Derby runners depart Churchill for next engagements

The 137th Grade 1 Kentucky Derby had been run less than 24 hours ago, but

already many of the participants in the classic contest were making

their way back home on Sunday.

Master of Hounds, who just arrived in the United States from

Ireland early last week, had the longest trip back to his home base. The Aidan

O'Brien pupil was making his second trip to Churchill Downs following a

sixth-place run in last year's Grade 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, and added a

fifth in the Kentucky Derby to his resume.

The dark bay was described as "bright as a button" on Sunday by traveling head lad T.J. Comerford

as he oversaw the loading of Master of Hounds on to a van at Barn 45 just before 8 a.m.

(EDT) for a trip to Louisville International

Airport and a flight Sunday evening back to Ireland. The sophomore colt was

going to have to stand a five-hour quarantine prior to being allowed to board

the flight.

"We were quite pleased with his effort," Comerford stated.

"The rider (Garrett Gomez) said at first he wasn't liking all the kickback.

First time he's ever encountered that, so that was understandable. But by the

time they got to the backstretch he'd gotten into it (the race). He closed well

and gave a very good account of himself. His effort was first rate.

"There was no pace in the race. We were hoping for more of

that, but it didn't happen. That wasn't to our advantage. But all in all, a very

good effort."

Master of Hounds was beaten a little more than five lengths for the top prize and "finished with good energy,"

according to the official Equibase chart of the race. He earned $60,000 for his

run.

Comerford was noncommittal about Master of Hounds returning in the fall to

Churchill for the Breeders' Cup.

"We'll see," he said.

Brilliant Speed left his temporary

home in Barn 42 around 9 a.m. Sunday morning to board a van for flight to New

York and home base of trainer Tom Albertrani. The Grade 1 Blue Grass winner is

not expected to run back in the Grade 1 Preakness on May 21

"He came out of the race fine and he is good this

morning," assistant trainer Dan Blacker said as he led the Derby seventh from the

barn.

"I was really happy with his race," Albertrani commented. "The pace was a little

slow, but he closed a lot of ground and only got beat by 5 1/2 lengths."

Soldat is scheduled to fly to New York on Monday to rejoin the bulk of

trainer Kiaran McLaughlin's stable following his 11th-place finish in the Derby.

"He had no excuses," said Neal McLaughlin, assistant to

and brother of Kiaran McLaughlin. "He had a perfect trip, but just wasn't good

enough yesterday. He came back fine and scoped clean last night."

A return to the turf where Soldat broke his maiden in the

Grade 3 With Anticipation last summer and posted runner-up finishes in the

Grade 3 Pilgrim and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf is possible according to

Neal McLaughlin.

"We will go back to New York and regroup, but chances are

he would go back to the turf," he said. "We will discuss it with the

owners and come to a consensus and go from there."

Trainer Mike Maker's two Derby starters, Derby Kitten (13th) and Twinspired (17th), left Churchill

Downs shortly after 6 a.m. for the short ride back to the Trackside Training

Center.

"They made it back over about 6:30," Maker said. "They

both came out of the race fine and at the moment there are no plans for what is

next for them."

In other Derby news:

Santiva came out of his Derby sixth-place run in good shape according

to trainer Eddie Kenneally.

"He came out of the race fine. I thought he got a good trip and ran well," Kenneally said,

before adding that no decision had

been made on the next start for Santiva.

Twice the Appeal, who finished 10th in Derby 137

under Calvin Borel, was doing just fine back at his Barn 42 headquarters Sunday

morning.

"Oh, he ate up; he ate everything," assistant trainer

Miguel Carranza said.

"You don't worry about this horse. He does fine all the time."

Trainer Jeff Bonde indicated that Twice the Appeal wasn't

a likely Preakness candidate prior to the Derby and one of his three owners, Victor Flores, confirmed that thought Sunday.

"He's headed back to California, to Hollywood Park,"

Flores said. "We might be able to get him on a flight today. If not, then

tomorrow.

"We'll give him a week or so to relax, then get back into

it with an eye toward the (June 11 Grade 1) Belmont in New York. This horse could be

suited by the Belmont and we'll see how he trains toward it."

Like several others in their postrace comments, the owner

lamented the lack of a quicker pace in the 10-furlong Derby.

"Those kinds of fractions weren't what we needed for him," Flores said. "He was just too far back on a

slow pace and never really got to run his race. But that's horse racing.

Sometimes those things work out, sometimes not."

Stay Thirsty pulled up none the worse for wear

following his 12th-place run in Saturday's Derby. The Repole Stable colorbearer was "very good" Sunday morning at Barn 34 trainer Todd Pletcher

reported and would be headed up to his headquarters at Belmont Park in New York

on Monday.

"We won't consider the Preakness for him," Pletcher said.

"But we'll see how that race comes out, as well as the Peter Pan (G2) at

Belmont and think about the Belmont Stakes for him."

He also said that his other Repole Stable colt, last

year's juvenile champion Uncle Mo, whom he had been forced to scratch from a

planned appearance in the Kentucky Derby because of a stomach ailment, would

stay on in Kentucky and undergo more testing, including one that was to take

place later Sunday.

Reflecting philosophically on his stable's fortunes, the

trainer offered, "Overall, we've been blessed. We've had a lot of good

weekends over the years, but this wasn't one of our best. But that's the game.

You've got to accept it and go on. You've got to keep looking forward."

Decisive Moment exited a 14th-place

finish in the Derby in fine order, trainer Juan Arias said Sunday morning.

"He's a free-running horse, he wants to be in the clear. He wasn't

comfortable," Arias said. "We'll sit down with the connections to see what we

want to do next."

Arias, who plans to ship Decisive Moment to the Calder Race Course base on

Tuesday, was impressed with the atmosphere at Churchill Downs.

"It was awesome. That's a unique experience, seeing the full grandstand and

hearing the roar when they break from the gate. I watched the race from the

sixteenth pole," Arias said.

Assistant trainer Jim Barnes said Midnight Interlude was

well and that "we're all good" the day after the colt pulled in 16th in the 19-horse

Derby field

after an outing that failed to see him make a major impact.

"We'll just have to wait until next weekend and see how

he's doing," trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday morning. "We'll see how he does when he goes

back to the track. I'm going back to California, but when I come back on the

weekend we'll make a call about him. If he's doing OK, training all right, we'll

definitely look at the Preakness for him. But we have to wait and see.

"Last year, if you'd have asked me about Lookin at Lucky

the day after the Derby, I probably would have told you we weren't going to the

Preakness. But we waited and he told us he was OK and we went."

In 2010, Lookin at Lucky, the eventual three-year-old

champion, was favored in the Kentucky Derby but suffered through a terrible trip

in which he got slammed into the fence among other indignities to wind up sixth

on a sloppy race track. When the colt bounced back the following week in his

exercises at Churchill, Baffert made the decision to go forward and run him in

the Preakness, which he won with an electrifying late finish by three-quarters

of a length.

Trainer Kathleen O'Connell reported that Watch Me Go was

physically well following an 18th-place Kentucky Derby finish in which he raced

wide throughout.

"He's feeling very good, better than me," O'Connell said. "You can't go that

wide in a race that long."

Although disappointed with the fate of her Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby winner,

O'Connell was able to put things into perspective Saturday night.

"My only consolation was: I felt so bad, so depressed leaving here, and then

I drove by Mr. Jinks' barn and thought 'I should be ashamed the way I was

feeling the way I did,'" said O'Connell, referring to Jinks Fires, whose Derby

starter, Archarcharch, suffered a leg injury. "Here his horse was coming back in

an ambulance, that's about as devastating as you can get."

O'Connell said Watch Me Go would likely be shipped to Ocala for a week to

freshen up before resuming training.

"He's got a lot of turf pedigree, and the (July 16 Grade 2) Virginia Derby (at Colonial Downs) isn't a bad race," O'Connell said. "If we're based in Virginia we're closer to more things than if

I took him back south to Florida."