A French Quarter is established

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The jockeys’ room at Churchill Downs now has what’s being called a French Quarter.

The lockers of Flavian Prat, Julien Leparoux and Florent Geroux are all next to each other against the north wall.

Jockey agent Derek Lawson was driving Prat from Keeneland to the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport on April 17 when Prat started snapping his fingers.

“C’mon, Julien, c’mon,” Prat said as he watched on his phone as Leparoux guided Derby favorite Classic Empire to a win in the Arkansas Derby. Leparoux was the first to qualify.

Prat was second when an ownership change landed him on Battle Of Midway a few days later.

On April 24, Geroux finished the trifecta when he was named the jockey on Hence.

“They used to come from Panama, but now they are coming from France,” said trainer Bob Baffert. “The Frenchies are taking over the jockey colony.”

Quieter Times

Trainer Keith Desormeaux arrived at Churchill Downs on Wednesday to a lot different scene than he had last year with Exaggerator.

This time he has longshot Sonneteer, who qualified with a fourth in the Arkansas Derby and a second in the Rebel Stakes.

“It’s definitely a different atmosphere,” he said. “It’s a whole lot different when you’re 50-1 versus 2-1. No crowd’s following him back to the barn. No crowd following me back to the barn. It’s kind of nice. I get to be a normal trainer.”

Keep shooting

Trainer Todd Pletcher has started 45 horses in the Kentucky Derby. He has won once — with Super Saver in 2010. He has three horses this year: Always Dreaming, Tapwrit and Patch.

“The record is what it is,” Pletcher said. “It’s just like a shooter in basketball. Just because they’re not going in all the time, you don’t stop shooting.

“The only way you’re going to make a basket is to shoot. Forget what your percentage is, keep shooting.”