OUTSIDE HAS BEEN FINE FOR COMBATANT
The draw for the Kentucky Derby is 11 a.m. ET Tuesday. Post time for the 144th Kentucky Derby is 6:46 p.m. ET Saturday (NBC).
LOUISVILLE – When it comes to Tuesday’s draw for the Kentucky Derby, Combatant trainer Steve Asmussen can’t help being a bit skeptical.
After all, Combatant drew the outside post for his past two prep races at Oaklawn Park and previously got the No. 9 spot in a field of 10 for the Southwest.
“In the Derby with 20 runners, I’d rather he be a little toward the outside, which is where he’s been drawing all year when I didn’t want him to,” Asmussen said Monday morning at Churchill Downs. “So I’m sure he’ll get the inside this time.”
Combatant put in his final pre-Derby workout Monday morning, covering 4 furlongs in 49.60 seconds and galloping out 5 furlongs in 1:03.20.
David Fiske, manager of co-owner Winchell Thoroughbreds, said Combatant didn’t need to do much since he raced 16 days ago in the Arkansas Derby, finishing fourth.
“Combatant has spent a lot of time training here and is very comfortable in the surroundings,” Asmussen said. “I thought he put in a very typical halfmile, week-of-race breeze for us.”
Combatant enters the Derby with a 1-3-1 record and never has finished worse than fourth in seven starts.
Asmussen said Combatant is similar to Lookin At Lee, who finished second in last year’s Derby from the No. 1 post.
“He does have an extremely similar personality of Lookin At Lee, and I thought Lookin At Lee did a great job to make the most of his 1 post last year,” Asmussen said. “What we’re trying to re-create is the run that Lee put in last year with a very similar horse. ...
“I don’t think he’s necessarily had a good trip. Through the series at Oaklawn and the way the track was playing and how he was drawn, I think things could have been a lot different for him.
“I think the best is definitely ahead of him, whether it’s this Saturday in the Derby or a date following that.”