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On the Kentucky Derby worktab
Colonel John has raced solely on synthetic tracks during his six-race career, racking up four wins and two seconds, but Harty isn't concerned about the change to dirt. "Dirt is not an issue," he asserted. "I thought he handled it well today. He trained on dirt as a two-year-old and he handled it well then. I've been confident in him in that regard all along." Colonel John will be handled in the 10-furlong Derby by California-based Corey Nakatani, who was aboard in the Santa Anita Derby as well as three other of the colt's six lifetime starts. Trainer Bill Mott also moved up the works of his two Derby prospects due to the weather forecast for rain in the Louisville, Kentucky, area. The Hall of Fame conditioner sent out Grade 2 victor COURT VISION (Gulch) and Grade 3 winner Z HUMOR (Distorted Humor) to breeze five furlongs on Sunday. "I had originally wanted to work Monday or Tuesday, but with the forecast, I decided to move them up," said Mott, before joking, "and, besides, I didn't know which day of the week was better in the first place. Now we have six days to recover. "I asked for a work in the neighborhood of one minute," he added. "We just wanted a decent, useful work. On my watch, I had Court Vision in 1:00.20 and Z Humor in 1:00.60, so we were just about right on." Court Vision went to the track first and was caught drilling five panels in an official time of 1:00 4/5 while in company. Third in the Wood Memorial (G1) and Fountain of Youth S. (G2) in his two 2008 starts, he posted splits of :13, :25 3/5, :37 1/5 and :48 4/5 while galloping out six furlongs in 1:14. Z Humor, third in the Illinois Derby (G2) most recently, also worked in company, getting his five-furlong move in an official time of 1:01 1/5 with Neil Poznansky aboard. The bay sophomore was clocked in fractions of :25 2/5, :37 1/5 and :49 1/5 before finishing six furlongs in 1:14 4/5. "Court Vision went well," Mott said. "He worked good and cooled out very quickly. He only took one deep breath and everything's looking pretty good. Z Humor is doing equally as well. He had a good work this morning, finished up well and looked smooth doing it. Anytime you have a horse on the improve, anything can happen." Both colts are expected to walk the shedrow Monday following their breezes and will school in the paddock during raceday sometime in the coming week.
In his only attempt on dirt, Adriano ran ninth, beaten 17 lengths, in the Fountain of Youth S. (G2) in late February. However, Motion said Adriano's finish in the Fountain of Youth could well have been a result of his colt's pre-race misbehavior in the paddock. "He's very hot-blooded. That's why we brought him here early. We schooled him in the paddock (Saturday) and we brought him to the paddock this morning before he breezed. I can't believe the difference in him. I'm not saying he's going to be perfect on Derby Day with 150,000 people, but I'm really impressed with how he's handled it the more he's done it. "I was trying to make a decision with my head not with my heart," Motion said about not immediately committing his charge to the Derby after his Lane's End score. "It's always easy to get caught up in it as soon as you win one of those races, but I wanted to be sure we were doing the right thing. I think after we analyzed it for three or for weeks and talked it over, it became more and more logical."
Eight Belles is undefeated this season from four starts, making her sophomore bow a dominating 15-length score in a Fair Grounds allowance before capturing her stakes debut, the second division of the Martha Washington S., by 13 1/2 lengths at Oaklawn Park. She earned her next two wins at the Hot Springs, Arkansas, track as well, taking the Honeybee S. (G3) and Fantasy. Saez will attempt to give Jones an Oaks/Derby double as he is set to ride Proud Spell in the Oaks and Eight Belles in the Derby. In other Kentucky Derby news:
"If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't have believed it," Burns said. "Maybe two black cats mean good luck. I think it was a setup for us that they had the cats in a cage and just let them out when we went by." Trainer Richard Dutrow said that undefeated Florida Derby (G1) winner BIG BROWN (Boundary) is scheduled to arrive at Churchill Downs on Monday around 5 p.m. (EDT) in advance of the Derby. The bay colt is scheduled to work over the track on Thursday.
Conditioner Todd Pletcher sent out BEHINDATTHEBAR (Forest Wildcat) to gallop 1 1/4 miles over Keeneland's Polytrack on Sunday. His other two Derby contenders, MONBA (Maria's Mon) and COWBOY CAL (Giant's Causeway), walked the shedrow a day after working five furlongs. "We'll ship them over here (Churchill Downs) on Wednesday," Pletcher said. "And we'll be making a decision on Behindatthebar (running in the Kentucky Derby) in the next little while." Derby riding assignments for the three colts are Ramon Dominguez on Monba, John Velazquez on Cowboy Cal and David Flores on Behindatthebar. The Barclay Tagg-trained duo of BIG TRUCK and TALE OF EKATI (Tale of the Cat) were introduced to the Churchill racetrack Sunday morning during their respective 1 1/2-mile gallops under exercise rider Kristen Troxell. "They both went really good. The nice cool weather has moved them up, and I think they like the change in surfaces," said Tagg, whose pair of Derby hopefuls arrived by van from Keeneland Saturday afternoon. Big Truck, who will be ridden by Javier Castellano, is scheduled to work out on Monday, while Tale of Ekati, who will have Eibar Coa aboard in the Derby, is slated to work on Tuesday. BOB BLACK JACK (Stormy Jack), who also arrived at Churchill on Saturday, got his first feel for the track Sunday morning shortly after the renovation break with exercise rider Joe Deegan aboard. The rider took the dark colt first to the paddock, then galloped him 1 1/2 miles around the oval. Trainer James Kasparoff, who trains the California-bred sophomore for his brother Tim and his partner Jeff Harmon, was happy with how his charge took to his new surroundings. "He's doing fine," James Kasparoff said. "He's going to work tomorrow morning, but nothing special. He won't be breaking any records. 'Mig' (rider Richard Migliore) will come in to work him and I'm looking for five furlongs in about 1:01." Weather reports are calling for rain Sunday evening, leaving the possibility that the track could be off for Monday morning works. "A wet track won't bother him," James Kasparoff noted. "In fact, I think it'll move him up. His sire line -- Bertrando -- loves the off and I've trained him on the wet in California and he never had any problems with it." DENIS OF CORK (Harlan's Holiday) galloped a mile under trainer David Carroll before the renovation break Sunday morning and is also scheduled to work Monday. "He is just going to have an easy work," Carroll said. "The track will be good. It takes water well and never gets really bad." Calvin Borel, who is scheduled to ride Denis of Cork in the Derby if he makes the field, will be aboard for the work that is scheduled after the break. PYRO and Z FORTUNE (Siphon [Brz]) galloped two miles in advance of key workouts Monday morning for trainer Steve Asmussen. Not only will the stable's Derby contenders grace the Downs with a drill Monday, but so will Horse of the Year and recent Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1) winner Curlin (Smart Strike). Last year's Kentucky Derby third-place finisher will be making his first major morning appearance since returning from the Middle East. VISIONAIRE made his first appearance on the Churchill's racetrack Sunday morning, galloping 1 1/2 miles as Derby-winning trainer Michael Matz looked on from horseback. Visionaire vanned to the Downs from Keeneland on Saturday afternoon, and Matz reported that all went well during the short ride.
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