Trainer Art Sherman, coming on strong despite running on very little sleep,
and California Chrome, coming on strong, too, despite not being allowed to do
much running, made the Churchill Downs scene Tuesday morning and proved big
hits.
Both trainer and horse had jetted in from their Southern California
headquarters Monday and both were ready to get on about the business of showing
what the likely Kentucky Derby favorite does five days in front of America’s
foremost horse race. Wearing a simple green saddle cloth (his Derby cloth was
misspelled and had to be redone) and with regular exercise rider Willy Delgado
aboard, the chestnut colt started trackside from Barn 20 at approximately 6:45
a.m. (EDT) with Art’s son and assistant — Alan Sherman — guiding him on a
shank through traffic and the five-furlong gap.
The California-bred son of Lucky Pulpit backtracked all the way around the
big Churchill strip, hugging the rail all the way. Delgado reported afterward
that his mount felt “more aggressive” than usual during the jog, though he
responded positively to stout restraint and there were no incidents of note
along the way.
“He shipped good and he’s doing good, just like we thought,” Art Sherman said
afterward. “He’s a laid-back colt, so we knew the trip wasn’t going to bother
him. And he’s feeling awful good right now, so I’m not surprised to hear he was
pulling hard.”
Sherman said he’d have his horse back to galloping Wednesday, though he
wasn’t quite sure if he’d be out during the Derby/Oaks training period at 8:30
a.m., or come to the track earlier given the colt’s strong want to get on with
his business. He indicated he’d school in the paddock Wednesday, then stand in
the gate Thursday.
“He’s plenty fit to run,” the trainer said. “It’s mostly schooling now;
getting him used to the place.”
Sherman belayed his 77 years by working on about five or six hours sleep over
the past two days, which included getting his horse to the airport in California
at 1:30 (PDT) in the morning, then dealing with a delayed plane trip of his own,
social commitments in Louisville and dozens of phone calls along the way. Still,
when he met a sizable contingent of media types near Barn 20 at 9 a.m (EDT)
Tuesday, he was full of smiles, all the right answers and a feel-good vibe that
has made him and his colt Derby 140’s most popular story.
The whole California Chrome saga has just gone from good karma to better
along the way, starting with owner/breeders’ Steven Coburn and Perry Martin
turning an $8,000 mare and a $2,500 stallion into a horse who has won more than
$1 million, allowing them to turn down $6 million for 51 percent of him and
taking them all to the edge of racing glory.
Even the seemingly bad luck turns to good for the “Chrome Boys,” as Art
Sherman tells the tale.
“So my wife Faye and I were flying on Southwest out of L.A. yesterday and
wouldn’t you know we wound up in a delay in Phoenix,” he relayed. “They had an
issue with a plane and had to go and get us a new crew. But that all turned out
great. We meet up with (trainer) Tom Proctor, (jockeys) Mike Smith and Gary
Stevens and (former jockey agent) Ronnie Ebanks. They were all headed to
Louisville, too.
“So we get on the plane and we’re all sitting together and we’re telling
stories. And I mean to tell you this crew of guys can spin stories with the best
of them. I can’t tell you half the tales that were told, but there were some
beauties. We are laughing and laughing and laughing. It was a riot. The people
on the plane around us couldn’t believe how much fun we were having.
“And then, to cap it all off, as we’re starting to come into Louisville,
Ronnie jumps up and gives a call of the Kentucky Derby. It was terrific; the man
should be a race caller. And he knew his audience. He had the race between
California Chrome, Hoppertunity (Smith’s mount) and Candy Boy (Stevens’ mount).
And he takes us right up to the finish as the plane’s coming in and he says:
‘And it’s too close to call at the wire!’ Oh, I’m telling you the whole plane
loved it. Everyone was cheering. And it was the best plane ride I’d ever had.”
In other Kentucky Derby news:
Starlight Racing and Skychai Racing’s General a Rod worked a half-mile
Tuesday in 49 2/5 to the satisfaction of trainer Mike Maker and jockey Joel
Rosario. The move was the 17th fastest of 27 at the distance over a fast track.
“I never worked him in the morning, and Mike asked me to be on him, and yeah,
just to work for the race,” said Rosario, who rode General a Rod to a victory
in the Gulfstream Park Derby and a third-place finish in the Florida Derby. “He
looked good, steady going the whole way.”
Rosario won last year’s Derby aboard Orb.
My Meadowview Farm’s Samraat went to the track for the first time Tuesday
morning and jogged twice around the oval in the wrong direction under exercise
rider Rodney Paine. Winner of his first five career starts before finishing
second in the TwinSpires.com Wood Memorial on April 5 at Aqueduct, Samraat
shipped from New York on Monday afternoon. Trainer Rick Violette said the trip
on a charter flight took five hours, stall to stall.
“It was almost like he was beamed here,” Violette quipped and said the son of
Noble Causeway out of the Indian Charlie mare Little Indian Girl handled the
journey well. “He was squealing and throwing his head walking around here after
we got unpacked. He likes traveling.”
Samraat and Uncle Sigh will be the ninth and 10th New York-breds to run in
the Derby since Funny Cide became the first winner from the Empire State in
2003. Violette noted that Funny Cide also finished second in the Wood.
“It’s a horse race. This is a real horse,” Violette said. “He’s beat all but
one horse in six starts. I think he’s a high-quality horse, period, as is Gary
Contessa’s horse, Uncle Sigh. It’s a little bit of a different breed than it
might have been years ago.”
That difference, Violette said, is that the New York program has continued to
improve.
“I just think New York-breds and the breeders have stepped up their game,” he
said. “Little Indian Girl has three stakes horses. She’s a pretty nice
broodmare. Noble Causeway hasn’t set the world on fire, but he’s by Giants
Causeway and that’s been a pretty good combination. Uncle Sigh was a pretty
expensive two-year-old purchase and was meant to be a nice horse.”
Trainer Todd Pletcher chose to go light on his quartet of Derby contenders (Danza,
Intense Holiday, Vinceremos and We Miss Artie) Tuesday morning at Churchill
Downs and instructed his hands to simply walk the foursome around the shedrow at
Barn 34 rather than take them to the track for exercise. The colts previously
had worked half-miles Sunday, then jogged a full mile each on a “sloppy” track
Monday.
In light of his “audible” call, Pletcher was asked about instructions and
audibles for his crew of riders come Derby Day.
“Overall, I don’t like to give riders too many instructions,” the trainer
noted. “My preference is to give them a general plan for the race. I might tell
them I think there’s a whole lot of speed in the race and that we probably want
to take back, for instance. Or maybe let them know about a little quirk or
situation with a particular horse. Things like that.
“But I realize that races often don’t come up the way you think they will.
And that’s why you’ve got to leave room for that ‘audible’ by a rider. I’ve got
to have trust in my riders that they’ll do the right thing. And they’ve got to
have trust in me to understand that things don’t always go as you’ve planned.
“In the case of a race like the Derby, the situation changes because of the
multiple entries. With a regular race where I’d only have one runner going, you
can talk your strategy in the paddock. But with the Derby, the paddock is just
too busy. I talk to my riders ahead of time then, leaving me time to deal with
all there is to do in the paddock that day.”
Pletcher’s four riders for the Derby are Joe Bravo (Danza), John Velazquez
(Intense Holiday), Javier Castellano (We Miss Artie) and Joe Rocco Jr. (Vinceremos).
Asmussen was pleased with Tapiture a day after the colt breezed four furlongs
in :50 over a very sloppy track.
“I’m very happy to get it in,” Asmussen said. “I loved how he moved over it.
I can’t say enough about (exercise rider) Abel (Flores), under those conditions,
being able to do what we wanted. He hit 50 right on and that’s what we were
aiming for with the horse.”
Asmussen typically does not ask much of his workers in their final work
before an important stakes engagement.
“He’s got a beautiful stride to him,” the trainer said. “He’s an extremely
efficient mover. I’m definitely happy to get it in before they announced the
track’s closed (yesterday morning).”
Chitu schooled in the gate and jogged about a mile for Hall of Fame trainer
Bob Baffert Tuesday morning.
Meanwhile Hoppertunity walked the morning after his final pre-Derby work,
breezing a half-mile in :48 Monday morning under the treacherous conditions.
Baffert said the colt came out of the work in fine condition.
“I do a lot of gate (schooling); the gate is very important here,” Baffert
said. “I hate when they act up in the gate. I blame myself for it. It’s like a
coach who doesn’t use his timeouts. It’s the coach’s fault, right? Use them
wisely.”
Wildcat Red returned to the Churchill Downs racetrack Tuesday morning for a
strong 1 1/8-mile gallop under exercise rider Juan Belmonte.
“The way he went today was amazing. I’m very happy with it,” trainer Jose
Garoffalo said. “We’re still very optimistic.”
The Fountain of Youth and Hutcheson winner had walked the shedrow Monday
morning after breezing five furlongs in 1:04 2/5 at Churchill Sunday morning.
“It seems he likes the track. I saw a big difference between today and
Sunday,” Garoffalo said of the Florida Derby runner-up. “He’s full of himself.”
Ride On Curlin galloped Tuesday under exercise rider Bryan Beccia for trainer
Billy Gowan. Gowan is quick to praise the legendary trainer Jack Van Berg for
bringing him up in the business. Gowan completed an internship under Van Berg as
the final requirement for Gowan to receive an equine degree from Louisiana Tech.
He wound up working 4 1/2 years for Van Berg.
“He makes you learn,” Gowan said. “He wants you to learn. Where a lot of
people won’t tell you anything, Jack, he will explain stuff to you. He’ll feel
the horse’s legs, and he’ll make you feel the horse’s legs, and he’ll ask you,
‘What did you feel?’ And then, if you don’t see what he sees, he’ll call you a
dumbass, and he’ll show you what it is. You just learn.
“And I remember one time we were going to look at horses’ legs, walking down,
he’d check 60 horses’ legs every morning. And the grooms had to stand there with
the webbings open, and he’d go in there and check them, and there was a note
pad, and he’d write down what to do them up in — ice, this, blah, blah. blah. I
walked in there one morning, probably about half-asleep or whatever. He slapped
me on the back and he said: ‘You look at that horse when you walk in that stall.
See what you see.’ It’s attention to detail. And he would explain
everything…We’d be out on the pony. I galloped a lot of horses for him. And
he’d tell you about times, or why you do this, or why you gallop this way.
Always just telling you. Always teaching. He loved to teach.”
Medal Count galloped 1 1/2 miles under exercise rider Faustino Aguilar during
the Oaks and Derby training session. Prior to the exercise, the Blue Grass
Stakes runner-up stood motionless by the half-mile gap for five minutes,
enjoying another opportunity to acclimate to his surroundings.
“Everything went fine,” trainer Dale Romans said.
Medal Count could be the last Derby starter by Dynaformer, the hugely
influential stallion who died two years ago today — April 29, 2012.
“I think he was a very good sire,” Romans said. “If we could get a good
Dynaformer colt in the breeding shed I think it would be important for the
future of racing. Those are good, rugged, hearty horses”
Dynaformer most famously sired ill-fated 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro.
Trainer John Sadler sent his Kentucky Derby charge Candy Boy to the track
Tuesday morning just as the special Derby/Oaks training period began following
the mid-morning renovation break. Exercise rider Jelani Grant was at the
controls and steered the husky colt through a strong gallop of 1 1/2 miles on
the big Churchill oval. Back at Barn 43 afterwards, Sadler was pleased with the
exercise for his son of Candy Ride and said everything was moving forward in
their quest for honors in Derby 140.
“He’s doing well here,” Sadler said. “Tomorrow and Thursday, I’ll stand him
in the gate. He’ll school with horses for the first race this afternoon.”
When Robby Albarado commited to ride Medal Count in this Derby, veteran
jockey Shaun Bridgmohan landed the mount on Commanding Curve for trainer Dallas
Stewart.
“It’s always nice to ride in the Derby,” said Bridgmohan, who will be riding
in his sixth Derby. His best finish was sixth on Santiva on 2011.
Bridgmohan called Commanding Curve “a very improving three-year-old that’s
coming into himself at the right time.”
“Definitely, the distance is in his favor,” Bridgmohan said. “He’s such a
kind horse. He does everything nice and easy.”