Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Always Dreaming gets tough
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – For what figured to be a relatively quiet and uneventful morning, with nary a single Kentucky Derby workout on the schedule, Wednesday’s Oaks-Derby training session produced more than its share of newsworthy developments.
Weather-wise, Wednesday turned out to be the calm before the storm, a gorgeous morning with temperatures climbing gradually from the low 60s when the track opened for training at 5:45 a.m. But the forecast is calling for nearly a 100 percent chance of rain Thursday with possibly more to follow over the weekend, surely enough to cause some disruption in the training schedules of many of the prospective Derby and Oaks starters.
Trainer Todd Pletcher sent out his four potential Derby candidates at 8:30 a.m. following the renovation break, including Always Dreaming, who shipped here from south Florida on Tuesday morning. Always Dreaming gave exercise rider Adele Bellinger all she could handle, fighting her every step of the way during what might be best described as a pretty rambunctious training session.
“He was pretty fired up this morning,” Pletcher said afterward. “Partly because he didn’t get to train yesterday due to an early flight, although he’s not a house pet to gallop, either. There’s a fine line between letting him gallop and trying to hold him. He can be tricky that way. Hopefully, he’ll be more settled tomorrow. We just need him to take a little off his fastball, as Wayne Lukas would say. On the positive side, he seemed to bounce over the track real well. The first time over a track, horses tend to react differently.
“Some take it all in and are a little off the bridle. He was just the opposite. But we’re not going to overreact over one day. Hopefully, getting a gallop into him today he’ll be more settled tomorrow.”
Practical Joke’s routine gallop on Wednesday became noteworthy because he was equipped in blinkers for the first time since arriving locally. Practical Joke never raced with blinkers in his six starts, nor has he ever even worked with them, according to trainer Chad Brown.
“He trained with blinkers a couple of days at Keeneland, and I thought he went well,” Brown said. “He’s run six straight good races for me, but he has appeared to hang a little bit the last part of his races, even in his victories. Making an equipment change for the Derby always carries a risk, but there’s a lot on the line, so it’s something worth exploring. I’ll possibly work him in blinkers and see how he reacts. I think he has a legitimate chance and I want to do everything I can to have him run the race of his life on Derby Day.”
Classic Empire made his first appearance in daylight since returning to Churchill Downs last week, galloping and then visiting the starting gate during the Oaks-Derby session.
“I wanted to see if he was comfortable going out at that time, but I also wanted to send him to the gate since he was a little fractious in the gate in the Arkansas Derby,” assistant trainer Norman Casse said. “One of the benefits of the Oaks-Derby training session is that it’s quiet. We could have sent him out there when the gate opened at 7:15, but it could be pretty crowded at that time. We knew we could get an open gate if we went at 8:30. He was good today, and so far everything has gone perfect.”
Casse also sent State of Honor over to the gate to school alongside Classic Empire.
Battalion Runner galloped very strongly here on his first day at Churchill Downs on Tuesday for Pletcher and was noticeably more subdued Wednesday. He looked good again, as did his stablemate Tapwrit.
Trainer Steve Asmussen had both Hence and Untrapped out for routine gallops at 8:30, after having already sent Lookin At Lee and Local Hero to the track to train earlier in the morning.
Gunnevera appears to have adapted well to the local surroundings after watching him gallop Wednesday morning. The Fountain of Youth winner, Gunnevera is scheduled to have one last, easy Derby work with jockey Javier Castellano aboard sometime this weekend, preferably Saturday but possibly Friday depending upon the weather, according to trainer Antonio Sano.
The lone work of the OaksDerby session was turned in by Farrell, who went six furlongs in 1:13.09, clipping off a series of 12-second eighths until tiring some near the end. She galloped out seven furlongs in 1:28.53. Trained by Wayne Catalano, Farrell has won her last four starts and could go postward the second choice in the Oaks behind likely favorite Paradise Woods.
Watch Mike Welsch’s Derby clocker updates at video.drf.com