Tuesday 4/21/2009 ( from Brisnet.com )
Pioneer, Revenge head Derby worktab
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Bob Baffert was pleased with Pioneerof the Nile's first work at Churchill on Tuesday (Ed Van Meter/Horsephotos.com)</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Santa Anita Derby (G1) hero and highly rated Kentucky Derby (G1) contender PIONEEROF THE NILE (Empire Maker) recorded his first workout at Churchill Downs on Tuesday morning, breezing five furlongs in a sharp 1:00 4/5 with exercise rider Joe Steiner. With trainer Bob Baffert on-hand supervising, the Zayat Stables' homebred went out just after the break for track maintenance and posted the fourth-fastest of 19 workers over the "fast" surface.
The Kentucky-bred colt covered the distance in fractional times of :12 1/5, :24 1/5, and :36 2/5. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:13 2/5.
Baffert, a three-time Derby winner who was named to Thoroughbred racing's Hall of Fame on Monday, said the work was actually longer than the five furlongs credited to the colt by Churchill Downs clockers.
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"He looked good -- he skipped right over it," Baffert explained. "I ended up working him seven-eighths and let him gallop out strong. I got him in :26 and three (1:26 3/5), and he galloped out all the way down the backside. So it was a good little work and it was not really hard on him."
Baffert is pleased with the way Pioneerof the Nile, who has raced exclusively on turf and synthetic surfaces in his eight career starts, is getting over the sandy loam surface at Churchill Downs.
"It was nice and relaxed -- I didn't want to do too much," Baffert said. "It looked like he skipped over it, because I know the track, with the rain, was a little bit deep. I had some other horses work and some horses struggled over it. But he has taken to it great, so far. I like what I see."
Baffert said Pioneerof the Nile, who registered with four straight graded stakes victories in Southern California over the winter and arrived at Churchill Downs last Thursday, would work one more time before the May 2 Derby, most likely on Monday or Tuesday of next week.
Reigning Eclipse Award-winning jockey Garrett Gomez will ride in the "Run for the Roses."
Four other Derby prospects worked Tuesday.
David Lanzman, IEAH Stables and Puglisi Racing's I WANT REVENGE (Stephen Got Even), a superb winner of the Wood Memorial (G1) in his final prep, turned in his second workout since his arrival at Churchill when breezing five furlongs in 1:01 3/5 under regular pilot Joe Talamo.
Traveling in company with stablemate Gato Go Win (City Place) after the break for track maintenance, I Want Revenge broke off about two lengths behind his workmate and was clocked in fractions of :12 2/5, :25, and :37 1/5. The possible Derby favorite had narrowed Gato Go Win's advantage to a length after three-eighths of a mile and was a neck in front of his stablemate when the pair passed the finish line. I Want Revenge galloped out six furlongs in 1:15 1/5.
"I thought it was a great work," said Talamo, a 19-year-old Louisiana native who is scheduled for his first Kentucky Derby ride aboard trainer Jeff Mullins-trained colt. "I think it was exactly what we wanted. We had another horse in front of him to give him something to look at the last part. We sat right off of him and finished the last part, just like we wanted and galloped out good and strong. I give him an A-plus."
I Want Revenge worked over a muddy track last Tuesday in his first serious training move at Churchill Downs. Talamo was also aboard for that move and said the track was not much different on Tuesday, although it was officially listed as fast.
"I didn't think it was too fast today -- it was still kind of 'mushy' on top," the jockey said. "Last week it rained a lot the day before and it wasn't sloppy, but it was a little bit cuppy. And today it was the same thing -- like about three or four inches on top were kind of 'mushy.' So it was kind of the same track, but I felt like he got over it great. I put him right behind that other horse and he got a lot of dirt in his face, and he took it like nothing."
Mullins said I Want Revenge would have one more piece of serious training over the Churchill Downs strip before the Derby.
"He'll have an easy half (mile) next Tuesday," Mullins said. "We just want to keep him on the ground. We won't ask him for much. We'll just let him open his lungs up and stretch his legs. We won't ask him to do a whole lot."
Santa Anita runner-up CHOCOLATE CANDY (Candy Ride [Arg]), who accompanied Pioneerof the Nile on a flight from Southern California last week, tuned up for his engagement in Kentucky Derby 135 by working a mile in 1:42 with jockey Mike Smith up. Churchill Downs clockers caught the Sid and Jenny Craig Trust homebred in fractions of :12 3/5, :24 4/5, :37 1/5, :49 4/5, 1:02 1/5, seven-eighths in 1:28 3/5 and galloping out nine furlongs in 1:57.
Both Smith and trainer Jerry Hollendorfer expressed satisfaction with the work. "I liked it, it was a nice maintenance work," Smith said. "He did everything I asked of him. He didn't turn a hair. If he had gone a mile in 1:42 and was gasping and not coming back as well as I liked, I'd be a little worried. I am as happy as I can be. He handled the turns, which is an important part of it."
Hollendorfer, who also had two other workers here Tuesday morning, said, "It was a nice work. I wanted to see how he handled the turns and he handled them well. The track was a little off, but I was very happy with the work."
Hollendorfer was headed back to California after the works but planned to return Saturday.
"He will work again either Monday or Tuesday," the all-time leading Northern California conditioner said. "He'll have a blowout of a half-mile or five-eighths."
Robert C. Baker and William L. Mack's FLYING PRIVATE (Fusaichi Pegasus) got acquainted with new jockey Robby Albarado on Tuesday morning, working five furlongs in company in 1:01 1/5 after the renovation break. Churchill Downs clockers recorded fractions of the work in :12, :24, :36 1/5 and out six furlongs in 1:16.
"It was a very good work and I liked the way he handled the turns," said Hall of Fame conditioner D. Wayne Lukas, a four-time Derby winner. "He came off the turn very well and finished strong. Robby did a good job with the test drive." Albarado also was happy with the work.
"I had watched him run numerous times," Albarado said. "This was my first time on him and I thought it went well. Wayne just wanted a nice maintenance work and he had some company. He gets a little lax when he works by himself. Overall, I think we accomplished what we wanted this morning."
Runner-up in the Lane's End S. (G2), Flying Private exits a fifth in the Arkansas Derby (G2). The Derby will be the seventh start this year for the maiden winner.
Oxbow Racing's FLAT OUT (Flatter) breezed five furlongs in 1:03.20 under exercise rider Walter Aguilar before the renovation break. The Florida-bred colt recorded fractions of :13, :25 2/5 and :37 3/5, galloping out six furlongs in 1:15 1/5 and seven-eights in 1:28 4/5.
"I was satisfied with the work, just what I wanted," trainer Charles "Scooter" Dickey said.
When asked if that was the standard comment for trainers, Dickey replied, "Yes, but this one really turned out the way I wanted."
With only $32,500 in graded earnings, Flat Out would need a couple of defections of probable starters in the next week to gain a spot in the Derby starting gate. The bay opened his three-year-old season with a victory in the Smarty Jones S., but finished sixth in the Arkansas Derby last out and fourth in the Southwest S. (G3) two starts back.
"I see the list is down to
22," Dickey said. "We'll see how he comes out of this work and then work him back. Whoever we decide on being the rider, we'll have him work him."
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