necker island | Horse Racing Free Tips

Bruce Lundsford’s Art Collector (Bernardini), winner of the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. in his latest start, worked over a muddy Churchill Downs track Saturday morning. Trained by Tom Drury, the colt carved out fractions of :12.80 and :24.60 before galloping out five furlongs in 1:01.20 and six panels in 1:14.80.

“It’s so nice to have a horse who is versatile and can really run over any surface,” said Drury. “He did everything very easily this morning and it was really just a perfect work. We are still taking things one day at a time. We just have to get there and we’re keeping our fingers crossed.”

Drury indicated the colt remains on course to make his next start in Sunday’s Runhappy Ellis Park Derby ahead of a tilt at the Sept. 5 GI Kentucky Derby. Also targeting Ellis’ Derby next weekend, Jackie Rojas, Wayne Scherr and Raymond Daniels’ Necker Island (Hard Spun) covered four furlongs in :47.80.

Other possible Kentucky Derby contenders that recorded breezes Saturday were John Oxley’s GIII Lecomte S. winner Enforceable (Tapit) (five furlongs in 1:02.60) and Lloyd Madison Farm’s GIII Indiana Derby runner-up Major Fed (Ghostzapper) (four furlongs in :50.20).

“I was very happy with how [Enforceable] worked this morning,” said 21-year-old Declan Carroll, whose father, David, oversees trainer Mark Casse’s Churchill Downs string. “He did everything in stride. I was just the pilot.”

Highlighting the fairer set Saturday morning, Peter Callahan’s Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) worked five furlongs in 1:01 in preparation for the Aug. 15 GI Alabama S. at Saratoga. The chestnut, who was runner-up behind Art Collector in the Blue Grass last month, carved out intermediate fractions of :13.40, :26.40 and :38.20 before rounding out the move in 1:14.20 for six furlongs, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols.

“She worked really good and handled the muddy surface well,” Brian Hernandez Jr., who was aboard for the work. “She’s a very talented filly as we saw in the Blue Grass how well she handled running against the boys. She cruised along out there this morning.”

Trained by Kenny McPeek, Swiss Skydiver, who is automatically qualified for the Sept. 4 GI Kentucky Oaks with 350 points, annexed the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks, GIII Fantasy S. and GII Santa Anita Oaks earlier this spring.

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Owners Jackie Rojas, Wayne Scherr and Raymond Daniels put up $100,000 a month ago to claim the Hard Spun colt Necker Island out of an allowance/optional claiming race at Churchill Downs. On Wednesday they'll try to get a big piece, if not all, of their investment back right off the bat when they run their new acquisition in the Grade 3 $300,000 Indiana Derby at Indiana Grand Racing & Casino.

Trainer Chris Hartman said the owners didn't necessarily have the Indiana Derby in mind in claiming Necker Island, who had a trio of fifth places and a fourth in four stakes attempts before owner Sagamore Farm opted to put him in the Churchill race for the $100,000 claiming price instead of the allowance condition, for which he was eligible.

Necker Island finished fourth in the stakes-caliber field that day. Of course, that also made him last. Still, the entire field will run this week in Kentucky Derby qualifying races, including runner-up Shared Sense in the Indiana Derby.

“We didn't really have this race in mind, but we were looking at a few spots,” Hartman said of the claim. “This one looked like it was going to come up to our liking. The gentleman who owns him always wanted to claim a horse like that. I noticed the horse in the (entries), and he said, 'Let's do it.' … He had some previous races that were very competitive. He ran two good races in the fall and then sort of slipped off form a little. But he's been running in really tough races. He ran with some really nice horses, all on the Derby trail. That was part of the allure of going after him for $100,000.”

Hartman claims a lot of horses, but never before for six figures.

“I wasn't nervous a drop, but there was a 'shake' for the horse for $100,000,” he said, referencing the claiming game's version of drawing straws to determine who gets a horse when more than one person drops a claim slip before the race.

“He's doing well,” Hartman said. “He's cleaning up the feed tub and training well. So, we thought we'd take a chance. It appears on paper that he fits in the race.”

As far as the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby, for which the Indiana Derby's winner will earn 20 qualifying points: “I leave that for others to dream,” he said. “I don't know. It would be a great story if it happened that way.”

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