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Derby and Oaks Winners Return to the Worktab

GI Kentucky Derby hero Authentic (Into Mischief) and GI Kentucky Oaks victress Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil) both returned to the worktab Saturday at Churchill Downs.

GI Preakness S.-bound Authentic covered five panels in :59.20, the fastest of 38 works at the distance. With jockey Martin Garcia aboard, the bay clicked off splits in :23.80 and :35.40, galloping out six furlongs in 1:12.20.

“It went very well. Martin has been with me,” said trainer Bob Baffert, who came to Louisville from the Keeneland Sale in Lexington. “He knows what I expect. I told him we’re going to go three-quarters from the [five-eighths pole], and he just went off, didn’t have to move on him. This horse, he gets over any track. He couldn’t have looked better, coming off a race like that. Everything is all systems go for the Preakness. Got a nice work out of him. I’ll come back, give him an easier work next week and he should be ready to go.”

His stablemate Thousand Words (Pioneerof the Nile), who was forced to scratch from the Derby after flipping over in the paddock, also breezed Saturday. Florent Geroux was in the irons for the five-panel move in 1:02.40 (26/38). The bay was clocked in splits of :25.80, :8 and :50.60 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.60.

“He’s not a real good work horse,” Baffert said. “I usually have him in company, and today I had him by himself. He’s just a steady kind of horse. Distance is his friend. Flo got to know him today, and I think he’s going to work him back this week. Now he knows the horse a little bit better. But it was fine. I like the way he actually finished up. He started picking it up the last part. I worked him seven-eighths today. That’s him. He’ll never wow you in the mornings. Just steady. He’s funny in that if you try to rush him early, he gets discouraged.”

The incident with Thousand Words in the paddock injured longtime Baffert assistant Jimmy Barns, who required eight screws in his arm.

“But Jimmy is doing fine now,” Baffert said. “He got his arm patched up. He had a great surgeon who patched him up. He’s actually in pretty good spirits.”

With Barnes temporarily out of commission, both Baffert horses have been under the watchful eye of fellow Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas since the Derby. They are scheduled to ship to Baltimore Sept. 29.

Also on the worktab Saturday were Preakness contenders Art Collector (Bernardini) and Mystic Guide (Ghostzapper). A late defection from the Derby with a minor hoof issue, Art Collector breezed five furlongs in :59.40 (2/38) with jockey Brian Hernandez, Jr. at the controls. The homebred went in fractions of :12.20, :24.20 and :6 with a five-panel gallop-out in 1:11.60.

“He’s in a great spot right now with his fitness,” trainer Tommy Drury said. “We wanted a bit more of a serious work today and he went well within himself. He’ll have a maintenance work next weekend before we ship to Baltimore.”

GII Jim Dandy S. victor Mystic Guide prepped for a possible start in the Preakness with a half-mile move in :48.60 (2/35) at Fair Hill in company with 2-year-old maiden winner Tate (Quality Road).

“Mystic Guide sat just off of [Tate] breaking from the half-mile pole and he came to him in the stretch and they finished together, which was the planned work,” trainer Mike Stidham said. “Then he had a real solid gallop-out. It was just what we were looking for and we’re very pleased with where we’re at with him right now.”

Oaks upsetter Shedaresthedevil also returned to the worktab at Churchill Saturday, covering a half-mile in :49 flat (40/112). With exercise rider Edvin Vargas aboard, the bay clocked her first quarter in :25.20 and galloped out five-eighths in 1:02. Her champion stablemate Monomoy Girl (Tapizar) also breezed Saturday, going four furlongs in company in :49.60 (70/112). Both fillies are nominated to Keeneland’s GI Juddmonte Spinster S. Oct. 4.

Oaks runner-up Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) was also back to breezing Saturday, going a half-mile in :48 flat (11/112) with Tyler Gaffalione in the saddle. Trainer Ken McPeek tweeted that he is considering the Preakness, Spinster and GI QEII S. on turf for Swiss Skydiver’s next start.

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Geroux Hoping To Ride Momentum From ‘Amazing’ Derby Week To Churchill Riding Title

It was a monumental Kentucky Derby week for jockey Florent Geroux whose seven victories, including four graded stakes wins, vaulted him to a tie atop the Churchill Downs jockey standings with Tyler Gaffalione as the 14-day meet resumed Thursday.

“This year has been rough for everyone in the world,” said Geroux, who notched five wins on Kentucky Oaks Day. “Just being here to have the Derby, even if it was in September, with no spectators, was amazing. Because at the beginning of the year, when everyone was staying at home, you thought that was pretty much impossible… it turned out to be an amazing week.”

Geroux's swift start to the September Meet included a 15-1 upset victory with Shedaresthedevil in the $1.25 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI). In the race prior, the $500,000 La Troienne presented by Oak Grove Racing and Gaming (GI), Geroux bested seven rivals aboard champion Monomoy Girl. His day was capped off with a rail-skimming rally aboard Diamond Oops in the $250,000 Twin Spires Turf Sprint presented by Sysco (GII).

“It was an amazing day but, at the end of the day, I wasn't pleased knowing Mundaye Call got beat in the Eight Belles as the even-money favorite,” Geroux said.

In total, Geroux's mounts banked $1,843,419 in purse money during the supercharged Kentucky Derby Week of races. Geroux and Gaffalione held a three-win cushion over Ricardo Santana Jr. in the riding standings. September Meet's defending champion, Corey Lanerie, scored a trio of wins on Kentucky Derby week.

In the trainer standings, Brad Cox won six races with 13 starters and held a two-win margin over Mike Maker. Albaugh Family Stables, G. Watts Humphrey Jr. and Lothenbach Stables are tied in the owner's race with two wins each.

Thursday's nine-race card at Churchill Downs had a first post of 12:45 p.m.

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Oaks Runner-Up Swiss Skydiver ’50-50′ To Join Preakness Field

Trainer Ken McPeek is considering racing talented 3-year-old filly Swiss Skydiver against males for the second time this season, reports the Daily Racing Form. She was second to Art Collector earlier this year in the G2 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, and after finishing second in the G1 Kentucky Oaks, Swiss Skydiver may take on male rivals once again in the G1 Preakness Stakes on Oct. 3.

The decision hinges on which other 3-year-olds plan to show up Pimlico, McPeek said. Currently expected to be in the starting gate are Kentucky Derby winner Authentic, Art Collector, Pneumatic, and Mr. Big News, while Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law may pass on the Preakness to wait for the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Swiss Skydiver's major goal will be the Breeders' Cup Distaff at Keeneland, so other next-race options include the G1 Spinster at Keeneland on Oct. 4, or even the G1 QEII Challenge Cup on Keeneland's turf course on Oct. 10.

“I'd say we're maybe 50-50 at this point,” McPeek told drf.com. “We'd have to run against Midnight Bisou in the Spinster, and trying turf for the first time obviously would be outside the box… I mean, I'm still not sure I want to run against the very best 3-year-old colts right now, especially Tiz the Law. We've got a very interesting decision to make.”

MyRacehorse Founder Michael Behrens Joins TDN Writers’ Room

As far as marketing for a nascent, unorthodox racehorse ownership venture goes, you couldn’t do much better than a horse carrying your silks into the Churchill Downs infield as the GI Kentucky Derby winner. That’s what Michael Behrens experienced Saturday, as Authentic (Into Mischief), bought into by his MyRacehorse microshare partnership in June, fought off favored Tiz the Law (Constitution) past the Twin Spires to earn the garland of roses. Wednesday, Behrens joined the TDN Writers’ Room podcast presented by Keeneland as the Green Group Guest of the Week to explain MyRacehorse’s business model and how the startup came to own one-eighth of a Derby winner.

“I am not from the racing world, I’ve been in ad tech and marketing my whole career,” Behrens said of his background. “Growing up in Southern California, Santa Anita was 15 minutes away and that’s where we went to decompress after crazy stressful weeks. Go out there with friends, have a couple of drinks and bet a few races. I just loved it as a sport, but was always very intrigued about how we can get more fan engagement. I started looking around and [found that] people who really were energized and excited about our sport were those that had some kind of interest in ownership, either through friends or a partnership, whatever it may be. And I just left that was where we could scale, where we could get mass adoption to appreciate the sport.”

MyRacehorse, which started as a pilot program in California, went national only last July. The company sells .001% microshares in Thoroughbreds with multiple shares available and returns that are deposited into owners’ accounts and can be withdrawn via its app. Previously acquiring stakes in Grade I winner Street Band (Istan) and graded stakes winner Lazy Daisy (Paynter), MyRacehorse stepped into the deep end when buying 12.5% of Authentic after the colt finished second in the GI Runhappy Santa Anita Derby. Behrens credits co-owner Spendthrift Farm’s B. Wayne Hughes with opening the door to that partnership.

“When I wrote the original business plan for this, I looked at the industry to try to figure out who had the personality, the DNA [for the idea],” he said. “B. Wayne Hughes, with his success in business and his innovation with breeding, I just loved his disruptive nature. I actually used to do marketing for Public Storage, one of his companies. I came out and took [Spendthrift General Manager] Ned [Toffey] through the idea. The next day, Mr. Hughes called me back in and we started talking. He wants the sport to continue to thrive and grow, so he loved the concept. We started partnering on a couple of deals and that relationship has only gotten stronger and stronger over time. Now he’s come in as one of our partners. Our relationship with Spendthrift and Mr. Hughes has been critical.”

Elsewhere on the show, the writers reacted to all angles of the Derby, GI Kentucky Oaks and the many impressive undercard and juvenile performances we saw this week. Plus, in the West Point Thoroughbreds news segment, they discuss the bankruptcy filing of Ahmed Zayat and wonder how it went south so quickly for the owner of the first Triple Crown winner in 37 years. Click here to watch the podcast; click here for the audio-only version.

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