Pletcher happy with Repole pair heading into Derby

Repole Stable's dynamic duo of UNCLE MO (Indian Charlie) and STAY THIRSTY (Bernardini) were out for some

exercise Wednesday morning at 8:30 a.m. (EDT) in the allotted 15-minute period

reserved for Kentucky Derby (G1) and Oaks (G1) hopefuls following the Churchill

Downs' renovation break.

Uncle Mo, last year's juvenile

champion, had exercise rider Hector Ramos up and assistant trainer Mike McCarthy

alongside on a pony, while Stay Thirsty, the winner of this year's Gotham S.

(G3), was partnered by Fernando Espinoza.

The two colts briefly stood in the

starting gate and jogged an easy mile around the Churchill strip, which was dry

and fast on a chilly spring morning. Trainer Todd Pletcher went frontside to observe their training and pronounced all well upon his return to

Barn 34.

"Everything went smoothly," the

multi-Eclipse Award-winning trainer said. "They handled their jog and the gate

with no problems. We've done a lot of good training with them over the last

several weeks here and we're just going light and freshening them up a bit

coming up to the race. They'll gallop on Thursday and Friday and then that will

be it."

DIALED IN (Mineshaft) schooled in the Churchill Downs

paddock Wednesday morning before galloping under exercise rider Carlos Correa. The

Florida Derby winner has trained on a different program than Nick Zito's

other Derby starters. The focus for the dark bay, who arrived from at

Churchill from his South Florida winter quarters on Saturday, has been more on

galloping and less on workouts.

"With a horse like this, he's not very big. We had a really good place to

train on at Palm Meadows on a very heavy racetrack. He's a lightly raced horse,

very lightly raced," the Hall of Fame trainer explained. "Even Uncle Mo, who has only

raced two times (this year), he's had three races (as a two-year-old). Actually,

they were three major races. Dialed In had one major race in November.

"Uncle Mo

had a race in August when he won by a pole, then he came back and won the

Champagne (G1) and won the Breeders' Cup (Juvenile [G1]). He had a lot of bottom. This horse didn't

have much bottom running right into the Holy Bull (G3), a very big allowance

race against older horses and then the Florida Derby."

PANTS ON FIRE (Jump Start) galloped 1 3/8 miles

with Juan Pizarro up during the Derby-Oaks training session, according to

trainer Kelly Breen.

"I think it was possibly his best

day of training," Breen said. "He really floated over the track. He was tough to

pull up, he was eager to do everything. He started reminding me of what he did

before the Louisiana Derby (G2) so I'm tickled pink right now."

Pants on Fire turned a corner at

the Palm Meadows Training Center while preparing for that million-dollar race

and delivered a gutsy performance in New Orleans, holding off Nehro (Mineshaft) in the final

sixteenth despite looking beat coming into deep stretch.

Much of the credit for Pants on

Fire's game finish went to 23-year-old jockey Rosie Napravnik, who was aboard

the colt for the first time that day and will retain the mount for

the Kentucky Derby. The decision was not necessarily an easy one for Breen,

whose first-call rider Joe Bravo was atop Pants on Fire in the first two of Fair

Grounds' trio of graded three-year-old stakes, but jumped off for entrymate Nacho

Business in the Louisiana Derby.

Trainer Kathy Ritvo had a smile on her face when MUCHO MACHO MAN (Macho Uno) returned to Barn 41 on Wednesday morning after a "strong" two-mile

gallop under exercise rider Mike Herra. The South Florida-based trainer was obviously pleased with her colt's

preparation for Saturday's Kentucky Derby, but she has a much, much bigger

reason to enjoy the whole experience.

"I'm so proud to be in the Derby, so blessed to be here, but just to get up

every morning is amazing. It's amazing," said Ritvo, who was near death 2

1/2

years ago when she received a heart transplant that gave her a new appreciation

for living life one precious day at a time.

Ritvo, who suffered from a degenerative heart disease that took the life of

her brother, Lou, in 1996, will saddle her first Kentucky Derby starter, but the

41-year-old trainer has already won the most important race of her life.

"It's definitely prepared me better, because I don't worry as much. One day

at a time, that's it. I think everything moves smoother when you don't worry

about things," the mother of two said. "I don't worry about it. I'm very serious

about my job and what has to happen with the horse, but other than that, I don't

worry about it. It's all good."

U.A.E. Derby (UAE-G2) runner-up MASTER OF HOUNDS (Kingmambo) walked the shedrow of Barn 45 Wednesday while serving his mandatory

quarantine period.

The bay was flown from Ireland to Louisville

Tuesday morning and T.J. Comerford, traveling head lad for trainer Aidan

O'Brien, said everything was going well and the colt was settled in.

"He's just having a walk under tack in the barn for

three-quarters of an hour to an hour," Comerford said. "He will walk again this

evening and will go out to the track in the morning. He's good, very good."

Master of Hounds will clear the quarantine period in time for

training hours Thursday. Comerford said the plan is to take him to the track at

8:30 during the period reserved for Oaks and Derby horses.

"He'll do his own little jog and a canter

around," Comerford said. "The next day the same. That will just take the edge,

the freshness out of him."

This is Master of Hounds' second

visit to Churchill Downs. He was the beaten favorite in the Breeders' Cup

Juvenile Turf (G2) on November 6. His lone start of 2011 was in the U.A.E. Derby,

where he was caught at the wire, losing by a nose. His only victory in seven

starts was in a maiden race, but he has three seconds and a third and has

started in three consecutive graded stakes on as many continents.

California speedster and Grade 1 scorer COMMA TO THE TOP (Bwana Charlie) went

trackside for the first time on a chilly Wednesday morning at Churchill at 8:30

following the renovation break. The gelding had a pony at his side and trainer Peter

Miller up for a jog of about a mile around the big oval. The horse, who'll be

the most experienced runner in Saturday's Derby 137 with 13 starts already to

his credit, had flown in from his Southern California base Tuesday.

"He went fine," the 44-year-old

Miller said back at Barn 42. "He shipped fine and seemed to enjoy the track this

morning. I've gotten on him on occasions (in California) before, just like I

like to get on all my horses every once in a while. It helps me get a feel for

them; to see how they're doing."

Miller, a former groom and

exercise rider, has been training on his own since 2004. This is his first

Kentucky Derby experience.

"I'll paddock school him this

week," Miller said. "Not today, but maybe Thursday and Friday. One or two days

of that, we'll see."