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The Haiku Handicapper Presented By Form2Win: 2021 Kentucky Derby

Time to analyze the 2021 Kentucky Derby field, in post position order, in the form of Haiku; a Japanese poem of 17 syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five.

To read previous editions of The Haiku Handicapper, click here.

#1 – Known Agenda
A nightmare post draw
Torpedoes a true win threat
Still play underneath

#2 – Like the King
His road to Churchill
Traversed over Tapeta
Hard to envision

#3 – Brooklyn Strong
A last-minute call
When does that idea work?
Won't be on tickets

#4 – Keepmeinmind
Soph slump in effect
Likes the track, but that feels like
A lifetime ago

#5 – Sainthood
Recovered nicely
After Turfway donnybrook
He'll pass a few late

#6 – O Besos
Won't be knocked around
He'll earn his graded stakes due
In the months to come

#7 – Mandaloun
Early momentum
Was doused by a Fair Grounds dud
Rebounds don't win here

#8 – Medina Spirit
Couldn't seal the deal
Once he got the starting gig
On Baffert's depth chart

#9 – Hot Rod Charlie
The parts appear there
Just not sure how much I trust
The Fair Grounds prep route

#10 – Midnight Bourbon
Last two running lines
Have the same end: Outfinished
Leave him on the shelf

#11 – Dynamic One
Rapid improvement
Might not take home the roses
But wait for the Spa

#12 – Helium
Has seen Thanksgiving
As much as he's seen a race
Since mid-October

#13 – Hidden Stash
A late-stage grinder
Can't hang with mid-tier hopefuls
Not a potent blend

#14 – Essential Quality
The unbeaten champ
Does little else but ace tests
Why would he stop now?

#15 – Rock Your World
Turf-to-dirt success
We'll know all we need to know
After the first turn

#17 – Highly Motivated
Nearly nipped the champ
A breakout win's imminent
Worth a small “win” share

#18 – Super Stock
Surprised at Oaklawn
Breaking his “check-getter” cred
Can't get too enthused

#19 – Soup and Sandwich
An uncommon sight
An Into Mischief that's gray
Might grab a mouthful

#20 – Bourbonic
Long-priced Wood winner
Needs the home stretch seas to part
Tough “win” strategy

Prediction
Champion retains
“Quality” resume grows
Then nine, seventeen

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A Look Back At Mary Hirsch, Who Opened The Door For Female Trainers At Derby

When Vicki Oliver takes Hidden Stash to the saddling paddock on Saturday, she'll join a select group of trainers in Kentucky Derby history. Oliver will be the first female trainer to start a Derby runner in six years, and only the 17^th in the race's 147-year history. In interviews on the subject, Oliver has made it clear she's not ultra-keen on the female trainer angle – after all, horses don't spend much time fretting about the anatomy of their owners, trainers, or riders, and true horsemanship isn't ordained by chromosomes. In fact, the very first female trainer who blazed a trail for Oliver and others may have felt very much the same way.

The first female trainer to try for the roses came in 1937, well before it was possible for women to be jockeys and before it became routine to see them as exercise riders or grooms. Mary Hirsch was first woman granted a trainer's license in 1935 at the age of 22, after initially being rejected on the basis of her gender.

In just about every contemporary mention of Hirsch in the media, she was immediately introduced with what reporters apparently considered her primary credential to be a trainer – she was the daughter of legendary trainer Max Hirsch. It seems Max Hirsch had hoped his daughter would not fall in love with the family business. Mary Hirsch was sent to prestigious boarding schools and admitted once her father had discouraged her repeatedly from following him into the racetrack life. Despite her characterization by sportswriters though, Mary Hirsch didn't pick up training on the strength of her family's name alone. Her entire life had been a self-guided, rigorous preparation for nothing else. She had spent some of her early years living in a cottage on the grounds of Belmont Park, waking early with her father to help feed his horses and observe workouts. She rode jumpers and learned to gallop as soon as she was big enough, learned to shoe horses and read veterinary texts in her spare time.

When Max Hirsch realized he couldn't dissuade his daughter, he apparently decided to support her in her dream. She apprenticed in his stable for several years, and eventually began training her own string. Bernard Baruch, esteemed New York owner and client of Max, was the first to place horses with her. One account suggested that Baruch, disappointed with the finish of his promising sprinter Captain Argo under Max's conditioning, turned to Mary at the end of one race and asked if she could do better. She said she could, and would make Captain Argo a successful stakes runner. Baruch was one of her chief supporters, but Mary also bought her own runners.

Still, for several years, she had to run those horses in the name of her father or her brother, W.J. “Buddy” Hirsch. She was permitted to do all the preparation – managing horses' health and training schedules, riding them, instructing jockeys — all the regular duties of a trainer until the final minutes before a race when she was not permitted to handle her own horses or receive credit in the program. Her paper training was evidently no secret, as it was reported openly in newspapers.

At last, Mary grew embarrassed at having to give away the credit for her hard work. In 1934 Hirsch requested a license by The Jockey Club, which at the time was the regulatory body for racing in New York. Her application was tabled, (which in this case was formal speak for rejected without having to go through the unpleasantness of rejecting someone), so she sought licensure in Michigan and Illinois. For reasons that were never publicly detailed, she was successful there. She became the first woman to bring a string of horses to run at Hialeah, where she was also successful in being licensed. With a win there by Captain Argo, Hirsch returned to the board in New York, waving her license and asked them for a second time what they thought about a woman training racehorses. This time, the body agreed, which Hirsch said essentially afforded her an automatic in to wherever else she wanted to run.

At the start of 1937, she had built a reputation as an up and comer with a small operation. In 1935, Mary Hirsch had saddled winners of ten races for earnings of $10,365 (more than $200,000 today) and in 1936, she had 17 wins and $18,575 in earnings.

Her Derby hopeful was No Sir, a son of Sortie out of Westy Hogan mare Fib, both of whom were trained by Max Hirsch. Mary purchased the horse from Andy Joiner in the spring of his 2-year-old season and immediately sent him to victory in the East View Stakes. He became the first female-trained entry of the Flamingo Stakes, where he finished second, and was also the first female-trained winner at Saratoga in the Diana Handicap. Ahead of the 1937 Derby, Mary was confident, despite facing a monster in War Admiral.

“With ordinary luck and a good ride my horse can win it,” she told media in late April 1937. “No Sir has worked well since he came to the Downs, and has shown he can go the Derby distance. he has a world of early foot and I think can hold his own in the early stages against War Admiral and Pompoon when the three of them probably will be out there fighting for the lead.

“Yes, sir. No Sir has plenty of heart.”

Max Hirsch evidently did not attend the Derby, wanting Mary to “go it alone.” Mary noted in earlier interviews that while her father asked her for training advice and had at times put his stable in her hands while he traveled, her training decisions with her own horses were independent of his. It was perhaps important to her that she be seen as an independent thinker. The Akron Beacon Journal noted that Max's absence would also let her bask in glory in the winner's circle outside his long shadow.

As racing fans well know however, there was no toppling War Admiral in his 3-year-old prime, and No Sir finished a disappointing 13^th.

Mary Hirsch continued on. She took over the training of Thanksgiving, a promising 3-year-old owned by Anne Corning, after a freakish lightning storm injured several horses in Max Hirsch's barn at Saratoga. In 1938, Mary took the horse to win the Travers in the fastest time since Man o' War. According to racing historian and turfwriter Brien Bouyea however, Mary Hirsch received little to no credit for her record-setting win there, and many papers erroneously reported Max as the trainer.

Hirsch's acceptance by the New York Jockey Club opened doors for others. A 1938 Daily Racing Form note mentioned seven women who had subsequently been granted licensure from New York to Nebraska.

Despite phenomenal success, Hirsch's training career was relatively brief. In 1940, she married Charles McLennan, racing secretary at Hialeah Park, Havre de Grace, Keeneland, Suffolk Downs, Pimlico, and Washington Park. After the wedding, Hirsch turned her horses over to her father and brother and retired. The couple had two children and Hirsch, now McLennan, turned her energies to homemaking. The call of the track proved irresistible however, and in 1949, she returned to the track as an owner when her youngest child entered school. Her father gave her Chinella, a King Ranch yearling whose management Hirsch took on enthusiastically.

There was relatively little coverage of Hirsch's life after that. At the time of her death in 1976, an obituary revealed that she and her husband had bred horses at their Cowpen Farm near their Towson, Md., base until just before his death in 1971.

“Her dad was a tough act to follow,” her son, Charles McLennan Jr., told the Lexington Herald-Leader's Maryjean Wall in 2000. “And she had several brothers prominent in the horse business. It was a man's world at the time.”

After No Sir's run in the Derby, it would be another 12 years before a woman would saddle a Derby horse (Mrs. Albert Roth, as she was billed in official records, whose Senecas Coin did not finish). Dianne Carpenter remains the only woman to have sent runners to the race twice – in 1984 with Biloxi Indian and 1988 with Kingpost.

Shelley Riley remains the best finisher among female trainers after Casual Lies finished second in 1992. Kristin Mulhall sent Imperialism to a third-place finish in 2004 and Kathy Ritvo sent Mucho Macho Man to third in 2011.

It's only a matter of time before a female trainer claims the roses. Whoever manages the task, she will no doubt feel the same way Mary Hirsch did about the profession of training. When asked in an [otherwise uncomfortably misogynistic] interview with the Louisville Courier-Journal in 1937 “What this trainer's life is like for a girl, anyhow,” Hirsch replied with the only true hint the public ever got of her feelings on the 'female trainer' angle.

“For a man or woman … I love it!” she said.

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Derby Notes: Hidden Stash, Like The King Take First Gallops At Churchill Downs

Two of the three final Kentucky Derby entrants to arrive at Churchill Downs on Tuesday got their first feel for the main track beneath the Twin Spires on a humid, overcast Wednesday morning.

Trainer Vicki Oliver had Hidden Stash out for a 1 ½-mile gallop at 7:30 with Like the King galloping a bit more than a mile with exercise rider Jose Hernandez aboard for trainer Wesley Ward.

Brooklyn Strong had a walk day for trainer Danny Velazquez.

BOURBONIC, DYNAMIC ONE, KNOWN AGENDA, SAINTHOOD – The Derby Quartet, a friendly foursome that hopes to play a winning tune Saturday in Kentucky Derby 147, was busy getting in their practice Wednesday morning under the watchful eye of bandleader Todd Pletcher, who doubles as one of America's leading horse trainers.

Three of the colts formed a trio for the 7:30-7:45 special Kentucky Derby/Kentucky Oaks training session in order to get in their licks, each going for a mile and a quarter gallop around the big Churchill Downs oval. Known Agenda played his tunes for rider Hector Ramos, Dynamic One harmonized with Carlos Perez Quevedo and Sainthood and Amelia Green were right in rhythm. At 7:50 their other member, Bourbonic with Ramos crooning, went solo for a similar 10-furlong session.

After training, the Derby quartet had a paddock schooling session.

Pletcher was asked if an impending rain storm in Louisville might cause their sweet notes to be canceled Thursday morning.

“The only way we won't train Thursday is if it's unsafe (lightning) outside,” he said.

So the show will go on.

BROOKLYN STRONG – Mark Schwartz's Brooklyn Strong, who posted his final work Monday morning at Parx before vanning overnight to Churchill Downs, walked the shedrow of barn 41 and is expected to make his first trip to the track Thursday morning Trainer Danny Velazquez arrived in Louisville at 11 a.m. Wednesday to saddle his first Kentucky Derby starter from his Philadelphia base.

ESSENTIAL QUALITY, MANDALOUN – Godolphin's Essential Quality and Juddmonte Farm's Mandaloun galloped 1 ½ miles at 5:15 a.m. for trainer Brad Cox.

The duo were scheduled to school in Race 4 Wednesday.

Cox is counting down the hours until he saddles his first horses in the Kentucky Derby.

“I'm not too nervous yet, just getting excited,” Cox said. “This week is a lot of fun and I'm really excited to be a part of it in this role.”

For Cox, the Derby was a dream growing up in South Louisville. Now, it's turned into a reality which he gets to celebrate with his family. His sons, Blake and Bryson, hold a pivotal role around the barn assisting in training. Cox's youngest son, Brodie, will be at Churchill Downs for the Oaks and Derby.

“It's really special running in these big races and sharing these moments with my sons,” Cox said.

Along with his family, Cox often has a group of his friends who spend time with him at the races. Led by former Campbellsville University Football legends Joe Don Looney and Billy Troutman, Cox's group of friends have been known around the backside as the “Brad Cox Mafia.” Looney and Troutman have been friends with Cox for more than 15 years.

“We like to keep him relaxed and ready for game day,” Looney said.

Cox grew up just blocks from Churchill Downs on Euclid Avenue in the south end of Louisville. If Essential Quality or Mandaloun win Saturday, Cox would be the first Louisville-born trainer to win the Kentucky Derby.

HELIUM, SOUP AND SANDWICH – D J Stable's Helium and Live Oak Plantation's homebred Soup and Sandwich both galloped again Wednesday morning, according to trainer Mark Casse's assistant David Carroll, who said their Tuesday schooling session in the paddock went well also, while indicating his boss will be on the backstretch Thursday morning.

HIDDEN STASH – BBN Racing's Hidden Stash made his first appearance at Churchill Downs since winning an allowance race last Nov. 28 galloping a mile and a half under trainer Vicki Oliver at 7:30 Wednesday morning.

Fourth in the Blue Grass Stakes (G2) in his most recent start, Hidden Stash had been training at his home base at Keeneland since that race and arrived at Churchill Downs Tuesday morning.

With her first Kentucky Derby entrant, the time at Churchill Downs is almost like a vacation for Oliver.

“I usually gallop seven or eight a morning at Keeneland,” said Oliver, who is commuting back and forth to Lexington for the rest of the week. “The 7:30 training window is perfect for us.”

Following training, Hidden Stash had a paddock schooling session at 10 o'clock with plenty of other runners and passed with flying colors.

“I was going to do it on a race day, but with the rain in the forecast, I didn't want to do it then,” Oliver said. “He was good and we don't have to do that again.”

HIGHLY MOTIVATED – Klaravich Stables' Highly Motivated galloped 1 3/8 miles again Wednesday morning during the 7:30-7:45 allotted training time for Derby and Oaks horses and will school in the paddock prior to Wednesday's second race. Trainer Chad Brown said the son of Into Mischief has progressed each day since his final Derby workout this past Saturday, and definitely showed more today in his gallop than Tuesday.

“I like the way he's going, I thought he was moving a little better today,” Brown said. “He had a strong work and now, the second day back galloping out of the breeze, he's loosening up again and looks super. I'm really happy with him.”

Brown, a four-time Eclipse Award winner for Outstanding Trainer (2016-2019), has been on the precipice of a Derby win before, as Normandy Invasion took the lead off the far turn before running fourth in 2013, and Good Magic was second to Triple Crown winner Justify in 2018. Highly Motivated has some similarities, but some differences as well.

“He's also making his third start off the layoff, like both those horses were,” Brown said. “But this horse is a little faster positionally than Normandy Invasion. He broke then split the field when he settled in and moved early. Highly Motivated, I can see getting a better spot than that, but both horses have a quick acceleration.”

HOT ROD CHARLIE – TwinSpires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Hot Rod Charlie was back at it Wednesday morning, smartly galloping a mile and a quarter under exercise rider Jonny Garcia during the special Derby/Oaks training session at 7:30. The well-made son of the 2013 Preakness winner Oxbow had his usual substantial rooting crew looking on, led by horse trainer/impresario Doug O'Neill.

The California-based conditioner has a crew of five right-hand men who oversee his latest Derby threat, including key assistant Leandro Mora as well as equine therapist Tyler Cerin.

Cerin, the 33-year-old son of Vladimir Cerin, a training mainstay on the Southern California circuit, has been practicing his “hands on” horse work for more than a decade and has become a regular around the O'Neill barn. He was there for all of their previous Kentucky Derby capers – I'll Have Another's score in the 2012 Run for the Roses; Goldencents going unplaced in the 2013 edition, and Nyquist proving the hero of the 2016 renewal.

He was asked about Hot Rod Charlie. Has he had to do anything special with the millionaire colt who has run short and long, dirt and turf and there or thereabout every time?

“Not really,” Cerin said. “Nothing special with him. I just make sure all's good with his general well being. He's a pretty straightforward horse.”

Trainer O'Neill was queried about the ever-growing gathering that surrounds “Charlie,” which includes three separate ownership groups, families, friends, newfound friends and folks who want to be their friends, most of them from California.

“They're quite a group,” he offered. “They'll be good for business here in town. By Friday night I expect them to be up around 150 people.”

KEEPMEINMIND – Kentucky Jockey Club winner Keepmeinmind continues to make a favorable impression as he once again galloped strongly over the Churchill track at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday. The Laoban colt, who races for the partnership of Cypress Creek Equine, Arnold Bennewith and Spendthrift Farms LLC, is trying to overcome poor starts in the Rebel Stakes (G2) and Blue Grass Stakes (G2) in the Kentucky Derby.

“He's been working really good,” trainer Robertino Diodoro said. “In his first race this year at Oaklawn (Rebel), it was a speed biased track. It wasn't (jockey) David's (Cohen) fault, but he got hung four or five wide and when it looked like he was about to make a move, he just hung. In the Blue Grass, we knew there wasn't much speed so we tried to put him closer to the front. We did, but he didn't do it on his own. David had to force him to lay closer and when it came time to run, he was empty. He's had excuses.

“I think he'll show up to be the real horse on Saturday. It's hard to say I'm confident with a 50-1 shot, but I do think he'll show up. He'll come running.”

KING FURY – Fern Circle Stables and Three Chimneys Farm's King Fury repeated the usual routine established by trainer Kenny McPeek on Wednesday morning. During the period reserved for Kentucky Derby and Oaks horses, the winner of the Lexington (G3) at Keeneland was sent for a maintenance gallop with exercise rider Lalo Jose Quiroz aboard.

“It was a mile-and-a-half, uncomplicated,” said McPeek.

LIKE THE KING – M Racing Group's Like the King galloped a little more than a mile after 9 o'clock with exercise rider Jose Hernandez aboard for trainer Wesley Ward.

Wednesday morning's exercise marked the first time Like the King had been on the track at Churchill Downs. He had arrived Tuesday morning from Ward's main base at Keeneland.

Overseeing Like the King's preparation at Churchill Downs is California trainer Blake Heap who has served as Ward's man on the scene when the trainer doesn't travel.

“His father Dennis had a horse named Do Right by Dudley in 1987 at Turf Paradise,” Heap said of when the working relationship started. “A few years later we started being stabled next to each other and starting helping each other out.”

Ward, who will be starting his first Kentucky Derby runner, has won four Breeders' Cup races with three coming at Santa Anita where Heap oversaw the preparation of the likes of Judy the Beauty and Hootenanny in 2014 as well as other runners Ward has sent to the West Coast over the past 17 years.

MEDINA SPIRIT – Zedan Racing Stables' Medina Spirit went to the track at 7:30 a.m. with Humberto Gomez and galloped about 1 ½ miles while his six-time Kentucky Derby winning trainer Bob Baffert looked on from the main gap.

Baffert is seeking a record seventh Kentucky Derby following Authentic last year, Justify in 2018, America Pharoah in 2015, War Emblem in 2002, and back to back wins with Silver Charm in 1997 and Real Quiet in 1998.

“When I got beat with Cavonnier in 1996, I thought I'd never win a Kentucky Derby,” Baffert said. “Then, I won with Silver Charm and Real Quiet and started thinking this was easy, but then it got lean for a number of years. You just never know when these Derby wins are going to come. I'm just glad to be back here.”

Baffert said Medina Spirit, who has never been worse than second in five career starts, is probably among the top 10 runners in this year's field, but that he wouldn't be surprised to see him put in a top effort.

“The thing about Medina Spirit is he's an overachiever,” Baffert said. “He's a real fighter and if there's a battle, he'll be right there. I wouldn't be surprised if he got a piece of it.”

MIDNIGHT BOURBON, SUPER STOCK – Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon and Erv Woolsey's and trainer Steve Asmussen's father Keith's Super Stock both hit the track Wednesday morning during the Derby-Oaks training session at 7:30. Midnight Bourbon stretched his legs for the first time since his final Derby breeze Monday morning and continues to thrive, while looking like a bigger, stronger version of the colt who ran in all three of Fair Grounds' Derby preps this winter. Super Stock was allowed to do a bit more, as he worked Saturday, and galloped 1 ¼ miles.

O BESOS – Bernard Racing, Tagg Team Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds and Terry L. Stephens' O Besos galloped about one mile and schooled in the paddock Wednesday morning.

“We're ready to roll,” trainer Greg Foley said.

ROCK YOUR WORLD – The tall, dark son of the stellar stallion Candy Ride continued his forward training toward Saturday's Run for the Roses with a solid gallop Wednesday morning during the special Derby/Oaks period at Churchill Downs that goes from 7:30-7:45 and limits those allowed on the track to runners headed to the two classic races scheduled this weekend.

Trainer John Sadler had rider Javier Meza up for the exercise and had him put his charge through a nine-furlong move that met with his approval.

Rock Your World is three-for-three so far in his brief career with two of the wins coming on turf, but the most recent – the prestigious Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April 3 – coming on the dirt. His race before that was a score in the listed Pasadena Stakes and in both those black-type tallies he had the top California rider Umberto Rispoli in the irons. The plan was for the Italian-born Rispoli to be there for the Kentucky Derby, too, but – as happens often in the world of racing – things changed.

Joel Rosario, currently the second-leading rider in the country and a personal favorite of trainer Sadler, suddenly came open. He thought he was booked for a Derby spin on the horse Concert Tour, but when that colt came up short in the Arkansas Derby, Rosario and his agent, Ron Anderson, were back Derby mount hunting. They turned to an old friend.

The 36-year-old Rosario is a native of the Dominican Republic and was that country's leading rider four years in a row starting at the age of 15 before heading to California and taking on tougher competition. He first made waves in Northern California where he nearly unseated the king of the Bay Area, Russell Baze, a feat considered all but impossible. Then he shifted his tack to Southern California.

“I first rode him on a horse at Golden Gate and he got beat a whisker,” said Sadler. “But I said 'Wow' to myself, that kid rode the hair off my horse. When he came south I was on him right away. I put him up on his first winner at Hollywood Park – he came through a hole that I didn't think possible in order to do it — and we were off and running from there.”

Sadler and Rosario clicked and kept on clicking. They were riding and training champs together at Del Mar in 2009 and won races – and stakes races – in bunches at all three of the Southern California tracks. Thanks to the kind folks at Equibase, the record shows that – to date – Sadler has given Rosario a leg up on 1,007 horses, won 242 races with him and earned $20,886,898 in purses. They've won 47 stakes together and 34 of them have been graded. No other trainer in the country has ridden Rosario more times or won more races with him. It isn't even close.

So, yes indeed, Sadler and Rosario have history, which led to their connection in this year's Run for the Roses.

“Make no mistake,” Sadler notes, “Umberto Rispoli is a terrific rider. He's won Santa Anita's stakes the last two weekends for me and we've won a lot of races together. But the analytics with Joel are so strong I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. I'm hoping, of course, it all works out.”

Rosario will guide Rock Your World into post 15 Saturday in the 20-horse Derby field. Then he'll ride for all he's worth for Sadler – the man who was the key in making him a star – to try to give him some payback that would be beyond sweet — his first triumph in the Kentucky Derby.

THE FIELD FOR THE $3 MILLION KENTUCKY DERBY PRESENTED BY WOODFORD RESERVE (GI)

Known Agenda (Irad Ortiz Jr., 6-1)
Like the King (Drayden Van Dyke, 50-1)
Brooklyn Strong (Umberto Rispoli, 50-1)
Keepmeinmind (David Cohen, 50-1)
Sainthood (Corey Lanerie, 50-1)
O Besos (Marcelino Pedroza, 20-1)
Mandaloun (Florent Geroux, 15-1)
Medina Spirit (John Velazquez, 15-1)
Hot Rod Charlie (Flavien Prat, 8-1)
Midnight Bourbon (Mike Smith, 20-1)
Dynamic One (Jose Ortiz, 20-1)
Helium (Julien Leparoux, 50-1)
Hidden Stash (Rafael Bejarano, 50-1)
Essential Quality (Luis Saez, 2-1)
Rock Your World (Joel Rosario, 5-1)
King Fury (Brian Hernandez Jr., 20-1)
Highly Motivated (Javier Castellano, 10-1)
Super Stock (Ricardo Santana Jr., 30-1)
Soup and Sandwich (Tyler Gaffalione, 30-1)
Bourbonic (Kendrick Carmouche, 30-1)

All starters will carry 126 pounds

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Derby Notes: Rock Your World Makes Favorable Impression, Final Contenders Arrive On Backstretch

Godolphin's undefeated Essential Quality was made the 2-1 morning line favorite in a field of 20 horses entered Tuesday morning for Saturday's 147th running of the $3 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve.

Earlier Tuesday morning, the cast for Derby 147 became fully assembled with the 6 o'clock arrival from Parx of Brooklyn Strong, and a later arrival from Keeneland by Hidden Stash and Like the King, both of whom galloped early Tuesday morning at the Lexington, Ky. track.

BOURBONIC, DYNAMIC ONE, KNOWN AGENDA, SAINTHOOD – The Kentucky Derby quartet that calls the barn of trainer Todd Pletcher their headquarters moved another step closer to the 147th edition of America's Greatest Race Tuesday morning with solid gallops around the Churchill Downs oval.

Three of the colts were prominent for the 7:30-7:45 special Derby/Oaks training period that clears the track of all morning horses with the exception of those pointing to the two big races. Dynamic One was partnered by Carlos Perez Quevedo, Known Agenda had Hector Ramos at the controls and Sainthood was handled by Amelia Green.

At approximately 7:50, the last Pletcher horse – Bourbonic with Ramos up – went through his exercises.

The seven-time Eclipse Award winning trainer Pletcher noted their progress.

“They all galloped a mile and one quarter and they all visited the gate,” he said. It was exactly what the doctor – or an ultra-steady conditioner like Pletcher – ordered.

On Saturday, Bourbonic will team up with rider Kendrick Carmouche; Dynamic One will have the saddle services of Jose Ortiz; Known Agenda gets Irad Ortiz, Jr, and Sainthood will be handled by Corey Lanerie.

BROOKLYN STRONG – Trainer Danny Velazquez reported that Mark Schwartz's Brooklyn Strong, who arrived at Churchill Downs at 6 a.m. Tuesday, shipped in well and looks good. The 37-year-old trainer is expected to arrive in Louisville for his first Kentucky Derby starter on Wednesday afternoon.

Brooklyn Strong, a late addition to the filed, drew post 3 and was installed at odds of 50-1 on the morning line.

“It's deep inside, but it's O.K.,” Velazquez said. “(Owner) Mark (Schwartz) says three is his lucky number and he's won from there before. Hopefully, he gets a good break and can settle into third or fourth early.”

ESSENTIAL QUALITY, MANDALOUN – Godolphin's Essential Quality and Juddmonte Farm's Mandaloun were two of the first horses on the track early Tuesday morning for trainer Brad Cox.

Essential Quality, with Edvin Vargas up, galloped 1 ½ miles while stablemate Mandaloun followed with Fernando Espinoza aboard.

Essential Quality drew post 14 in the Derby while Mandaloun will break from post seven.

HELIUM, SOUP AND SANDWICH – D J Stable's Helium and Live Oak Plantation's homebred Soup and Sandwich both galloped 1 ¼ miles Tuesday morning, according to trainer Mark Casse's assistant David Carroll, and schooled in the paddock prior to today's first race. While Helium has been on the muscle every morning, Carroll was particularly impressed with Soup and Sandwich, who has much more of a laid-back demeanor than his stablemate.

“I thought it was his best day of training so far,” Carroll said. “Helium is always wanting to do more but Soup and Sandwich doesn't want to give too much, that's just who is he is. But we're really happy with him and how he's progressing along, especially after this morning.”

HIDDEN STASH – BBN Racing's Hidden Stash galloped at 5:30 over a fast track at Keeneland before vanning to Churchill Downs where he arrived mid-morning for trainer Vicki Oliver.

HIGHLY MOTIVATED – Klaravich Stables' Highly Motivated galloped 1 3/8 miles Tuesday morning during the 7:30-7:45 allotted training time for Derby and Oaks horses. Trainer Chad Brown indicated the son of Into Mischief will likely school during the races on Wednesday.

“I'm going to get with my assistants and watch the weather and figure that out, but I'm leaning towards Wednesday,” Brown said. “I prefer to school during the races, so we'll sign up for some sort of spot where we can take him up during the races and get that done.”

HOT ROD CHARLIE – As he had the day before in his first morning at Churchill Downs, the Oxbow colt Hot Rod Charlie only jogged a mile around the Churchill Downs strip Tuesday morning under exercise rider Jonny Garcia. The well-built sophomore continued to show a sparkle in his coat and a pop in his step even though he wasn't really allowed to show all his stuff on a sunny morning in Louisville.

“We'll go to gallop with him tomorrow,” said trainer Doug O'Neill, the two-time Derby winner who is back with a very live chance to go for the hat trick in Saturday's Kentucky Derby 147.

“Charlie,” a “bargain” $110,000 yearling buy, now has won $1,005,700 by way of two victories, a second and two thirds, notably in the last year's Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (second at 94-1) and most recently as the winner of the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby.

He'll be handled for the first time Saturday by California's leading rider, Flavien Prat, who has been aboard the dark youngster in several of his most recent works at his Santa Anita base

KEEPMEINMIND – Trainer Robertino Diodoro is hoping to put a line through Keepmeinmind's first two starts of the year and that his horse makes amends for those poor starts with a strong run in the Kentucky Derby.

Keepmeinmind, who was sixth in the Rebel Stakes and fifth in the Blue Grass Stakes (G2), made the Derby field by virtue of his third in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and win in Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) last year as a 2-year-old.

“I don't like to make excuses for horses, but I think he has some excuses,” Diodoro said. “I think his last race in the Blue Grass was our fault. We took him out of his element, trying to stay closer to the front, and when they started to run, he had nothing left for the finish. We need to get him back to his old way of relaxing early and making one run.

“On paper it may not look like he belongs, but talent wise, he definitely belongs, I think.”

Keepmeinmind drew post position four and was installed at odds of 50-1.

“I'm very happy with it,” said Diodoro, who before the draw said anywhere between post three and 10 would be perfect.

Keepmeinmind will train at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday.

KING FURY – Fern Circle Stables, Three Chimneys Farm and Magdalena Racing's King Fury spent a little time on the track minutes after a brilliant sunrise Tuesday morning. During the period reserved for Kentucky Derby and Oaks horses, the colt put in a maintenance 1 ½-mile gallop with exercise rider Lalo Jose Quiroz aboard. King Fury had his final work for the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

“No problems,” said Greg Geier, assistant to trainer Kenny McPeek.

LIKE THE KING – M Racing Group's Like the King galloped early Tuesday morning at Keeneland under exercise rider Jose Hernandez for trainer Wesley Ward.

Winner of the Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) in his most recent start, King Fury arrived at 9:43 a.m. at Churchill Downs.

MEDINA SPIRIT – Zedan Racing Stables' Medina Spirit continued to make a favorable impression as he galloped 1 1/2 miles with exercise rider Humberto Gomez on board during the special 7:30 a.m. training time.

“He looks great,” said Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who is looking for his record seventh Kentucky Derby victory. “He's happy. A lot of our horses come off the deep surface at Santa Anita and do really well here. He's doing really well, but to me it's Essential Quality's race.”

MIDNIGHT BOURBON, SUPER STOCK –. Winchell Thoroughbreds' Midnight Bourbon walked the shedrow Tuesday morning, a day after he put in his final Derby breeze. The Tiznow colt went five furlongs in 1:02.40 for trainer Steve Asmussen, who indicated he'll school during the Tuesday card.

Erv Woolsey's and Asmussen's father Keith's Super Stock schooled in the gate Tuesday morning and galloped 1 1/8 miles and will school in the paddock during Tuesday's races.

O BESOS – Bernard Racing, Tagg Team Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds and Terry L. Stephens' O Besos jogged one mile and galloped about one mile Tuesday morning around 6 a.m.

ROCK YOUR WORLD – Hronis Racing and David Talla's Rock Your World was one of the stars of the special 7:30-7:45 Derby/Oaks training session Tuesday morning, cutting a dashing figure as he took exercise rider Javier Meza on a nifty spin around the big Churchill Downs oval.

His conditioner, the California veteran John Sadler, looked on approvingly.

“He galloped a mile and a quarter today,” the trainer noted after having his charge merely jog a mile Monday on his first day trackside in Kentucky for his date in Saturday's Kentucky Derby 147. “We'll have a progression with him as the week goes along. A bit farther each day as we go.”

Back at his Barn 43 location, Sadler was asked by a horse admirer how his charge was doing. “He looks pretty good,” was his low-key reply.

In fact, not only does the son of Candy Ride “look pretty good” on the racetrack, he looks darn good just standing. When he held still outside his barn after his exercise and took his bath, there appeared to be about 50 photographers clicking away.

If the Derby was a beauty contest, they might not have to take a vote. The tall, near-black 3-year-old out of the Empire Maker mare Charm the Maker – bred by Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally and his wife Debby – fetched $650,000 as a yearling at Keeneland's September Sale in 2019 and has simply grown better and better along the way. He's got an athlete's body and a smooth way of going over the track, as well as a rapid turn of foot that just might see him on the lead early in the $3 million Run for the Roses.

Joel Rosario, currently the second-leading rider in the country and a long-time favorite of Sadler's was a late addition to the Rock Your World team and all involved believe things are better for that.

THE FIELD FOR THE $3 MILLION KENTUCKY DERBY PRESENTED BY WOODFORD RESERVE (G1)

Known Agenda (Irad Ortiz Jr., 6-1),
Like the King (Drayden Van Dyke, 50-1),
Brooklyn Strong (Umberto Rispoli, 50-1),
Keepmeinmind (David Cohen, 50-1),
Sainthood (Corey Lanerie, 50-1),
O Besos (Marcelino Pedroza, 20-1),
Mandaloun (Florent Geroux, 15-1),
Medina Spirit (John Velazquez, 15-1),
Hot Rod Charlie (Flavien Prat, 8-1),
Midnight Bourbon (Mike Smith, 20-1),
Dynamic One (Jose Ortiz, 20-1),
Helium (Julien Leparoux, 50-1),
Hidden Stash (Rafael Bejarano, 50-1),
Essential Quality (Luis Saez, 2-1),
Rock Your World (Joel Rosario, 5-1),
King Fury (Brian Hernandez Jr., 20-1),
Highly Motivated (Javier Castellano, 10-1),
Super Stock (Ricardo Santana Jr., 30-1),
Soup and Sandwich (Tyler Gaffalione, 30-1),
Bourbonic (Kendrick Carmouche, 30-1).

All starters will carry 126 pounds

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