Decisive Moment arrives at Churchill

Last updated: 3/28/11 4:32 PM

Decisive Moment settles in after the short van ride from Turfway Park
(Churchill Downs Photo)

DECISIVE MOMENT (With Distinction), the runner-up to Animal Kingdom (Leroidesanimaux
[Brz]) in Saturday’s Spiral S. (G3) at Turfway Park, was the first
Kentucky Derby 137 contender to arrive at Churchill Downs when his van
pulled through stable gate Monday morning — 40 days in advance of the
$2 million Kentucky Derby (G1).

Decisive Moment made the 93-mile trek from Turfway Park in Florence,
Kentucky, by van and was accompanied by his groom. They arrived at 8:30
a.m. and were bedded down in Barn 41, Stall 12. Florida-based trainer
Juan Arias was expected to arrive in Louisville, Kentucky, later this
week to check on his stable star.

Owned by Ruben Sierra’s Just for Fun Stable, Decisive Moment sports a
mark of 8-2-2-3 with total career earnings of $527,330. He has
bankrolled $301,000 in graded stakes money through runner-up efforts in
last November’s Delta Downs Jackpot S. (G3) and the Spiral, along with a
fifth in the Risen Star S. (G2) in February.

Those earnings should firmly place the Florida-bred in the Derby field on May
7. His three-year-old campaign was successfully launched at Delta Downs in
January with a 3 1/2-length triumph in the $250,000 Jean Lafitte S. over one
mile.

Eight Kentucky Derby winners have hailed from Barn 41 since 1976: Bold Forbes
(1976), Affirmed (1978), Gato Del Sol (1982), Sunny’s Halo (1983), Swale (1984),
Ferdinand (1986), Sunday Silence (1989) and Fusaichi Pegasus (2000).

The Churchill Downs barn area reopened March 11. There are approximately 250
horses on the grounds, and the population will grow in coming weeks as horses
from winter meets in Arkansas, Louisiana, Florida and elsewhere migrate to
Kentucky for the spring. The stable area stall capacity is 1,424.