Kentucky Derby 2018 Daily: Good Magic back with bullet work

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By Jonathan Lintner

Top 2018 Kentucky Derby hopeful Good Magic on Sunday posted his first workout since breaking his maiden in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, a three-furlong drill clocked at 36.95 seconds — fastest of 10 at that distance around South Florida’s Palm Meadows Training Center.

Just after posting the time to his Twitter account, expert clocker Bruno De Julio received the response: “Derby winner.”

“Come on,” said De Julio, who makes his works analysis available at RacingWithBruno.com. “This is the start of seven weeks worth of works having to culminate in the horse not having a hiccup to start by the end of February.”

The target race for Chad Brown-trained Good Magic is the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth set for March 3 at Gulfstream Park.

Drills will increase in intensity before then, though De Julio noted that the son of Curlin “did a little bit more” than work 3/8 Sunday. With Good Magic out just after a renovation break, De Julio caught him getting four furlongs in 49 3/4 seconds with a five furlong gallop out in 1:04.

“This is a starting block, and that’s it,” he said. “I’m not going to get into the accolades, and I’m not going to get into the doom and gloom. This is just the first work.”

He added, “Sometimes you just have to tell people, ‘Slow down.’”

De Julio also mentioned that the mystery horse breezing inside of Pegasus World Cup contender Stellar Wind on Saturday was Mask, a much-discussed colt coming out of a victory in Gulfstream’s Mucho Macho Man Stakes.

“Mask worked with Stellar Wind, with Mask being better than Stellar Wind,” he said. “However, Stellar Wind is not a great work horse…That’s not a condemnation on her.

“Mask was better at the wire — basically wouldn’t let her by. Then again, Mask is a more forward horse who puts out every work.”

World of Trouble hitting the trail

World of Trouble, who received a 97 Beyer Speed Figure after nearly breaking a track record in Saturday’s Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs, will go next in a points-paying Derby prep. Trainer Jason Servis said the colt could return in the Grade 3 Sam F. Davis on Feb. 10, but owner Michael Dubb told the Daily Racing Form waiting until the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on March 10 is more likely.

“He did everything I wanted him to do,” jockey Antonio Gallardo said after the Pasco, “and when it was time to go I asked him a little bit and he exploded. He did it in 1:21, but he wasn’t giving me everything. I think he had something left inside.”

Not bad for a $10,000 purchase who debuted in a maiden claimer last August at Gulfstream Park.

A son of Kantharos, who typically produces sprinters, World of Trouble’s final Pasco time for seven furlongs (1:21.52) was just a tick off the track record set in 2014 by Catalina Red (1:21.40), who battled X Y Jet to the wire in the Pasco.

Does World of Trouble want more distance?

“I could see he was playing around a little toward the wire,” Gallardo said, “but when I started to pull him up after the race, he felt the other horses coming up to him and wanted to go again. He surprised me a lot and I really like him.”

Two names to know

While I was speaking earlier this week with Eclipse Thoroughbreds’ Aron Wellman, who thinks quite highly of the once-raced Montauk, he said the ownership group has a pair of “fringe” Derby hopefuls worth a look.

Hazit beat the eventual Breeders’ Cup winner Good Magic by a length in both colts’ Aug. 26 debuts at Saratoga. The son of War Front was fifth in the Grade 1 Champagne Stakes and ran eighth in the Jnveile.

“We’ve regrouped with him, and he’s been working really, really nicely the last couple weeks as we’ve started to get him back going for his 3-year-old campaign,” Wellman said. “He’s got a lot to prove, but he’s certainly going to be put in a position where he can prove himself on the trail.”

Mufasa was a runner-up Jan. 6 in his first start at Gulfstream Park, tracked down late while going a mile on the turf.

“He’s another one that could earn his way onto the trail if he progresses the way we envision him doing so,” Wellman said. “We might give him a shot on the dirt in the next month or so as well if he continues to develop accordingly.”

Other top workers

High North — Ticketed for the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes for his 3-year-old debut, the Brad Cox-trained son of Midnight Lute has drilled consistently since the New Year, breezing four furlongs in 48.40 (10/163) Sunday at Fair Grounds.

McKinzie — Unbeaten in three starts, and the last-out winner of the Grade 3 Sham Stakes, he returned to the work tab Sunday going an easy half mile in 49 flat (45/87). His next start hasn’t been announced by trainer Bob Baffert.

Navistar — Potentially Mourinho’s top competition in last Monday’s Smarty Jones Stakes, this one wasn’t able to travel due to winter weather in the area and has instead remained on the work tab. It was an easy five furlongs Sunday in 1:03.19 at Todd Pletcher’s Palm Beach Downs base.

Peace — A possibility for the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita, this Richard Mandella trainee is a highly regarded maiden winner with top Derby hopefuls Mourinho and Instilled Regard in his past performances. He tuned up Sunday with 5/8 in 1:00.80 (23/110).

Additionally, we should see likely 2-year-old champion Bolt d’Oro pop up on the work tab in the next week or so. Here’s a look at a recent gallop:

In case you missed it…

With a lull in the preps calendar, and plenty of new maiden and allowance types popping up, we looked into when eventual Derby winners typically emerge in Saturday’s daily report.

• Catch up with all the latest Derby news by reading past editions of HRN’s Derby Daily report.