Tag: bourbonic

Pletcher Works Derby Quartet at Churchill

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

All five horses worked at 7:30 a.m. and D J Stable's unbeaten GII Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby winner Helium was the first of the quintet to work.

“The most important thing about the work is [jockey] Julien [Leparoux] was happy,” said trainer Mark Casse.

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 GI Curlin Florida Derby winner Known Agenda and WinStar Farm and CHC Inc's GII Jeff Ruby Steaks 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.

“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 GII Wood Memorial S. began their work together through an opening quarter-mile fraction of :24.40 and half-mile time of :48.60. Dynamic 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.”

Medina Spirit Works at Santa Anita…

Medina Spirit (Protonico), second in the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby Apr. 5, worked five furlongs in 1:00 (4/43) at Santa Anita Friday.

“He worked five eighths, galloped out strong and looked good,” trainer Bob Baffert said.

Meanwhile, a decision on 'TDN Rising Star' Concert Tour (Street Sense)'s participation in the Kentucky Derby remained on hold. The Gary and Mary West colorbearer, already at Baffert's Churchill base, was a disappointing third as the 3-10 favorite in last Saturday's Arkansas Derby.

“Nothing yet,” said Baffert. “I'll be talking to Gary, but we wanted to give the horse a week and see what's happening. “He looks good but there's no decision yet.”

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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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Todd Pletcher Talks Derby Contenders On Writers’ Room

At one point this spring, it was conceivable that soon-to-be Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher would be faced with the unusual situation of not having a GI Kentucky Derby starter. Things change quickly in racing though, as now the seven-time Eclipse Award winner is likely to have four horses in the gate in Louisville and Wednesday morning, he joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland to talk about his sudden Derby quartet. Calling in via Zoom as the Green Group Guest of the Week, Pletcher also talked about what still motivates him to train, his early opinions on the Derby field and the progress racing has made on safety since his last appearance on the show following the 2019 Breeders' Cup.

Regarding his one-two finishers in Saturday's GII Wood Memorial S., 72-1 Bourbonic (Bernardini) and 15-1 Dynamic One (Union Rags), Pletcher said, “In Bourbonic's case, it was what I would describe as a pleasant surprise. He's a horse that's always trained well and we did think getting around two turns and up to a mile and an eighth was going to be to his benefit. I'd be lying if I said we expected him to win. The strategy was, let's let him fall back, make one run. He should get the distance and hopefully [be] picking up the pieces at the end, which he definitely was. I can't tell you I had a $40 win ticket on it.

“In Dynamic One's case, we were expecting him to run well. We've been a little disappointed in what he's done so far because he's always trained liked a good horse. I think he's still learning how to run and finish off a race. He got a little bit lost by himself [in the stretch of the Wood]. I think Bourbonic surprised him a bit. But that type of performance is what we've been seeing from him in the mornings to indicate he's of that quality.”

As for GI Curlin Florida Derby winner Known Agenda, likely to be the shortest price of the Pletcher four, he said, “He's a Curlin. He's bred to be better a little later. What surprised us about him was he was able to be competitive in his debut at 6 1/2 furlongs. Off that one race, he was able to beat Greatest Honour at a mile and an eighth, and they were 20 lengths clear of the third horse. In the Remsen, he was still green and was stuck inside on a sloppy track. Once he got clear late, he put in a good final sixteenth. He left himself too much to do. Same thing in the Sam Davis. So I think the blinkers have made a difference. The exciting thing about the group that we have is, I think they're all horses that are going to improve at a mile and a quarter. They're all horses that are truly looking for that distance.”

When Pletcher was last on the podcast, he spoke bluntly about the catastrophic situation racing found itself in after the spate of fatal breakdowns at Santa Anita. Wednesday, he was asked what progress he's seen since then in the sport and what still needs to be done.

“One breakdown is too many, but we also live in the real world where those things happen,” he said. “I think we've made a lot of improvements. The statistics are showing that the numbers are down. Like I said then, it's not a trainer thing, it's not a jockey thing, it's not a track veterinarian thing. It's an industry thing. We have to do better from the ground up. From the time these horses are born, to the way they're prepped for sales, the way they're treated the whole way. It's everyone's responsibility. Ultimately, it comes down to trainers making the decisions at entry time and race time. I think the industry has recognized as a whole that we all have to do better. That's why I think we're making improvements and hopefully are not going to rest on our laurels of doing better. We've got to keep getting better.”

Elsewhere on the show, the writers reacted to a huge weekend of racing, analyzed the prospective Derby picture and, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, reported on an NFT-based virtual racing game that is rapidly growing in popularity. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

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Pletcher Barn Suddenly Flooded With Quartet Of Kentucky Derby Prospects

Calumet Farm homebred Bourbonic, trained by Todd Pletcher and piloted by Kendrick Carmouche, garnered an 89 Beyer Speed Figure and 100 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for his dramatic head score over stablemate Dynamic One in Saturday's Grade 2, $750,000 Wood Memorial presented by Resorts World Casino at Aqueduct racetrack in Ozone Park, N.Y.

The victory capped a sensational day for the Pletcher barn, which successfully debuted promising New York-bred maiden Great Workout on the Wood Memorial undercard and also included a closing second from Haikal in the Grade 3 Excelsior.

Bourbonic, a dark bay Bernardini colt, was sent to post as the longest shot on the board at 72-1 and topped an unlikely exacta over 15-1 stablemate Dynamic One that returned $453 for a $1 wager.

Patiently handled by Carmouche, Bourbonic closed from last of nine runners to edge Dynamic One, who had made the lead at top of the lane after tracking the early foot of the prominent Grade 3 Gotham-winner Weyburn.

“It was a very patient ride,” said Byron Hughes, the New York-based assistant for Pletcher. “That track often plays to frontrunners or horses closer to the pace. Yesterday, it was playing fair and there were some closers. He waited as long as he could and made one run and it paid off.”

A late bloomer, Bourbonic graduated at third asking in a $50,000 maiden claiming mile in December at the Big A and followed with a score against winners in January traveling a one-turn mile at Aqueduct. He entered the Wood Memorial from a runner-up effort in a mile and 70 yards optional-claiming tilt at Parx in February.

While many of the Pletcher-trained Kentucky Derby hopefuls wintered at Palm Beach Downs in Florida, Bourbonic remained with Hughes in New York. He said the added distance was beneficial for the improving dark bay.

“We always thought he wanted more distance and two turns is something he needed,” said Hughes. “It was a good day for the team. He's been a forward training horse here. He loves to train and it's been great to have him up here this winter.”

Repole Stable, Phipps Stable, and St. Elias Stable's Dynamic One earned 40 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for his runner-up effort under Jose Ortiz. The Union Rags chestnut was piloted to a nine-furlong maiden victory in March by Carmouche at Aqueduct.

“He ran a game race,” said Hughes. “I was looking at the Trakus this morning and he actually ran 43 feet more than Bourbonic did. It was a game race and we were happy with his effort.”

Hughes said he was pleased with how both horses came out of the race.

“They both look good. They both ate up last night and are walking around here this morning with a purpose,” said Hughes.

Pletcher also enjoyed a successful Saturday at Keeneland with Kentucky Oaks hopeful Malathaat remaining undefeated after taking the Grade 1 Ashland. Also victorious at the Lexington oval were 3-year-old turf filly Jouster in the Grade 2 Appalachian and well-regarded sophomore colt Ghazaaly, who graduated in the day's opening race.

“It was a big day for us at Keeneland, too. Malathaat is undefeated and looked great doing it,” said Hughes.

Hughes said the barn is excited at their prospects for the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby slated for May 1 at Churchill Downs. They currently have four contenders on the leaderboard, including Florida Derby-winner Known Agenda [102 points], Bourbonic [100], Dynamic One [40] and Sainthood [40].

“It's exciting. We went from not having any to having four in two weekends,” said Hughes. “These last shots paid off and the barn is excited for the Derby. All the hard work getting here at 4:30 in the morning, it pays off for everybody.”

Kentucky Derby Leaderboard

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