Gotham winner and Kentucky Derby candidate Vyjack jogged to the finish line
and then galloped 1 1/2 miles under trainer Rudy Rodriguez after the renovation
break Tuesday at Churchill Downs.
“He looked around a little bit at first but then settled in and went about
his business. He was very good this morning,” Rodriguez said.
Vyjack had jogged early Monday morning for his first training at Churchill
Downs and Rodriguez said the Tuesday activity would be the norm.
“This is the same routine we have at home,” Rodriguez said. “When I worked
for Bobby (Frankel), he had a routine and schedule that worked and stuck to it.”
Rodriguez, who will be saddling his first Kentucky Derby starter, said that
Vyjack would have paddock and gate schooling leading up to the race.
Sunland Derby winner Govenor Charlie galloped 1 3/8 miles after the break
under exercise rider Jorge Alvarez, while Code West and Power Broker walked the
shedrow following Monday works.
Jim Barnes, assistant to trainer Bob Baffert, said the latter two colts came
out of their respective works in good order. Code West had worked five furlongs
in 1:01 1/5 and Power Broker covered six furlongs in 1:12 4/5.
Kentucky Derby candidate Oxbow walked the shedrow at Churchill Downs’ Barn 44
Tuesday, a day after working five furlongs in 1:01 under jockey Gary Stevens.
“He is very sharp this morning,” trainer D. Wayne Lukas said of Oxbow, who
broke his maiden at Churchill last fall and took the Lecomte at Fair Grounds by
11 1/2 lengths in February. “He will go back to the track tomorrow.”
Wood Memorial runner-up Normandy Invasion galloped 1 1/2 miles under exercise
rider Javier Herrera after the renovation break.
Trainer Chad Brown, who has yet to saddle a Kentucky Derby starter, liked
what he saw of Normandy Invasion’s first day back at the track after working a
half-mile Sunday morning.
“Normally, after a work, I walk a day and then jog,” Brown said. “But right
now, he is too strong.”
Florida Derby winner Orb walked the shedrow at Barn 43 and is scheduled to
return to the track Wednesday trainer Shug McGaughey said. He arrived at
Churchill Downs on Monday morning from his winter base at Payson Park in South
Florida.
“This is familiar territory,” McGaughey said of Barn 43, which served as his
regular barn when he started training more than 30 years ago. “All the horses I
trained here came out of this barn.”
The roster of McGaughey horses that called Barn 43 home included 1993
Kentucky Oaks winner Dispute, 1988 Breeders’ Cup Distaff winner Personal Ensign
and fellow Hall of Famer Easy Goer.
In addition to Orb, McGaughey has a couple other stable stars eyeing major
victories on Derby Day: Point of Entry in the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic and
Hungry Island in the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile.
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