American Pharoah, Firing Line and Dortmund gallop at
Churchill Downs
Kentucky Derby (G1) winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) galloped 1
Also galloping after the break were the two-three finishers from the Derby,
For American Pharoah and fellow Bob Baffert trainee Dortmund, it was their
Owned by Zayat Stables, American Pharoah had regular morning partner Jorge
|
Kaleem Shah’s Dortmund, with Dana Barnes up, followed right behind and
galloped a similar distance.
Baffert is scheduled to return to Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday night from
his Southern California base.
“Everything went very nice and we did exactly what Bob told us to do,” said
Jim Barnes, the Baffert assistant who is overseeing things at Churchill Downs.
“When they walk for four days, they can get a little quiet. You get them back to
the track and they begin to wake up. We didn’t do much this morning. Normally we
gallop a mile and a half and I would imagine we would be back to that distance
soon.”
Jockey Victor Espinoza, who is unbeaten in five starts aboard American
Pharoah, believes that the champion will move forward in the May 16 Preakness
(G1).
“I think the Derby sets him up well for the Preakness; I think he needed that
kind of race,” Espinoza said.
“He really only had two races for the Kentucky Derby since coming off a
layoff, and they were so easy that the Derby was a challenge, but it was a good
experience for his next race.”
Arnold Zetcher’s Firing Line, who had jogged the previous two mornings,
galloped 1 1/2 miles under exercise rider Humberto Gomez for trainer Simon
Callaghan.
Firing Line came on the track shortly after the Baffert duo headed back to
the barn.
“For the first day, that was a comfortable gallop,” Gomez said. “He is the
same as he was before the Derby, which is a good sign. He is what I would call
scary calm. He is so professional.”
Carlos
Santamaria, assistant to trainer Simon Callaghan, was asked what kind of report
card he would phone in to Callaghan after Friday’s activity.
“What do you
think, Humberto?” Santamaria said. “An A?”
“An A-plus,”
Gomez said. “An A-plus for the whole week and for the way he looks.”
Three other horses based here under possible consideration for the Preakness
galloped before the renovation break.
John Oxley’s Danzig Moon (Malibu Moon), fifth in the Derby, galloped under
William Cano for trainer Mark Casse; Zayat Stables’ Mr. Z (Malibu Moon) galloped
a little more than a mile under Edvin Vargas for trainer D. Wayne Lukas; and
Charles Fipke’s Tale of Verve (Tale of Ekati) galloped 1 5/8 miles under Cortez
Walker for trainer Dallas Stewart.
Lukas spoke of the timeline for a Preakness decision about Mr. Z.
“I’ll know
soon. We are going to ship up there Tuesday,” said Lukas, who plans to take
several horses for other stakes next weekend.
Lukas has not
confirmed a rider for Mr. Z. Ramon Vazquez has ridden Mr. Z in his past
two starts.
“I don’t want
to tie someone up if we don’t run,” he said.
Stewart said that he was discussing Tale of Verve’s Preakness status with
Fipke.
“I talked
with the owner last night,” Stewart said. “There were a lot of horses that ran
bad races (in the Derby) and it wasn’t like they were flying home with the last
quarter in :26.
“The longer the better for him. If he doesn’t gallop a long way, he doesn’t
get a lot out of it.”
Trainer Todd
Pletcher reported Friday morning that there have been no decisions made
concerning the Preakness statuses of Materiality (Afleet Alex), Carpe Diem
(Giant’s Causeway), Stanford (Malibu Moon) and
Competitive Edge (Super Saver).
Materiality and Carpe Diem, who finished sixth and 10th,
respectively, in the Derby; Stanford, who was scratched from the Derby; and
Competitive Edge, the undefeated winner of the Pat Day Mile (G3) on the Derby
undercard; are training at Belmont Park.
At Laurel
Park, Bodhisattva (Student Council) galloped Friday morning for a scheduled
start in the Preakness. The Federico Tesio winner is scheduled for a breeze Sunday morning.
Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com