Mubtaahij blows out three furlongs for Kentucky Derby

Last updated: 4/30/15 6:39 PM

Mubtaahij stretched his legs with jockey Christophe Soumillon
(Bob Newell/Horsephotos.com)

On Thursday, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum’s UAE
Derby (UAE-G2) winner Mubtaahij (Dubawi) had an easy three-eighths breeze timed
in :37 2/5 with jockey Christophe Soumillon aboard.

“It was a very easy work just to stretch his legs,” trainer Mike de Kock
said. “It just gets them breathing a little bit deeper, gets the blood
oxygenated, lets them stretch and get the circulation going into the muscles.”

Churchill Downs clockers also noted the first eighth of a mile in :13 1/5 and
a half-mile gallop-out time of :52 2/5.

“I just told (Christophe) to let him stretch his legs out
over the last 400 (meters) and just enjoy himself,” de Kock said.

An easy blowout 48 hours prior to raceday
is part of the standard operating procedure in de Kock’s barn.

“I always do it, or nine times out of 10, I’ll blow them
out,” de Kock said. “Some of them a little bit harder, some of them a little
less, depending on the horse.”

Based on his behavior and appearance at Churchill Downs
this week, if Mubtaahij doesn’t run big in the Kentucky Derby it won’t be
because of the much-discussed daylong ship or the unfamiliar surroundings.

“He goes out there to work and he doesn’t flinch, he
doesn’t balk, he doesn’t sweat up, he doesn’t behave like an idiot,” de Kock
said. “He’s doing everything right.

The Irish-bred is doing everything right and
now that he’s acclimated the question for handicappers should be the same as
with the other 19 entrants — is he good enough?

International powerhouses Mike de Kock and Soumillon are tackling the Kentucky Derby for the first time
(Lauren Pomeroy/Horsephotos.com)

“I suppose he is a mystery,” de Kock said. “He hasn’t run in North America.
The whole (Dubai) Carnival thing is a mystery and the horses he ran against. It’s hard
to get a handle on him — why he can, why he can’t.”

Ken and Sarah Ramsey’s Louisiana Derby (G2) winner International
Star (Fusaichi Pegasus) walked the shedrow at trainer Mike Maker’s barn, but
that’s in keeping with his normal plan and not a hint of a problem.

“That’s just part of his routine and part of a lot of my horses’ routines to
get a day off during the week,” Maker said. “If they work on Saturday they get
the Thursday off.

“It’s just the way I train. I don’t know if there’s any
(benefit).”

Asked point blank by a reporter if
International Star was dealing with any physical issues, Maker responded with a
definitive, “No.”

The trainer relayed that International Star
will gallop Friday shortly after the track opens for training.

“He’s razor sharp and rarin’ to go,” Maker said. “Show up at 5:45 tomorrow
and he’ll put all your questions to bed.”

In other Kentucky Derby news:

Carpe Diem’s post 2 is no problem, according to retired Hall of Famer Angel Cordero Jr.
(Bob Newell/Horsephotos.com)

With two days to go before the first leg of the
Triple Crown, all indications point to a fast track for the Derby as well as for
Friday’s 141st running of the $1 million Kentucky Oaks (GI). Sunny skies are forecast for Friday and
Saturday with temperatures in the 70s at race time both days.

Trainer Todd Pletcher had his spirits
lifted regarding Carpe Diem’s (Giant’s Causeway) drawing post 2 by an old friend.

“(Hall of Fame jockey) Angel Cordero (Jr.) stopped
by this morning and told me not to worry about the two hole,” the trainer said.
“He said he’d won out of the two twice, once with Cannonade (1974) and then with
Bold Forbes (1976).”

Trainer Rick Violette is delighted with Upstart (Flatter), and also feeling
better about drawing post 19.

“I think he loves the surface,” Violette said of his pupil’s first
experience at Churchill. “I don’t know that
he’s ever moved this well. He really floats over it. The cold weather certainly
is a big plus, getting out of the 90-degree heat in Florida.

“My first comment (about the post position),” Violette said, “was: for the
next three days, as a coach, I have to convince my jockey it’s the best place
to be. But that only worried me for 30 seconds because I got a call and he (Jose
Ortiz)
watched the draw from New York and said ‘Don’t worry about a thing.'”

Jockey Elvis Trujillo and his agent, Tom Knust, are a bit more concerned
about Ocho Ocho Ocho’s (Street Sense) landing on the dreaded rail, according to
trainer Jim Cassidy.

Upstart is loving the Churchill surface
(Jessie Holmes/EquiSport Photos)

“The agent called me from California and said, ‘What post did we get?’ I
said, ‘The one.’ I thought he fainted,” Cassidy said. “I told him, ‘Well you
don’t have to ride the horse, don’t worry about it.'”

The trainer insists they still intend to hold back and hopefully settle in
the second flight of horses.

“I’ve got to think Carpe Diem and a couple of those others are going to go
but I don’t want to go with them, or sit behind,” Cassidy said.

During the renovation break, Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas entertained visitors to
his barn with racing stories, including one about how jockey Donna Barton, who
worked horses for him, had a feel for the 1995 Derby. Lukas ran Thunder Gulch,
who was a 21-1 shot, and the 3-1 favored entry of Timber Country and the filly
Serena’s Song.

“She worked all three of them on a Tuesday morning,” Lukas said. “We
were coming back. I said: ‘Donna, you just had the best seat in the house on all
three. Which one has got the best chance to win the Derby?’

“She said, ‘This one
right here, Thunder Gulch.’ And I said, ‘Better than Timber Country?’ She said,
‘Yeah.’ I said, ‘You’re sure?’ She said, ‘This is the one you’ll get it done
with.’ I said, ‘Well, you’re going against a champion.’ Sure enough, he gets it
done.”

For the full Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks (G1) tracknotes for April 30,
please click

here.

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