Monday Kentucky Derby update: Tacitus 'very good' in work
On a Chamber of Commerce morning at Churchill Downs, three contenders for the 2019 Kentucky Derby put in their works over a fast track.
Working during the special 7:30-7:45 a.m. ET training window for Derby and Oaks horses, Improbable breezed a half mile on his own in :48; By My Standards worked six furlongs in 1:12.80 with jockey Gabriel Saez aboard; Long Range Toddy breezed five furlongs in 1:02.60; and Tacitus, workingin company with Ballagh Rocks, covered a half-mile in :50.
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BY MY STANDARDS – Chester Thomas’ Allied Racing Stable’s Louisiana Derby (G2) winner By My Standards completed his penultimate work for the Kentucky Derby with a “strong” six-furlong move.
Trained by Bret Calhoun, By My Standards began his work from the five-furlong pole and breezed through consistent fractions of :12.40, :24.40, :36.40, :48.60 and 1:00.20 before galloping out seven furlongs in 1:26, according to Churchill Downs Clocker John Nichols.
“That was about as good as you can get two weeks out from the race,” Calhoun said. “This horse is just hitting his best stride, and I think that’s what we’ll see from him going into the Derby. I put the work off a little bit due to weather but (By My Standards) really showed his stuff this morning. I’m not taking a sigh of relief yet but I feel really pleased by the way he went this morning.”
By My Standards is scheduled to have a walk day Tuesday in Barn 23 while Calhoun attends the OBS sale in Ocala, Fla.
COUNTRY HOUSE/TACITUS – Juddmonte Farms’ Tacitus, winner of the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) and Wood Memorial (G2) in his past two starts, and the top point-getter on the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard, put in his first work at Churchill Downs by going a half-mile in :50 under exercise rider Juan Quintero.
Working in company with Grade 1 stakes-placed Ballagh Rocks, Tacitus produced split of :13.40, :25.80, :38.40 and :50 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:02.80 and six furlongs in 1:15.80. The half-mile work was the 50th fastest of 79 at the distance Monday morning.
“It was his first work since the Wood Memorial, and I thought it was very good,” trainer Bill Mott said. “He doesn’t work fast; he does what his companion does. I thought his gallop out was very good.”
Mott, whose first Derby starter came in 1984, will be trying to win the Run for the Roses for the first time. Hofburg’s seventh-place finish last year produced Mott’s best result from eight starters.
“You always want to feel like you have a chance, even if you are 20-1,” Mott said. “You always think that and I think that way for him. He is very well bred, has a good race record and seems to be a horse on the improve.”
Tacitus came off a 17-week layoff following his maiden victory to win the Tampa Bay Derby and four weeks later won the Wood Memorial.
“He is a big, rangy colt who didn’t show his brilliance until later in the summer and the fall,” Mott said. “We asked more of him and he responded and did it the right way.
“(The Tampa Bay Derby) was a good race for a lightly raced horse and in the Wood, he had a nice trip down the backside and all he had to do was reel them in and that is what he did.”
Mrs. J.V. Shields, E.J.M. McFadden Jr. and LNJ Foxwoods’ Country House galloped under exercise rider Marianne Scherer. Mott said Country House probably would work Sunday and added that no rider has been confirmed on the colt who finished third in the Arkansas Derby (G1) in his most recent start.
LONG RANGE TODDY – Rebel (G2) winner Long Range Toddy worked an easy five furlongs in 1:02.60 Monday morning during the exclusive training window for Kentucky Derby and Oaks contenders at 7:45.
Ridden by exercise rider Wilson Fabian, Long Range Toddy worked through fractions of :12.40, :25, :37.60 and :50.20 before a six-furlong gallop out in 1:16.20, according to Nichols.
Long Range Toddy is being supervised by Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen's assistant, Scot Blasi, in Barn 38.
MASTER FENCER – This year’s Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby invitee, Master Fencer, is scheduled to fly from Japan to Chicago Tuesday and spend 42 hours in quarantine.
Owned by Katsumi and Yasuyo Yoshizawa, and trained by 48-year-old former jockey Koichi Tsunoda, Master Fencer is tentatively scheduled to van to Keeneland on Thursday before arriving at Churchill Downs the evening of April 29, according to Senior Director of the Stable Area Steve Hargrave.
Locally based jockey Julien Leparoux will ride in the Derby.
“It’s getting really exciting,” Leparoux said. “It’s a great opportunity to ride this horse. I’ve been over to Japan to ride before and it was a great experience.”
OMAHA BEACH – Fox Hill Farm’s Omaha Beach galloped about a mile and a half under exercise rider Taylor Cambra for trainer Richard Mandella.
“A little quieter this morning,” Mandella said the day after Omaha Beach had a new patch put on a quarter crack and received new shoes. “He had a good gallop with his new shoes and new laces.”
Winner of three consecutive races including scores in a division of the Rebel (G2) and Arkansas Derby (G1), Omaha Beach is scheduled to work this weekend with the day to be determined.
PLUS QUE PARFAIT – UAE Derby (G2) winner Plus Que Parfait had a scheduled walk day in trainer Brendan Walsh’s Barn 9 at Churchill Downs following a half-mile breeze Sunday morning.
ALSO-ELIGIBLES: Peter Redekop’s Anothertwistafate, No. 23 on the Road to the Kentucky Derby Leaderboard, galloped a mile under exercise rider Pepe Silva. … Silverton Hill’s Sueno, No. 24 on the Leaderboard, galloped at a two-minute clip under exercise rider Juan Diaz.