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Adriano likely for Derby after work
Churchill Downs clockers caught Adriano in fractions of :13, :25 2/5 and :37 4/5, and the colt galloped out five furlongs in 1:03 2/5. Longley was time in :50 2/5 for his four-furlong move. Adriano's move ranked 29th among 42 at the distance. "He went nice," Prado said. "He started nice and easy, and he finished good. When I called on him, he was there. He galloped out really good and it seemed like he handled it very well. Graham was happy and I was very happy with him." Motion had expressed reservations about Adriano's handling of traditional dirt courses like the one-mile oval at Churchill Downs after the colt turned in a disappointing ninth behind Cool Coal Man (Mineshaft) in the Fountain of Youth S. (G2) on February 24 at Gulfstream Park. That was Adriano's first race on traditional dirt after racing on grass or Polytrack in his five previous races. The conditioner brought Adriano to Churchill Downs to see how his charge would handle the dirt footing, and was pleased with what he saw as he watched the move from a seat atop his stable pony. "He seemed to handle it fine," Motion said. "I thought he looked good. I don't think the time was real flashy, but, to be honest, I really wasn't asking him to do that. And (the track) was kind of 'cuppy' -- I'm guessing they didn't put a lot of water on the track because of the rain, so it just looked like it was a little loose. "I pretty much told Edgar he had a free rein to do what he wanted, within reason. He kind of smooched to him at the eighth-pole and (Adriano) really lengthened his stride. He just seemed to accelerate like he would on any surface. I couldn't say he went a lot differently than he would have gone on the turf or the Polytrack." If Adam and Motion make the expected decision to point Adriano toward the Kentucky Derby, Prado will have a decision to make. The jockey is coming off victories in Saturday's Blue Grass S. (G1) aboard Monba (Maria's Mon) and last week's Wood Memorial (G1) on Tale of Ekati (Tale of the Cat). Motion indicated that Prado would need to make a decision on whether he would stick with Adriano for the Derby within "24 hours." "He's got to make up his mind, and I don't want to miss out on getting somebody else," Motion explained. "If Edgar is not the 'money rider' right now, he's certainly one of the two or three." "Hopefully, everything will work out good," Prado said of his looming choice. "We hope (Adriano) will come out of the work beautiful and we'll play it from there. We just hope we make the right choice." Motion planned to take Adriano back to Keeneland after Sunday's work, but will return his colt to Churchill late this week if the decision comes down to run in the Derby.
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