Funny Cide trainer looks to spoil Big Brown's Triple try
NEW YORK (AP) -- The roles are reversed for Barclay Tagg this time around.
The New York-based trainer tried to sweep the Triple Crown with Funny Cide five years ago, but the gelding finished third in the Belmont Stakes behind Empire Maker, who ran second in the Kentucky Derby and then skipped the Preakness to freshen up for the Belmont.
Tagg plans to send out Tale of Ekati in the Belmont Stakes in two weeks hoping to spoil Big Brown's attempt at becoming the first Triple Crown champion in 30 years. Tale of Ekati finished fourth in the Derby, then skipped the Preakness and appears refreshed and ready for the Belmont.
"I don't know if he's good enough or not,'' Tagg said Friday of Tale of Ekati. "He ran good in the Derby. He went off at 47-1 and finished fourth out of 20.''
The time off seemed to agree with Tale of Ekati, who sizzled in his first workout since the Derby earlier this week. The 3-year-old colt zipped a half-mile in 46.84 seconds at Belmont Park on Tuesday.
"He went faster than we would have liked,'' Tagg said, although he didn't seemed too concerned as he leaned back on the chair in his office next to his barn. "We just wanted a maintenance work, about 49 or 50 seconds. We'll see what happens.''
In 2003, Funny Cide put in a blazing workout just before the Belmont that left many wondering whether the horse ran too hard before taking on the 11/2-mile "Test of the Champion,'' the longest and most grueling of the Triple Crown races.
Now in the role of spoiler, Tagg seems to be taking everything in stride. And why not? Big Brown will be the odds-on favorite after outclassing 19 rivals in the Derby and 11 more in the Preakness. A win and the unbeaten Big Brown becomes the 12th Triple Crown winner and first since Affirmed in 1978.
(c) Copyright 2006 Charleston Daily Mail
Dutrow has it all figured out
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Big Brown returned to training for the first time since his resounding victory in the 134th Kentucky Derby by doing little more than trotting once around the one-mile main track at Churchill Downs early Wednesday.
With trainer Rick Dutrow watching what he could from the backstretch - infield tote boards and tents obscure much of the view of the frontside - Big Brown, missing his back horseshoes, went through a slow, clockwise jog with Michelle Nevin aboard and alongside a stable pony ridden by Walter Blum Jr.
Afterward, Dutrow spent more time talking to about a dozen media members than the 15 minutes Big Brown spent away from the barn. With his usual candor, Dutrow addressed a variety of issues, including his training schedule for the colt and his outlook for the next leg of the Triple Crown, the 133rd Preakness, to be run May 17 at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.
Big Brown, owned by IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa Jr. and ridden by Kent Desormeaux, won the Derby by 4 3/4 lengths and will be a huge favorite in a Preakness field expected to number perhaps 10 3-year-olds, give or take one or two.
Dutrow said that, starting Thursday, Big Brown would gallop every day at Churchill, including the morning of May 14, when the colt will be flown to Baltimore. A Tex Sutton charter flight has been scheduled for that afternoon.
Dutrow said he is contemplating a "very minor" blowout for Big Brown at Pimlico, either on May 15 or even the morning of the race.
"It won't be that Friday," he said, adding any such move would be less significant than the three-furlong work Big Brown went through on the Thursday before the Derby. "I'm still thinking about what I want to do about that. The main thing is, as long as he's come out of the race okay, we're fine. There's really not a lot of training to do. As long as he stays good, I'm happy. There's not a lot more to think about."
Dutrow, born and raised in Maryland but based for years in New York, is so focused on winning the Preakness that he said he will not get caught up in sentiment or nostalgia when returning to Maryland. He said it took "a couple days" for the notion to sink in that "I've won the Kentucky Derby," but "it's not like I can take off from here and go on a vacation or a cruise or something. We've got this to do. We're here working. I'm going there to win a horse race, that's all."
Dutrow said he was informed Big Brown earned a minus-1 figure on the Ragozin Sheets - the lower the number, the better the performance - with his Derby victory. "He's got to react," he said, meaning he believes the colt will "bounce," and not run as fast in the Preakness. "He's not going to run a minus-1 again. But I'm figuring if he runs like a 5, he can still win the race."
Only one of the other 19 horses that ran in the Derby last Saturday - Recapturetheglory, the fifth-place finisher - will oppose Big Brown in the $1 million Preakness, and Dutrow already is sizing up the prospective opposition for the 1 3/16-mile race. He said "Pletcher's white horse" - Harlem Rocker, the Withers Stakes winner trained by Todd Pletcher - is the only one that concerns him, but otherwise, a horse to upset Big Brown "is going to have to be a really good one."
While Big Brown went to the track at about 6:45 a.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Dutrow planned to wait until after the regularly scheduled harrow break, which ends at about 8:30, to train the colt Thursday. He said Big Brown was to have his back feet shod with conventional aluminum racing plates that morning. As for the glued-on, acrylic rubber shoes that Big Brown has worn on his front feet for the last several weeks, including in the Derby, Dutrow said: "We're good there. His feet are fine. Cold, no pulse."
He added that he would probably have farrier Ian McKinlay "redo him after this race, when we get back to New York. But we're good now."
Big Brown was first shod with glue-ons after the colt developed problems with quarter cracks over the winter. Since the new shoes have been used, Dutrow has maintained the colt no longer has foot problems.
Dutrow said Big Brown most likely would train at Belmont Park after the Preakness, as opposed to Aqueduct, where he keeps many of his top horses. He said he probably would ask Bobby Frankel, the Hall of Fame trainer with whom he has a close association, for space in his Belmont barn.
Dutrow talked for a few minutes about the controversy around the death of the Derby runner-up, the filly Eight Belles, calling it "unfair," while saying he thought television coverage of the fatal postrace incident has been overdone.
"I don't like seeing that kind of stuff on TV," he said. "But I'm not one of those smart guys who knows all about what's right. I'm just a horseman. I'm just here to take care of my horses."
In other Preakness news:
* After several days of debating whether or not to go, trainer Louie Roussel confirmed from his home in New Orleans on Wednesday that Recapturetheglory will be sent to the Preakness. Recapturetheglory, with assistant trainer Lara Van Deren aboard, returned to training Wednesday at Churchill by jogging a mile, then galloping a mile.
"I wanted to wait until he went back to the track," said Roussel, who won the 1988 Preakness with Risen Star. "My assistant said he's doing really well." Recapturetheglory will ship by van Saturday afternoon and arrive early Sunday at Pimlico.
* Racecar Rhapsody, fourth in the April 19 Coolmore Lexington Stakes in his last start, has joined the Preakness field, trainer Ken McPeek said Wednesday at Churchill. Robby Albarado, who won the Preakness last year on Curlin, will have the mount.
"Maybe we'll just be running for second, but that's not all bad," said McPeek.
* At Belmont Park, Giant Moon breezed five furlongs Wednesday morning in 1:01.58 over the fast main track. Trainer Rick Schosberg said afterward that he wasn't looking for anything spectacular from the New York-bred colt.
"I just wanted to see him go five-eighths of a mile without being pushed too hard," he said.
Giant Moon, fourth in the April 5 Wood Memorial in his last start, will van to Pimlico on May 15.
* Tres Borrachos, one of four exclusions from the Derby field, breezed five furlongs Wednesday at Churchill under Andy Durnin, going in 59.60 seconds, second-fastest of 30 works at the distance. Trainer Beau Greely, who arrived Tuesday night from California, was on hand.
* Pletcher, who also has Lexington winner Behindatthebar as a Preakness prospect, is scheduled to breeze Harlem Rocker over the weekend at Belmont before making a final decision on the colt's status for the race.
* Kentucky Bear, another Derby exclusion, was scheduled to be the first Preakness horse on the scene by arriving Wednesday at Pimlico. The colt breezed on Derby Day over the Polytrack surface at Keeneland and is scheduled to breeze again Saturday at Pimlico.
* Pimlico linemaker Frank Carulli let out a big laugh when asked what his morning line might be on Big Brown. The biggest favorites in recent years were Fusaichi Pegasus, 30 cents on the dollar in 2000, and Barbaro, 50 cents on the dollar in 2006. Big Brown, said Carulli, will be set at "below even-money, let's put it that way."
(c)2008 ESPN Internet Ventures
Trainer for Steinbrenner's horse seeks first Derby win
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- At least two trainers with a chance to win the Kentucky Derby on Saturday have been wearing New York Yankees caps this week -- Eoin Harty and Bill Mott.
"I work for Steinbrenner, so I got mine for free," Mott boasted the other morning at Churchill Downs, the blue cap fitting snugly on his head. "It's unfortunate his horse didn't make it to the Derby this year."
Yankees' boss George Steinbrenner's Majestic Warrior won't be around Derby day, but two other Mott-trained 3-year-old colts will -- Court Vision and Z Humor. Harty, who trains Colonel John but does not have horses with Steinbrenner, said he bought his Yankees' cap.
For Mott, two Derby horses is heady stuff. The Hall of Famer with more wins at Churchill Downs than any other trainer has never won the Derby, never been close on the rare occasions he had a horse in the race.
For nearly 30 years, Mott has watched hundreds of Derby horses parade past his barn on a path leading to the track, calling it "a great scene and nice to be part of in the years you're able to."
Mott has been able to join in just three times, with poor results. His best finish was eighth by Favorite Trick, the second betting choice in the field.
"It's a slightly empty feeling if you're not in it," the 54-year-old Mott said. "I suppose you have to wait your turn."
This could be the year, though. Court Vision, winner of the Hopeful Stakes as a 2-year-old, has been a solid performer this year.
The son of Gulch finished third in the Fountain of Youth Stakes and the Wood Memorial in his two preps, and will be ridden by Garrett Gomez, the nation's leading rider last year.
"There's a lot to like about Court Vision," said fellow Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas. "First, you've got Bill Mott and second you've got the best rider in the country on him. Neither one has a Derby, and maybe if they hold hands and do it together it might come to pass."
Z Humor comes into the Derby off a third-place finish in the Illinois Derby. Rene Douglas has the mount.
"I feel pretty good about both horses," Mott said. "They both have pedigree that say they should get the trip (of 11/4 miles), and Court Vision's running style certainly indicates he can."
Mott is not the most emotional trainer in the game, with a wry smile about the best reaction you'll get out of him after he wins. And he's won a lot, more than 3,700 times, including 584 at Churchill. He says he's passionate about winning, and a Derby triumph would be a thrill.
"I care," he said. "I don't like to lose. Winning and losing sort of determines your whole mood."
Whatever happens in the Derby, Mott will always have Cigar, who won 16 consecutive races in the mid 1990s and was voted Horse of the Year in 1995 and 1996. Cigar didn't run in the Derby.
"I've already been lucky enough to maybe train the best horse I'll ever train," he said, "but that doesn't mean that we're going to stop looking and hoping and try to get something as equally good. I was very lucky to have Cigar."
Mott, who lives in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., with his wife and four children, grew up around horses in South Dakota. His father was a veterinarian, and Mott owned and trained his first horse, a $320 mare named My Assets, when he was 15. He opened a public stable in 1978.
For years, Mott has trained some of the top older horses, winning the Breeders' Cup Turf with Theatrical in 1987 and Fraise in 1992, and the BC Distaff with Ajina in 1997 and Escena in 1998.
Last year, he was back in the 2-year-old business for the first time in years. Besides Steinbrenner's Kinsman Farm sending him juveniles, Zayat Stables sent him Z Humor and WinStar Farm sent him Court Vision, co-owned by IEAH Stable. He nominated 10 juveniles to the Triple Crown races, following a summer in which he won the Saratoga training title with 27 victories -- 11 by his 2-year-olds capped by Majestic Humor's win in the Hopeful Stakes.
"I'm excited about the Derby but I try to be realistic about the whole thing," he said. "We've been here before and we'll try. And if we don't succeed this year, we'll be back next year and hopefully try again."
Mott has another goal, and this one must be realized soon. He's never been to Yankee Stadium, which will be demolished for a new stadium across the street.
"I'd love to go," Mott said, tugging on his cap. "I'm sure they'll give me tickets if I ask."
Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
Eight Belles decision based on draw
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Rick Porter tried to get to the Kentucky Derby in 2005 with Rockport Harbor, but had to abandon ship when the colt's feet failed him. Porter got there last year and came tantalizingly close to winning with Hard Spun, who outran everyone but Street Sense. This year, Porter is back for more, with both caveats and a chance to make history.
Porter, who races as Fox Hill Farms, owns Eight Belles, who has developed into one of the best 3-year-old fillies in the nation. She has won four straight races, most recently the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park. Eight Belles will be entered in the May 2 Kentucky Oaks and will be one of the top choices in that race, if not the favorite, if she runs.
Derby Watch Top 25 contenders
But Porter is holding out the hope of running Eight Belles the following day, May 3, in the 134th Kentucky Derby here at Churchill Downs.
In the 133 previous Derbies, 130 have been won by males, just three by fillies. For Eight Belles to join a select list that includes Regret (1915), Genuine Risk (1980), and Winning Colors (1988), she will have to outrun 19 males. First, though, she needs to run in the Derby, and that will only happen, Porter said, if she continues to train well over the next week and then lands a suitable post when entries are taken and posts selected next Wednesday.
Make no mistake, though. Given the choice, Porter wants Eight Belles in the Derby. He spent $6,000 last month to make Eight Belles a late nominee to the Triple Crown. Like Hard Spun, Eight Belles is trained by Larry Jones.
"Here's the exact plan," Porter said Wednesday from Florida, one of the four states where his family has auto dealerships. "If she's training well, she will enter the Oaks and enter the Derby. I've made it clear to Larry that I don't have to run in the Derby. I don't have Derby Fever. But I do think she belongs in the Derby. The only thing that would keep me from running is a real bad post. She's not a real good breaker."
In a large field, that's certainly a concern. The fallback position would be the Oaks. But if Eight Belles runs in the Oaks, and scratches from the Derby, her entry in the Derby would likely deprive another horse of a starting slot. The Derby is capped at 20 runners, based on graded stakes earnings. More than 20 are likely to enter the Derby. Once entries are taken Wednesday, no one else can get in; there is no also-eligible list in the Derby.
Kentucky Derby earnings chart
Entries for the Oaks are taken Tuesday. Porter said if the sequence, hypothetically, was reversed, and the Derby entries were taken prior to the Oaks, he would not enter the Oaks if Eight Belles first drew a good post in the Derby. But given the sequence, Porter believes the only logical plan is to cross-enter.
"I'm ready to take the heat," he said. "I'm not doing this to deprive someone a chance of running in the Derby. Because she's a filly, we're able to do this. I don't think it's unsportsmanlike, and it's within the rules."
Porter is the third generation of his family to run Porter Automotive Group, which was founded by his grandfather, John Sr., in 1925 as one of the first Buick and Chevrolet dealers in the United States. There are now franchises in Delaware, where Porter makes his home near Wilmington, as well as Florida, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Porter's son, Cory, now runs the day-to-day business, which allows Porter to become even more active in racing.
And he's plenty active. Porter, 67, said he currently has 45 horses, including 16 2-year-olds. He owns most outright, with Jones and Steve Klesaris as his primary trainers, and he also has several in partnership, most notably Kodiak Kowboy, who is scheduled to run here Saturday in the Derby Trial for trainer Steve Asmussen.
Jostle, a multiple Grade 1-winning filly, and Rockport Harbor, who won the 2004 Remsen Stakes but was plagued by foot problems the following spring, were among Porter's first big horses. Since then, Porter has won the 2006 Breeders' Cup Distaff with Round Pond and had a terrific season last year with the versatile, brilliant Hard Spun, who finished second in the Derby and the Breeders' Cup Classic at 1 1/4 miles and won the Grade 1 King's Bishop at seven furlongs.
Porter is also building a private, 38-stall barn at the Fair Hill training center in Maryland, less than a half-hour from his home.
He is hands on. In recent years, Porter has developed, and ended, relationships with John Servis - who trained Rockport Harbor and, initially, Round Pond - and Michael Matz, who trained Round Pond to her BC Distaff victory.
Running a filly in the Derby would be about as high as one could aim. Since Winning Colors 20 years ago, just three fillies - Serena's Song in 1995, and both Excellent Meeting and Three Ring in 1999 - have run in the Derby. Rare is the filly who runs in the Derby. Rarer still is the one who wins it. Eight Belles may be the first filly in nine years to get that chance.
drf.com
Arkansas Derby has packed field
HOT SPRINGS -- Oaklawn Park patrons who blindly support the home team in the Triple Crown races might want to take this year off.
During the four previous years, the faithful were spoiled by Arkansas Derby winners Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex and Curlin who won the Kentucky Derby once, the Preakness three times, and the Belmont once. Five out of nine is a cracking good percentage, whether it's shooting 3s or winning major races.
All three of those horses were proven commodities who enhanced their status with victories in the Arkansas Derby.
Fast forward to Saturday when the starting gate will be packed with 14 3-year-olds desperate to finish first and second in the $1 million race and earn the loot needed to guarantee a spot in the Kentucky Derby. If more than 20 want to run at Churchill Downs, priority goes to those with graded earnings and the Arkansas Derby payout is $600,000 for first and $200,000 for second.
After last weekend's 3-year-old races in New York, Illinois and California, it appears it will take about $180,000 to be certain of a spot in The Derby. Other than the race at Oaklawn, the only remaining graded stakes are at Keeneland -- the Blue Grass on Saturday and the lesser light Lexington the following week.
Many of the likely starters in the Arkansas Derby have zero graded earnings and not one has ever won a graded race. For the players that like a wide-open race with lots of options, this is a doozy. For those who want to play with confidence, forewarned is forearmed.
Southwest winner Dennis of Cork or Rebel winner Sierra Sunset could have swayed the Oaklawn folks with a victory on Saturday, but the former went all the way to Illinois to run a non-threatening third behind a 15-1 shot and the latter is sidelined for a couple of months with an ankle problem.
Sierra Sunset had some success in California last year, but after he ran fourth in January, trainer Jeff Bonde shipped him halfway across the country to Oaklawn because he thought the colt would do better on real dirt than he did on the synthetic track. Like every other trainer, Bonde is aware that the Arkansas Derby has been the No. 1 proving ground for Triple Crown competitors in recent years.
This year, the Arkansas Derby is such a conglomeration of hopefuls and hopeless that the favorites could be a horse that has won once in nine starts or a beast that was winless in his first five races or a colt who has never competed on dirt. That group answers to Blackberry Road, King's Silver Son and Gayego.
Blackberry Road has not raced since he was fourth behind Pyro in the Louisiana Derby on March 8. Big Brown and Pyro are the current favorites for the Kentucky Derby, a fact reflected in the recent round of early wagering.
Trainer David Carroll said the Louisiana Derby was a hard race for Blackberry Road.
"He was in the race from the get-go and got beat a length and a-half for second," he told Churchill's John Asher. "Pyro was definitely the best horse that day, but that's not our style of racing."
The Arkansas Derby should be a "true-run race," he said, meaning a fast pace should help his colt, who is at his best coming from behind.
King's Silver Son ran second four times as a 2-year-old, but got over that bankroll-breaking habit with a victory in New Orleans in January. From there, trainer Steve Asmussen leapfrogged the colt over the normal next-step allowance race and King's Silver Son ran second to Sierra Sunset in the Rebel.
Gayego is intriguing because of the unknown -- he might take to the dirt like a pig to slop or he might tiptoe along the Oaklawn surface. Second at Santa Anita in a stakes race last month, his last workout was Saturday on the all-weather track at Hollywood Park.
In the San Felipe, Gayego finished a length in front of Bob Black Jack, significant only because Bob Black Jack passed on the Arkansas Derby to race in California and ran second to Colonel John in the Santa Anita Derby.
Colonel John is a lukewarm third to Pyro and Big Brown on the list of Derby contenders, and there is no right answer to who's No. 4. An impressive Arkansas Derby would qualify.
All content (c) The Morning News
Santa Anita Derby features 11 hopefuls
Arcadia, CA (Sports Network) - Colonel John, winner of the Sham Stakes, is the 2-1 morning-line favorite for Saturday's $750,000 Santa Anita Derby. A total of 11 three-year-olds have been entered in the 1 1/8 mile race leading to the Kentucky Derby.
Trained by Eoin Harty, Colonel John will start from post five with Corey Nakatani in the saddle. Nakatani has been aboard the colt in three of his first five starts.
"Eoin knows what I think of the horse," said Nakatani, who is winless in 12 tries in the Santa Anita Derby and has never won the Kentucky Derby in 12 attempts. "He knows I have the utmost confidence in Colonel John going into the Triple Crown races. I know how far he's developed and where he's at. I thought he was probably at 80-percent in the Sham, so he should move forward in the Santa Anita Derby. Eoin probably was on the same page as me going into the Sham, and then I got hurt. Fortunately, I got him back and I'm looking forward to the Santa Anita Derby and the Triple Crown races."
Colonel John, owned by WinStar Farm, won the Sham Stakes at 1 1/8 miles by a half-length over 7-10 favorite El Gato Malo. That was the three-year-old's third career victory in five starts with two seconds. He has earned $375,300.
Craig Dollase trains El Gato Malo for West Point Thoroughbreds and once again has given the riding assignment to David Flores. The 5-2 second choice will break from post eight.
El Gato Malo began the year with win in the San Rafael Stakes at Santa Anita and simply ran out of room in the Sham.
"He was sitting behind horses and had a little dirt in his face," Dollase said. "I think he did learn a lot from it. He was able to rate behind horses and finish, so we're taking steps in the right direction, I think."
The gelding has won three of four lifetime starts, including the Gold Rush Stakes at Golden Gate Fields, for $200,200.
Expected to set the pace on Saturday is Bob Black Jack, winner of the Sunshine Millions Dash. The colt, 6-1 in the program, will be ridden by Richard Migliore from post four.
In the Sunshine Millions, the three-year-old set a world record of 1:06.53 for six furlongs. He is coming off a third-place finish in the San Felipe Stakes behind Georgie Boy.
Here is the complete field for the 71st Santa Anita Derby in post position order: Yankee Bravo, Alex Solis, 4-1; Signature Move, Michael Baze, 30-1; Coast Guard, Joseph Talamo, 20-1; Bob Black Jack, Richard Migliore, 6-1; Colonel John, Corey Nakatani, 2-1; On the Virg, Tyler Baze, 15-1; Shore Do, Chantal Sutherland, 20-1; El Gato Malo, David Flores, 5/2; Polonius, Victor Espinoza, 10-1; Meetingwithdestiny, Joel Rosario, 30-1, and Rosso Corsa, Alonso Quinonez, 50-1.
All starters will carry 122 pounds
The Santa Anita Derby has a scheduled post-time of 5:45 p.m. (et) and will be televised on NBC.
(c)2008 The Sports Network. All Rights Reserved.
Proud Spell Nominated to Triple Crown
Airdrie Stud's-homebred filly Proud Spell has been nominated to the Triple Crown.
A daughter of Proud Citizen, Proud Spell most recently won the Fairgrounds Oaks (gr. II), defeating previously unbeaten juvenile filly champion Indian Blessing. She began her sophomore career by finishing second in the Silverbulletday Stakes (gr. II) at Fair Grounds.
At age two, she won the Matron (gr. II) and was runner-up in the Gray Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I). She is slated to make her next start against fillies in the Ashland Stakes (gr. I) April 5 at Keeneland.
"Like so many of the Proud Citizen's, this filly just keeps improving with age and the added distance,” said Brereton Jones, owner of Airdrie Stud. “Larry and Cindy Jones have her happy right now and we really believe she's pretty special. We have so much respect for Pyro (leading Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) candidate), and the fact that she ran a better Beyer and Sheet number than he did at the same distance on Louisiana Derby (gr. II) day speaks very highly of her. Obviously, her sire ran a monster race on Derby Day, and we just want to keep all avenues open if she runs a big race in the Ashland."
Proud Spell, produced from the Langfuhr mare Pacific Spell, has a career record of 4-2-0 from six starts. She has earned $888,770.
Copyright (c) 2008
The Blood-Horse, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|
