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Derby Training At Churchill Downs: King Guillermo ‘Enjoying Being In Kentucky’

It was a quiet Tuesday morning of training beneath the historic Twin Spires with several Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks contenders continuing their training for Labor Day weekend's races including Victoria's Ranch's King Guillermo, who galloped 1 ½ miles at 7:30 a.m. (all times Eastern) under the watchful eye of his trainer Juan Avila.

The speedy King Guillermo has turned heads in his morning training led by his flashy :58.20 five-furlong move last Saturday. He is scheduled to work once prior to the Sept. 5 race.

“I think he's really enjoying being in Kentucky,” said the Venezuelan-native Avila, who emigrated to the U.S. in 2018. “We're very happy with how he's taken to the track and his workouts the last two weeks.”

King Guillermo's owner, five-time Major League Baseball player Victor Martinez, is scheduled to arrive in Louisville later this week.

Prior to the Kentucky Derby and Oaks training window, Lloyd Madison Farm's Major Fed galloped 1 ½ miles at 5:15 a.m. under exercise rider Margarito Fierro. Trained by Greg Foley, the $300,000 Indiana Derby (GIII) runner-up is scheduled to have his final breeze on Friday. Approximately 45 minutes following Major Fed's gallop, West Point Thoroughbreds and Pearl Racing's $600,000 Arkansas Derby (GI) third-place finisher Winning Impression had a light 1 ½-mile gallop with trainer Dallas Stewart's exercise rider Emerson Chavez in the saddle.

Raymond Daniels and Wayne Scherr's graded stakes placed Necker Island had his normal 1 ½-mile gallop at 7:30 a.m. under Hillary Hartman. Trainer Chris Hartman reported Necker Island is scheduled to have one work prior to the Derby with jockey Miguel Mena in the saddle.

Several Kentucky Derby contenders have yet to converge on Churchill Downs but are scheduled to arrive in the upcoming week. The following is the latest arrival information, according to senior director of the stable area Steve Hargrave:

Tuesday via flight from San Diego (approximately 12:30 p.m. ET at Barn 40): Rushie (Michael McCarthy)
Wednesday or Thursday via van from Skylight Training Center to Churchill Downs: Art Collector (trainer Tommy Drury)
Sunday via flight from New York: Caracaro (Gustavo Delgado) and Ny Traffic (Saffie Joseph)
Sunday via van from Florida: Sole Volante (Patrick Biancone)
Aug. 31 via flight from San Diego to Louisville: Authentic (Bob Baffert), Honor A. P. (John Shirreffs), Storm the Court (Peter Eurton); and Thousand Words (Baffert)
Aug. 31 via flight from New York: Dr Post (Todd Pletcher) and Tiz the Law (Barclay Tagg)
Aug. 31 or Sept. 1 via van from Canada: Shirl's Speight (Roger Attfield)

On the Longines Kentucky Oaks front, Mark and Nancy Stanley's graded stakes placed Tempers Rising galloped 1 ½ miles at 6:30 a.m. under Chavez. Also making an appearance Monday morning at Churchill Downs was Flurry Racing Stables, Qatar Racing Limited and Big Aut Farms' $200,000 Indiana Oaks (GIII) winner Shedaresthedevil, who galloped 1 ½ miles with exercise rider Edvin Vargas up for trainer Brad Cox. Her stablemate, Juddmonte Farms' $600,000 Alabama Stakes (GI) runner-up Bonny South, galloped 1 ½ miles under exercise rider Gustavo Abrego.

“Both of these fillies continue to train really well and even though Bonny South just ran, she looks great on the track,” Cox said. “I think Shedaresthedevil has really come into her own and continues to mature with age.”

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Major Fed Team Decides To Skip Ellis Park Derby, Train Up To Kentucky Derby

Major Fed, runner-up in the Indiana Derby on July 8, had been under consideration for Sunday's Ellis Park Derby at the Henderson, Ky. track. Instead, Travis Foley, assistant and son to trainer Greg Foley, told the Daily Racing Form that the 3-year-old son of Ghostzapper will head straight to the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5.

Based at Churchill Downs, Major Fed worked a half-mile beneath the Twin Spires in :50.20 on Aug. 1.

“We're happy with where we are with him and comfortable with the points situation,” the younger Foley told drf.com. “Everything's good and we didn't feel like we needed the race in between.”

Major Fed also owns a second-place finish in the G2 Risen Star Stakes, and a fourth from the G2 Louisiana Derby, leaving him with a total of 38 points toward the Kentucky Derby. He currently sits 16th on the points leaderboard.

‘Unlucky The Last Two Races,’ Major Fed Tries To Get Back In Gear In Indiana Derby

Trainer Greg Foley believes Major Fed is an extremely good horse, the lifelong Louisvillian even allowing himself thoughts of having his first Kentucky Derby starter after Lloyd Madison Farms' 3-year-old colt impressively won a 1 1/16-mile maiden race on New Year's Day.

But now is crunch time. Belief isn't enough. The Churchill Downs-based Foley says he needs to be proven right in Wednesday's $300,000, 1 1/8-mile Indiana Derby, in which Major Fed will break from post 8 in the field of 10. The son of 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper is the 7-2 second choice behind 3-1 favorite Winning Impression.

“If this horse can't run good in this race, we don't need to think about the Kentucky Derby anymore,” Foley said. “Not saying we have to win, but we have to run really good in it. If he doesn't, our Derby hopes are probably at the end. But the horse is going great, and we're expecting a big race.”

Major Fed ranks 17th on the leader board with 30 points toward qualifying for the delayed Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs. A win in the Indiana Derby — worth 20 points —would virtually assure Major Fed a spot, with still time for one more prep race.

Named for 20-time Grand Slam singles winner Roger Federer, Major Fed won on his second attempt after adding blinkers and stretching out in distance at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans. That encouraged Foley to run him in a division of the Grade 2 Risen Star, with Major Fed a bit wide on both turns but closing well to finish second by a total of a length.

The march to the Derby then hit a couple snags.

Major Fed drew the rail in a 14-horse field in the Louisiana Derby, breaking slowly to trail the field then coming extremely wide on the far turn to finish a rallying fourth. The trip only got worse in his next start, Churchill Downs' Matt Winn. Breaking from the extreme outside in the 10-horse field, Major Fed was wide and wider on both turns, languishing home last through the stretch.

“I think he's been very unlucky the last two races,” Foley said. “He went from the 1 hole in the Louisiana Derby. He turned his head when they broke and he got left. He was five lengths behind the next-to-last horse going into the first turn, so he had to be 15, 20 lengths out of it. I thought with a decent break that day, if he doesn't win then he's right there. Then the last race, we were in the outside hole, the total opposite. The ground kind of broke out from under him leaving there so he didn't get away great.

“I think you can draw a big line through that race. Maybe I'm wrong. If he doesn't run well in this one, I'd say maybe he just isn't that type. But I don't see that… He's no bad gate horse. He's smart. He doesn't do anything wrong. It's just whatever you want to call it. Bad luck is all I can call it.”

James Graham, the 2019 leading rider at Ellis Park, will ride Major Fed in a race for the first time.

“He's a good rider, and I'm confident in him,” Foley said. “I want somebody who is going to sit still and finish on the horse. I mean, James can ride a variety of ways, but I think he's a good 'sit still and finish strong' rider – and that's what I want on this horse.”

Graham was aboard for a sparkling workout at Churchill Downs, when Major Fed cruised five-eighths of a mile in 1:01 on June 25.

“He worked really well. He picked up, and he kept picking up, which you're going to need in a really good horse,” Graham said. “I liked the way he went off. He went off in 12-flat, picked up down the lane, picked up again on his gallop out. So, I was really happy with that.

“He showed he could run a little bit in a couple of races at the Fair Grounds. He got not a great trip the last time he ran, ran against some good quality. Let's see if we can muster up some more points. He's a solid horse. He does everything you need.”

This year's road to the historic delayed Kentucky Derby is littered with defections to some of the most prominent contenders, including the winners of the Arkansas Derby (Charlatan), Louisiana Derby (Welles Bayou), Rebel (Nadal), Matt Winn (Maxfield) and a division of the Risen Star (Mr. Monomoy).

“He deserves a crack at it,” Graham said. “Because come September, who's going to be left around? We don't know. Hoping some of the heavy heads have to go and take a little bit of a break come September, which I doubt they will. But it's just the way it is. Everybody is pointing to September. If the horse runs good in the Indiana Derby, he's got a good chance to go on to the Kentucky Derby.”

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Major Fed Tops Field Of 10 Seeking Derby Points In Wednesday’s Indiana Derby

A field of 10 has been drawn for the 26th running of the Grade 3 Indiana Derby Wednesday, July 8 at Indiana Grand. The race is part of the Kentucky Derby Championship Series with the top four finishers earning points toward the 2020 Kentucky Derby set for Saturday, Sept. 5. The Indiana Derby is carded as the 11th on the 12-race card with an estimated post time of 7:45 p.m. First post for the afternoon card is 2:20 p.m.

Leading the list of entrants for Indiana's richest horse race is Major Fed from the Greg Foley barn. The son of Ghostzapper finished second earlier this season in the Grade 2 Risen Star at Fairgrounds and returned in the next start for a fourth place finish in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. He competed in the Grade 3 Matt Winn at Churchill Downs in late May and will start from post eight with James Graham aboard.

Joining Major Fed as a contender for the Indiana Derby title is Winning Impression from the Dallas Stewart Stable. The grey Paynter gelding has not raced since early May, finishing fourth in his last start in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park. Julien Leparoux gets the call aboard Winning Impression from post nine.

The entire Indiana Derby field, in post position order with jockey, includes: No Getting Over Me (Miguel Mena); Extraordinary (Luis Saez); Taishan (Rafael Bejarano); Earner (Stewart Elliott); Shared Sense (Florent Geroux); Background (Tyler Baze); Juggernaut (DeShawn Parker); Major Fed (James Graham); Winning Impression (Julien Leparoux) and Necker Island (Mitchell Murrill).

Leading into the Indiana Derby is the Grade 3 $200,000 Indiana Oaks. Heading the field is Graded Stakes winner Shedaresthedevil from the Brad Cox Stable. The Daredevil filly was a winner in the Grade 3 Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn Park in March and came back for a third place finish in the Grade 3 Fantasy Stakes in early May. Her most recent start was a win against allowance company at Churchill Downs in early June. Shesarethedevil will be ridden by Florent Geroux from post six in the 10-horse lineup.

The Indiana Derby Day card features six stakes total with purses for the day just under the $1 million mark. The program begins at 2:20 p.m. with the 12th running of the $75,000 Hoosier Breeders Sophomore Stakes. Other stakes on the card include the $75,000 Hoosier Breeders Sophomore Fillies Stakes, the $75,000 Indiana General Assembly Distaff (Listed), and the $75,000 Jonathan B. Schuster Memorial (Listed). A special $100,000-guaranteed Pick 5 pool will be offered on the last five races of the program, beginning with the Indiana General Assembly Distaff in Race 8.

Indiana Grand recently received permission to allow spectators during live racing. The facility will operate at reduced capacity, in accordance with State of Indiana and the Indiana Horse Racing Commission guidelines. All guests will be strongly encouraged to wear face masks in all locations, but will be required to wear face masks while indoors except while consuming food or beverages. Doors will open at Noon on Indiana Derby Day.

Live racing continues through Wednesday, Nov. 18 with action held Monday through Thursday beginning at 2:20 p.m. Four Saturday programs are slated for all-Quarter Horse days set for July 4, Aug. 8, Oct. 23 and Oct. 24.

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