Overnight rain that lingered through the early-morning hours left the Churchill Downs main track sloppy for training April 28, resulting in a quiet day of equine activity, with locally-stabled racehorses pointed toward the May 6 Kentucky Derby (G1) given light exercise of jogging or galloping.
No Derby prospects breezed at Churchill, though Vegso Racing Stable’s Lord Miles , last-out winner of the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) at Aqueduct Racetrack, worked five furlongs in 1:02.41 at Gulfstream Park in South Florida for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.
That Curlin colt is among a group of late-arriving Derby participants, who will complete the bulk of their training off-site before shipping into Churchill Downs. All Derby runners are required to be at Churchill Downs by early next week. Post positions for the 1 1/4-mile race for 3-year-olds, the first leg of the Triple Crown, will be drawn May 1.
The wet weather that hit the Louisville, Ky. area, which had been forecast, had already resulted in many trainers opting to push workouts for their Kentucky Derby starters until April 29, one week before the race. Roughly half of the anticipated 20-horse field is expected to breeze Saturday when the track surface should be in better condition, likely fast following a day of drying-out conditions.
Albaugh Family Stable’s Angel of Empire , the Arkansas Derby (G1) winner for trainer Brad Cox, was on the track early at Churchill, while most of the other anticipated Derby runners trained during an exclusive training period for Derby and Oaks hopefuls around 7:30 a.m. ET.
Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher’s trio of Forte , Tapit Trice , and Kingsbarns made favorable impressions with gallops. Cox also brought out three of his other Derby horses—Verifying , Hit Show , and Jace’s Road —during the exclusive training period.
Forte galloping #kyderby pic.twitter.com/CdtGIi4Tni
— Byron King (@BH_BKing) April 28, 2023
West Point Thoroughbreds and Albaugh Family Stables’ Jace’s Road, winner of the 2022 Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots and a pace-chasing third last out behind Kingsbarns and Disarm in the March 25 Louisiana Derby (G2), could be the longest price of Cox’s four intended starters under Florent Geroux.
But as Rich Strike proved last year with his 80-1 upset in the Kentucky Derby, longshots can surprise in the prestigious race.
Jeff Lifson, executive vice president for West Point Thoroughbreds, has seen that firsthand. The Terry Finley-headed partnership has been to the Kentucky Derby six other times, either owning a horse solely or in partnership, experiencing the thrill of 37-1 longshot Commanding Curve running second to California Chrome in 2014 before winning the race with 9-2 favorite Always Dreaming three years later.
“It’s just crazy fun and we know how unique this is to have one chance, let alone seven in the years I’ve been with them. It feels great and it feels rather humbling, really,” Lifson said.
Watch: Lifson Talks Jace’s Road, West Point Thoroughbreds’ Kentucky Derby History
West Point owned the Dallas Stewart-trained Commanding Curve outright and co-owned Always Dreaming, trained by Pletcher, with Brooklyn Boyz Stables, Teresa Viola Racing Stables, Siena Farm, MeB Racing Stables, and St. Elias Stables.
While West Point bought into Always Dreaming in the months before the Derby, spotting potential in the up-and-comer, they have been partners throughout with Albaugh Family Stables in Jace’s Road. The Quality Road colt was acquired for $510,000 from the Taylor Made Sales Agency consignment to the 2021 September Yearling Sale at Keeneland.
“Form-wise, if you look at the (past performances), he will be a longer shot,” Lifson said. “Will he get the mile and a quarter? He got the mile and three sixteenths but he didn’t really surge at the end of the Louisiana Derby. I think there is still some question, maybe just in my mind. The fact that he managed it, finished in the money, probably didn’t get the trip that we absolutely wanted that day. We were thinking about going straight to the lead. Kingsbarns (who led wire to wire) had different ideas.
“But I have a sneaking suspicion he is rounding into the form cycle when he had when won the Gun Runner and that’s what gets me excited.”
Jace’s Road wins the 2022 Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds
Also exciting is his early speed. He would appear to be one of the quicker horses in a Derby lineup without an abundance of pace.
“Isn’t it funny how everybody says, ‘There is no speed in the race this year.’ It becomes almost like a consensus and then they hit the first turn, and jockeys lose their minds,” Lifson said.
“I’d love to be War Emblem, right?” he continued, referring to the front-running 2002 upsetter. “Who wouldn’t want to be in that position? If we draw well and if he breaks well, we’ll be in that kind of spot and Florent understandably knows this track well and knows the race. Thankfully he has some experience in the race, too. So I think he’ll gauge things from there.”
Geroux is a Kentucky Derby-winning jockey via the disqualification of Medina Spirit in the 2021 race, which promoted his mount Mandaloun from second to first. Geroux, with six Derby rides, also was aboard eventual 2017 Horse of the Year Gun Runner , who finished third in the 2016 Derby.
