2020 kentucky derby | Horse Racing Free Tips

Hernandez Not Worried About Inside Post With One-Eyed Finnick The Fierce

For most trainers, getting the inside-most gate in the Kentucky Derby is like a punch in the gut. It would be easy to think the trainer of a horse missing his right eye — blind to a wall of horses on his outside — would be verklempt. Not Rey Hernandez. Hernandez, who conditions and co-owns Finnick the Fierce, points out the chestnut has finished well from the first post position before, including his third-place performance in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby and his second-place effort (which was later converted to a win via disqualification) in an allowance/optional claimer at Oaklawn. “You know, he's been running really good with the one position,” said Hernandez. “His best races have been from the one position. He might like to be there.”

Hernandez said for as long as he's had Finnick the Fierce in the barn, he has been missing his right eye, which was removed when the son of Dialed In was a weanling. Finnick the Fierce was born with a congenital cataract in that eye, and was sold to veterinarian Dr. Arnaldo Monge for $3,000. After the eye was removed, Monge said the oversized colt was a different animal, leading Monge to suspect the eye had been painful for some time. Monge sold a half interest in the horse to Hernandez, charging the same $3,000 he originally paid. Now, Finnick has raked in $191,290 in earnings and is headed to the Derby. Hernandez said it's a dream come true. “It's amazing,” he said. 'It's a dream we've all got. I'm very excited to have gotten this far.” Hernandez was the one to break Finnick the Fierce as a yearling, so he has only ever known him as a one-eyed horse. He admits it took a little bit of patience as the horse began to train. It also required gelding him early on to reduce misplaced hormonal exuberance that could get him hurt. “It is challenging,” said Hernandez. “In the early stages he was a little more careful with the blind eye because he was trying to see everything with the one good eye. But he's learning how to progress with the one eye. “In the early stage, he'd look around with the good eye everywhere. When he ran in the Kentucky Jockey Club, he was running with the head cocked, trying to see the crowd. He still ran a big race but you could see he was not focused completely.” Hernandez said his partnership with Monge is a good one. For the most part, he's left to manage the horse as he sees fit. Monge told the Louisville Courier-Journal he knew early on the horse was something special–even before he hit the racetrack, thanks to his size and excellent conformation. For Hernandez, it was his performance in the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill that sealed it. “He always showed a lot of talent, and he was very smart, but we didn't know he was that good until he ran first time out,” he said. “I really liked how he ran. That was a five furlong race and he was flying the last 1/16th of a mile. At that point I had a good feeling he was a good horse. “Once he ran second in the Jockey Club, it was pretty much the top 3-year-olds in that race. I was really impressed and running second in the same track they run the Derby, that's pretty good.” Finnick the Fierce beat Kentucky Derby favorite Tiz the Law, who ran third in that race. Tiz the Law has been undefeated since then, meaning Finnick the Fierce and Silver Prospector are the only two 3-year-olds ever to get the better of him, and they've done it on this track. In a Derby year unlike any other, Hernandez is a little relieved Finnick the Fierce will not have to content with the swarms of people normally present on the backstretch or leaning over the rail during the walkover. “The way I look at it, it's a plus,” he said. “It's a plus because I think the less noise for him, noise is a little annoying for him. He's a little concerned by noises, but now that it's going to be quiet I think he'll probably have a better performance.”

Thanks to the National Turfwriters and Broadcasters Association (NTWAB), which has assembled a group of pool reporters providing independent reporting to members unable to be on the Churchill Downs grounds this year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

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Art Collector Out Of Derby Consideration After Minor Foot Injury

Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector, winner of Keeneland's Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes and the $200,000 RUNHAPPY Ellis Park Derby in his last two starts, is out of Saturday's $3 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) with a minor foot issue, trainer Tommy Drury said.

Drury told Jennie Rees of the Kentucky HBPA that Art Collector would not be entered when the field is set Tuesday morning. He said the colt nicked the bulb of his left front heel with a hind hoof while galloping Monday at Churchill Downs. Because of horse racing strict medication rules, the horse could not be treated with an anti-inflammatory this close to the race.

Drury said that Art Collector now will point for the Oct. 3 Preakness Stakes in Baltimore.

Art Collector returned to Drury's Skylight training base in Oldham County yesterday morning, arriving about 8:20.

“He grabbed himself yesterday morning training,” Drury told Rees. “It was still very sensitive this morning. When I took my thumbs to palpate the bulbs of his heels, you could still tell it was pinching him. I had to make a choice. Your horse has to always come first. To run in a race of this caliber and trying to compete against the best 3-year-olds in this country, you've got to be 110 percent. To me, it wouldn't have been fair to Art Collector, even though it's slight, knowing that there's an issue of any kind. I had a meeting yesterday afternoon with my veterinarians, Foster Northrup, Rick Costelle, had my blacksmith there. We discussed some different scenarios. We maybe could have put a bar shoe on it and stabilized it and he would have been fine. But you're going to the Kentucky Derby. First and foremost, as the trainer, it's my responsibility to be the voice for the horse. That's just not fair to him (to run). He's been too good to us, and we're going to make sure he's taken care of first.”

Art Collector came off the van and grazed briefly with Drury on the shank. “I knew after we gave him a little anti-inflammatory this morning that he'd be perfectly sound,” he said. “That's not surprising at all. And that's what we wanted to see. We wanted to see him respond well to it, and it looks like that's what happened. On to Baltimore.”

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Kentucky Derby Derby Notes: Final Works On Three Fronts; Shirl’s Speight Out With Cough

Kentucky Derby hopefuls worked on three fronts Saturday morning highlighted by Sackatoga Stable's Tiz the Law's five-furlong work in :59.21 over a fast track at Saratoga.

Beneath the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs, John Oxley's Enforceable worked a half-mile in :49.60 and Victoria's Ranch's King Guillermo worked a half-mile in :52.20. Also working was Peter Callahan's Swiss Skydiver who covered a half-mile in :49.20 in her final prep for Friday's Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI).

At Del Mar, 2019 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (GI) winner Storm the Court worked six furlongs in 1:12.80 and Thousand Words covered five furlongs in :59.80.

Also at Del Mar, Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Honor A. P. breezed seven furlongs in 1:27.20 with Mike Smith up at 12:45 p.m., a little over an hour before the day's first race.

Owner Charles Fipke reported that Shirl's Speight will miss the Derby because of a minor cough.

ART COLLECTOR – Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector jogged a mile at 6:45 a.m. with jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. in the saddle.

The Blue Grass and Ellis Park Derby winner had his final work prior to the Derby Friday with a five-furlong move in 1:00.80. He is expected to walk the shedrow Sunday.

ATTACHMENT RATE – Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister's $200,000 Ellis Park Derby runner-up Attachment Rate galloped 1 ½ miles under exercise rider Faustino Herrarte at 7:30 a.m.

Attachment Rate is scheduled to work on Sunday. Trainer Dale Romans is due back in Louisville Saturday from Saratoga.

AUTHENTIC – Spendthrift Farm LLC, MyRaceHorse Stable, Madaket Stables LLC and Starlight Racing's $1 million Haskell (GI) winner Authentic is scheduled work Sunday at Del Mar and arrive Monday at Churchill Downs. The plane is due to land at 11:30 a.m.

DR POST – St. Elias Stable's Haskell third-place finisher Dr Post was removed from Kentucky Derby consideration, according to Churchill Downs assistant racing secretary and stakes coordinator Dan Bork.

ENFORCEABLE – Lecomte (GIII) winner Enforceable completed his major Derby preparations by working a half-mile in :49.60 under jockey Adam Beschizza.

Breezing over a track labeled as good during the 7:30-7:45 training window for Derby and Oaks runners, Enforceable posted fractions of :12.80, :24.80, :37.20 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:03.20 while working on his own.

“I think he is really improving at this stage of his career,” trainer Mark Casse said. “He's maturing; he's ready to go.

“I thought he looked super,” added Casse, who will be seeking the first Kentucky Derby triumph of his Hall of Fame career. “If you said to me three months ago you could have him where he is today and you'd be in the position you're in, I would have taken it. I just think he's at the top of his game right now. That's all you can ask for.”

Saturday's work was the sixth for Enforceable since finishing fourth in the Blue Grass Stakes (GII) at Keeneland on July 11 and the second consecutive work with Beschizza aboard.

“I thought the work was perfect,” said Beschizza, who also had worked Enforceable over the winter at Fair Grounds. “He went a scratch under :50. Mark and (assistant trainer) David (Carroll) just wanted to keep the lid on it. His major work was in the bag.”

Enforceable will represent the first Kentucky Derby mount for Beschizza.

“I like his consistency,” Beschizza said. “He is a light-framed horse and doesn't need a lot to keep fit. He is going to have to be on his 'A' game. He needs pace and we know he is going to get it (in the Derby).”

“Where he fits in (the Kentucky Derby field) will depend a lot on who gets lucky, who doesn't. And pace,” Casse said of the late-running colt. “But the only thing for us as a trainer we want is for a horse to be at the top of his game, and I feel like he's there.”

Casse is set to drive up to Kentucky from his base in Ocala, Florida, with a planned midweek arrival.

FINNICK THE FIERCE – Arnaldo Monge and trainer Rey Hernandez's Finnick the Fierce galloped Saturday morning at The Thoroughbred Center in Lexington.

Hernandez said Finnick the Fierce would train the next two mornings in Lexington and then ship to Churchill Downs Monday afternoon.

HONOR A. P. – (from Del Mar media office) C R K Stable's Honor A.P. went through his final Kentucky Derby prep Saturday at Del Mar at 12:45 p.m. PT.

The ridgling son of Honor Code was sent seven furlongs with his Derby rider, Mike Smith, up and his trainer, John Shirreffs, looking on from the track's Clubhouse box section. His final time for the move was 1:27.20. Track clocker Toby Turrell caught splits of :25.80, :37.80, :50.20, 1:02.80 and 1:14.80 along the way. He gave him a one mile gallop-out time of 1:40.60.

“I just wanted an easy seven eighths,” Shirreffs said. “He got it; we're good to go. Now we just need a bit of luck. You need some of that in that race.”

Since running second in the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar on August 1, the grandson of the late champion and superior stallion A.P. Indy now has had four workouts at Del Mar in preparation for his mile and a quarter debut next Saturday. His last three –:59.40 Aug. 15, 1:00.20 Aug. 22 and today's drill – all have been accomplished in the early afternoon with Hall of Famer Smith up.

Smith and Shirreffs combined to pull off a 50-1 shocker in the 2005 Kentucky Derby with Giacomo. Honor A.P., who won the Santa Anita Derby in June, is expected to be one of the shorter betting choices for the Run for the Roses behind the likely stout favorite Tiz the Law.

KING GUILLERMO – Victoria's Ranch's King Guillermo published an easy half-mile move in :52.20 Saturday morning under exercise rider Edgar Garcia.

Trained by Juan Avila, King Guillermo strolled through opening eighth-mile splits of :14.40 and :27.20 before he galloped out five furlongs in 1:05.20.

“(Juan) asked me to go easy and it was exactly what the horse needed,” Garcia said. “I thought he galloped out around the turn well and was moving very easy on the track. He doesn't need to do much, he's pretty fit.”.

MAJOR FED – Lloyd Madison Farm's $300,000 Indiana Derby (GIII) runner-up Major Fed had a scheduled walk day following his five-furlong move in :59 Friday morning at Churchill Downs.

“He cooled out great,” trainer Greg Foley said.

Major Fed is likely to return to the track Sunday at 5:15 a.m.

MAX PLAYER – George Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbred's $1 million Travers Stakes (GI) third-place finisher Max Player schooled in the paddock and galloped 1 ½ miles at 6 a.m. with exercise rider Juan Vargas in the saddle.

The Steve Asmuseen-trained colt is expected to work Monday. Jockey Ricardo Santana Jr. will have the call in the Derby.

MONEY MOVES – Robert LaPenta and Bortolazzo Stable's two-time winner Money Moves is targeting the Kentucky Derby, according to assistant racing secretary and stakes coordinator Dan Bork.

Money Moves worked five furlongs in 1:00.14 Friday at Saratoga for trainer Todd Pletcher. He is scheduled to arrive Monday at Churchill Downs.

NECKER ISLAND – Raymond Daniels and Wayne Scherr's Necker Island walked the shedrow at trainer Chris Hartman's barn a day after working a half-mile in :48.40.

“Once he got going, I thought it was a good work,” Hartman said of the breeze that ended with a :23.40 final quarter and a gallop-out to the half-mile pole. “He will walk again tomorrow and then back to the track Monday.”

Miguel Mena, who was aboard for the work, has the Derby mount, his second. Mena rode Backtalk in the 2010 Run for the Roses.

NY TRAFFIC – John Fanelli, Cash is King and Paul Braverman's Ny Traffic walked the shedrow at trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.'s barn at Saratoga a day after working five furlongs in :59.45.

Joseph reported via text that Ny Traffic came out of the work well and is scheduled to ship to Churchill Downs Monday.

RUSHIE – Jim and Donna Daniell's Rushie walked the shedrow at trainer Michael McCarthy's barn a day after working five furlongs in 1:01.60.

“Everything is good this morning,” McCarthy said looking at the track that was labeled muddy before the first renovation break. “We got lucky with the weather yesterday and it worked out well.”

SHIRL'S SPEIGHT – Charles Fipke reported on Twitter that $100,000 Marine Stakes winner Shirl's Speight will miss the Kentucky Derby due to a minor cough.

“He's coughing and full of mucus so we've had to put him on antibiotics,” trainer Roger Attfield said. “I've had 4 or 5 of them (get sick) these last couple weeks actually. It's nothing majorly serious but it's bad timing. We were looking forward to seeing if we could something fancy but there will be another day. Just normal stuff we have to go through quite often.”

SOLE VOLANTE – Reeves Thoroughbred Racing and Andie Biancone's Sole Volante walked the shedrow at trainer Patrick Biancone's barn at Palm Meadows a day after working five furlongs in :57.80 on the turf.

“Everything is good,” Biancone said via text. “He leaves at 5:30 tonight and should be at Churchill between 11 and 11:30 tomorrow morning.

STORM THE COURT – David Bernsen, Exline-Border Racing, Dan Hudock and Susanna Wilson's Storm the Court worked six furlongs on his own in 1:12.80 with Austin Solis aboard over a fast track at Del Mar Saturday morning.

Trainer Peter Eurton gave the work a thumb's up via text with Storm the Court scheduled to ship to Louisville on Monday.

THOUSAND WORDS – Multiple graded stakes winner Thousand Words completed his final piece of serious work in advance of his trip to Louisville for the 146th Kentucky Derby, working five furlongs in :59.80 in company under the watch of trainer Bob Baffert at Del Mar Saturday.

The move was the second fastest of 44 works at the distance for the day and continued the pattern of improvement for the son of Pioneerof the Nile. The colt broke off several lengths behind Tapitution but went by his workmate on the gallop out, continuing on to cover a mile in 1:39 1/5 on Baffert's watch.

“Bob said it was great work, he was really happy,” said Jason Loutsch, racing manager for Albaugh Family Stables, which owns Thousand Words in partnership with Spendthrift Farm. “It looks like we're trying to teach him to sit back a little bit. He was right off the workmate, about 5 or 8 lengths, and that's probably going to be our style this week since there is a lot of speed in (the Kentucky Derby). I think there will be three or four horses up near the lead and hopefully we're in the second pack that sits behind them.”

Thousand Words comes into the Kentucky Derby off a victory in the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 1 where he bested Grade 1 winner Honor A. P. The bay colt opened his sophomore campaign with a victory in the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis Stakes and boasts and overall record of four wins from seven starts.

“He's one of these horses that is just steady,” Baffert said. “He's just a steady kind of horse. I think he'll be a threat. Both of them, Authentic and him, they're threats. When you see a horse like Tiz the Law, he looks like right now he'll be so tough to beat, but I'm happy right now the way they're coming in. They're coming in the right way and that's all you can ask for right now.”

Thousand Words and his stablemate Authentic are set to ship to Louisville on Monday August 31. Baffert said Authentic is slated to put in his last serious workout at Del Mar on Sunday.

TIZ THE LAW – Sackatoga Stable's Kentucky Derby favorite Tiz the Law breezed five furlongs in :59.21 Saturday morning at Saratoga.

Tiz the Law, the multiple Grade I-winning son of Constitution, is scheduled to arrive in Louisville Monday evening at 5 o'clock.

“Everything went fine,” trainer Barclay Tagg said. “He came back well. It may have been a little faster than he needed to go but the track was very fast, too. It went perfect, he's a pleasure to train.”

WINNING IMPRESSION – West Point Thoroughbreds' and Pearl Racing's graded stakes placed Winning Impression had a regularly scheduled walk day Saturday following his five-furlong move in :59.20 Friday at Churchill Downs.

Likely starters in the 146^th running of the $3 million, Grade I Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve to be run for 3-year-olds at 1 1/4 miles on Saturday, Sept. 5 (in order of preference): Tiz the Law (jockey Manny Franco); Authentic (John Velazquez); Art Collector (Brian Hernandez Jr.); Honor A. P. (Mike Smith); Ny Traffic (Paco Lopez); King Guillermo (Samy Camacho); Thousand Words (Florent Geroux); Max Player (Ricardo Santana Jr.); Enforceable (Adam Beschizza); Major Fed (James Graham); Storm the Court (Julien Leparoux); Attachment Rate (Joe Talamo); Sole Volante (Luca Panici); Finnick the Fierce(Martin Garcia); Winning Impression (Joe Rocco Jr.); Necker Island (Miguel Mena); Money Moves (Javier Castellano). Possible: Rushie (TBA).

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Tiz The Law Beats The Rain, Has Final Kentucky Derby Breeze

For his final piece of serious preparation for the Grade 1, $3 million Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5, Sackatoga Stable's New York-bred Tiz the Law went five furlongs in 59.21 seconds over the Saratoga Race Course main track on Saturday in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

Trainer Barclay Tagg scheduled the work to avoid the anticipated rain showers, so the four-time Grade 1 winner was among the first horses to step foot onto the track at 5:45 a.m., just fifteen minutes before precipitation made its way to the Capital Region.

Piloted by exercise rider Heather Smullen, the son of second-crop sire Constitution went his first three-eighths in 36.01 before galloping out in 1:12.01 on the fast main track, which was raked and harrowed.

“Everything went fine. He came back well,” Tagg said. “He did everything he was supposed to do. I'm satisfied with this work. We had to make the decision this morning to work him. We made the decision around 4:00. Luckily, it wasn't raining when he was working. It's supposed to rain all day, and the track may be worse tomorrow. I'm glad we got the work in.”

Tiz the Law, who is atop the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 372 qualifying points, will be the likely favorite of the “Run for the Roses,” arriving at the prestigious event off a runaway triumph in the Grade 1 Runhappy Travers on August 8. Unbeaten in four starts this season, he won the Grade 3 Holy Bull and Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park before becoming the first New York-bred in over a century to win the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes on June 20.

Tiz the Law following Saturday's breeze at Saratoga

A win in the Kentucky Derby would be a second victory in the American Classic for both Tagg and Sackatoga Stable, who teamed up to win the 2003 Kentucky Derby with Funny Cide, who became the first and so far only New York-bred to win the prestigious event.

Tiz the Law is scheduled to ship to Churchill Downs on Monday. Manny Franco will have the call in the Kentucky Derby.

Bred in New York by Twin Creeks Farm, Tiz the Law is out of the graded stakes winning Tiznow mare Tizfiz and was hammed down to $110,000 when being purchased at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton Yearling Sale of New York-breds.

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