Paul Reddam's reigning Eclipse Award-winning juvenile and ante-post GI Kentucky Derby favorite Nyquist (Uncle Mo) went an easy five furlongs in the company of his Grade I-winning stablemate Ralis (Square Eddie) in a very easy 1:01.80 Saturday morning at Keeneland (video) as he prepares to put his unbeaten record on the line in two weeks' time. Partnered with regular exercise rider Jonny Garcia, Nyquist was caught in fractions of :12, :23.80 and :35.80 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:18 flat, according to track clockers. Trainer Doug O'Neill had Nyquist covering a mile in 1:51. It was the champion's second work at Keeneland since winning the GI Xpressbet.com Florida Derby Apr. 2, having breezed five-eighths of a mile in 1:02.60 Apr. 15. “We thought him going in company, he would do it easier,” trainer Doug O'Neill said. “Sometimes when he is by himself, Jonny has to ask him a bit. We just thought in company it would be easier on him. He was strong early; he really wanted to go.”
“I got him finishing up in :11 and change,” O'Neill added before heading across Versailles Road to catch a flight bound for West Virginia, where he was to saddle Donworth (Tiznow) in the GII Charles Town Classic Saturday evening. “It was a good piece of work. It was a maintenance move to keep him where he is and keep him happy.”
Nyquist is tentatively scheduled to have his final pre-Derby work at Keeneland Apr. 30, with a westbound trip across Interstate 64 to Churchill planned for the next day. O'Neill suggested that a work similar to his last two is in the cards for next weekend.
“We'll play it by ear [as to whether he works in company or on his own],” O'Neill said. “1:01 and change seems like a good number. I will probably keep him in the 7 o'clock window. That is the time he goes at home and I like to keep him in his routine and that keeps him happy.” (Click here for an interview with O'Neill).
Saturday marked the first morning that Derby- and Oaks-bound runners have a reserved window between 8:30 and 8:45.
Land Over Sea (Bellamy Road), the GII Fair Grounds Oaks winner, also breezed Saturday morning, going five panels in 1:02.20 beneath Garcia. The move was accomplished in splits of :12.20, :24.20 and :36.40. She galloped out six furlongs in 1:17.60.
“That was by design, just a maintenance move,” said Jack Sisterson, assistant to O'Neill.
Land Over Sea is also penciled in for her final Oaks drill next Saturday morning at Keeneland.
BRODY'S CAUSE BACK ON THE TAB
Working for the first time since his 1 3/4-length defeat of 'TDN Rising Star' My Man Sam (Trappe Shot) in the GI Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland Apr. 9, Albaugh Family Stable's Brody's Cause (Giant's Causeway) recorded a five-furlong breeze at trainer Dale Romans's Churchill base, covering the distance in 1:01.80. Track clockers caught the colt in fractions of :12.40, :24.60, :36.60 and :48.60 before galloping out three-quarters of a mile in 1:15.60.
“It's just what we wanted,” trainer Dale Romans opined. “I know it sounds cliche, but you can't hide these Derby horses, everybody's watching them. We wanted to go with a nice easy work. It's the first one back off of the race and he went around there perfect. [Exercise rider] Tammy [Fox] said he felt great.”
Romans also sent out his undefeated GI Kentucky Oaks hopeful Go Maggie Go (Ghostzapper) for a five-furlong move. Last-out winner of the GII Gulfstream Park Oaks Apr. 2, the Mike Tarp colorbearer stopped the timer in 1:00.80, with sectional times of :11.60, :23 flat, :35.40 and :47.80. She galloped out an extra furlong in :13.60 for a six-furlong time of 1:14.40.
“The whole complexion changed when we lost the big filly [Songbird, by Medaglia d'Oro], but she's training about as good a filly as I have had,” Romans suggested. “It's a lot to ask of a filly making her third start of her life, but it was a lot to ask to run her in the [Gulfstream Park] Oaks the second start of her life. She just keeps on training better and better.”
With his Derby status up in the air as he sits 25th on the leaderboard, 'TDN Rising Star' Cherry Wine (Paddy O'Prado) did not join his stablemates on the worktab.
“He's a little bit of a lighter horse; we don't need to do much with him,” Romans said. “Right now our chances of getting in the Derby are not looking good so we'll just try to think [May 21 GI] Preakness S.”
TOM'S READY DRILLS FOR STEWART BARN
Tom's Ready (More Than Ready), one of two likely Derby starters for Gayle and Tom Benson's G M B Racing, tuned up for the race with a solid five-furlong breeze Saturday morning at Churchill Downs. Working in the company of his stable companion Forever d'Oro (Medaglia d'Oro), Tom's Ready covered the distance in 1:01 flat in fractions of :13.60 and :38 before galloping out with good energy for a six-furlong time of 1:14.20. Tom's Ready broke off a couple of lengths behind his company and finished on even terms.
“I thought [he looked] good,” trainer Dallas Stewart commented. “He was nice and solid. It was a typical work for him; he laid off a horse [Forever d'Oro] and made a good finish. It was a good fight and that was a nice colt that he worked with.”
Runner-up to fellow G M B runner, the Tom Amoss-trained Mo Tom (Uncle Mo) in the GIII Lecomte S. Jan. 16, Tom's Ready was a wide-trip seventh behind Gun Runner (Candy Ride {Arg}) in the GII Risen Star S. Feb. 20, but bounced back to fill out the exacta underneath the latter in the GII Louisiana Derby Mar. 26.
OUTSIDE LOOKING IN, FELLOWSHIP WORKS
Fellowship (Awesome of Course), a recent arrival into the Mark Casse barn, remains one spot outside of a berth in the GI Kentucky Derby based on points, but continues to train with purpose, as he breezed five panels in 1:00.40 beneath the Twin Spires Saturday morning. Accompanied in his work by multiple graded-stakes winning sprinter Awesome Banner (Awesome of Course), Fellowship went the five furlongs in fractions of :13, :25 and :36.80 before galloping out in 1:13.80 for six furlongs.
“He did everything that we wanted him to do,” said Norman Casse, son of and assistant to trainer Mark Casse. “This was just what we liked to see two weeks before a big race. Looks like he just skips over the racetrack. He's full of himself and has a lot of good energy. It's just everything you look for in a two-week work in our program. “As of right now I'm really excited with the idea that we could get to run. I think he would run really well. He's obviously not in yet, but I'm actually kind of overwhelmed with how well he's trained.”
IN OTHER NEWS…
Other Derby/Oaks workers at a variety of venues: Oscar Nominated (Kitten's Joy), recent winner of the GIII Spiral S. over the Turfway Polytrack, went five furlongs in 1:00.20 at the Trackside Training Center in Louisville; Exaggerator (Curlin), possible Derby second favorite off his smashing victory in the GI Santa Anita Derby, drilled five-eighths of a mile in 1:00 in Arcadia; working at San Luis Rey Downs, 'TDN Rising Star' Danzing Candy (Twirling Candy) went three-quarters of a mile in a bullet 1:12 for trainer Cliff Sise Jr.; GII Tampa Bay Derby hero Destin (Giant's Causeway) covered five furlongs in 1:01.20 at Palm Beach Downs; Lewis Bay (Bernardini), most recently victorious in the GII Gazelle S., went a half in :50.20 for the Oaks in the company of GI Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Wavell Avenue (Harlington), who is pointing for the GI Humana Distaff on the Derby undercard; Weep No More (Mineshaft), upset winner of the GI Ashland S. at Keeneland Apr. 9, worked a half-mile in :49.20 in fractions of :25 and :37 before pulling up five furlongs in 1:03.80.
'SOPHIA' LIKELY FOR OAKS AFTER BREEZE
'TDN Rising Star' Cathryn Sophia (Street Boss), a latest third as the heavy favorite when trying two turns for the first time in the GI Ashland S. at Keeneland Apr. 9, breezed five furlongs in :59.60 (video) at the Lexington oval Saturday morning. Cathryn Sophia was timed in fractions of :11.60, :23 and :35 before pulling up in 1:12.60 for three-quarters of a mile.
After suggesting in the immediate aftermath of the filly's first career loss that she did not stay the 8 1/2 furlongs and would likely pass the GI Kentucky Oaks, trainer John Servis seemed to have a change of heart.
“I would say after that work,” Servis told the Keeneland notes team, “I'm leaning toward going [to the Oaks].”
The complexion of the Oaks changed dramatically with last week's announcement that champion and fellow 'Rising Star' Songbird (Medaglia d'Oro) would be forced to miss the race.
Servis, whose two Keeneland-based horses are being overseen by his son Tyler, was pleased with the reports he was given.
“It was pretty much what I wanted,” Servis said from Parx. “Kinda let her work on her own, but I wanted her to gallop out good, which she did. As long as she comes out of it good and everything's good, I'll talk to [owner] Mr. [Chuck] Zacney today, and I'm sure we'll make a decision before the end of the night,” he said, referring to the Oaks.
Should she bypass the race, Cathryn Sophia could be routed for the seven-furlong GIII Eight Belles S. on the Oaks undercard.
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