Derby Notes: Enforceable May Be ‘More Forwardly Placed,’ ‘Break Is Everything’ For Storm The Court

Arnaldo Monge and trainer Rey Hernandez's Finnick the Fierce was declared out of Saturday's 146th running of the $3 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (GI) by his co-owners.

With the scratch of Finnick the Fierce, the inside stall and outside three stalls in the 20-horse starting gate will remain open for the field of 16 starters. Program numbers remain unchanged.

With the first good weather morning since Tuesday, all 16 entrants for the Run for the Roses trained over Churchill Downs' fast track Friday morning on the eve of the 146th running of the $3 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (GI).

Among the horses galloping during the 5:15-5:30 (all times Eastern) training window reserved for Derby and Oaks entrants were morning line Derby favorite Tiz the Law and second choice Honor A. P. who were two of the first horses on the track.

ATTACHMENT RATE – Jim Bakke and Gerald Isbister's Attachment Rate had his final morning of training before Saturday's Kentucky Derby.

Trainer Dale Romans reported everything is ready to go for the Ellis Park Derby runner-up.

AUTHENTIC/THOUSAND WORDS – With trainer Bob Baffert looking on, stablemates Authentic and Thousand Words each put in maintenance gallops Friday morning under perfect weather conditions at Churchill Downs.

Friday's clear skies were welcome after rain had soaked the Louisville area the previous two mornings. Derby and Oaks contenders were given a special training slot from 5:15-5:30 Friday and, after Oaks favorite Gamine stretched her legs with a race-day gallop, Authentic came on the scene under Humberto Gomez for a couple of laps around beneath the Twin Spires.

Thousand Words then emerged just after the special training period concluded and also galloped under Gomez.

Both colts are aiming to give Baffert what would be a record-tying sixth Kentucky Derby victory Saturday. Authentic has won four of five starts and bested Ny Traffic last time out in the Haskell Stakes (GI) on July 18.

“In the Haskell it looked like it he was going to be coming up short but a lot of it was he just shut it down early,” Baffert said. “But he's training really well, he's coming up to the race in great shape. He's the kind of horse where he looks around like in the stretch, I told (jockey) Johnny (Velazquez) if we're lucky and we turn for home and he's right there you have to keep him busy because he does check things out.”

Thousand Words, who is owned by Albaugh Family Stables and Spendthrift Farm, has been training forwardly since defeating Honor A. P. in the Shared Belief Stakes on Aug. 1.

“He's a horse who can be a little bit tough mentally. But all of the sudden he started doing really well,” Baffert said of the son of Pioneerof the Nile. “He's a horse where he's getting closer, his numbers are getting tougher and tougher. But everything has to go right for him. He's that kind of horse.”

ENFORCEABLE – Having arrived from Florida Thursday afternoon, Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse was on hand at Churchill Downs Friday morning to see for himself the form John Oxley's Enforceable is bringing into his Kentucky Derby run.

With assistant trainer David Carroll in the irons, Enforceable again looked like a horse wanting to do more as he galloped during the 5:15-5:30 a.m. exclusive training period for Oaks and Derby contenders. The son of Tapit — who is a full brother to graded stakes winner Mohaymen — has been eager in his morning outings all week and could end up closer to the pace Saturday than is typical for his late-running self.

“I was saying to David that I think he may be a little more forwardly placed than usual,” Casse said. “He's really on his game. In the Blue Grass Stakes (in which he finished fourth) he broke much better than he had been breaking and going 1 ¼ miles, I don't know that the pace is going to be crazy. So we're not going to take him back. We're going to let (jockey) Adam (Beschizza) place him wherever he feels comfortable but I'm going to think he'll be more forwardly placed.”

FINNICK THE FIERCE — Arnaldo Monge and trainer Rey Hernandez's Finnick the Fierce was declared out of Saturday's 146th running of the $3 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (GI).

“Because he's blind on the right eye, he carries himself a little funny,” Monge said. “And we always knew that. But ever since he arrived, the vets have been keeping an eye on the horse and I'm telling Rey 'well, they're concerned about this' and there might be a legitimate reason but a regular vet doesn't seem to think so. So we're always trying to do the best for the horse so we made the decision (to scratch) because we don't want to go tomorrow and we're all excited and then he gets scratched at the post. So we always said this is a horse for the long term. It was an honor to be selected (for the Derby) but at the end of the day the most important thing is the horse. Maybe we are missing something I don't know, but I think the plan is to do more diagnostics on him and if everything is OK we'll run another day. What can we do, that's life.

“I didn't notice anything but it was always the right front. That's the same side as his eye and it's always been that way. Rey rides the horse and said 'this horse is fine' and that he didn't feel anything. I don't know. I know horse racing is under scrutiny all the time so I understand not trying to risk that publicity.

“We'll have to see what comes out of this next diagnostic test. Just to be on the up and up, we'll probably send him to Rood and Riddle and get an independent opinion on the horse. If all is good, (the Preakness) could be a consideration. Maybe the Breeders' Cup. Rey wanted to turn him out after the Derby anyway but it will depend on how this comes out. It's a bummer but we'll be back.”

The Dialed In gelding, who was seventh in the Blue Grass Stakes (GII) in his most recent start, had jogged, then galloped Friday morning with Hernandez aboard.

HONOR A. P. – C R K Stable's Honor A. P. was the first Kentucky Derby contender to set foot on the track Friday morning at 5:15 and galloped 1 5/8 miles with Javier Hernandez aboard and trainer John Shirreffs keeping close watch.

After watching the gallop Shirreffs was all smiles, but modest when complimented about how good his Santa Anita Derby winner looked.

“When you get to this level, they all look good,” said Shirreffs, who is seeking his second Kentucky Derby victory after pulling the upset with Giacomo in 2005.

MAJOR FED – Lloyd Madison Farm's Major Fed had his final morning of Derby training Friday with an easy one-mile jog and 1 5/8-mile gallop.

With exercise rider Margarito Fierro in the saddle alongside of Brian Theall aboard stable pony Alejandro, Major Fed will attempt to put his starting gate woes behind him in the Derby.

“We've gotten pretty unlucky at the start,” trainer Greg Foley said. “We schooled him a couple of times this week at the new gate and in the morning in the paddock. We just need things to go our way for once at the start.”

MAX PLAYER – George Hall and SportBLX Thoroughbred Corp.'s Max Player, had a strong 1 ½-mile gallop over a fast track at 5:15 a.m. under regular exercise rider Juan Vargas.

MONEY MOVES – Outfitted with his Kentucky Derby saddle towel, Money Moves galloped during the special 5:15 a.m. training period for Oaks and Derby contenders as trainer D. Wayne Lukas — who is overseeing the colt's conditioning on behalf of his protégé Todd Pletcher — kept watch astride his saddle horse.

MR. BIG NEWS – Allied Racing's Mr. Big News galloped 1 ½ miles Friday morning at 5:30 for trainer Bret Calhoun.

NECKER ISLAND – One of the last Derby horses to train Friday morning, Necker Island jogged once around under Hillary Hartman and then stood in the Kentucky Derby starting gate located in the mile chute.

Among those looking on with trainer Chris Hartman was Wayne Scheer from South Dakota, who owns Necker Island in partnership with Raymond Daniels and Will Harbut Racing.

NY TRAFFIC – John Fanelli, Cash is King, Paul Braverman and Team Hanley's Ny Traffic made the good impression as he came out at 5:15 a.m. and galloped 1 ½ miles around the Churchill track.

Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. participated in some the top 3-year-old races last year with Math Wizard, who hit the board in both the Ohio Derby (GIII) and Indiana Derby (GIII) before a breakout win in the Pennsylvania Derby (GI), but Ny Traffic is the first Classic starter for the 33-year-old trainer, a native of Barbados who has been training in the U.S. since 2011.

“The Derby means everything to me,” Joseph said. “That's why we came here. We hoped to one day win the Kentucky Derby and now to be in the position where we have a chance, we are very fortunate and blessed. We are just trying to take it all in.”

SOLE VOLANTE — After jogging Monday through Thursday, Reeves Thoroughbreds and Andie Biancone's Sole Volante was reunited with jockey Luca Panici for a strong 1 ½-mile gallop during the special 5:15 a.m. training time restricted to Oaks and Derby horses.

SOUTH BEND – It was another smooth morning for Bill Mott trainee South Bend as he galloped during the special 5:15 a.m. training session. Assistant trainer Kenny McCarthy continues to be pleased with what he is seeing from the son of Algorithms, who is attempting to make Mott the first trainer since Bob Baffert in 1997-98 to win the Kentucky Derby in consecutive years.

STORM THE COURT – Breeders' Cup Juvenile (GI) winner Storm the Court jogged a quarter-mile and then galloped a mile under Thomas Dubaele at 7:30 Friday morning.

Trainer Peter Eurton said Storm the Court would not go to the track Saturday morning in advance of his Derby run.

Owned by the partnership of Exline-Border Racing, David Bernsen, Susanna Wilson and Dan Hudock, Storm the Court will be ridden for the first time Saturday by Julien Leparoux.

Eurton, who is saddling his second Derby starter, was asked about the ideal scenario for Storm the Court to notch his first victory of 2020 Saturday.

“The others break a step slow and we break fast and they have to catch us,” Eurton said with a laugh. “The break is everything. If the pace is fast, we will be four to six lengths off it but if it is not a fast pace, we will be up on it.”

TIZ THE LAW –Sackatoga Stable's prohibitive 3-5 morning line favorite Tiz the Law had a strong 1 ½- mile gallop at 5:15 a.m. with regular rider Heather Smullen aboard in his final day of serious training before Saturday's Kentucky Derby. Trainer Barclay Tagg said the Belmont (G1) and Travers (G1) Stakes winner would go out for a one-mile jog Saturday morning.

“He had a very nice gallop,” Tagg said. “Right speed. Everything was comfortable. He pulled up nicely and came back nicely. We're all good. He'll jog once around tomorrow.”

The Constitution colt has won six of seven starts laying close to the pace and making one run at the top of the stretch. His trainer is hoping for a similar trip in the Derby.

“I'd like for us to be laying third all the way around until we get down for business,” Tagg said. “I'm very confident in our horse. He's a very nice colt. I hope he wins it. He's a good horse, good horses do good things.”

Next to Tagg and his partner/assistant Robin Smullen, the person who knows Tiz the Law the best is Heather Smullen, niece of Robin.

“He's good,” Heather Smullen said. “He does everything you ask him to do. He's very happy with himself and moved well over the track this morning (Friday).”

WINNING IMPRESSION – West Point Thoroughbreds and Pearl Racing's Winning Impression jogged a mile with exercise rider Emerson Chavez up for trainer Dallas Stewart.

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Goliath Versus Davids In the Kentucky Oaks

In this corner comes TDN Rising Star‘ Gamine (Into Mischief), a filly by one of the world’s hottest and most fashionable sires who was purchased for a seven-figure price tag at public auction and has whitewashed Grade I rivals by a combined 25 3/4 lengths in her last two starts.

Sharing space in the other corner is Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil), a much more modest auction purchase, who is perfect in her last four against her own sex; and Speech (Mr Speaker), not quite as accomplished as her two chief rivals, but who should in no way be ignored in Friday’s GI Longines Kentucky Oaks.

A $220,000 Keeneland September yearling purchase, Gamine fetched a record-breaking $1.8 million at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic Sale and nothing has finished ahead of her in four career starts. Bar one start, none of her rivals has come close. A maiden winner at first asking by open lengths, she crossed the line a neck better than Speech in a first-level Oaklawn allowance in what is her lone two-turn start to date. Subsequently disqualified for a drug positive, she earned a 110 Beyer for an 18 3/4-length jaw-dropper in the GI Longines Acorn S. going Belmont’s one-turn mile June 20 (by comparison, Tiz the Law was given a 100 for his Belmont score). Shortening up to seven furlongs for the GI Longines Test S., she set the pace from the fleet Venetian Harbor (Munnings) and ran away from her to hit the line seven lengths to the good.

The nine-furlong distance is the obvious question mark for Gamine heading into Friday, but if three-time Oaks-winning trainer Bob Baffert is feeling the pinch, he isn’t exactly showing it.

‘We know she’s fast and she’s done [two turns] before so it’s not like it’s new,” he said. “We’re just blessed we have a filly like this. We gave a lot of money for her and it’s worked out. A lot of times you do that and they don’t work out. We’re just enjoying her.”

Gamine is expected to be the speed of the Oaks, but Tyler Gaffalione should have Swiss Skydiver within shouting distance from the start. The $35,000 long-time Ken McPeek client Peter Callahan invested in the chestnut at Keeneland September two falls ago has proven to be money very well spent. While the margins of her victories have been less imposing than those posted by Gamine, the performances have been no less dominating.

The victims look the same–she defeated Venetian Harbor in a highly rated renewal of Oaklawn’s GIII Fantasy S. in May, then ventured to Speech’s home turf and took down her colors in the GII Santa Anita Oaks the following month. Hardly disgraced when second to Art Collector (Bernardini) in an audacious attempt at the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. July 11, she thrashed her rivals in the GI Alabama S. when last spotted Aug. 15. McPeek is looking forward to the challenge directly ahead.

“We ran on the same racetrack that weekend at Oaklawn and I don’t think there’s a lot separating them,” he said. “It’s going to be fun to watch. That’s what makes me confident. [Bob Baffert’s] filly is going to have to do something she hasn’t experienced and it’s something we’ve done over and over all year.”

Speech figures to sit a good trip in the Oaks, tracking the top two. The Florida-bred earned a richly deserved Grade I last time out in Keeneland’s Ashland S. July 11, earning a figure competitive with what Gamine and Swiss Skydiver have put up going two turns. A $65,000 short yearling at the 2018 OBS Winter Mixed Sale, Speech was bought back on a bid of $95,000 at Fasig-Tipton July that summer and fetched $190,000 at OBS March 18 months ago.

TDN Rising Star‘ Donna Veloce (Uncle Mo) was just touched off as the favorite in the GI Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies in just her second career start and makes his first start since soundly defeating Speech in the GIII Santa Ysabel S. at Santa Anita Mar. 8.

It seems only fitting that in the town the late Muhammad Ali called home, a true heavyweight battle looms in the minutes just prior to 6 p.m. Friday afternoon.

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Trainer Mike Maker Enters ‘Only’ Ten On Opening Day At Kentucky Downs

Trainer Mike Maker told his barn crew to enjoy an easy day Monday when the RUNHAPPY Meet at Kentucky Downs kicks off its six-date run featuring exclusively grass racing.

“I said to the guys at the barn, 'You guys can have a light opening day and then after that we'll pick it up a little bit,” Maker, Kentucky Downs' all-time winningest trainer, said cheerfully. “We entered nine the first day, and we have 15 to 20 every other day.”

Entries for opening day were taken Wednesday with 154 horses making the program: 127 in the body for the 11-race card and another 27 needing defections in order to get in off the also-eligible list. Post time for the first race is 12:10 p.m. Central.

Maker actually wound up having 10 entries Monday, with three needing scratches to run. Among those he entered are Parlor and Hembree in the $750,000 Tourist Mile, the last of four stakes on the WinStar Farm Day card. The capacity field of 12 also includes 2019 winner Snapper Sinclair and Grade 1 winner Next Shares.

Maker claimed Parlor for $80,000 last November at the Fair Grounds for owners Michael Hui, Hooties Racing and WSS Racing. Hui also owns Zulu Alpha. After two races, Maker added blinkers to Parlor, and the 6-year-old gelding responded with four strong efforts, including third by a total of a half-length to multiple graded-stakes winner Factor This in Churchill Downs' Grade 2 Wise Dan and a nose defeat in Keeneland's Grade 1 Maker's Mark Mile won by 2019 Preakness winner War of Will.

“When we claimed him, he had a little bit of a throat issue that we worked on,” Maker said of Parlor. “That seems to be corrected. I'd like to think that's the basis for his improvement. The blinkers were more or less to get him involved a little early.”

The Tourist Mile will be Parlor's fifth year to run at Kentucky Downs, having finished second by a neck (Kentucky Downs Juvenile), second by three-quarters of a length (Dueling Grounds Derby), third (Old Friends, now known as the Tapit Stakes) and ninth in last year's Tourist Mile.

Three Diamonds Farm's Hembree was claimed 2 1/2 years ago for $50,000 and is one of Maker's many claims to become graded-stakes winners on turf. He was fourth in last year's Tourist Mile after winning a Kentucky Downs allowance race in 2018. Hembree most recently was third behind Tourist contender Spectacular Gem in Ellis Park's $100,000 Kentucky Downs Preview Tourist Mile.

Maker has the intriguing Indy Tourist in the $500,000 More Than Ready Juvenile. The other stakes Monday are the $500,000 The Mint Juvenile Fillies and the $300,000 One Dreamer for fillies and mares who haven't won a stakes in 2020.

“We had high hopes on him,” Maker said of Indy Tourist, adding of a 12-length defeat in Indy Tourist's debut, “We ran him at Churchill Downs first time and he stood in the gate, lost all chance and then came back and won by like 16 at Indiana.” Not to nitpick, but it was 15 3/4 lengths on turf at the More Than Ready Juvenile's mile distance.

The Maker arsenal includes the defending champ in the $1 million, Grade 3 Calumet Farm Kentucky Turf Cup in Zulu Alpha. The 1 1/2-mile Turf Cup heads the five-stakes extravaganza on the Sept. 12 Calumet Farm Day at Kentucky Downs. Zulu Alpha kick-started his 2020 season by taking Gulfstream Park's Grade 1, $1 million Pegasus World Cup Turf. His only defeat in four starts this year was a fast-flying second while losing the Grade 2 Kitten's Joy Pan American to stablemate Bemma's Boy by a neck.

“He's breathing fire, ready to roll,” Maker said of Zulu Alpha.

Maker entered Tiger Blood, a $62,500 claim by Parlor's ownership group, in Friday's Grade 2, $250,000 Twin Spires Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs but said he is likely to scratch to run in Kentucky Downs' $750,000, Grade 3 RUNHAPPY Turf Sprint on Sept. 12, a race whose winner gets a fees-paid spot in the $1 million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint Nov. 7 at Keeneland.

“He's an old classy horse,” he said. “He hasn't won for us yet, but maybe this will be the one.”

Skychai Racing's Jolting Joe, who finished second in his racing debut last year at Kentucky Downs behind Keeneland's Grade 2 Toyota Blue Grass winner Art Collector, is being pointed for the Sept. 10 $750,000 Gun Runner Dueling Grounds Derby, Maker said. The New York-bred Joltin Joe reeled off four seconds (including to Tampa Bay Derby winner and Arkansas Derby runner-up King Guillermo) before earning his first victory in a $100,000 New York Stallion Series Stakes at Saratoga in his last start.

Maker's 55 career wins tops Kentucky Downs' all-time standings, with Wesley Ward second at 32. Maker's $7,394,565 in purse earnings dwarfs Ward's $3,448,575, which also ranks second all-time.

However, Maker's run of four straight Kentucky Downs training titles, with a combined 33 victories, ended last year when he won only three races. The title, at four wins, was shared by Joe Sharp, Ian Wilkes and Ward. But Maker also had a track-record 14 seconds which helped him easily win the money title with purse earnings of $1,435,771, almost double Rusty Arnold's next-best $791,094.

“Like I told everybody, second-place finishes at Kentucky Downs are like winning at other tracks.… Titles are nice. You always like to win if you can,” Maker said, adding with a laugh. “But like I said, if I had to pick between the two, I'd prefer to have the money title.”

Maker has more starts — 301 — than any trainer in Kentucky Downs history dating to when he went 0 for 5 in 2003, according to equineline.com statistics. If Maker runs a lot of horses, he's also said in the past, “You should see all the horses that didn't get in,” referencing Kentucky Downs' tendency to get more entries for a race than the maximum 12 that can start. This meet, Maker estimates that he will enter “75 to 80” horses, or about a third of his stable.

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Kentucky: Lasix, New Medication Rules Take Effect As Legislative Committee Declines Action

The Kentucky Legislature's Interim Joint Committee on Licensing, Occupations, and Administrative Regulations heard debate about the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission's new medication rules on Tuesday, the most controversial of which is the regulation prohibiting race-day Lasix in 2-year-olds this year.

According to bloodhorse.com, the committee declined to take action to stop the regulations, allowing the new rules to take effect immediately.

Tracks in Kentucky have implemented no-Lasix for 2-year-olds this year via house rule, but now the regulation is a part of the KHRC regulatory standard. Dr. Bruce Howard, KHRC equine medical director, told the committee that of 60 juvenile races with a total of 532 starters, only one horse had been observed or reported to have bled from the nostrils.

“Eighty-nine percent of the 2-year-olds showed no evidence of blood in their airways and only two out of the 47 scoped showed anything more than a trace of blood,” Dr. Howard said, referring to a week-long study at Keeneland during the summer meet.

The Lasix ban will extend to all graded stakes races in 2021.

Earlier this year, the Kentucky Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association filed suit against the tracks that first implemented the new regulations. The suit is ongoing.

Additional rules included in the new KHRC regulations include: a pushback of non-steroidal anti-inflammatories (NSAIDs) from 24 hours to 48 hours before post time, a rule against stacking NSAIDs, a pushback of intra-articular corticosteroids to 14 days prior to race day, a rule requiring trainers or owners to submit 14 days' worth of a horse's medical records to the commission prior to race day, elimination of bisphosphonates in racing and in horses younger than 4 years old, and a rule requiring a horse be examined by an attending veterinarian in addition to a commission veterinarian pre-race.

Read more at bloodhorse.com.

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