By Steve Sherack
LOUISVILLE, Ky – Here comes the rain.
The first of a three-day forecasted stretch of rain–yes, it unfortunately looks like it's going to be a soggy GI Kentucky Oaks/Derby weekend–began Thursday morning before another lively crowd on hand at Churchill Downs.
Just about all of the major players were out again strutting their stuff in the 15-minute training window reserved exclusively for the Derby/Oaks horses, led by champion Classic Empire (Pioneerof the Nile), 'TDN Rising Star' Irish War Cry (Curlin) and 'TDN Rising Star' McCraken (Ghostzapper). The track remained in very good shape throughout the morning–it was still labeled as 'fast' for the increasingly popular 'Thurby' card's first race–as the precipitation remained on the light side during training hours.
Some horses catching the eye all week strictly based on their training/physical appearance include: Hence (Street Boss), Irap (Tiznow), Practical Joke (Into Mischief) and State of Honor (To Honor and Serve). Should be very interesting to see what kind of price Hence goes off at considering the buzz he's generated since his GIII Sunland Derby score.
Girvin (Tale of Ekati), out for an easy gallop beneath former leading rider and trainer Joe Sharp's other half Rosie Napravnik, seems to have gotten over his well-documented recent foot issues. The GII Louisiana Derby hero was training in polyflex glue-on shoes for the first time Thursday and will also race in them come Saturday.
Godolphin's G2 UAE Derby winner Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}), meanwhile, proved a real handful and was quite fresh, tugging at his rider on multiple occasions, during his trip to the track.
Bob Baffert is surprisingly without a Derby entrant this year after the untimely injury to the very gifted unbeaten 'TDN Rising Star' Mastery (Candy Ride {Arg}), but the Hall of Famer will still have three live entries Friday, led by Abel Tasman (Quality Road) in the GI Kentucky Oaks, the comebacking American Freedom (Pulpit) in the GII Alysheba S. and American Pharoah's full-sister 'TDN Rising Star American Cleopatra (Pioneerof the Nile) in an allowance race. Baffert graciously took time out to pose for photos with fans by the gap as training hours began to wind down shortly after 9 a.m.
Selection Time…
Was pretty set on making McCraken my Derby horse immediately after his disappointing third-place finish in the GII Blue Grass S.–see Triple Crown Throwdown wrap–and I remain awfully high on him as the First Saturday in May quickly approaches. Trainer Ian Wilkes has the bay exactly where he wants him right now, he clearly loves this track and there should be no shortage of pace to close into either. McCraken's final workout at Churchill Downs Sunday was the icing on the cake. Just hoping that the 5-1 morning-line quote proves closer to 8-1, but we'll see… Tapwrit (Tapit) and 'TDN Rising Star' J Boys Echo (Mineshaft), both exiting that same race at Keeneland, are a pair of live longshots to consider despite failing to show up that day, too.
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