182 Days
Now that the Breeders’ Cup is over, we can all look toward the next big event on racing’s calendar: The 2006 Kentucky Derby. There are a mere 182 days remaining to the first Saturday of May. Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Stevie Wonderboy, whose owner has already displayed acute symptoms of Derby Fever, will be put into light training for the next couple of months and then return in January or February to prep for the Derby. “Unless something changes, the plan is to wait and start him in January or February. We haven’t decided which races … Maybe he’ll have a race in late January or February and late March or early April,” said trainer Doug O’Neill. I hope O’Neill realizes that since Stevie already has to fend off the Juvenile Jinx, he can’t possibly start in the run for the roses without at least three prep races. And so the madness begins …
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Stevie Wonderboy earned a Beyer speed figure of 104 in the Juvenile, “an excellent number for a Kentucky Derby wannabe in late October and a giant improvement on the 86 he got in the Sept. 7 Del Mar Futurity.” Numbers were not otherwise so impressive, says Dick Jerardi. Silver Train earned 114 in the Sprint, the best dirt figure. Shirocco did the same in the Turf. Saint Liam earned 112 winning the Classic.
