PRIVATE (Selection No. 19, Post position No. 20, morning line 50-1)

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas
“I went outside. There are four or five horses inside of me that aren’t speed horses. I feel like we’ll be able to get a better position. In reality, probably 100 yards out of the gate, we’ll probably be in the 14 or 15 post. I don’t think it’s so bad, but I really didn’t have much of a choice.”

FRIESAN FIRE (Selection No. 11, Post position No. 6, morning line 5-1)

Trainer Larry Jones
“I was surprised the six was still left. I thought there would be more speed horses to draw inside. Right now we are in good shape. We had the five last year with Eight Belles and worked out a great trip. He should be laying anywhere from third to fifth early and suck back behind the speed and hopefully get a clear run when the real running starts.”

GENERAL QUARTERS (Selection No. 8, Post position No. 12, morning line 20-1)

Owner-trainer Tom McCarthy
“I was really worried we wouldn’t get in the middle where we wanted to be, but it all worked out. Post 12 ought to be just fine. I’m hoping we’re sitting 3-4-5 going into the first turn right behind the speed horses.”

HOLD ME BACK (Selection No. 12, Post position No.  5, morning line 15-1)

Trainer Bill Mott
“We would have had to go, I think, to 17 or inside.  Who knows? I didn’t want to be in the one, two or three. Sometimes you take a lot of pressure down in there going into the first turn. You can have a good trip from anywhere and a bad trip from anywhere. It’s a little hard to determine until the gate opens. We’re satisfied with the draw.”

I WANT REVENGE (Selection No. 10, Post position No. 13, morning line 3-1)

Trainer Jeff Mullins
“I kind of left it up to the owners to pick. I’m just going to concentrate on getting him ready and getting him there safe. Ideally we wanted most of the speed inside of us. That’s what we tried to do, but there’s maybe one outside of us. But we’re here to play and hope our horse stays healthy and everyone has a nice trip. I haven’t given (jockey Joe Talamo) any instructions so far, so I don’t think I’ll start now.”

David Lanzman, managing partner of I Want Revenge
“We could see where it was going; we could see the direction it was going. We wanted the 14, but they took it right in front of us. We just wanted to avoid a disaster. We didn’t want one, two, three, four and we didn’t want 17, 18, 19, 20. So, we couldn’t be happier.”

MINE THAT BIRD (Selection No. 7, Post position No. 8, morning line 50-1)

Trainer Chip Woolley
“Everything is super. We were hoping for six through nine, and wound up with eight. Where we’re at, he’ll get a chance to settle without being jostled too much on the far inside going into the first turn.”

MR. HOT STUFF (Selection No. 16, Post position No. 3, morning line 30-1)

Trainer Eoin Harty
“It’s good, sure. We’ll save lots of ground.”

MUSKET MAN (Selection No. 18, Post position No. 2, morning line 20-1)

Trainer Derek Ryan
“Well, he broke his maiden going from the two hole, so it should be OK. And anyway, we can’t change it.”

PAPA CLEM (Selection No. 4, Post position No. 7, morning line 20-1)

Trainer Gary Stute
“It went perfect. Lucky No. 7 is what we were hoping for. I was hoping more of the speed would be inside us, but I think it will work out. Then again, if he blows out (three furlongs) in 34-and-change tomorrow morning, I might have wished we put him even farther inside.” Note: Papa Clem will work 3 furlongs Thursday at 6:15 a.m.

PIONEEROF THE NILE (Selection No. 5, Post position No. 16, morning line 4-1)

Trainer Bob Baffert
“It all depended on the draw. When I got the five-draw, I said I’m going to go to 16. If I had had a higher number, I might have gone inside with him. He hasn’t had that dirt experience, so there will be less dirt on the outside than there will be on the inside.”

SUMMER BIRD (Selection No. 14, Post position No. 17, morning line 50-1)

Trainer Tim Ice
“I’m happy with the post. Once he breaks, he should be able to drop over toward the inside and get good position into the turn.”

Follow Churchill Downs all week for the latest information on your favorites for Kentucky Derby 135!

ADVICE / DUNKIRK / JOIN IN THE DANCE / TAKE THE POINTS – A trio of Todd Pletcher-trained Kentucky Derby “possibles” went through their final serious drills for the Saturday spectacular on Monday morning, putting a “put me in coach” spin on activities Pletcher’s Barn 38.

Pletcher took up a post in the grandstand and oversaw the activities, which began shortly after the renovation break ended at 8:30 a.m. (all times EDT) when Hall of Fame jockey-turned-jockey-agent-and-sometimes-exercise-rider Angel Cordero Jr. guided the Sky Mesa colt Join in the Dance through a five-furlong workout timed in 1:00.20.

Join in the Dance, stakes-placed and No. 21 on the Kentucky Derby “eligible” list based on graded stakes earnings starting out the day, has a good turn of foot and could be a solid forward factor in the full field if he gets to run.

“He’s an enthusiastic work horse, so it was good to see him settle and work well today,” Pletcher said afterward. “He should be ready now.”

Next from the Pletcher barn – just after 9 a.m. – came two other Derby candidates, the Coolmore Lexington Stakes (Grade II) winner Advice and the gray Even the Score colt Take the Points.

Advice went off first with exercise rider Kevin Willey up and covered four furlongs in :47.20, then galloped out an extra furlong in 1:00. He is already solidly “in” the Derby lineup based on graded earnings, should his connections – the WinStar Farm crew of Bill Casner and Kenny Troutt – decide they’d like a third horse in Derby 135. The Kentucky farm already has Hold Me Back and Mr. Hot Stuff scheduled to run in the 10-furlong classic, so the thought of wheeling Advice back in two weeks off his Lexington tally has been debated.

“I got him (Advice) finishing up that work in :23 and 1,” Pletcher said. “It was a good move for him.”

Shortly after Advice took care of business, exercise rider Horacio De la Paz had Take the Points ready to ramble five-eighths and he was joined – once again – by the unstarted potential star (he’s by Storm Cat out of champion Serena’s Song) Schramsberg, with Cordero on board. The pair had worked in company last week and they went at it again with the unraced chestnut youngster starting out a length or two in front as they went by the five-furlong marker.

The gray colt – who sits at No. 22 on the Derby “eligible” list --  took dead aim on his “rival” around the turn and by the time he’d gone by the wire in 1:00.20, he was well clear and drawing out on the less-experienced colt, who was given a final time of 1:01.60.

“I was happy to see the work by Take the Points,” Pletcher said. “He picked up his workmate and went right on by. He looked good doing it.”

The trainer said decisions on who might – and might not – be entered in the Derby on Wednesday morning would be made Tuesday. Possible jockey assignments will be fixed then, too.

“We’ll see how they come out of these works tomorrow morning,” the trainer said. “We’re happy with the overall activity today and it sets us up for lots of possibilities.”

The final Pletcher Derby candidate – and one of the possible favorites for the race – Dunkirk, spent his Monday morning shipping to West Palm Beach Airport for a flight to Louisville. He was expected to join the Pletcher barn Monday afternoon.

CHOCOLATE CANDY – Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer made a beeline from Barn 42 to the clocker’s stand on the Churchill Downs backside Monday morning just before 8:30 a.m. and the end of the track’s renovation break. He got there in time to watch Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith backtrack his colt Chocolate Candy from the six-furlong gap to the eighth pole, then turn and ease on in to a five-furlong workout.

As the work began to unfold on the backstretch near the five-eighths pole, a two-horse collision near the finish line occurred and sent track sirens wailing. It also sent Hollendorfer – and everyone else at the track – into moments of high anxiety. Fortunately for the Chocolate Candy connections the unhappy incident did not disrupt their business and the tall, bay son of Candy Ride clipped off a drill of :59.20, galloping out an extra furlong in 1:12.80. (Clockers caught the early splits in :12, :23.60, :35.60 and :47.)

“We both saw the horses down,” Smith said afterward. “Luckily, it happened over by the outer rail. He (Chocolate Candy) just looked that way for a second, but he turned back and kept on going. We both were able to focus and complete what we had to do.”

A slightly shaken Hollendorfer was happy to have the work and the incident behind him.

“We were lucky we got to finish the work,” he said heading back to the barn. “So many things can happen. It is worrisome.

“I had told Mike ‘Just like Santa Anita’ (a reference to a :59.20 work turned in by the pair at the California track on April 12). He hit it right on. Now I think my horse has a chance to run well here. He can handle this track and now we know he can run well here. Handling the track is key and he’s show us he can.”

Smith had little doubt about that subject.

“Sure, he’ll handle this track,” the rider said. “He’ll handle anything. He’s a nice colt. His work today felt just like the one at Santa Anita. He’s ready to go.”

Chocolate Candy is a winner of four of nine starts and $532,500. He was bred by the late Sid Craig and his wife Jenny and currently races for the family’s Trust.

DESERT PARTY / REGAL RANSOM – Trainer Saeed bin Suroor watched his Kentucky Derby prospects jog a mile shortly after the track opened for training at 6 a.m.

The Godolphin duo turned in the two fastest five-furlong works Saturday morning: Regal Ransom in :59.20 and Desert Party in :59.60. Sunday morning they walked the shedrow at Barn 41.

“They came out of their work in good form. No problem,” bin Suroor said. “They are perfectly, sound, happy, fresh. No problems at all.”

The veteran trainer said the colts would gallop Tuesday morning. Both colts started their racing careers in the United States last year, spent the winter in Dubai and competed in the international race meet at Nad al Sheba race track. Regal Ransom, who had finished second to Desert Party in the first two races at Nad al Sheba, pulled off a bit of an upset in the UAE Derby on March 28, beating his stablemate by a half-length.

“Both of these horses are much better than they were in Dubai,” bin Suroor said. “They each had three runs in Dubai. They handled the travel very well.”

Alan Garcia will ride Regal Ransom and Ramon Dominguez has the assignment on Desert Party in the Derby.

FLYING PRIVATE – Robert Baker and William Mack's Flying Private worked four furlongs in :47.40 after the renovation break Monday. Robby Albarado, who has the mount for Derby 135, was aboard for the move that featured fractions of  :23.80 for the quarter and :35.80 for three-eighths.

“He went well,” Albarado said. “It was just a maintenance work with company. Wayne (trainer D. Wayne Lukas) wanted to get a good finish and that's what we got.”

FRIESAN FIRE – Larry Jones had said he did not expect Friesan Fire to work as fast in his final Derby drill as Hard Spun did two years ago.

He was right. Friesan Fire worked bullet five furlongs in :57.80 with jockey Gabriel Saez up. Hard Spun had worked in :57.60 under Jockey Mario Pino on the Monday of Derby Week.

“A fifth of a second off,” Jones said, adding with a laugh, “that’s good, people would have said I worked him too fast.”

Working immediately after the renovation break over a “fast” track, Friesan Fire reeled off fractions of :11.20, :22.20, :33.60, :45.20 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.

“I was very happy with it,” Jones said. “Gabe said he thought he went in about a minute. If I could have written the perfect script, I would have had him gallop out in 1:12, but he has been watching those tents every day (on the backside) and I wanted to put the blinkers on to keep him more focused.”

Jones, whose horses have run second in the past two editions of the Kentucky Derby, was asked if he felt the Derby gods might smile on him this year.

“I feel blessed to have run in the past two Kentucky Derbys and have horses run well,” Jones said referring to Hard Spun and Eight Belles. “If the gods want to smile on me, I’m gonna grin from ear to ear.”

Jones said Friesan Fire would walk Tuesday, jog Wednesday and then gallop up to Derby 135.

“Wednesday is going to be an easy day,” Jones said. “He may go to the paddock and the gate and walk around and see some folks. We’re fine (after this work); he wasn’t blowing at all when he came back.”

Friesan Fire is owned by Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farm, the same partnership that owns Kodiak Kowboy who worked five furlongs in :59.80 immediately after Friesan Fire as a prep for a run in Saturday’s Grade II Churchill Downs. Saez was aboard Kodiak Kowboy and also worked Just Jenda, owned by Jones’ wife Cindy, a half-mile in :48 in preparation for the Eight Belles on Saturday.

GENERAL QUARTERS – Owner/trainer Tom McCarthy looked on as his Toyota Blue Grass (Grade I) winner turned in a second straight spirited gallop mid-track under exercise rider Julie Sheets. McCarthy said he won’t change plans with his one-horse stable and continue to just gallop General Quarters up to Derby 135.

“He’s a strong galloper, maybe too strong sometimes,” McCarthy said moments after this morning’s 1 1/2-mile exercise.

General Quarters does not have the prettiest conformation or stride, especially in the right-front foot, which is why he sold for just $20,000 as a yearling. But, as McCarthy noted, “It does not affect him when he gallops or runs, there’s no doubt about that. You have to do something corrective when they are a baby, or just live with it. He’s always had it and always will.”

One area where McCarthy won’t have to worry about his horse is familiarity with Churchill Downs. McCarthy said because General Quarters has raced, trained and stabled here in the past, “He knows his way around. There’s no need to school him in between races in the paddock or do too much with him at this point.”

HOLD ME BACK – Typically, horses spend a day away from the track the morning after a timed workout. Not WinStar Farm’s Hold Me Back, who needed more action than a stroll around trainer Bill Mott’s shedrow.

Sunday morning, the Toyota Blue Grass (Grade I) runner-up worked five furlongs in 1:01.60 under Hall of Fame jockey and three-time Kentucky Derby-winner Kent Desormeaux. At 6:55 a.m. Monday, Mott led the colt and assistant trainer Kenny McCarthy to the track, where they galloped a mile.

“He doesn’t like to walk,” Mott said. “He’d rather train. He’s full of energy and gets anxious. He wants to get out and do a little something.”

I WANT REVENGE – One day before he’s scheduled for his final tune-up for the Kentucky Derby, I Want Revenge jogged a mile and galloped a mile under exercise rider Joe Deegan at Churchill Downs on Monday morning.

“I think he’s just peaking now,” trainer Jeff Mullins said. “He looks just as good as he did in New York, maybe a little better. For as much traveling as he’s done for a young horse, he hasn’t missed a beat. I don’t think he’s ever come out of his feed tub one time.”

Mullins will send the Kentucky-bred colt to the track Tuesday morning right after the renovation break, although he said he hadn’t decided whether the workout will be four or five furlongs.

While getting his morning bath following his exercise Monday morning, I Want Revenge looked like the picture of health, except for a few minor abrasions on his left knee.

“He got cast in his stall the night before his first work here,” said Mullins, whose colt has worked the two previous Tuesdays at Churchill Downs. “You can see the scapes on his head and everywhere else.”

I Want Revenge will be ridden by 19-year-old Joe Talamo, who guided him from last to first with a heads-up ride in the eventful Wood Memorial (Grade I) at Aqueduct in his final prep.

“He definitely moved up a couple notches in my book, that’s for sure. I knew he was a good rider, but to tell you the truth, I didn’t realize he was that young,” Mullins said. “I thought he was 20-something years old. To show that kind of confidence and patience, it’s pretty strong for a guy that age.”

Although the son of Stephen Got Even settled nicely in the back of the pack after a very slow start, Mullins isn’t so sure that his Wood Memorial winner necessarily showed a new dimension with his deep-closing effort at Aqueduct.

“That happened by accident. Sometimes you might not be able to make him do that,” he said. “He’s a strong-minded horse. If he breaks without any trouble, I don’t think you’re going to be able to wrangle him back.”

MINE THAT BIRD – Expected to be Canada’s first champion 2-year-old in the Kentucky Derby starting gate since Talkin Man in 1995, Mine That Bird drilled five furlongs in 1:02 flat Monday morning under jockey Calvin Borel. Churchill Downs clockers had the son of Birdstone galloping out an additional furlong in :13.20.

Mine That Bird was ponied to the five-eighths pole easily and broke off slowly for Borel, asked to run through the lane at trainer Chip Woolley’s instructions. Fractions were :13, :25.40, :37.40, :49.80 and 1:02 for the official clocking.

“Things went super,” Woolley said afterward. “I’m really happy with my horse. It’s pretty much exactly what I wanted – he started slower and finished up super-strong. He came back to the barn really playing. That’s as good as you are ever going to see him feeling. He’s not an animated horse.”

Mine That Bird will walk the shedrow Tuesday and “lope” up to the race the rest of the week. Woolley said his colt may school in the starting gate Wednesday, but will not be schooling in the paddock during racing days this week.

Monday’s exercise was delayed approximately 40 minutes because of an on-track accident that temporarily forced the track’s closure. Woolley said Mine That Bird was just about to be bandaged and ready to go out when the closure announcement was made.

“Luckily we weren’t all the way ready at the time,” he said. “It’s unfortunate for the horses and horsemen involved any time something like this happens. We just had to be patient.”

It was a big morning for Borel, who also worked Kentucky Oaks favorite Rachel Alexandra just moments before being hustled to the Woolley barn via golf cart to partner with his Derby 135 mount.

MR. HOT STUFF – WinStar Farm’s Mr. Hot Stuff was airborne from California on Monday, a day after drilling five furlongs in 1:00.40 at Santa Anita.

The stretch-running full brother to Travers Stakes (Grade I) winner Colonel John is trained by Eoin Harty, who shipped successfully to Kentucky on Sunday after overseeing the work.

Harty confirmed that the Eastern-based rider John Velazquez has taken the call on Mr. Hot Stuff for Derby 135.  Velazquez had been scheduled to ride Florida Derby (GI) winner Quality Road in the Kentucky Derby, but became available after that colt’s foot concerns took him out of Derby consideration on Monday morning.

NOTE: The plane carrying Mr. Hot Stuff from California was scheduled to arrive in Louisville at approximately 5 p.m., and the colt is expected to arrive on the grounds around 6 p.m.

MUSKET MAN – Illinois Derby (Grade II) winner Musket Man had another easy day Monday, and trainer Derek Ryan said the colt’s work is done until Saturday.

“He galloped an easy mile and a half today,” Ryan said, “and then he went to the gate to school at 7 a.m. That’s really it for him. He’ll just gallop up to the race now.”

Musket Man, a colt by Yonaguska–Fortesque, by Fortunate Prospect, had his last serious breeze for the Derby on Saturday, going five furlongs in 1:01.60 with jockey Eibar Coa aboard.

He is coming off back-to-back victories in the Tampa Bay Derby (Grade III) and the Illinois Derby and has only lost once in six career starts, a third-place finish in the Sam F. Davis Stakes (Grade III) at Tampa Bay in February.

Ryan bought the colt as a yearling in 2007 at Keeneland because he had trained Musket Man’s half-sister, a filly named Casablanca Babe.

“I gave $20,000 for her as a 2-year-old,” Ryan said. “She ended up getting claimed for $50,000, but she was a remarkable mare. She won on everything – dirt, mud, turf, synthetics – anything.

“So when I saw this colt in the book, I went to the sale to buy him. He’s turned out to be a runner like his sister.”

Casablanca Babe won 12 of her 46 career starts and earned more than $200,000.

PAPA CLEM – One of the potential Derby 135 pace players walked the shedrow Monday morning for the second straight day as scheduled. Papa Clem will return to the track Tuesday morning and will blow out on Thursday with a “quarter-mile breeze, maybe let him go out three-eighths,” trainer Gary Stute said.

“He came out of Saturday’s work perfect; his legs were ice cold,” Stute said. “When I work him alone like that, it takes nothing out of him. He’s really one who needs to see another horse to get serious. He’s never been one to impress you training, so we’ll find out Saturday for sure how he’s handling the track, honestly.”
With the defection of Quality Road Monday morning, the Derby’s pace scenario softened somewhat, which could benefit horses with solid early foot like Papa Clem.

“He can be up there or sit off the pace like we found out in Arkansas,” Stute said. “He pretty much runs his :47-and-change for the half. If it’s slow, that will put him up there. If it’s fast, he’ll be a few lengths off it. I wouldn’t mind a post somewhere in that 6-7-8 range.”

Stute will be making his Kentucky Derby debut, but he carries on a family legacy. His father, Mel, ran Snow Chief in the 1986 Derby. After an 11th-place finish in Louisville, Snow Chief rebounded to win the Preakness. The younger Stute will have family support this week.

“My mom and dad are coming in this week, and dad has Kitty in the Bag running Thursday in the 2-year-old stakes ($100,000 Kentucky Juvenile),” Stute said. “It figures to be an exciting week for all of us.”

PIONEEROF THE NILE – Regular exercise rider Joe Steiner guided Pioneerof  the Nile through a five-furlong work in 1:01 moments after the track reopened at 8:30 a.m. following the renovation break.

Trainer Bob Baffert watched the work from the front side of the track and, as is his custom, was in touch with the rider via radio. Pioneerof the Nile, owned by Zayat Stables, cruised through fractions of  :11.80. :23.80, :36 and :48.60. He was allowed to gallop out a long way and was timed in 1:13.40 for the six furlongs.

“He went really nice,” Baffert said. “There was a lot of wind. He left the half-mile pole, went five-eighths and he galloped out pretty strong all the way around there. He was moving really well and looked comfortable over the track.”

Pioneerof the Nile has won all four of his starts on synthetic surfaces in California since being moved to Baffert’s care late last year. The son of 2004 Kentucky Derby runner-up Empire Maker has trained well on dirt, but the Derby will be his debut on dirt.

“He’s got a long stride as it is, but he really moves better over the dirt, I think,” Baffert said. “His stride is just tremendous.”

Baffert was pleased with the way the colt performed in his final breeze before the Derby.

“He did it pretty effortlessly,” Baffert said. “I think he wanted to go a little faster; I wouldn’t let him. I was really happy with the work. I’m really excited about the work.”

Steiner gave the Santa Anita Derby winner high marks, too.

“It was a comfortable, smooth move,” Steiner said. “He just kind of coasted around there and we let him gallop out on his own. He felt perfect.”

Steiner, who has been a jockey for nearly 25 years, said he likes the way the colt is approaching the race.

“Mentally, he’s focused, he’s confident, he’s calm,” Steiner said. “The way you want a horse to act, he’s shown everything. He’s like a dream to gallop. He’s very kind.  I think the key at this point is being focused and confident. He’s handling all the media and all that stuff around him. It doesn’t faze him. And physically, he’s right on. With the combination of the two, now it’s up to luck.”

Steiner said Pioneerof the Nile feels the same way to him on the dirt track at Churchill Downs and the synthetic surfaces in California. The Derby will be Pioneerof the Nile’s first race on dirt.  “You couldn’t ask a horse to be doing any better than this.” Steiner said.

QUALITY ROAD – Trainer Jimmy Jerkens canceled his Kentucky Derby plans for Quality Road on Monday morning, reporting that the quarter crack in the right front hoof of his Florida Derby winner was still too sensitive to go forward with a scheduled workout at Belmont Park.

“It’s devastating,” said Jerkens, who had planned a six-furlong workout over the Belmont training track. “I don’t know if you can get another horse in the Derby with his credentials.”

The quarter crack had been patched by hoof specialist Ian McKinlay on Sunday morning before Quality Road was sent to the track for a 1¾-mile gallop. However, his Kentucky Derby future became tenuous when a tinge of blood was detected in the hoof upon his return to the barn.

“He’s really sensitive on the quarter. It’s not terribly bad, but it’s not right,”  Jerkens said. “Even if we could work him tomorrow, it’s hard to fathom that he can get sound enough to work and come out of it good.”

Quality Road had previously developed a quarter crack in his right rear leg at Gulfstream Park, but it was successfully patched and has not hindered his training.

Jerkens said that future plans for the son of Elusive Quality, who has won three of four starts, are on hold until he and McKinlay can successfully treat the half-inch crack in wall of the right front foot.

“We’ve got to get it right. I don’t know how long it will take,” he said. “We’ll re-patch it, but we can’t do that until all the soreness is out of it. This crack is a lot different than the other one (in the right rear). It’s a lot more sensitive.”

NYRA notes writer Jenny Kellner contributed to this report.

SQUARE EDDIE – The chestnut charger Square Eddie limited his fancy footwork to a walk around the shedrow at Barn 17 Monday morning following his four-furlong drill in :50.20 on Sunday.

“Quiet day; all’s good,” exercise rider Tony Romero said.

Trainer Doug O’Neill was an early visitor to the barn to check on his charge and he had noted that the horse was scheduled to go back to the track Tuesday for a light jog.

Romero confirmed that the Smart Strike colt would once again ship to Keeneland Monday afternoon to continue his “swimming” routine, using the pool and treadmill at a Lexington facility. The Square Eddie connections have attributed a fair share of their runner’s fitness and recovery from a small fracture suffered in California in February to his additional regular exercise in various pools.

SUMMER BIRD – Summer Bird, a son of 2004 Belmont Stakes (GI) winner Birdstone was out right after the track reopened at 8:30 Monday morning. He galloped a mile and a half around the Churchill Downs strip with jockey Chris Rosier aboard, and then went to school in the paddock. He was in the paddock when an accident occurred near the finish line, and he stayed there for 30 minutes until the track was clear.

“He had already finished his gallop and was in the paddock when the track was closed,” trainer Tim Ice said. “He was out of harm's way, and I told Chris just to stay there until everything was clear.  He’s doing great, and he’ll just gallop up to the race. He’ll school in the gate on Thursday.”

Summer Bird had his final breeze – six furlongs in 1:15.80 – at Churchill Downs on Friday.  The colt was bred by his owners, the husband-wife team of Drs K.K. and V. Devi Jayaraman. They had a Derby starter in 1989, when Irish Actor ran seventh behind Sunday Silence.

“We got to the Derby after being in the business six or seven years, and we thought how easy it was,” Dr. K.K. Jayaraman said with a smile.  “It only took us 20 years to get back here.”

The Jayaramans raced Summer Bird’s dam, the Summer Squall mare Hong Kong Squall. Although she failed to win in nine career starts, Hong Kong Squall has produced five starters and five winners in five years.

“She hasn’t missed a season,” Dr. Jayaraman said. “She has a 2-year-old by Jump Start who hasn’t run yet, a yearling by Johar, and she’s due to foal on May 11 from a cover to Friends Lake.

“When she does foal, she’ll be bred back to Birdstone. She’s been wonderful to us.”

WEST SIDE BERNIE – With trainer Kelly Breen aboard, West Side Bernie galloped a mile and three-eighths around the Churchill Downs oval Monday morning.

“He felt great out there,” Breen said. “The work (a half-mile in :48.20 on Saturday) set him up right for the race.”

This is Breen’s first Derby experience, but his rider Saturday will be Stewart Elliott, who won the Run for the Roses aboard Smarty Jones in 2004.

“Stew and I had dinner the other night,” Breen said, “and we started talking about what post we would want if we had this pick or that pick. I had some ideas, but Stew came up with some interesting stuff.  I think I’ve run the race a thousand times in my head to figure out what the best post will be. The draw will be interesting.”

West Side Bernie ran well to be third in the Holy Bull Stakes (Grade III) at Gulfstream Park in January, but then threw in a clunker when sixth in the Lanes End (Grade II) at Turfway Park in March.

“He just didn’t fire in that race, for whatever reason,” Breen said. “We knew we wanted to run in the Derby, and we wanted another race for him, so we settled on the Wood Memorial.”

In that Grade I event at Aqueduct on April 4, West Side Bernie made a big run around the turn and finished second, a length and a half behind I Want Revenge.

“Now everybody is giving me statistics,” Breen said. “Like the fact that both Monarchos and Funny Cide finished second in the Wood before they won the Derby.

“All I know is that you need the best horse, or the luckiest horse, to win the Derby. I hope that’s us.”

WIN WILLY – Win Willy, a son of Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos, came out on the track after the break Monday morning for his final serious work and was timed in 1:02.40 for five furlongs over the fast main track.

With exercise rider Eli Lopez aboard, Win Willy cruised through splits of :13.20, :25.60 and :37.80, and galloped out six furlongs in 1:15.60.

“He looked good, went along nice and smooth,” trainer Mac Robertson said. “It looked like he finished strong, which is what I wanted to see.”

Robertson said he deliberately used his regular exercise rider, who weighs 140 pounds, rather than jockey Cliff Berry because that particular plan had worked before with Win Willy.

“Coming into the Rebel (Grade II on March 14 at Oaklawn Park), Eli breezed him three times, in what looked like slow times,” Robertson said. “He went three-quarters in 1:15 4/5, then a half in :50, and a half in :51 2/5.  But that set him up perfectly for the race, and he won big (by 2 1/4, going away).  Then, coming into the Arkansas Derby, I had the jockey up in the breezes. It was just different for the horse. With Cliff up, he breezed a half in :48 2/5, and then a bullet half in :48 flat just before the race. And then, of course, he ran fourth in the race.  So I just thought I’d go back to what worked for us earlier in the year, and had Eli breeze him at Oaklawn last week (a half in :51.20) and then again today.  We’ve done all we can do, and now he’s gonna belong in there, or he isn’t.”

Keep tabs on your favorite Kentucky Derby 135 contender through Churchill Downs, as we offer daily updates on the training, workouts, and preparations of all the Derby hopefuls!

ADVICE / DUNKIRK / JOIN IN THE DANCE – At Churchill Downs, assistant trainer Mike McCarthy had two of trainer Todd Pletcher’s candidates for the 135th Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) out for exercise early on a beautiful morning beneath the Twin Spires.

With the first set, shortly after the track opened at 6 a.m., Join in the Dance and exercise rider Kevin Willey took a mile and three-eighths tour of oval, galloping along in the dark with only a few other Thoroughbreds joining them on the mile oval.

At about 6:30, Willey switched tack to Advice and took him roughly the same distance. They had more company on the big strip for their leg-stretching just as daylight began to arrive on the scene.

Pletcher was scheduled to fly from Florida on Sunday and oversee Derby preparations for Join in the Dance and Advice, which will include works for each on Monday. Advice is slated to work a half-mile and Join in the Dance will breeze five furlongs.

Meanwhile, at Palm Meadows training center in Florida, another Pletcher charge – this one being the $3.7 million dollar yearling sales purchase Dunkirk – went back to the track for a light jog following his five-furlong drill in 1:01.05 on Saturday.

“He came out of that work in great shape,” Pletcher said. “His energy level was good this morning and we’re pleased with where he is.”

Dunkirk will ship to Louisville by air Monday.

Pletcher also will work Take the Points five furlongs after the break Monday. The Even the Score colt has $85,000 in graded stakes earnings and would need a couple of defections from the list of Kentucky Derby probables to secure a starting gate slot.

CHOCOLATE CANDY – Chocolate Candy ambled to the racetrack Sunday morning at 7 o’clock under exercise rider Lindsey Molina, stopping along the way to take in the scene, eyes bright and ears pricking.

“He’ll get there, one of these days,” stable overseer Galen May said with a smile, knowing that his big, easy-going son of Candy Ride liked to take his time about going about his business.

Chocolate Candy did, in fact, make it to the track in fairly short order and go for a good gallop of a mile and a half. Molina nodded when he walked off into the six-furlong gap. “He’s doing good,” she said.

May noted that trainer Jerry Hollendorfer would be in from his Northern California headquarters later Sunday and would no doubt be at the barn early Monday morning to call the shots for Chocolate Candy’s final major work heading toward Kentucky Derby 135 on Saturday.

“He’ll probably go out early,” May said. “Jerry likes to get things done as soon as he can.”

May, who for 31 years ran the testing barns at the Northern California tracks before “retiring” in 2003 and signing on as Hollendorfer’s “head traveling lad,” noted that this was his fourth trip to the Derby in that role.

“Eye of the Tiger (fifth in 2003) was my best finish so far,” May said. “But this colt – he’s special. He might be able to do better."

DESERT PARTY / REGAL RANSOM – The Godolphin duo of Regal Ransom and Desert Party walked the shedrow at Barn 41 a day after putting in five-furlong works.

Henry Spiller, an assistant to trainer Saeed bin Suroor, said both colts came out of their works well and would return to the track to jog in the morning with Regal Ransom going out first at 6 o’clock and followed soon after by Desert Party.

The duo posted the fastest works of 30 at the distance on Saturday with Regal Ransom going in :59.20 and Desert Party in :59.60. Exercise rider Bob Chapman handled both works.

Both colts broke their maidens in their first attempts with Regal Ransom debuting at Saratoga and Desert Party at Arlington Park. Alan Garcia, who rode Regal Ransom in his first two starts and partnered him again to victory in the UAE Derby (Grade II), has the Derby riding assignment on that colt. Ramon Dominguez will get a leg up for the first time on Desert Party in Derby 135.

FLAT OUT – Oxbow Racing’s Flat Out has been injured and is off the Kentucky Derby trail.

Trainer Charles “Scooter” Dickey said a precautionary exam performed at Lexington’s Hagyard-Davidson-McGee Equine Clinic on Saturday revealed a stress fracture in the colt’s shoulder.  Flat Out, winner of the Smarty Jones Stakes this January at Oaklawn Park, will be sidelined “about four months,” Dickey said.

Flat Out stood 22nd on the graded earnings list and would’ve needed a couple of defections to make the field for Derby 135.

FLYING PRIVATE – Robert Baker and William Mack’s Flying Private galloped under exercise rider Taylor Carty.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who has enlisted the services of Robby Albarado for Kentucky Derby 135, said Flying Private will work “Monday or Tuesday.”

FRIESAN FIRE – Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farm’s Friesan Fire galloped a mile and a half under trainer Larry Jones after the renovation break.

Jones plans to work Friesan Fire five furlongs on Monday after the renovation break with jockey Gabriel Saez up.

“We just want him to go out and come back good,” Jones said when asked what he was looking for on Monday. “I’d just like to see him get over the track without a lot of effort.”

Friesan Fire will work in blinkers in the morning.

“He’s looking around now and the last two days he has not been focused,” Jones said. “Hopefully the blinkers will help.”

Friesan Fire’s final works before his three races at Fair Grounds this year ran the gamut, but the end result was always the same: a stakes victory.

“His work before the LeComte (:48.60 for a half, second-best of 69) was the first time Gabe got on him,” Jones said. “Before the Risen Star (1:04.40 for five furlongs), people thought it was too slow and before the Louisiana derby (:58.20 for five furlongs), people thought it was too fast.”

Jones is following a similar pattern with Friesan Fire as he did two years ago with Hard Spun, who would finish second to Street Sense in Derby 133. Hard Spun worked a mile at Keeneland in 1:42.40 on April 23 before shipping to Churchill Downs and then worked five furlongs in :57.60  on April 30. Friesan Fire worked a mile in 1:39.60 at Keeneland on April 19.

“I think he’ll work well, but not like Hard Spun did,” Jones said. “They are different types of horses. I just don’t want him going in 1:04 after seven weeks off.”

Immediately after the Friesan Fire work tomorrow, Jones and Saez will return to the track to work Kodiak Kowboy for Vinery and Fox Hill. Winner of the Grade I Carter in his most recent start on April 4, Kodiak is being pointed to Saturday’s $250,000 Churchill Downs (Grade II) at seven furlongs.
     
GENERAL QUARTERS – Former Louisville high school principal Tom McCarthy, owner/trainer of this year’s Toyota Blue Grass (Grade I) winner, did not hand out any demerits or discipline Sunday, but rather waited patiently for exercise rider Julie Sheets to arrive at Barn 37. General Quarters, however, was not as patient, pulling McCarthy’s son, Tom, around the barn with high energy and eventually going back into his stall before teaming with Sheets and heading to the track.

General Quarters showed much more spark than in recent days, but relaxed nicely as he was hand led to the track by the elder McCarthy. Once into his 1 ½-mile gallop, it was clear that the son of Sky Mesa was feeling fresh. Said McCarthy as his colt cruised by, “He’s full of himself today. Easy Julie!”

“We only gave him a lackadaisical five-eighths work to keep some fire in the tank,” McCarthy said trackside, referring to last week’s workout, which was intended to be the horse’s last before the Derby. “Apparently, there’s plenty of gas still in there.”

If General Quarters remains this fresh, McCarthy said that he could give the colt a blowout later this week “if we need to take the edge off.”

Julien Leparoux will have the mount in the Derby. His first time getting a leg up on General Quarters will be when they call for “riders up.”

“That’s nothing new,” McCarthy said. “Julien rides a lot of horses that way. We’ll go over a few things right before the race.”

HOLD ME BACK – WinStar Farm’s Hold Me Back closed out his serious training for Kentucky Derby 135 by working five furlongs in company in 1:01.60 under three-time Kentucky Derby-winning rider Kent Desormeaux.

Working before 7 a.m., Hold Me Back reeled off fractions of :13,:25.20, :37.20 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.80 while working in company with Flying Warrior. The move was the 13th-fastest of 24 at the distance over a track rated as “fast.”

Hold Me Back broke off about a length and half behind Flying Warrior at the five-eighths pole, caught up to his workmate at the head of the stretch and moved by before the eighth pole.

“I thought the work was very good,” trainer Bill Mott said. “He was under a hold the whole way and finished well on his own. He appeared to handle the track very well and that is a good sign. Kent said he still wanted to gallop out after a mile.”

Hold Me Back’s lone race on a dirt track resulted in a fifth-place finish in the Grade II Remsen at Aqueduct to close out his 2-year-old campaign.

“He had trained well there, but he just didn’t show up that day,” Mott said. “He was immature at the time and I am willing to give him the benefit of doubt. He trained well on dirt before and has since.”

I WANT REVENGE – Wood Memorial (Grade I) winner I Want Revenge stayed on edge with a two-mile open gallop around the fast main track Sunday morning. Regular exercise rider Joe Deegan was aboard. I Want Revenge was scheduled to school in the paddock before the first race Sunday.

“He went really well this morning,” said trainer Jeff Mullins, who arrived on the Derby scene Saturday night from California. “We plan to breeze him on Tuesday, either a half or five-eighths, I haven’t decided yet.”

The colt by Stephen Got Even, who will be one of the favorites on Saturday, has breezed the last two Tuesdays at Churchill Downs, getting a half-mile in :50 flat on April 14, and five furlongs in 1:01.60 on April 21.

I Want Revenge, owned by the partnership of David Lanzman, IEAH Stables, Charles Winner and Puglisi Racing, has won his past two starts, the Grade III Gotham and Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. Joe Talamo, who has been aboard in all the colt’s victories, has the mount Saturday.

MINE THAT BIRD – With his final major Kentucky Derby 135 workout looming Monday morning, Mine That Bird turned in an easy 1 ¾ miles Sunday, jogging a quarter-mile and “loping about a mile and a half,” trainer Chip Woolley said. Mine That Bird, last year’s Sovereign Award winner as Canada’s top juvenile colt, is scheduled to work at 8:50 a.m., but that time could be pushed back a few minutes given the busy schedule of jockey Calvin Borel.

“He’s working the big mare (Oaks favorite Rachel Alexandra) at 8:30 and then my horse at 8:50,” Woolley said. “We’ll work five-eighths and I want to see him finish. I’d like to see something in about a minute-and-one (fifth); something that won’t kill him, but show he’s sharp. The main part of the work I want to see is how he does down the lane.”

Woolley is among a sizable list of Kentucky Derby rookie trainers this year, but they follow great company in recent history. Five of the past six Derbies have been won by trainers making their debut in the race (Barclay Tagg, John Servis, John Shirreffs, Michael Matz and Rick Dutrow).

MR. HOT STUFF – WinStar Farm’s Mr. Hot Stuff worked five furlongs in 1:00.40 over the synthetic Pro-Ride surface at Santa Anita on Sunday morning and will board an airplane for Churchill Downs on Monday with Kentucky Derby plans on his agenda.

Trainer Eoin Harty oversaw his charge’s drill in California and termed it “a nice, easy move.”

“We didn’t ask him to do too much today,” the transplanted Irishman said. “He just went about it in good fashion and finished up well. He’ll fly tomorrow.”

The brother to Colonel John, the sixth-place finisher in the 2008 Kentucky Derby, will be stabled in Barn 41.
Harty, who was flying to Louisville himself Sunday, said rider plans still have not been finalized for Mr. Hot Stuff.

“We’re still working on it,” he said. “We’ll have one by Wednesday morning.”

Entries for Kentucky Derby 135 will close at 10 a.m. on Wednesday with the order of post position selection starting at 12:04 p.m. and the actual post position selections beginning at 12:15 p.m.

MUSKET MAN – The day after working five furlongs in 1:01.60, Musket Man had an easy morning Sunday, walking under the Barn 41 shedrow.

Trainer Derek Ryan said he will bring Musket Man up to the Derby with daily gallops, and has scheduled a session at the gate for Wednesday.

This is the first Derby for Ryan, who trains primarily at Monmouth Park in New Jersey during the summer and Tampa Bay Downs in the winter. Musket Man came into prominence by winning the Pasco Stakes and Tampa Bay Derby (Grade III) this winter, and then added to his resume by taking the Illinois Derby (Grade II) at Hawthorne in his most recent start on April 4. The colt has won five of six career starts.

This will be the third Derby mount for jockey Eibar Coa, who finished fifth on Eye Of The Tiger in 2004, and fourth on Tale of Ekati last year.

Eric Fein, who owns the horse in partnership with Vic Carlson, has a starter in the Derby for the second straight year. He made the big show last year with Big Truck, who finished 18th.

PAPA CLEM – No news was good news around the barn of the Arkansas Derby (Grade II) winner, one day after he worked seven furlongs in 1:29.20. The Gary Stute trainee was given an easy morning walking the shedrow and is scheduled to walk for a second straight day Monday before returning to the track Tuesday.

Rafael Bejarano will ride Papa Clem on Saturday in search of his first Derby score. A leading jockey in California and Kentucky, Bejarano’s best Triple Crown race finish was his second-place run aboard Andromeda’s Hero in the 2005 Belmont Stakes.

PIONEEROF THE NILE – Santa Anita Derby (Grade I) winner Pioneerof the Nile was out early on the racetrack Sunday for a mile and a half gallop under exercise rider George Alvarez.

“He went good,” Alvarez said enthusiastically afterward. “He’s doing really well. He couldn’t be doing any better. I gallop him in California, too, and this is the best he’s felt."

Pioneerof the Nile, an Empire Maker colt, will partner with two-time Eclipse Award winner Garrett Gomez in Derby 135 and is scheduled for his final major breeze Monday morning.

QUALITY ROAD – “Tinges” of blood appeared twice on the pesky right-front quarter crack of potential Kentucky Derby favorite Quality Road on Sunday morning as trainer Jimmy Jerkens, hoof specialist Ian McKinlay and owner Edward Evans continue to race against the clock. All in all, it was an eventful Belmont Park morning for the Florida Derby (Grade I) winner, who galloped 1 ¾ miles after McKinlay outfitted him with an acrylic patch and drain.

After galloping sound and going over the ground well under exercise rider Juan Moreno, Quality Road returned to the Jerkens barn with a “tinge” of blood seeping from the newly patched quarter crack.

“Everything had been stabilized,” McKinlay said. “When I changed the wires today, the crack opened up a bit during the process. A bit of sensitive tissue was aggravated. Hopefully tomorrow when he breezes there won’t be a tinge of blood.”

The Quality Road camp will press on toward Monday’s scheduled workout over the Belmont training track. If the son of Elusive Quality is to travel to Churchill Downs on Tuesday and be entered in the Run for the Roses on Wednesday, he’ll have to pass Monday’s 9:20 a.m. test with flying colors. The six-furlong breeze will determine his Derby fate.

“He has to work to our liking and come out of it perfect,” Jerkens said. “If he takes one bad step anywhere, forget it. I would have liked to have seen no blood (this morning), but it didn’t surprise me because he was still tender.”

“It’s not a soundness issue,” McKinlay said, adding, “He is well on the mend. This is live tissue; we’re not changing a flat tire. There are a lot of judgment calls.”

Quality Road’s original right-hind quarter-crack patch has held perfectly and has not been problematic. Still, the latest set-back looms over his Derby 135 .

“I’m optimistic it’s going to work out,” Evans said.
-- NYRA notes writer Jenny Kellner contributed to this report.
 
SQUARE EDDIE – Following a mile and one-half gallop around the big Churchill Downs oval, Square Eddie put it in drive for exercise rider Tony Romero and drilled four furlongs in :50.20 Sunday morning.  The son of Smart Strike broke off  at the three-eighths pole and finishing up at the seven-eighths, with a solid gallop-out around the clubhouse turn.

The move was accomplished shortly after the morning renovation break at approximately 8:30 with trainer Doug O’Neill, along with his brother Dennis, in the grandstand overseeing the exercise. The O’Neills arrived Saturday evening and are signed on to stay through Derby 135 on Saturday.

Clockers timed the move with the following early splits -- :12.80, :25, :37.60 – then a gallop-out time 1:03.20.

“I thought it was an awesome work,” Doug O’Neill said afterward. “We’re very pleased with it. We know we’re asking a lot of this horse, but we think he’s up to it. Obviously, when you want a horse to come back in two weeks (off his third-place finish in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on April 18) following a three-month break in his racing schedule (his prior start was the San Rafael at Santa Anita on Jan. 17) to run in a race as tough as the Kentucky Derby, you’re asking a lot. The only way you could do that is to think you’ve got a ‘super’ horse. And in our minds that’s what he is – a ‘super’ horse.”

The trainer indicated that Square Eddie would get a day off tomorrow and merely walk the shedrow, followed by a jog day Tuesday, gallop days Wednesday and Thursday, then jogs on Friday and Saturday as his final preparations for the Run for the Roses.

Corey Nakatani will get a leg up on Square Eddie in Derby 135 next Saturday, the first time he’s handled the Canadian-bred, who’ll be making the ninth start of his career and first on a pure-dirt surface.

SUMMER BIRD – Summer Bird, a son of 2004 Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone, jogged two miles around the Churchill strip Sunday morning with jockey Chris Rosier aboard.

Trainer Tim Ice was on hand to supervise the exercise after traveling to Lone Star Park Saturday to saddle runners in two stakes. Affirmed Truth ran third in the Richland Stakes, while Catmantoo finished out of the money in the Texas Mile, both with Rozier aboard.

This is the first Derby experience for Ice, a 34-year-old Ohio native who went out on his own just this year after serving as assistant to Morris Nicks, Cole Norman and Keith Desormeaux.

“To make it here to the Derby in my first year as a trainer is extraordinary,” Ice said Sunday while watching Summer Bird graze behind the barn. “Just extraordinary. I’m thrilled to be here.”

Summer Bird, a good-looking chestnut, has had just three lifetime starts, his only win in maiden company at Oaklawn Park on March 19. He went right from that race into the Grade II Arkansas Derby, where he finished a fast-closing third behind Papa Clem and Old Fashioned.

Summer Bird’s final breeze, six furlongs in 1:15 4/5 on Friday, was dismissed by some observers as too slow, but the trainer was satisfied.

“He got what he needed out of the work,” Ice said. “He’s looking and acting really well. I look for him to run good Saturday. He won’t disappoint me no matter what he does.”

The colt was bred by his owners, the husband-wife team of Drs. K.K. and V. Devi Jayaraman. They had a Derby starter in 1989, when Irish Actor ran seventh behind Sunday Silence.

WEST SIDE BERNIE – West Side Bernie who had his final Derby breeze on Saturday, just walked under the shedrow Sunday morning.

“He cooled out well, and he’s got the right demeanor today,” said trainer Kelly Breen, who is experiencing his first Derby. “He ate good, and he’s acting good. That’s all I can ask.”

The son of Bernstein, a $50,000 yearling purchase by Breen on behalf of George and Lori Hall, breezed a half-mile in :48.20 Saturday with jockey Stewart Elliott aboard. In his most recent start, West Side Bernie ran second to I Want Revenge in the Grade I Wood Memorial.

WIN WILLY – Win Willy, a red-roan son of Kentucky Derby winner Monarchos, had a busy Sunday morning, schooling at the gate and then galloping a mile and a half around the Churchill Downs oval.

Trainer Mac Robertson, who will be participating in his first Derby, is still at Canterbury Downs, bedding down a large string of horses that will race there this summer. His wife, Cyndi, a veterinarian, was on hand Sunday to supervise preparations with the aid of groom Luis Moldonado and exercise rider Elias Lopez.

“Mac will work him either Monday or Tuesday,” Cyndi said. “Whatever day he gets here, the horse will have his final breeze.”

Win Willy took the Grade II Rebel at Oaklawn Park, with Old Fashioned more than two lengths behind, but then finished fourth behind that rival in the Arkansas Derby. He has not worked yet at Churchill Downs since shipping in from Arkansas.

The colt is owned by Jerome and Marlene Myers, who campaign as the Jer-Mar Stable, and was a $25,000 yearling purchase at Keeneland.

The 35-year-old Robertson got his start on the racetrack working for his father, trainer Hugh Robertson, who campaigns at the Chicago-area tracks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Follow your Kentucky Derby 135 favorites on www.churchilldowns.com, and get the rundown on how the contenders are training up to the first Saturday in May!

ADVICE / DUNKIRK / JOIN IN THE DANCE – Two of the three Todd Pletcher Kentucky Derby hopefuls galloped Friday morning at Churchill Downs.

Tampa Bay Derby (Grade III) runner-up Join in the Dance galloped a mile and a half under exercise rider Kevin Willey. With $90,000 in graded earnings, Join in the Dance would need one defection for the list of possible Kentucky Derby starters to gain a spot in the starting gate.

Willey was out in the next set on WinStar Farm’s Advice, galloping a mile and a half. Advice won the Coolmore Lexington Stakes (Grade II) last Saturday.

Dunkirk, owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, is stabled at Palm Meadows in Florida and scheduled to arrive at Churchill Downs on Tuesday, the same day as Pletcher. Edgar Prado has the mount on Dunkirk.

CHOCOLATE CANDY – El Camino Real Derby (Grade III) winner Chocolate Candy visited the paddock and galloped a mile and half under exercise rider Lindsey Molina shortly after the track opened for training at 6 a.m.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer is scheduled back in Louisville on Saturday to saddle Rendezvous in the Derby Trial (Grade III). Chocolate Candy, owned by the Sid and Jenny Craig Trust, is scheduled to work Monday or Tuesday.  Mike Smith has the Derby riding assignment.

DESERT PARTY / REGAL RANSOM – The Godolphin duo of Desert Party and Regal Ransom galloped a mile and a quarter each before the renovation break with exercise rider Bob Chapman handling both activities.

Trainer Saeed bin Suroor said both colts would work Saturday morning with Regal Ransom going out at 6 a.m. and Desert Party after the break at 8:30. Chapman will handle both five-furlong works.

Ramon Dominguez will ride Desert Party in Kentucky Derby 135 and Regal Ransom will be piloted by Alan Garcia.

FLAT OUT – Oxbow Racing’s Flat Out had an easy day and just walked the shedrow in Barn 48.  Trainer Charles “Scooter” Dickey still has not named a jockey and has not yet decided when Flat Out will work next.

Flat Out is 22nd on the graded earnings list and needs a couple of defections to make the field for Derby 135.

FLYING PRIVATE – Robert Baker and William Mack’s Flying Private galloped an unspecified distance according to trainer D. Wayne Lukas.  Lukas says how far he went “doesn’t matter.”  Exercise rider Taylor Carty was aboard.

Flying Private is scheduled to work unday or Monday according to Lukas. Robby Albarado has the Derby riding assignment.

FRIESAN FIRE – Louisiana Derby (Grade II) winner Friesan Fire arrived at Churchill Downs shortly after 3 p.m. (EDT) following a van ride from Lexington’s Keeneland Race Course.

Trained by Larry Jones for Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farm, Friesan Fire is scheduled to be ridden in the Kentucky Derby 135 by Gabriel Saez.  Friesan Fire will be stabled in Barn 45.

GENERAL QUARTERS – Owner-trainer Tom McCarthy reported all was well with General Quarters on Friday morning, a day after the colt worked five furlongs in 1:01.80 under exercise rider Julie Sheets.

Julien Leparoux, who has ridden in the past two Kentucky Derbies, has the call on General Quarters.

HOLD ME BACK – WinStar Farm’s Hold Me Back galloped a mile and a half under assistant trainer Kenny McCarthy before the renovation break Friday morning.

“And Twinkie had a good gallop, too, if anyone is asking,” trainer Bill Mott said with a chuckle, referring to his pony.

Mott is looking at Sunday or Monday as the final work for Hold Me Back, who will attempt to make Kent Desormeaux the first jockey in 26 years to ride back-to-back Kentucky Derby winners. Eddie Delahoussaye last turned the trick in 1982-83 with Gato Del Sol and Sunny’s Halo.

I WANT REVENGE – Wood Memorial (Grade I) winner I Want Revenge started the day with a paddock schooling session and then galloped a mile and a half under Joe Deegan.

Owned by IEAH Stables, David Lanzman and Puglisi Racing, I Want Revenge is scheduled to have his third work at Churchill Downs on Tuesday with jockey Joe Talamo slated to be aboard as he has been for the first two.

Trainer Jeff Mullins is scheduled to return to Louisville from his Southern California base on Saturday.

MINE THAT BIRD – Double Eagle Ranch and Bueno Suerte Equine’s Mine That Bird jogged a half-mile and then galloped a mile and half before the renovation break under exercise rider Charlie Figueroa.

“He looked sharp this morning,” trainer Chip Woolley said. “He will work Monday morning, a little after the break, around 8:50.”

Calvin Borel will have a get-acquainted session that morning on Mine That Bird, who comes into the Kentucky Derby off a fourth-place finish in the March 29 Sunland Derby.

MUSKET MAN – Eric Fein and Vic Carlson’s Musket Man galloped a mile and five-eighths under Salvador Dominguez early Friday morning and was scheduled for his final pre-Derby work on Saturday.

“When (Eibar) Coa gets here in the morning, we’ll work,” trainer Derek Ryan said.

Coa was aboard for Musket Man’s victory in the Grade II Illinois Derby on April 4 in his most recent start.

PAPA CLEM – Bo Hirsch’s Papa Clem galloped a mile and a half before the renovation break under exercise rider Mundo Gonzalez. Gonzalez is scheduled to be aboard for Papa Clem’s work Saturday morning.

“Mundo gallops for me in California and I was thinking that if we do good here and go on to Pimlico, I’d like to have my regular guy who gets on him,” trainer Gary Stute said.

Stute got an extra starter to watch over on Thursday when Kitty in the Bag arrived from Southern California to run in next Thursday’s Kentucky Juvenile (Grade III), the first graded stakes race of the year for 2-year-olds. Stute’s father, veteran California trainer Mel Stute, trains Kitty in the Bag, who won her debut by 3-1/4 lengths going two furlongs at Santa Anita on April 1.

“Dad’s coming in Sunday,” Stute said.

Mel Stute has trained two Kentucky Derby starters: Bold ‘n Rulling, who ran sixth in 1980 and Snow Chief, who ran in 11th in 1986 and came back two weeks later to win the Preakness (Grade I).  Rafael Bejarano has the riding assignment on Papa Clem.

PIONEEROF THE NILE – Zayat Stables’ Pioneerof the Nile galloped a mile and a half after the renovation break with exercise rider George Alvarez up.

Trainer Bob Baffert has Monday penciled in as the next work day for Pioneerof the Nile, who will be ridden in the Derby by Garrett Gomez.

SQUARE EDDIE – J. Paul Reddam’s Square Eddie was on the track before 7 a.m. Friday for a mile and a half gallop under exercise rider Tony Romero.

Leandro Mora, assistant to trainer Doug O’Neill, was asked how the gallop looked to him.

“Pretty damn good,” Mora said with a smile.

Corey Nakatani is scheduled to ride Square Eddie, who is slated to have his final pre-Derby work Sunday with O’Neill expected to be on hand.

“We are working all three that morning,” Mora said, alluding to Claimboxdotcom, O’Neill and Sarno’s Informed, a candidate for next Friday’s Grade III Alysheba, and Reddam and Mark Schlesinger’s Modification, who is nominated to next Friday’s Grade II Louisville Distaff and the Grade I Humana Distaff scheduled for Derby Day.

SUMMER BIRD – K.K. and Vilasini Jayaraman’s Summer Bird, working after the renovation break with jockey Chris Rosier up, worked six furlongs in 1:15.80 from the five-eighths pole to the seven-eighths.

Summer Bird stood quietly in the six-furlong gap waiting for the track to reopen. The chestnut son of Birdstone then went about his business with Churchill Downs clockers recording fractions of :12.80, :25.20, :37.20, :49.40, 1:02.60 and out seven furlongs in 1:29.60 over a track rated as “fast”.

“I am happy as I can be with it,” Rosier said. “He was relaxed and calm all the way through.”

Trainer Tim Ice, who will heading to Lone Star Park on Saturday with Rosier and coming back Sunday, liked the work.

“I got him in 1:15 and 3, but he doesn’t work much by himself,” Ice said. “He needs something in front of him.

“He is a deep closer and he picked it up nice and galloped out strong. He gets better the longer he goes.”

Ice said Summer Bird would walk Saturday, jog Sunday morning and gallop into the race “with a two-minute clip down the lane on Wednesday, which is the same thing he did before the Arkansas Derby.” Summer Bird ran third in the Arkansas Derby, coming from 15 lengths back to finish 1 ¼ lengths behind Papa Clem in only his third start.

“We expected good things out of him, but didn’t expect as much of a jump right off the bat,” said Ice, who has saddled horses at Churchill Downs before as an assistant. “It’s a whole new experience having one for yourself for the Derby. There is no other race like it.”

WEST SIDE BERNIE – George and Lori Hall’s West Side Bernie galloped a mile and five-eighths before the renovation break with trainer Kelly Breen up.

Breen plans to work West Side Bernie after the break Saturday morning and hoes to have jockey Stewart Elliott aboard for the work.

WIN WILLY – Jer-Mar Stable’s Win Willy walked the shedrow at Barn 45, a day after arriving from Oaklawn Park where he finished fourth in the Grade II Arkansas Derby in his most recent start.

Cliff Berry is scheduled to ride Win Willy in the Derby for trainer Mac Robertson.

Follow the progress of your favorite Kentucky Derby contender through the Churchill Downs Notes Team, bringing you daily updates on the horses preparing for the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 2.

ADVICE / DUNKIRK / JOIN IN THE DANCE - WinStar Farm's Advice, winner of the Coolmore Lexington Stakes (Grade II) last Saturday, had his first trip over the Churchill Downs track Thursday morning, galloping under exercise rider Kevin Willey.

Advice had arrived at Churchill Downs from Keeneland on Wednesday, along with Join in the Dance, owned by Jake Ballis, Rashard Lewis, et al. Join in the Dance, fifth in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I), galloped with Willey up.

Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith's Dunkirk is scheduled to arrive at Churchill Downs on April 28 along with trainer Todd Pletcher. Edgar Prado has the mount on Dunkirk.

CHOCOLATE CANDY - Triple stakes winner Chocolate Candy took one loop around the paddock and then jogged a mile on Thursday morning at Churchill Downs with exercise rider Lindsey Molina up.

Owned by the Sid and Jenny Craig Trust, Chocolate Candy enters Kentucky Derby 135 off a runner-up finish to Pioneerof the Nile in the Grade I Santa Anita Derby. Prior to that, the Jerry Hollendorfer trainee had won the El Camino Real Derby (Grade III) and the California Derby.

Hollendorfer is scheduled to return to Louisville on Saturday with the colt's final pre-Derby work slated for Monday or Tuesday. Mike Smith has the riding assignment.

DESERT PARTY / REGAL RANSOM - Trainer Saeed bin Suroor announced Thursday morning that Alan Garcia would ride Regal Ransom in Kentucky Derby 135 and Ramon Dominguez would have the mount on Desert Party for Godolphin.

"Alan is staying on the horse he rode in Dubai," bin Suroor said of the rider who won the UAE Derby (Grade II) by a half-length over Desert Party. "We have two very good riders."

Bin Suroor had not seen his two Derby hopefuls since they left Dubai for Churchill Downs, arriving here on April 9.

"I was surprised at how well they looked," bin Suroor said. "Sometimes horses don't travel well, but they look happy and in good condition. They look better to me than they did in Dubai."

Exercise rider Bob Chapman handled morning duties on both colts. First out was Desert Party, who galloped a mile and a quarter, and then Regal Ransom visited the starting gate and then galloped a mile and a quarter.

"Both of them will work Saturday and Bob will handle both works," bin Suroor said.

Godolphin is returning to the Derby for the first time since Essence of Dubai ran ninth in 2002. Previous Godolphin starters were Worldly Manner (seventh in 1999), China Visit and Curule (sixth and seventh, respectively in 2000) and Express Tour (eighth in 2001).

"We are hoping for good fortune this time," bin Suroor said. "I feel like we have better horses this time than we have had in the past. This is a tough race to win."

FLAT OUT - Oxbow Racing's Flat Out was "feeling good" Thursday morning according to trainer Charles "Scooter" Dickey.  He galloped 1 ¾ miles with exercise rider and assistant trainer Walter Aguilar in the irons.

Dickey says he hopes to name a rider for Flat Out within the "next few days".  He wants that rider to be aboard for Flat Out's final work which will be Sunday, Monday or Tuesday.

Flat Out is 22nd on the graded earnings list and will need a couple of defections in order to make the field for Derby 135.

FLYING PRIVATE - Robert Baker and William Mack's Flying Private jogged two miles with exercise rider Taylor Carty aboard.  Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said Flying Private will put in his final work on Monday or Tuesday.  Robby Albarado has the mount for Derby 135.

FRIESAN FIRE - Vinery Stables and Fox Hill Farm's Friesan Fire is scheduled to arrive at Churchill Downs from Keeneland on Friday afternoon.  Trained by Larry Jones and scheduled to be ridden in the Kentucky Derby by Gabriel Saez, Friesan Fire will be housed in Barn 45.

GENERAL QUARTERS - Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) winner General Quarters turned in his final work for Kentucky Derby 135 by covering five furlongs in 1:01.80 under exercise rider Julie Sheets.

Working at 7 o'clock, General Quarters recorded fractions of :12.60, :24.20, :36.60, :48.80 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:16.20 according to Churchill Downs clockers. The move was the 13th fastest of 30 at the distance.

"I was looking for between 1:01 and 1:02, so this was perfect," owner-trainer Tom McCarthy said. "I wanted a nice, steady work, and that is what I got. I did not want anything like his work before the Blue Grass (:58.20 on April 4). I am happy with the work."

Sheets, who has been General Quarters' regular morning partner since the colt arrived here last month, said, "He went nice and easy, very comfortable."

McCarthy said General Quarters would walk on Friday.

HOLD ME BACK - WinStar Farm's Hold Me Back "made two rounds" of the track with assistant trainer Kenny McCarthy up according to trainer Bill Mott.

Winner of the Lane's End (Grade II) and runner-up to General Quarters in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (Grade I) in his most recent start, Hold Me Back had arrived at Churchill Downs on Wednesday from Keeneland.

Mott said that Hold Me Back would work Sunday or Monday. Two-time Kentucky Derby-winning rider Kent Desormeaux has the mount.

I WANT REVENGE - Wood Memorial (Grade I) winner I Want Revenge galloped a mile and a half under Joe Deegan shortly after the racetrack opened for training.

Bobby Troeger, assistant to trainer Jeff Mullins, said I Want Revenge would visit the paddock on Friday as part of his morning activity.

Joe Talamo has the mount on I Want Revenge, who is owned by IEAH Stables, David Lanzman and Puglisi Racing. I Want Revenge is scheduled for his final pre-Derby work on Tuesday.

MINE THAT BIRD - Double Eagle Ranch and Bueno Suerte Equine's Mine That Bird jogged a half-mile and then galloped a mile and a half under exercise rider Charlie Figueroa before the renovation break.

"He looked sharp this morning, came back bucking and play and he doesn't do that at home," trainer Chip Woolley said.

Calvin Borel has the Derby riding assignment and is scheduled to work Mine That Bird on Monday.

MR. HOT STUFF - WinStar Farm's Mr. Hot Stuff, third in the Santa Anita Derby, is scheduled to arrive at Churchill Downs on Monday following a flight from southern California.  The son of Tiznow will work for trainer Eoin Harty on Sunday over the synthetic Pro-Ride surface at Santa Anita.

Mr. Hot Stuff does not have a confirmed rider at this point, but Harty said there's no rush to make that assignment.

"We'll just wait and see what happens," he said.  "Unfortunately, or fortunately, something could happen to one of the other horses and a rider will come available.  There are plenty of riders out there, so we'll deal with that one when we come to it."

MUSKET MAN - Illinois Derby (Grade II) winner Musket Man galloped 2 ¼ miles under exercise rider Salvador Dominguez early Thursday morning.

"He two-minute licked the second time around," trainer Derek Ryan said of Musket Man, who is owned by Eric Fein and Vic Carlson. Eibar Coa, who was aboard for the Illinois Derby victory, has the Kentucky Derby riding assignment.

Musket Man is scheduled to have his final pre-Derby work on Saturday.

PAPA CLEM - Bo Hirsch's Papa Clem galloped a mile and a half before the renovation break with exercise rider Nate Quinonez up.

"He'll gallop a mile and a half in the morning and then work Saturday," trainer Gary Stute said.

Rafael Bejarano has the Kentucky Derby riding assignment.

PIONEEROF THE NILE - Zayat Stables' Pioneerof the Nile stood in the starting gate and jogged once around with exercise rider George Alvarez up.

Trained by three-time Kentucky Derby winner Bob Baffert, Pioneerof the Nile will be ridden by Garrett Gomez next Saturday. Winner of four consecutive starts, Pioneerof the Nile is scheduled for his final pre-Derby work on Monday or Tuesday.

SQUARE EDDIE - J. Paul Reddam's Square Eddie visited the paddock and then galloped a mile and a half under exercise rider Tony Romero.

Leandro Mora, assistant to trainer Doug O'Neill, said more paddock schooling would be on tap for Square Eddie, whose final pre-Derby work is slated for Saturday or Sunday.

Corey Nakatani has the riding assignment on Square Eddie for Kentucky Derby 135.

SUMMER BIRD - Kalarikkal and Vilasini Jayaraman's Summer Bird galloped a mile and a half under jockey Chris Rosier after the renovation break.

Third in the Grade II Arkansas Derby in only his third start, Summer Bird is scheduled to work six furlongs after the break Friday morning with Rosier up for trainer Tim Ice.

This will be the second Kentucky Derby starter for Kalarikkal Jayaraman. Racing under the Tiffany Farms banner in 1989, Irish Actor finished seventh behind Sunday Silence. LeRoy Jolley was the trainer of Irish Actor.

WEST SIDE BERNIE - With trainer Kelly Breen up, George and Lori Hall's West Side Bernie galloped a mile and five-eighths before the renovation break.

West Side Bernie is scheduled to work Saturday morning.

Stewart Elliott, winner of the 2004 Kentucky Derby aboard Smarty Jones, has the Derby mount on West Side Bernie.   

WIN WILLY - Jer-Mar Stable's Win Willy arrived at Churchill Downs shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday and settled in at Barn 45, Stall 21.

Trained by Mac Robertson, Win Willy is slated to be ridden in the Kentucky Derby by Cliff Berry.