Almost all of the Contenders were on the track Tuesday and Wednesday mornings and Past The Wire’s JennyPhoto captured fabulous photos of them including this one of Affirmative Lady (Post #13) having a strong 1 1⁄2-mile gallop under Kevin Lundie.
Routine Morning At Churchill Downs For Oaks Hopefuls
Derby Update
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With all of the heavy lifting done, it was a quiet morning beneath the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs with routine gallops and some gate schooling the order of the day for Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks entrants.
The respective morning line favorites for the Derby and Oaks, Forte and Wet Paint, both galloped with the former going 1 3/8 miles and the latter a mile and a half.
AMO Racing USA’s Affirmative Lady had a strong 1 1⁄2-mile gallop under Kevin Lundie and visited the starting gate.
Trained by Graham Motion, the Gulfstream Park Oaks (GII) winner had a paddock schooling session after training hours.
Winner of her past two starts, Affirmative Lady is one of four Oaks entrants to have raced at the Oaks distance of 1 1/8 miles, something she has done twice.
“The farther she goes, the stronger she gets,” Lundie said of Affirmative Lady, who will break from post 13 under John Velazquez. “I just hope she gets a clean trip.”
Peter Redekop’s And Tell Me Nolies had an easy day Wednesday, walking the shedrow of barn 24.
Trainer Brad Cox sent Botanical, The Alys Look (post #2) and Wet Paint (post #7) to the track all together first set at 5:15 a.m. for their Wednesday training and they all galloped a 1 1⁄2 miles. All three, led by Oaks morning line favorite Wet Paint, will school Wednesday during the first race.
“Overall, I’m super happy with them,” Cox said. “They all schooled in the gate a couple of days ago and did well. Everything has been fantastic with them.”
At the time reserved for Oaks and Derby horses, the Ashland Stakes (GI) winner Defining Purpose again stepped onto the track Wednesday with regular exercise rider Shelby Spalding aboard, for a gallop of about a mile and three eighths.
While some humans on the backstretch didn’t appreciate the chilly weather with gusty winds, the equines appeared to tolerate it well.
“It’s crisp, but it feels good,” trainer Kenny McPeek said. “Horses like it.”
McPeek said Defining Purpose is progressing to his satisfaction ahead of the Oaks. The filly, who races in the silks of Magdalena Racing, Collette Marie Vanmatre and James Ball, drew the No. 11 post position in the field of 14. Brian Hernandez Jr. will ride 12-1 Defining Purpose Friday.
John Ropes’ Dorth Vader had a routine 1 1⁄2-mile gallop at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Dorth Vader would be the first start in the Oaks for Florida-based trainer Michael Yates.
Yates appears to be enjoying his trip to Louisville which included a visit to the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association’s Trainer’s Dinner Tuesday night.
Brad King, Randy Andrews, G. Chris Coleman, Jim Cone, Suzanne Kirby and Lee Lewis’ Flying Connection had a regular walk day in trainer Todd Fincher’s barn and will return to the track to gallop at 7:30 Thursday morning.
Repole Stable’s Gambling Girl and Stonestreet Stables’ Julia Shining flexed their equine muscles Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs as they put some finishing touches on their preparations for Friday’s Kentucky Oaks.
Gambling Girl, a daughter of the Mineshaft stallion Dialed In, is assured a spot in the $1.25 million mile and one eighth. Stablemate Julia Shining, who is by champion Curlin, remains on the outside looking in in the 16th spot for the 14-horse field.
Both 3-year-old fillies galloped a mile and three eighths, with Carlos Quevedo handling Gambling Girl and Humberto Zamora up on Julia Shining for trainer Todd Pletcher.
Irad Ortiz Jr. is scheduled to handle “Girl” on Friday, while “Julia,” should she get to run, would have the saddle services of Luis Saez.
Both fillies will paddock today with horses from Race 6.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum’s Mimi Kakushi followed her regular routine of jogging a milewith the pony and then galloping a mile under Xavier Ziani.
Mimi Kakushi has not raced since the Feb. 17 UAE Oaks (GIII) and enters Friday’s Run for the Lilies off a 12-week layoff, the longest of any Oaks starter.
“She had had a busy campaign and she got a short break (after the UAE Oaks),” said trainer Salem bin Ghadayer, who currently oversees 72 horses in training in Dubai. “She got back on our program, and she has been breezing every week (prior to coming to Churchill Downs).”
Mickael Barzalona has the mount in the Oaks and will break from post one.
Keeping to her routine, moving well, Godolphin’s Pretty Mischievous galloped one mile and a half on Wednesday during the designated Derby/Oaks training time at 7:30 a.m. Exercise rider Albino Martinezreported she is feeling good.
The Rachel Alexandra (GII) winner, who wintered in New Orleans at Fair Grounds Race Course, took time ahead of Race 6 on Tuesday to get comfortable in the paddock as trainer Brendan Walsh saddled the eventual winner, Farfellow Farm’s Fuente Ovejuna (GB).
After arriving at Churchill Downs safely on Sunday night, Hoffman Thoroughbreds, Tom McCrocklin, and Medallion Racing’s Promiseher America had her first gallop across Churchill Downs’ main track. After jogging Tuesday, the Gazelle (GII)-winner galloped 1 and 1/4 miles under exercise rider Fernando Tapara.
“Fernando said she felt awesome and was looking around a lot today,” trainer Ray Handal said. “We did all the heavy lifting back home so I wanted to ship her in, jog, change her shoes, and get her comfortable with her surroundings. She galloped today and looked around a bit. She’ll gallop tomorrow and look around less, so she’ll be relaxed on race day.”
Handal returns to Churchill Downs for the first time since May of 2013, and he brought Kentucky Derby alumni Giant Finish with him. Having worked for trainer Anthony Dutrow prior to beginning his own barn, Handal was on hand for Giant Finish’s 10th-place finish to Orb.
“Giant Finish is my pony now,” Handal said. “I saddled him for the Derby. He’s kind of the reason I started training (on my own) because the owners were so thrilled, and they gave me my first two horses to start training. I kept Giant Finish and now he’s 13, so hopefully we can make a Derby with him around. It would be a nice way to come full circle.”
Robert Masterson’s Southlawn had a 1 1⁄2-mile gallop Wednesday morning for trainer Norm Casse.
Jockey Rey Gutierrez will pilot the Fair Grounds Oaks (GII) winner in the Longines Kentucky Oaks.
“I love a rider that’s confident walking into the paddock and I know Reylu will be,” Casse said. “I’ve never had another trainer tell me before that they heard from my rider that they will win a race and that’s what happened in the Fair Grounds Oaks. I came into the paddock in the second or third race and (trainer) Bret Calhoun came up to me and said ‘Rey told me you’re going to win the Fair Grounds Oaks today.’ So, I’m confident that Rey will be confident coming into the race.”
After arriving on Tuesday, trainer Mark Casse was on hand for Wonder Wheel’s Wednesday morning work. Breaking from her 5:45 a.m. routine training time, D.J. Stable’s filly made an appearance during the Derby and Oaks training window at 7:30 a.m. Her regular exercise rider David Carroll guided her for a jog along the outside rail before galloping easily twice around the track.
“She went nicely and did everything right,” Casse said. “We’re going to conserve her energy a couple days before the
race. She’s carrying more flesh than she probably ever has. Numbers-wise, I don’t think her race in the Ashland was as bad as some have said. I think she got confused out there. One problem was, and I knew I was going to run into it, but there was two months between races (before the Ashland). I’m thinking that maybe I didn’t do enough to get her in a competitive mindset. The timing is much better for this.”
