Kentucky Derby prep: Amoss drills Authentic Gallop to step up
Authentic Gallop arrived at Colonial Downs on Wednesday night after a 14-hour van ride from his homebase with trainer Tom Amoss at Fair Grounds. The Authentic colt is 10-1 on the morning line for Saturday’s 1 1/8 miles $500,000 Virginia Derby, the first-ever Kentucky Derby qualifying race at Colonial Downs.
After breaking his maiden going two turns in his final start as a juvenile, Authentic Gallop ran a strong third to Admiral Dennis at Fair Grounds. Amoss removed the blinkers for Authentic Gallop’s second start against winners and the colt moved forward, winning a first-level allowance at Oaklawn Park.
“He’s a horse that doesn't have a great understanding of competition,” Amoss said. “We ended up taking the blinkers off of him in his last race because we wanted him to understand that he has got to compete when he gets in a dog fight. As it turns out, although that race is not a wow race when you watch it live, it helped quite a deal because it was a four-horse battle down the stretch. He took a challenge from the inside, he took a challenge from the outside. The way he prevailed in that race hopefully gets him where he needs to be in terms of understanding competition.”
Putting in three five-furlong drills at Fair Grounds since his last out win, Authentic Gallop fired a bullet on Feb. 17, worked in company on Feb. 27 with stablemate Hoosier Philly ahead of her appearance in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile, and again in company for his final preparation on March 6.
“For his last work I gave him a target,” Amoss said. “I put two horses in front of him. Understanding competition is the key to this horse being his best. He was very competitive, and he finished up strong and beat them. The work went the way I hoped it would, which doesn't always happen.”
Set to face eight foes on Saturday, Authentic Gallop drew post 8 and will see Javier Castellano in the irons.
“Bottom line he is a good horse,” Amoss said. “The question is, is he a now horse? When they mentally get a better understanding of it, a lot of good things can happen. I think that last race could have done that for him.”
Authentic Gallop arrived at Colonial Downs with stablemates You’ll Be Back and Low Key, two of the eight fillies entered in Saturday’s 1 1/16 miles $250,000 Virginia Oaks.
Stakes-placed in her last two starts at Oaklawn Park, You’ll Be Back is the 9-2 third choice on the morning line. The Practical Joke filly will be faced with her steepest distance test to date, having raced at six furlongs last out in the Dixie Belle and one mile in the Year’s End.
“We had a really tough trip last time,” Amoss said. “Her only other attempt at a route of ground was right after her (maiden) win at Fair Grounds. I did not think she relaxed well in that race. How much of that is her being able to get the two turns and how much of that is maybe trainer’s error, not teaching her to relax a little better, I don’t know the answer to that. But we feel she’s prepared to understand that she needs to rate here.”
You’ll Be Back will be guided by Castellano from post 6.
Drawing to her inside in post 2, Low Key exits her maiden-breaking score over a sloppy track at Fair Grounds.
“The best part of her race was the last portion of it,” Amoss said. “We’ve known that the further the better for her, and that’s how we’ve tried to race her. She’s got the race under her belt. Joel Politi, the owner, said, ‘Let’s give it a roll,’ so that’s what we are going to do.”
Sheldon Russel is named to ride the daughter of Bolt d’Oro, who was tabbed at 10-1 on the morning line.
The winning horses in the Virginia Derby and Virginia Oaks will receive 50 points toward the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks (G1), respectively. The second- through fifth-place finishers will earn 25-15-10-5 points. First post for Saturday’s 10-race card is noon EDT. The Virginia Derby is scheduled as race 9 and the Virginia Oaks is race 8.