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Rousing Sermon works; Pletcher duo arrives Rousing Sermon is expected to be a longshot in Saturday's Kentucky Derby, but his final pre-Derby workout Tuesday pleased Hall of Fame trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. "I am very happy with the work. I told Jose (jockey Jose Lezcano, who has the call to ride Saturday) to give me something between a minute and 1:01 and he went 1:00 2/5," a jubilant Hollendorfer said of his colt's five-furlong workout at Churchill Downs. "He rode him perfectly, did a great job rating him." Hollendorfer said the Churchill Downs clockers gave him splits of :12 3/5. :25, :36 3/5, :48 2/5 and a six-furlong gallop-out time of 1:14. Hollendorfer said the colt seemed to like the track surface, which was rated fast, in spite of some rain Monday evening, shortly after Hollendorfer arrived on a flight from California. Rousing Sermon, the trainer said "goes straight and true every day. He has stayed sound. He's always very relaxed and laid back." Because of those things, and the fact the colt has been super consistent with only one finish off the board in nine lifetime starts. In his most recent start, the California-bred son of Lucky Pulpit finished a closing third in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. "That's why I'm here and that's why the horse is here," Hollendorfer said with a smile. El Padrino and Gemologist arrived by van at Churchill Downs late Tuesday morning following a flight from South Florida. Gemologist, who has been training along with his stablemate at Palm Meadows Training Center in South Florida, will bring an undefeated record from five starts into Saturday's Kentucky Derby. "What's important is that not only is he undefeated but he's two-for-two at Churchill. That's significant as we've seen in the past," trainer Todd Pletcher said. "Not all horses take to this surface. The fact the he's won twice around two turns here I think is a big edge." Gemologist followed up a debut victory at Turfway Park on September 24 with an entry-level allowance triumph and a stakes score in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club, both at 1 1/16 miles at Churchill. After winning a Gulfstream Park allowance in his 2012 debut, the son of Tiznow fought off a strong challenge by Alpha in deep stretch to capture the Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct by neck on April 7. "He's a horse who's had a tendency to idle a bit when he makes the lead. I think he did that a little bit in the Wood, but it was reminiscent of Tiznow in both Breeders' Cup wins," Pletcher said referring to Tiznow's back-to-back narrow Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic victories at Churchill and Belmont Park in 2000-01. "It looked like he was beat and he found more." Javier Castellano has the return mount aboard Gemologist. Pletcher doesn't view the apparent abundance of early speed horses in the field as a problem for Gemologist or El Padrino. "For Gemologist, it won't bother him; he's tractable enough to be in a stalking position. It could benefit a horse like El Padrino, who has been running in races not having the kind of pace you'd like to have. His last two races the fractions have been a little slow. It's going to help those kinds of horses." El Padrino, who finished fourth in the Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream after winning the Grade 2 Risen Star at Fair Grounds, is scheduled to be ridden by Rafael Bejarano.
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