Goldencents, Itsmyluckyday step out onto the Churchill
track
Santa Anita Derby winner Goldencents got his first
feel for the Churchill Downs strip Sunday when he jogged a mile during the
designated Derby/Oaks training period following the mid-morning renovation break
at the big oval.
Trainer Doug O’Neill was on hand for
the exercise and indicated he has no special plans for his bay colt coming up to
his date with destiny Saturday in the 139th Kentucky Derby.
“We’ll just keep him going forward
and try to keep him happy,” O’Neill said. “He’s done his training and we’re
happy right now.”
O’Neill gave the son of Into Mischief
a final six-furlong work last Thursday at Santa Anita, a drill in which he was
asked to accelerate late in anticipation of the extra furlong he’ll have to run
beyond his nine-furlong Santa Anita victory. Though the final time of the work
— 1:16 1/5 — was nothing exceptional, it was just what the barn ordered in that he
covered his final three furlongs in :36. His connections are convinced
he’ll be able to finish well Saturday.
“He left LAX at 2 a.m. (PDT) Saturday morning, got here in fine shape, and so
far everything’s gone perfectly,” O’Neill said. “I arrived in the early evening.
The whole crew is here and we are pumped up.”
O’Neill flies the “Team O’Neill”
banner when he goes on the road now and he comes with a posse attached. He’s
assembled a 15-horse stable at Churchill and brought a party of 10 to work with
them, led by his longtime assistant Leandro Mora and his current riding
go-to-guy, Kevin Krigger.
But the focus remains on Goldencents
and a possible double-up following the stable’s rousing victory with I’ll Have
Another in last year’s Derby.
Goldencents, whose victories also include the Delta Downs Jackpot and
the Sham Stakes, is following a similar pattern as I’ll Have Another.
“The pattern may be similar, but you have to have the horse,” O’Neill noted.
“I’d say it’s 99 percent the horse and 1 percent our program. Last year’s
experience has really helped our crew handle the situation.
“We’ll take him to the gate one time during the week and we’ll take him
to the paddock, too,” the trainer said. “But otherwise we really aren’t going to do
anything special with him. We think he’s good to go.”
Trilogy Stable and Laurie Plesa’s Itsmyluckyday made his first visit to
the Churchill Downs racetrack Sunday morning after arriving by van from his
Calder Race Course home on Saturday. The Gulfstream Park Derby and Holy Bull victor galloped once around the track under exercise
rider Peter Shelton.
“We took him out early. He goes out early at home, so we didn’t want to take him
out late today and have him get all worked up in his stall,” Shelton said.
The Eddie Plesa Jr.-trained son of Lawyer Ron showed no signs of fatigue from
the 18-hour van ride from his South Florida base.
“He was bouncing this morning. When I went to pull him up, he didn’t want to
stop,” said Shelton, who has worked for Plesa for 14 years.
Assistant trainer Frankie Perez, who has worked for Plesa for 20 years, oversaw
Itsmyluckyday’s morning exercise.
“Eddie’s a great person to work for. He’s a great trainer. He’s very good to his
help and to his horses,” said Perez, who reported that Plesa is scheduled to
arrive in Louisville, Kentucky, on Monday.
Perez has been involved with two previous Kentucky Derby starters, the Frank
Brothers-trained Dansil, who finished fourth in 1989, and Plesa-trained Three
Ring, a filly who finished 19th against the boys after steadying sharply.
“This is very exciting. The other two horses have a place in my heart, and this
horse is very special,” Perez said. “He does everything right; he’s very sweet.
I say, ‘He’s the perfect horse that everyone wishes to have.'”
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