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Verrazano, Revolutionary drill for Pletcher

Hall of Famer Gary Stevens guided Verrazano, who will be ridden by fellow Hall of Famer John Velazquez in the Derby (Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography) Another busy morning at the Todd Pletcher barn at Churchill Downs was highlighted by works by undefeated Wood Memorial winner Verrazano and Louisiana Derby winner Revolutionary, who both worked on the fast main track following the morning renovation break Sunday at 8:30 a.m. (EDT). Working with La Troienne contender Authenticity, Verrazano breezed five furlongs in 1:00 1/5 and recorded fractions of :13, :25 1/5 and :36 4/5 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:13 1/5, seven furlongs in 1:26 4/5 and a mile in 1:41 3/5. Guided in the work by Hall of Famer Gary Stevens, Verrazano started one length back behind the workmate and they finished together. Authenticity completed her move in 1:00 2/5. "We wanted a good, solid five-furlong breeze and we wanted to sit him behind another horse and have him sit back and relax for a little bit," Pletcher said. "We also wanted to have him finish up good and gallop out strong. He accomplished all that. I thought he went great and he seemed to get over the track well. We liked what we saw."

Let's Go Stable, Michael Tabor, Mrs. John Magnier and Derrick Smith's Verrazano's five-eighths time tied for the third fastest of 40 at the distance. He is scheduled to work again at Churchill Downs next Sunday.

Working on the inside of recent first-level allowance winner Red Rifle, Revolutionary breezed four furlongs in :48 4/5 and recorded fractions of :12 3/5, :24 4/5 and :37 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:01 1/5 and six furlongs in 1:15 1/5. Their half-mile time tied for the 22nd fastest of 81 at the distance.

Calvin Borel was in the irons for the work, and will be aboard Revolutionary on the first Saturday in May. 

Calvin Borel got acquainted with Revolutionary (right), who worked with stablemate Red Rifle (Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography) "We wanted to get Calvin familiar with him because it's the first time he's been on him," Pletcher said. "We were looking for a little less from him. He went a good half and finished up well. "I love the way he galloped out and Calvin was really happy with him. So, we accomplished what we wanted to do with him as well." "He did everything right and worked really well," Borel said. "I think this colt has the potential (to win the Derby). He's a nice horse and he's been through everything you want a Derby horse to go through." WinStar Farm LLC's Revolutionary is also scheduled to work at Churchill next Sunday. Other members of Pletcher's Derby team -- Arkansas Derby winner Overanalyze, Blue Grass runner-up Palace Malice and Blue Grass third Charming Kitten -- all galloped about 1 3/8 miles following the morning renovation break at Churchill. Overanalyze was under Obed Perez, Palace Malice was guided by Jake Nelson and Humberto Zamora was aboard Charming Kitten. All three are scheduled to breeze over the Louisville, Kentucky, oval next Sunday.

Charming Kitten is currently number 21 on the leaderboard and needs a defection to draw into the Derby field.

Pletcher also has number 22 on the list, Winning Cause, who jumped to that spot following his victory in Saturday's Lexington, a wild card race worth 20 points to the winner. Following that score, Winning Cause vanned back to Churchill Downs and was in good order Sunday morning.

The next race for Winning Cause has not been determined; however, Pletcher has not ruled out the Kentucky Derby and said he will need to discuss plans with owner Gil Moutray's of Alto Racing LLC. 

Winning Cause could be an unprecedented sixth Derby starter for Pletcher. Three trainers have saddled a record five starters in the Kentucky Derby: Pletcher (2007), Nick Zito (2005) and D. Wayne Lukas (1996). No trainer has saddled six.

The rankings of the bubble horses changed Sunday because the Bob Baffert-trained Den's Legacy was added back on the list as number 20.

Daily Racing Form's Jay Privman reported Sunday that Den's Legacy and Super Ninety Nine (18th on the leaderboard) would work Wednesday at Santa Anita to determine whether or not they'd board a Thursday flight to Louisville, Kentucky.

Baffert's only confirmed runner so far is record-setting Sunland Derby winner Govenor Charlie, who is already on the Churchill grounds along with stablemates Code West (number 23) and Power Broker (number 26).

Mike Pegram's Govenor Charlie jogged early Sunday morning under exercise rider Jorge Alvarez. 

Code West and Power Broker, both owned by Gary and Mary West, also galloped under Alvarez. They are penciled in to work Monday according to Peter Hutton, assistant to Baffert.

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