Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
KENTUCKY DERBY Max Player gets in final drill
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – With the arrival of the heavy favorite and the post-position draw both set for the following morning at Churchill Downs, Max Player was sent through his final prerace workout early Monday ahead of the 146th Kentucky Derby.
The easy half-mile breeze by Max Player in 49.80 seconds became the last serious drill among the 18 colts and geldings expected to enter the $3 million Kentucky Derby, which will be run here Saturday without fans for the first time in history because of the coronavirus pandemic. All the other Derby runners had their final blowout in preceding days, most notably Tiz the Law, who sped five furlongs in 59.20 seconds Saturday at Saratoga.
Tiz the Law was to be flown here early Tuesday from New York. Tiz the Law was expected to arrive about 9 a.m. Eastern, a couple of hours before the post-position draw was to be held in the Aristides Lounge at the track. The New York-bred colt, winner of the Belmont Stakes and Runhappy Travers in this pandemic-skewed racing season, is likely to be the biggest favorite in the Derby since Arazi was 9-10 in the 1992 running.
A surprise late Derby entrant was revealed Monday morning, when owner Chester Thomas told Churchill officials that Mr. Big News will contest the 1 1/4-mile race. Trained by Bret Calhoun, the Giant’s Causeway colt most recently was sixth at 34-1 in the July 8 Blue Grass Stakes and figures to be one of the longest prices in the field.
As for the Tuesday draw, trainer Tommy Drury Jr. was eager to see how it could affect race strategy for his horse Art Collector and also for Tiz the Law.
“I’d love to have Tiz the Law inside of us,” said Drury, referring to how Tiz the Law tends to prefer to race to the outside of rivals. “Either way, we’ll deal with what we get.”
Art Collector was reunited Monday morning with his regular exercise rider, James Lopez, who had been briefly sidelined because of coronavirus-related protocols and had been replaced in recent mornings by the colt’s Derby jockey, Brian Hernandez Jr. Art Collector once again struck an imposing presence in his training, jogging a mile before galloping a mile with Drury watching intently from the half-mile backstretch gap.
Art Collector was joined during the 7:30 a.m. training session reserved for Oaks and Derby starters by about a dozen other horses, including Sole Volante, who was making his first local appearance after arriving here Sunday from Florida. The Karakontie gelding was ridden in light exercise by 23-year-old Andie Biancone, who also co-owns him and serves as an assistant to her father, trainer Patrick Biancone.
“I was almost getting emotional up there, just thinking about how far we’ve come with him,” she said. “It’s an unbelievable feeling, just crazy.”
Biancone said her father most likely will not travel from Florida for the Derby, owing to his recent recovery from kidney cancer combined with the pandemic situation.
Also during the 7:30 session Monday, three Derby horses schooled in the starting gate – Enforceable, Major Fed, and Necker Island. Well before they came out to train, Max Player breezed under the Churchill lights with exercise rider Juan Vargas aboard.
“The mile and a quarter ought to suit him,” trainer Steve Asmussen said afterward. “He’s getting over this racetrack really well and he’s got a great attitude. We’ve been able to do everything we had hoped to do with him leading into the Derby.”
Derby entries had appeared to settle at 17 over the weekend following the addition of Money Moves and the defections of Caracaro, Dr Post, and Rushie. But Thomas threw his hat into the ring at the 11th hour with the Mr. Big News entry.
“I know we don’t have some of the numbers” of the favorites, Thomas told track officials. “But this horse is improving. I think he is absolutely going to love the distance and will make a big run late.”
Mr. Big News had his final pre-race breeze Sunday when going five furlongs on the Churchill turf in 1:04.40. He had been tentatively targeted for the American Turf on the Derby undercard before Thomas called his audible.
The Derby will be the last of 14 races Saturday, with first post set for 11 a.m. Eastern and the Derby going at 7:02 p.m. NBC will provide extensive coverage starting at 2:30. The Saturday forecast is nearly ideal: sunny skies and a high of 78.