Dialed In arrives at Churchill; Archarcharch back to the track

Dialed In arrives at Churchill; Archarcharch back to the

track

Robert LaPenta's Dialed In, who is expected to vie for favoritism

in next Saturday's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, arrived at Louisville International

Airport at 12:45 p.m. (EDT) Saturday afternoon following a flight from South

Florida. Dialed In arrived at Churchill Downs shortly before 2 p.m. and settled

in at Barn 36.

Dialed In, who won the Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park in his most

recent start, broke his maiden at Churchill Downs in his debut to racing on

November 12.

Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito has saddled two Kentucky Derby winners --

Strike the Gold in 1991 and Go for Gin in 1994 -- and was represented by

runner-up Ice Box last year. Julien Leparoux has the return mount aboard Dialed

In.

Arriving with Dialed In was Harvey Clarke and partners' Soldat,

who made his way to Churchill's Barn 41.

Soldat, who captured the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park on

February 26 before a disappointing fifth-place Florida Derby run, breezed five

furlongs in 1:01 2/5 at Palm Meadows on Friday.

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin will be seeking his first Kentucky Derby success

with Soldat, who will be ridden next Saturday by Alan Garcia.

In other Derby doings, Grade 1 Arkansas Derby winner Archarcharch returned to the track one day after working a bullet five furlongs in :59 2/5.

On Saturday, he turned in an easy jog once around under jockey Jon Court with

trainer Jinks Fires alongside on a pony.

"He does a lot better if you take him to the track and get him out of his

stall," Fires said. "We just jogged to the starting gate, stood and then backed

out and jogged back around."

Owned by Robert Yagos, Archarcharch is scheduled to gallop Sunday morning

after the renovation break.

This year's Kentucky Derby will be the first for Fires and Court, but not for

the Fires' family. Jinks' brother Earlie, a Hall of Fame jockey, rode in the

Derby six times with in-the-money placings on Blue Skyer in 1966 and Francie's

Hat in 1968.

"Earlie is coming in and at last count we have 36 family members coming for

the Derby," Jinks Fires said, adding with a laugh, "and maybe some that we don't

know about."

Trainer Juan Arias reported no problems Saturday morning with Just For Fun

Stable's Decisive Moment, who worked five furlongs in 1:01

2/5 at Churchill Downs on Friday.

"He came out of the work good. He walked today. We'll bring him back to the

track tomorrow," the South Florida-based trainer said. "We'll give him a regular

gallop."

Arias will be aboard for Sunday's planned gallop aboard his trainee. The

native of Panama, who came to the United States in 1981, is a former jockey who

gallops all of his horses on a rotational basis with his stable's exercise

riders.

"I have a team of exercise riders, but I do like to participate. That's an

advantage I have as a trainer -- that way I can feel it when I ride," said

Arias, who is Decisive Moment's only exercise rider. "I've been galloping him

every day for six months, no one else. I even breeze him sometimes."

Repole Stable's twosome of Uncle Mo and Stay Thirsty

went trackside for 1 1/4-mile gallop Saturday at 8:30 during the special

training period following the renovation break. Hector Ramos was in his usual

spot aboard Uncle Mo, while Fernando Espinoza was at the controls for Stay

Thirsty.

Both colts went about their business as expected, setting themselves up for

bigger things on Sunday.

"They'll both work tomorrow," trainer Todd Pletcher said back at his Barn 34

headquarters. "We'll go at 8:30 following the break."

The Kentucky-bred stablemates are both coming off disappointing efforts:

Uncle Mo managed only a third at odds-on in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct

on April 9, and Stay Thirsty finished seventh in the Florida Derby.

Uncle Mo, last year's two-year-old champion, is scheduled to be handled by

regular rider John Velazquez in next Saturday's Kentucky Derby, while Grade 3 Gotham winner Stay Thirsty will have the saddle services of Ramon Dominguez.

Also set to work Sunday is George and Lori Hall's Pants on Fire,

after trainer Kelly Breen rolled the dice and decided to wait a day to work,

despite a rainy forecast for the Louisville area.

"Hopefully it won't rain too much," Breen said after the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby winner galloped a little less than 1 1/2 miles under exercise rider Juan

Pizarro.

"It is mainly a timing thing in that I like to get him on his toes a little

closer (to the race)."

Jockey Rosie Napravnik is scheduled to be aboard for the work.

Trainer Kathleen O'Connell was on hand to watch Watch Me Go gallop Saturday,

the morning before her Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby winner is scheduled

to work over the Churchill Downs track.

"He's got a wonderful way of traveling," the Florida-based trainer said of

Watch Me Go, who is owned by Gilbert Campbell.

Jockey Freddie Lenclud, who was aboard for Saturday's morning exercise, is

slated to ride Watch Me Go in Sunday's workout.

O'Connell said she won't name a rider for the Derby until Monday.

"We have a couple people on hold, so we'll wait until Monday," O'Connell

said.

Live Oak Plantation's homebred Brilliant Speed galloped 1 1/4

miles under assistant trainer Dan Blacker.

The late-closing winner of the Grade 1 Blue Grass was shipped from Keeneland to

Churchill Downs early Friday afternoon and has settled in at Barn 42.

"He feels great -- couldn't be happier," said Blacker, who works for trainer

Tom Albertrani.

Blacker said the ideal scenario would be to have the colt have his final

pre-Derby breeze on a fast track, but with wet weather in the forecast for

Sunday it will be a day-to-day decision.

Tom Walters' Santiva galloped 1 1/2 miles following the

renovation break under Brendan Walsh.

"I couldn't be happier. He went really well," trainer Eddie Kenneally said.

Kenneally said the Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club winner, a troubled ninth in the

Blue Grass, is coming up to the race in a good way.

"He couldn't be doing any better. He's eating well, looking well, very sound

and healthy," Kenneally said. "Hopefully the weather stays good."

Weather will dictate when Santiva has his final pre-Derby breeze, but

Kenneally said the ideal day is Monday. Shaun Bridgmohan has the mount on

Santiva in the Derby.

Zayat Stables' Nehro, a fast-closing runner-up in the Louisiana

Derby and Arkansas Derby in his past two starts, galloped 1 1/2 miles under

exercise rider Carlos Rosas at 6:15 Saturday morning.

Slated to be ridden by Corey Nakatani in Derby 137, Nehro is scheduled to

work Monday morning.

Arnold Zetcher's Midnight Interlude visited the starting gate for

some schooling and galloped 1 1/2 miles after the renovation break under

exercise rider Dana Barnes.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has watched the colt develop through three

races this year and then win the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in a stretch duel with

Comma to the Top.

"The thing about him is he's got a lot of turf pedigree being by War Chant

and his mother ran on turf in New Zealand. She could go long," Baffert said.

"Stamina can be so important in this race and whoever gets the trip with 20

horses in there."

Victor Espinoza has the mount in the Kentucky Derby.  

Across the country at Hollywood Park, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum and Kevin

Tsujihara's Comma to the Top galloped Saturday morning, one day

before he's to put in his final workout for the Kentucky Derby and two days

before he'll be put aboard a plane for Louisville and his date with destiny next

Saturday.

"I'm going to work him five-eighths tomorrow morning at 8 (PDT) and have him

gallop out three-quarters," trainer Peter Miller said from his Hollywood Park

barn. "Patrick Valenzuela (who has been named aboard the gelding for his Derby

run) will work him for me. He worked him for me last week.

"Everything is good. He's going forward just like we planned. It's getting

exciting."

Comma to the Top -- the name derives from a slang phrase for an apostrophe --

will be the most-seasoned starter in the field for Derby 137 with 13 starts

already under his belt. The speedster has three stakes victories to his credit,

including the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity, and was second, beaten a head, in his most

recent effort, the Santa Anita Derby on April 9.

Also at Hollywood, A D K Racing's Anthony's Cross galloped 1

1/2 miles Saturday morning as his connections, including trainer Eoin Harty,

await word that they'll get a green light to compete in next Saturday's Kentucky

Derby.

Anthony's Cross is sitting at No. 21 on the list of potential Derby starters

and needs just a bit of help to make the no-more-than-20-horse field. Harty has

made arrangements to fly his charge to Kentucky on Tuesday and he's keeping his

fingers crossed until then.

"I'm still waiting to hear," Harty said Saturday morning. "We'll hope we get

lucky."

Anthony's Cross, a Pennsylvania-bred bay, won the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis at

Santa Anita in February, then finished fifth in his most recent outing, the

Santa Anita Derby.