Art Collector back in training; Preakness will be next start

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Art Collector, the standout colt who was declared from consideration for the Kentucky Derby with a minor setback four days before the race was held Saturday at Churchill Downs, already has resumed serious training and is being pointed to the Oct. 3 Preakness at Pimlico, according to trainer Tommy Drury.

Drury said Monday from his primary base at the Skylight training center just east of Louisville that Art Collector resumed galloping Saturday after being cleared to resume training.

“Everything seems to be good,” Drury said. “We’re looking to go to Pimlico with him. He’ll probably breeze this weekend at Skylight, then we’ll take him back over to Churchill after that and do the rest of his training before we go to Maryland. As long as everything keeps going like this, we’re going.”

Art Collector “grabbed himself,” said Drury, during a routine gallop Aug. 31 at Churchill. The result was an “open skin flap on the inside heel of his left front that we treated with a little bute [phenylbutazone] and an antibiotic, and it quieted right down. But with the new medication rules being what they were, there was no way we could run in the Derby. It was just bad timing.”

Art Collector, bred and owned by Bruce Lunsford, was expected to be the second wagering choice in the Derby behind Tiz the Law. The Bernardini colt has won all four starts this year by open lengths, including the July 11 Blue Grass at Keeneland. Authentic won the Derby by 1 1/4 lengths over Tiz the Law.

Drury said he watched the Derby on television “in my recliner” alongside his teenage son and daughter at his Prospect,

Ky., home.

“We had a little spaghetti and watched a movie afterward,” he said. “I thought the way the race set up, maybe we could’ve won it, but obviously we’re never going to know. That really kind of stings, the whole thing.”

Meanwhile, Brian Hernandez Jr., the jockey of Art Collector, watched the Derby from Section 318 with his wife, Jamie, but only because they weren’t allowed to leave the track in time to make it home to watch on television. The social-justice protest march was at its peak as post time approached, and law-enforcement officials were not allowing vehicles to exit the racetrack gates during certain periods.

“Brian told me it was killing him to have to sit through it,” Drury said. “But what’re you gonna do.”

Protests a somber backdrop

Even though Churchill Downs on Saturday was closed to spectators and all but a select few as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the calls for racial justice that have gripped Louisville for more than three months were visible before, during, and after the Kentucky Derby.

Derby Day marked the 101st consecutive day of protests in Louisville following the fatal shooting of Breonna Taylor by police as the 26-year-old Black woman slept in her home in March. While the shooting is being investigated by state authorities and the FBI, demonstrations calling for charges against the officers involved have continued.

Demonstrations by several separate groups in support of the Black Lives Matter movement were held Saturday and marched as close to Churchill Downs as possible prior to the running of the race. Counter-protests also were held, including by a heavily armed group in downtown Louisville saying it was supporting the police.

The demonstrations remained nonviolent throughout the day. The Louisville Metro Police Department said Saturday night it had made three arrests during the day. None took place during the marches to Churchill Downs.

Until Freedom, a national group that has moved its base to Louisville, arranged for a plane pulling a banner to fly over the track directly before and during the Kentucky Derby, reading “Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor.” As the Derby field stepped on the track, announcer Travis Stone read a prepared statement from Churchill Downs regarding “My Old Kentucky Home,” the state song of Kentucky and the traditional Derby anthem.

The song, written by Stephen Foster in the 1850s, is written from the perspective of a slave being sold down the river from Kentucky. Churchill’s statement referenced remarks made by Frederick Douglass, a famed abolitionist and former slave, regarding the song, “in which anti-slavery principles take root, grow, and flourish,” Douglass said.

Churchill’s statement concluded: “Please join us in a moment of silence as we pause to recognize the inequities that many in our nation still face, and reflect on renewed hope for a more just country to truly take root, grow, and flourish,”

“My Old Kentucky Home” was then played by track bugler Steve Buttleman.

Two of the owners in the stands were Greg Harbut and Raymond Daniels, who, along with Wayne Scherr co-own Necker Island, who finished ninth. Harbut and Daniels are the first Black owners of a Derby entrant in 13 years.

The history of race relations and the Kentucky Derby was not lost on Harbut, whose great-grandfather Will Harbut was the groom for Man o’ War. His grandfather Tom Harbut co-bred and co-owned a horse who ran in the 1962 Derby, but he could not attend the race as the grandstands were only for whites. Harbut and Daniels had been urged by some to boycott the race as a statement.

“A wise man told me this morning, ‘We cannot give protest versus progress,’ ” Daniels told NBC right before the race. “For us, this is progress. And so, we want to promote both.”

Following Authentic’s Derby victory, jockey John Velazquez and trainer Bob Baffert were asked their thoughts on the protests in Louisville. Velazquez held up a black band reading “Equality For All” that he said “most of the guys” wore during the race.

“We believe that if we have equality for everybody, we won’t be in the mess we are in right now,” said Velazquez, who, along with Kendrick Carmouche, was instrumental in organizing New York riders to take a knee in solidarity with protestors prior to Belmont’s first race on its June 3 opening day, following a moment of silence for those affected by the pandemic.

Baffert noted during the post-race press conference that the elation of the moment was tempered by the struggles of the nation.

“To me, I just feel like America is so stronger when we’re united, and hopefully we get united,” Baffert said. “I want to see the old America back.”

– Nicole Russo

Derby is Velazquez’s 200th G1

Authentic was the third Derby winner for Hall of Famer Velazquez and his first with Ron Anderson as his agent. Velazquez, who previously won with Animal Kingdom (2011) and Always Dreaming (2017), donated a portion of his earnings to fellow rider Vinnie Bednar, who suffered lowerlimb paralysis in an Aug. 22 spill at Los Alamitos.

The Derby was the 200th career Grade 1 victory for Velazquez, making him just the third jockey to reach that milestone, following Jerry Bailey and Mike Smith.

For Anderson, it was the fifth Derby win, one shy of what is believed to be the modern record (six) for agents held by Tony Matos. Anderson previously won two with Gary Stevens (Thunder Gulch, 1995, and Silver Charm, 1997); one with Chris Antley (Charismatic, 1999); and one with Joel Rosario (Orb, 2013), for whom he also still books mounts.

“I’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of gifted riders,” said Anderson, 65. “They make things easy. It’s great to have folks like Bob Baffert knocking on your door instead of the other way around.”

Anderson began working for Velazquez in mid-March when Velazquez and his longtime agent and mentor, Angel Cordero Jr., split up. Cordero continues to work for Manny Franco, who rode Tiz the Law to his runner-up finish.

◗ There still hasn’t been a 100-1 shot in the Derby in nearly 20 years after none of the longshots even came close to that triple-digit threshold. Winning Impression, at 50-1, was the longest price when finishing 12th in a field of 15.

No Derby starter has been 100-1 since 2001. A Dragon Killer (seventh at 294-1 in 1958) remains the longest shot in race history.

◗ With Authentic having carried saddle towel No. 18 to victory Saturday, there’s still only one saddle towel (from 1 to 20) that has never been worn in the infield winner’s circle at Churchill. That’s No. 17, which was worn Saturday by Tiz the Law.

The lone prior victory for a No. 18 in the Derby was in 2015 by American Pharoah, also trained by Baffert.

– Marty McGee