Brilliant Speed set for Derby; King Congie mulls Preakness

Last year after the Blue Grass, trainer Tom Albertrani was perplexed with the

last-place showing of Odysseus in the race. A few days later, Albertrani had his

answer as Odysseus sustained a bone chip in the back of his left knee in the

race.

Fast forward a year, and Albertrani is thinking Grade 1 Kentucky Derby with

Live Oak Plantation's Brilliant Speed, who came from last place in the field of

12 to nip Twinspired by a nose in the 87th running of the $750,000 race.

Albertrani also saddled third-place finisher King Congie, who was a head behind

Twinspired.

"Last year we were a little disappointed," Albertrani said. "Some horses take

to the Polytrack and some don't. We thought these two (horses) would make the

transition to Polytrack. The transition from Polytrack to dirt remains to be

seen."

Brilliant Speed began his career with two off-the-board finishes on dirt last

summer at Belmont Park and Saratoga. Five consecutive turf races came prior to

the Blue Grass.

"He trained well on the dirt at Palm Meadows," Albertrani said. "I remember

when I galloped (champion grass horse) Paradise Creek, he'd go a half in :46 or

:47 on dirt but seldom repeat that in a race on dirt. The same thing happened

when I was in Dubai. Occasionally they would run a good race, but they were not

consistent. It might just be the right day for them."

Albertrani said a decision would be made in the next couple of days regarding

when Brilliant Speed would ship to Churchill Downs for the $2 million Kentucky

Derby.

"That's up to (owner) Mrs. (Charlotte) Weber," Albertrani said. "We would

probably go over a week before and have one breeze over the track."

Plans for West Point Thoroughbreds' King Congie are indefinite.

"We talked after the race and we might give the (Grade 1) Preakness a try,"

Albertrani said, noting the colt had not been nominated to the Grade 2, $200,000

American Turf at Churchill Downs on May 6. "We have a lot of options with him,

things like the (Grade 2) Virginia Derby and the (Grade 1) Secretariat."

James S. Karp's homebred Newsdad was fine the morning after he rallied to

finish fourth, within 1 1/2 lengths of Brilliant Speed in his Polytrack debut,

trainer Bill Mott said.

"He had kind of a troubled trip," Mott said of the colt, who was ridden by

Jesus Castanon. "He might have won it with a perfect trip."

Mott said he was not sure what Newsdad's next race might be. The colt, who

had made his three previous starts on grass, is the only horse that competed in

the Blue Grass that is not nominated to the Triple Crown.

Dave Rock, assistant to trainer Graham Motion, said that Team Valor

International's Crimson China came out of his fifth-place effort in good order.

Even though Crimson China failed to earn a Kentucky Derby spot, Team Valor

and Motion have another candidate in Grade 3 Spiral winner Animal Kingdom, who

worked five furlongs here Saturday morning in :59 1/5.

"Everybody was happy with the works yesterday," said Rock, about the moves

that included a 1:00 2/5 work by Team Valor's Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks hopeful,

Summer Soiree. "Depending on the weather, both of them probably will go to

Churchill Downs on Thursday, gallop Friday and work on Saturday."

Trainer Mike Stidham was lamenting a rough trip for All In Stable's Willcox

Inn in his eighth-place finish.

"He had a rough trip and was stuck inside," Stidham said. "But if he had a

significant move, he would have made it, but he didn't. In his good races, he

has been back further and put in a sustained run. Yesterday, he didn't."

Stidham agonized through the race as Willcox Inn was caught in traffic for

practically the entire trip.

"I noticed one time about the 4 1/2 (furlong) pole that (jockey) Rosie (Napravnik)

practically stood up on him," Stidham said. "The race as it unfolded reminded me

of the Derby where the horses get all jammed up on the inside with no place to

go and a horse comes up on the outside, loops the field and runs by them all."

Stidham said Willcox Inn would be pointed to the Mid-America Triple series at

Arlington Park that begins with the Arlington Classic on May 28, continues with

the Grade 2 American Derby on July 9 and concludes with the Secretariat on

August 13.

"The timing is good and we are stabled there," Stidham said.

"A bad trip," trainer Eddie Kenneally said about the performance turned in by

Tom R. Walter's Santiva, the 2-1 favorite who finished ninth. Santiva broke from

post 3. "Down on the inside, no running room," he added.

Kenneally said the colt will relocate to Churchill Downs later in the week.

Santiva has $242,397 in graded stakes earnings, placing him unofficially in 21st

position on the list of possible starters for the Kentucky Derby.