Archarcharch, Nehro set for rematch at Churchill

All was positive at the barn of trainer Jinks Fires Sunday morning as the

winning connections of Saturday's Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby gathered to

bask in the afterglow of the neck victory by Archarcharch.

Fires and assistant Pat Tanner reported the son of Arch was in fine shape

after scoring his second stakes win in the Oaklawn Park three-year-old series

and would be headed to Louisville Monday for a date in the May 7 Grade 1

Kentucky Derby.

"He's doing great," said Tanner. "He's like he was never in a horse race

yesterday."

For owner Bob Yagos, the euphoria had yet to wear off after watching his star

colt and jockey Jon Court close strongly to pass 4-5 favorite The Factor,

trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, and hold off a furious rally by Nehro at

the wire.

"I sure feel like we were in a horse race yesterday," said Yagos, an owner of

a salvage yard in Jacksonville, Arkansas. "I told everyone that if we keep up

this stress my hair is going to turn as white as Bob Baffert."

The stress levels and excitement are sure to rise now that the team is moving

on to Kentucky, but Archarcharch looks to them like "the complete package" and

his upbringing on the Yagos' farm will help in the circus-like atmosphere at

Churchill Downs.

"Just before we sent him to be broken, he lived with us on the farm, and

that's right next to the salvage yard," said Yagos. "He's been used to forklifts

and trucks and equipment since he was a baby.

"And we are also right in the flight path for an Air Force base. We get those

big C-130s coming and going all the time. He's sure going to be used to all the

noise."

Fires's phone has not stopped ringing since the victory -- his first career

Grade 1 win.

"He's great," he said. "It's been incredible. Everybody has called. It felt

like everyone in Arkansas was in the winner's circle."

For the second straight race, Zayat Stable's Nehro had to settle for a

runner-up spot in a photo-finish of a major Kentucky Derby prep race.

Fortunately for the colt, he's picked the right time to lose. The neck loss

matched a similar result last month in the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby.

"Those are $800,000 worth of inches there," said Darren Fleming, assistant to

trainer Steve Asmussen.

Fleming reported Nehro, a son of Mineshaft, was "great" Sunday morning and

would fly to Kentucky and Churchill Downs Tuesday where he will prepare for a

run in the Kentucky Derby.

While the losses were costly for the up-and-coming Nehro, the fact that they

came in million-dollar graded stakes was opportune. He now has $400,000 in

graded stakes earnings, qualifying him safely for the Derby field even though he

has only one Oaklawn Park maiden-race victory to his credit from five starts.

It was a big day for the Asmussen team on Saturday's closing day card. They

won three times from nine starters with three second-place results including

Nehro's and Albergatti in the $100,000 Northern Spur Stakes.

Fleming personally owned 3RD race allowance winner Chef Eric and 12TH race

runner-up General Partner.

"It was a lot of fun," said Fleming. "My horse lost the Trail's End (final

race on the card), but  finished second, and the Derby loss, it kind of

makes you a little disappointed, but everybody ran well and it looks like Nehro

is really set up now with the way he ran to peak at the right time."

While Arkansas Derby winner Archarcharch and runner-up Nehro are guaranteed

spots in the Kentucky Derby based on their graded earnings, the Derby status is

not so certain for the third and fourth-place finishers Dance City and Sway

Away, who are 36th and 34th on the earnings list currently. The Kentucky Derby

is limited to the 20 runners with the most graded earnings.

Dance City, his stablemate Brethren, who finished 11th in the Arkansas Derby,

and Sway Away are all scheduled to leave Hot Springs Tuesday on a flight to

Kentucky where they will wait and see how the actual Derby field develops.

"With Sway Away and the Derby we are going to lay back and see where it

goes," said trainer Jeff  Bonde, who had a very productive Racing Festival

of the South with Smiling Tiger winning the Grade 3, $200,000 Count Fleet Sprint

Handicap Thursday and Road Ready winning the $75,000 Bachelor Stakes Friday.

Bonde was also sending Smiling Tiger to Kentucky, but his main objective was

going to be the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap -- the 'Met Mile' at Belmont Park

May 30.

The only other Arkansas Derby runners with enough earnings currently to make

the Kentucky Derby field are The Factor ($272,500) and the Joe Petalino-trained

J P's Gusto ($544,000), who finished seventh and eighth respectively.

"We'll see how he is," said Baffert, who was very non-committal about the

Derby following the race. "Right now, I'm not even going to comment on that.

We're just going to go back and lick our wounds."

Plans for J P's Gusto were not set as of Sunday morning. The horse was sent

by Gem Stables of Dr. John Waken to Petalino in February specifically for the

Arkansas Derby series. He had originally been based in Southern California with

trainer David Hofmans. Should the ridgling move farther east, the owners have

employed other trainers when racing in New York and Maryland.