Derby Fever in Full Bloom
– Trainer David Carroll is throwing out Denis of Cork’s fifth-place finish in the Illinois Derby and will train the colt for a start in the Kentucky Derby. “I have so much confidence in the horse,” said Carroll. “I’m not going to make excuses … [the Illinois Derby] was a nonevent as far as I’m concerned” (Courier-Journal). That Denis of Cork was returning off a seven-week layoff after winning the Southwest Stakes makes the logic of Carroll’s statement almost plausible, but the Illinois Derby was Denis of Cork’s second and last prep and he showed little. “We had a good trip and when I asked him at the 3/8ths pole, I thought he was ready to go,” said jockey Julien Leparoux after. “He kept going but there was no kick to get there” (Blood-Horse). No kick on Saturday, probably no kick four weeks from now.
– Lane’s End winner Adriano, prepping for a start in the April 19 Lexington Stakes, may go in the Kentucky Derby instead. “We wouldn’t run him in both races,” Motion said. “I’d say at this point we’re leaning a little bit more toward the Derby than the Lexington” (Thoroughbred Times). In Adriano’s only dirt start, the Fountain of Youth, the colt finished ninth, although whether that was because of the surface or because he became unsettled in the paddock is uncertain. Motion said he would send Adriano to Churchill this week to work over the track.
– War Pass bounced back from his Tampa Bay Derby defeat to finish second in the Wood, which delighted trainer Nick Zito: “I’m happy with how he ran. He wasn’t up the track” (WashPost). It was a pretty good result considering the front-runner had to contend with a tiring track that was unkind to speed in most of the day’s races and a rabbit dogging him through the first half. “He got a lot out of this race,” said owner Robert LaPenta, who was confident the juvenile champion would go on to Churchill. “This was a great conditioning race. I don’t think anybody will be doing 22 and change in the Derby” (Courier-Journal). That’s not a bet I would take. In eight of the past 10 years, the first quarter of the Derby was run in 22 and change:
With Big Brown and Recapturetheglory in the field, it’s unlikely War Pass will get the luxury of — or the opportunity to dictate — a moderate pace.
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