JC / Railbird

Kentucky Derby

Smooth Air Spikes Fever

Florida Derby runner-up Smooth Air spiked a fever Thursday and has lost two days of training time. In a press conference this morning, trainer Bennie Stutts said the colt is getting antibiotics and that he is expected to return to the track on Sunday, but that if the situation isn’t resolved by Monday, Smooth Air could be out:

Smooth Air’s defection would open up a spot for Bob Black Jack, leaving Denis of Cork at #21 and out if Lexington winner Behindatthebar goes, a possibility still being mulled over by trainer Todd Pletcher. “He said the horse has a lot of energy and is doing real good,” reported owner Satish Sanan, “so he wants to work the horse and then make the call” (ThoroTimes).
DRF reports that Sanan tried to swing a deal with owner William Warren to ensure Denis of Cork’s Derby entry:

Warren rejected the offer: “It’s best not to have partners.”

Posted in Racing on April 26, 2008 / Tagged Kentucky Derby / Comments Off on Smooth Air Spikes Fever

Drive Time

An event as rich in tradition as the Kentucky Derby is sure to have plenty of ancillary traditions as well.
Some, like tomorrow’s running races or the Great Balloon Race are shared experiences.
Others are personal.
One such experience for me that kicks off Derby week is the drive from my home in Lexington to Louisville. Chasing the setting Sun heading west on Interstate 64 I pass Thoroughbred farms of Midway and Georgetown.
There are a few mares with their foals out, and it’s hard not to think about those babies arriving in Louisville in 2011.
One of my favorite pieces of art is Celeste Susany’s Chance of a Lifetime because it captures the essence of the Derby so perfectly.
I’m fortunate enough to experience the Derby—and traditions such as my drive over—annually, but for the horses who will go postward on May 3, this is the one chance they will get to wear the roses.

Posted in Racing on April 25, 2008 / Tagged Kentucky Derby / Comments Off on Drive Time

Friday Morning Notes

– Jockey Gabe Saez will ride Eight Belles if she goes in the Kentucky Derby, said trainer Larry Jones. The filly will be entered in both the Oaks and the Derby, with the decision for which race she starts in resting on the post position draw.
– Brad Free rethinks likely Derby favorites Colonel John and Big Brown: “The closer one examines their last starts, the less appealing they become” (DRF+).
– Del Mar will water its Polytrack this summer. “Our goal is to lessen the difference between afternoon and morning,” said racing director Tom Robbins (DRF). Horsemen complained last year that the track’s consistency varied across the day, and that a lack of moisture was causing the track to slow down too much in the afternoon.
– Meanwhile, at Santa Anita, trainers are complaining that last Sunday’s meeting with Magna chairman Frank Stronach was fixed so that only synthetic sympathizers were present. “A stacked deck would be a polite way of describing it,” said trainer John Sadler. “It was a complete farce” (Star-News).
– Dick Powell laments Sky Beauty’s exclusion from the Hall of Fame: “We say we want a drug-free, level-playing field and yet we are punishing Sky Beauty for her record at other tracks where those jurisdictions permitted Lasix.”
– Closing day flyer: KEE, R10, Glorious Cause (ML 12-1).
– Guest blogger Ed DeRosa heads to Louisville today. Look for his reports from Churchill beginning this weekend.
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Posted in Racing on April 25, 2008 / Tagged Kentucky Derby / Comments Off on Friday Morning Notes