Derby horses continue to arrive at Downs; Bold Conquest
works
El Kabeir (Scat Daddy) and Carpe Diem (Giant’s Causeway) arrived at Churchill
“He looks like he shipped really well,” said trainer John Terranova, whose
Shipping to Kentucky from New York was not a new experience for El Kabeir,
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“He was here in the fall. We shipped him in Thanksgiving week and everything
worked out well,” Terranova said. “He’s gotten over the track, shipped in, been
here, so there are no concerns there.”
The Todd Pletcher barn at Churchill Downs was back to its full complement of
Derby horses Monday with the 5:20 a.m. arrival of Carpe Diem from Keeneland by
van. The colt, a multiple-stakes winner of four of five starts, simply had a
morning of walking around Barn 40 after having put in his final Kentucky Derby
prep (:48.60) Saturday morning in Lexington, then jogging there Sunday.
Arriving shortly after 10 a.m. (EDT) from the nearby Trackside training
center was Louisiana Derby (G2) winner International Star (Fusaichi Pegasus),
who took up residence in Barn 27.
Scheduled to arrive later Monday from Arlington in Chicago is Mubtaahij (Dubawi).
Trained by Michael de Kock, Mubtaahij won the U.A.E. Derby (UAE-G2) in his most
recent start.
The lone horse under Kentucky Derby consideration to work Monday was Bold
Conquest, who covered five furlongs in 1:01 4/5 under exercise rider Abel Flores
for trainer Steve Asmussen. The workout was the ninth fastest of 32 workouts at
the distance.
Bold Conquest’s fractions were :13 1/5, :25 2/5, :37 3/5, :49 3/5 and out six
furlongs in 1:16. The colt worked in company with Gold Hawk (Empire Maker) after
the renovation break.
“He went nice,” Asmussen said. “He goes over the track good. Nice and smooth.
Handled nice.”
Bold Conquest would need two defections from horses under consideration for
the race to gain a spot in the starting gate.
Stanford (Malibu Moon), the Louisiana Derby runner-up, went to the track with
the stable’s first set shortly after 6 a.m. with exercise rider Isabelle Bourez
as his pilot. He galloped a mile and one half strongly, making the Frenchwoman
earn all of her keep.
“Oh, boy,” Bourez said afterward. “He made me work hard today. I didn’t want
him to go fast and he was pulling hard.”
Trainer Todd Pletcher noted that the issue of a rider for Stanford still had
not been resolved, but that there was to be “a pow wow this afternoon with all
the owners on the phone and we’ll see if we can’t get it sorted out there.”
For the full Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks (G1) tracknotes for April 27,
please click
here.
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