Month: April 2021

Derby Works: Leparoux Pleased With Helium, Pletcher Quartet Tunes Up

On a busy Friday morning at Churchill Downs, Kentucky Derby contenders Bourbonic (five furlongs, 1:01.60), Dynamic One (five furlongs, 1:01), Helium (five furlongs, 1:01.80), Known Agenda (five furlongs, 1:00.40) and Sainthood (five furlongs, 1:00.40) all recorded published workouts in preparation for the 147th running of the “Run for the Roses” on Saturday, May 1.

All five horses worked at 7:30 a.m. and D J Stable's $400,000 Tampa Bay Derby (G2) winner Helium was the first of the quintet to work. He breezed on the inside of stablemate Peace Achieved through fractions of :25.60, :37.60 and :49.80. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.60. Peace Achieved completed his five-furlong move in 1:02.

“The most important thing about the work is (jockey) Julien (Leparoux) was happy,” said trainer Mark Casse, who slated to arrive next week in Kentucky.

Helium, an undefeated son of Ironicus, will be ridden by Leparoux in the Derby.

Trainer Todd Pletcher arrived two weeks early in Kentucky and was on-site to watch his Derby contenders work Friday morning. Pletcher's first duo of St. Elias Stable's $750,000 Florida Derby (G1) winner Known Agenda and WinStar Farm and CHC INC's $250,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) runner-up Sainthood worked through fractions of :12.60, :24.40 and :36.40. They galloped out together through six furlongs in 1:13.40. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. was aboard Known Agenda while exercise rider Amelia Green rode Sainthood.

“Because of the spacing of their last two races, I wanted a more serious work out of them,” Pletcher said. “I thought both horses got over the surface well and that's what was most important about getting them up here early to work over it. All four of these horses have probably been workmates at one point and I paired these two together because of that spacing of their last race.”

The next Pletcher duo to work was Calumet Farm's Bourbonic and Repole Stable, Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable's Dynamic One. The one-two finishers of the $750,000 Wood Memorial (GII), respectively, began their work together through an opening quarter-mile fraction of :24.40 and half-mile time of :48.60. Dyanmic One finished in front of Bourbonic at the wire and continued to gallop out ahead through a six-furlong time of 1:13.20. Bourbonic completed a six-furlong gallop out in 1:14.60.

“I thought it would be good to work both of these horses together after coming out of the same race,” Pletcher said. “I'd say we were definitely surprised at winning the Wood. (Bourbonic) has always trained a little bit light but we always thought that the further the distance, the better it would be for him. He likes to drop back and make one run.”

Pletcher will be the special guest on “Inside Churchill Downs” Friday at 6:30 p.m. on ESPN 680/105.7. The one-hour radio show, hosted by Churchill Downs Racetrack's Darren Rogers and Kevin Kerstein, along with TwinSpires.com handicapper Scott Shapiro, begins at 6 p.m. and those outside the Louisville area can listen live on www.espnlouisville.com.

Saturday will start the exclusive 7:30-7:45 a.m. training period for Kentucky Derby and Longines Kentucky Oaks contenders. Training hours will move back to a start time of 5:15 a.m. and the track will close at 10 a.m. Saturday's Kentucky Derby workers are Essential Quality and Mandaloun at 5:15 a.m. and Soup and Sandwich at 7:30 a.m. Fans are invited to watch the workouts for free at Churchill Downs. For more information, visit www.KentuckyDerby.com.

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Drayden Van Dyke, Agent Gary Stevens Return To Kentucky With Derby Shot On Like The King

Jockey Drayden Van Dyke, 26, was a fixture on the Churchill Downs backstretch as a kid but started his riding career in California, thanks to the influence of trainer Tom Proctor. With lots of palm trees but diminishing opportunities, Van Dyke has relocated to his birth state – with three-time Kentucky Derby winner and Hall of Famer Gary Stevens as his agent.

“There was a little bit of musical jockeys out in California with his agent Brad Pegram, who had both Mike Smith and Drayden since he started riding,” Stevens explained during a video shot by Jennie Rees on behalf of the Kentucky HBPA. “I'd actually spoken to Drayden about a month before that had happened about a possible move here to Kentucky.

“I really wasn't interested in hustling book for anybody unless the right guy came along. Drayden's been in me and Mike's corner since he started riding. We've watched him develop as a rider, and he's become part of the family. It's a good opportunity for me, and I think a good opportunity for Drayden.”

While both acknowledged that it can be difficult to gain a foothold in Kentucky, especially at the Keeneland meeting, they believe Van Dyke's familiarity with the local horsemen and his skill in the saddle will be major assets in the coming months.

“Everybody here in Kentucky, they've known Drayden since he was a kid,” Stevens said. “It's pretty cool for me to see the guys that he had relationships with when he was a young kid. Jim Baker, we worked one for him at Trackside the other morning. Everybody at the barn, you could tell it was like a long-lost son just came into the barn.”

Van Dyke will also have a Kentucky Derby mount this year aboard the Wesley Ward-trained Like The King (Palace Malice), with whom he partnered to win the G3 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park.

“I think he's peaking at the right moment,” said Van Dyke. “In my eyes, the race is wide open. I'm actually really excited. I was telling Gary the other day, I was dreaming about the Derby! I don't dream that often, and he was telling stories about Chris Antley dreaming about the Derby.”

“Wesley, he does things his own way,” Stevens added. “He said as a 2-year-old, (Like The King) just would not work well on the dirt; he didn't have an affinity for it. He put him on the turf and the synthetic, and he liked it. Obviously, over the wintertime, his last two workouts prior to the Jeff Ruby, when he worked on the dirt over there, he worked in 59 and change. They were black-letter works. So he is showing an affinity for Keeneland's dirt track. Now that's not the same as Churchill's is, but I've seen a lot of really good turf horses be able to transfer that turf form here at Churchill Downs, for whatever reason. If you want to try a turf horse on the dirt, Churchill Downs has been the place to do it.”

 

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EU Commission Lifts 30-Day Foal Restrictions

As part of its newly enacted Animal Health Law, the EU Commission will not apply restrictions on traveling foals under 30 days old through the UK and continental Europe. The European Federation of Thoroughbred Breeders' Associations worked with the likes of Louis Romanet, Dr. Paul Gadot and Brian Kavanagh to form a task force to lobby for the removal of the restrictions, in which Dr. Des Leadon was also instrumental.

EFTBA chairman Joe Hernon paid tribute to the work of the task force led by Goran Akerstrom, FEI Veterinary Director, saying, “This is an example how EFTBA, guardian of the Thoroughbred, can work and represent the many European breeding associations who fund the federation as it continues to address and negotiate on matters of great concern, including post Brexit and Animal Health Law issues.”

The post EU Commission Lifts 30-Day Foal Restrictions appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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Efforia Looks To Remain Undefeated in Satsuki Sho

Efforia (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}) will look to take his career mark to a perfect four-from-four and will attempt to give the Carrot Farm syndicate a second victory in three years in the G1 Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) over the metric 10 furlongs Sunday afternoon at Nakayama Racecourse.

Descending from the family of G1 Japan Cup hero Admire Mooon (Jpn) (End Sweep) and champion Hishi Amazon (Theatrical {Ire}), Efforia made a successful debut over a right-handed 2000-metre trip at Sapporo last August and made it two straight with a Tokyo allowance in November. He has one prep run under his belt this season, a handy defeat of Victipharus (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) in the G3 Kyodo News Hai (1800m) at headquarters Feb. 14 and is primed for his first Group 1 test.

“As a 2-year-old, physically and mentally he was a little weak, and his hindquarters weren't so strong, so it took him a bit of time to recover from races,” said trainer Yuichi Shikato. “Over time though, he's developed well and has become a lot stronger. He's been working uphill recently and has trained as I would have liked.”

Saturnalia (Jpn) (Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}) won the 2019 Satsuki Sho in Carrot Farm's green-and-white colours and Admire Hader (Jpn) can give Lord Kanaloa his second winner in three years. Once-beaten from four starts to date, the Junko Kondo runner was a bit out of his comfort zone when closer to the pace than he prefers in a 2000-metre Hanshin allowance in December, but nevertheless held sway to best Deep Monster (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) by a cosy half-length. He was a bit farther off the speed in the Listed Wakaba S. (2000m) last time Mar. 20 and showed sharp acceleration to defeat Chevalier Rose (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) by a decisive three-length margin. Admire Hader is the choice of Christophe Lemaire.

Danon the Kid (Jpn) (Just a Way {Jpn}) clinched the 2-year-old championship with a workmanlike success in the G1 Hopeful S. over this course and distance on Boxing Day, but there were no visible excuses when only third to front-running Titleholder (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}) in the G2 Hochi Hai Yayoi Sho (2000m) at this venue Mar. 7.

Yoho Lake (Jpn) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) has proved he can run with these, but is a big price in ante-post markets at 30-1. Third and running-on in the Hopeful S., he was flushed extremely wide into the lane in the G3 Kisaragi Sho at Chukyo Feb. 7 and fell just a neck short of Lagom (Jpn) (Orfevre {Jpn}), who re-opposes here at about a third of the price of Yoho Lake.

Five of the sires represented in the Satsuki Sho are themselves winners of the race–Deep Impact (2005), Victoire Pisa (Jpn) (2010), Orfevre (2011), Gold Ship (Jpn) (2012) and Duramente (2015). Deep Impact is responsible for three of the last five winners: Dee Majesty (Jpn), 2016; Al Ain (Jpn), 2017; and Triple Crown hero Contrail (Jpn) last season.

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