KENTUCKY DERBY AT A GLANCE
1 TRIPPI
Odds: 5-1.
Jockey: Jorge Chavez.
Trainer: Todd Pletcher.
Owner: Dogwood Stable.
Record: 4 starts, 4 wins, no seconds, no thirds.
Earnings: $248,400.
COMMENT: Another horse trying to win the Derby without a start as a 2-year-old, and an undefeated horse hasn’t won the Derby since Seattle Slew in 1977. “Some people thought we should go easy with the horse, and maybe groom him for a big fall campaign,” said Cot Campbell, president of Dogwood. “Well, you never know. We might be dead by the fall.”
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1A COMMENDABLE
Odds: 5-1.
Jockey: Edgar Prado.
Trainer: Wayne Lukas.
Owner: Bob and Beverly Lewis.
Record: 6 starts, 1-0-0.
Earnings: $88,470.
COMMENT: Lukas, who has three horses entered, sent Charismatic out to win last year for the Lewises, and Commendable, for the same camp, has a similar profile, running in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland three weeks ago. “Don’t underestimate him,” Lukas cautions. A $575,000 Gone West yearling, Commendable has been fourth three consecutive races and hasn’t won since his debut at Del Mar in August.
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1C IMPEACHMENT
Odds: 5-1.
Jockey: Craig Perret.
Trainer: Todd Pletcher.
Owners: Dogwood Stable, Bob and Beverly Lewis.
Record: 6 starts, 1-1-1.
Earnings: $95,450.
COMMENT: His only win came in his first start, the day after Christmas at Calder. The name of the dam, Misconduct, and her sire, Criminal Type, were the inspiration for Impeachment’s name. “President Clinton was going through the impeachment process, and it also seemed like a timely name,” Dogwood’s Cot Campbell said. “When we got to Arkansas with this horse, the name was very popular.”
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1X HIGH YIELD
Odds: 5-1.
Jockey: Pat Day.
Trainer: Wayne Lukas.
Owners: Bob, Beverly Lewis; Mike Tabor, Susan Magnier.
Record: 12 starts, 4-4-3.
Earnings: $1,170,196.
COMMENT: Bought as a yearling for $1.05 million, the Storm Cat colt’s purse total is the largest of any horse running. He can be on the lead, but Lukas would prefer that he stalk the leaders. His worst race, a sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, was at Churchill Downs. A bad omen? “I don’t know what it was that day,” Lukas said. “I don’t think it was the track, I just think he threw in a bad one.”
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2 CHINA VISIT
Odds: 50-1.
Jockey: FrankiDettori.
Trainer: Saeed bin Suroor.
Owner: Godolphin Racing.
Record: 2 starts, 2-0-0.
Earnings: $314,508.
COMMENT: A Kentucky-bred son of Red Ransom, China Visit runs coupled with Curule, the other horse from Dubai. China Visit is the most lightly raced horse in the field. Only one horse--Leonatus in 1883--has won the Derby off two starts. The English-based Dettori has never ridden in a Derby, but he has won many of the European classics and rode at Churchill Downs in Breeders’ Cups in 1994 and ’98.
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2B CURULE
Odds: 50-1.
Jockey: Marlon St. Julien.
Trainer: Saeed bin Suroor.
Owner: Godolphin Racing.
Record: 4 starts, 1-0-2.
Earnings: $39,122.
COMMENT: Another lightly raced Dubai import, Curule didn’t arrive at Churchill until Wednesday. He totes the same historical baggage as Trippi, not having raced as a 2-year-old. At 1 1/8 miles, Curule made his last start in Dubai on March 25, finishing third, 4 1/2 lengths behind stablemate China Visit. A hot Kentucky rider, Marlon St. Julien, will be riding in his first Derby.
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4 ANEES
Odds: 20-1.
Jockey: Corey Nakatani.
Trainer: Alex Hassinger Jr.
Owner: Thoroughbred Corp.
Record: 6 starts, 2-0-2.
Earnings: $699,200.
COMMENT: The backstretch rumors are that all’s not right with the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner, and when Nakatani, according to trainer Bobby Frankel, made 11th-hour overtures to jump ship and ride Aptitude, the rumors magnified. A Breeders’ Cup winner, since that event was first run in 1984, has never won the Derby. Anees, slowed by a bruised foot, didn’t seem to progress with a fourth-place finish in the Santa Anita Derby.
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5 APTITUDE
Odds: 20-1.
Jockey: Alex Solis.
Trainer: Bobby Frankel.
Owner: Juddmonte Farms.
Record: 5 starts, 1-2-1.
Earnings: $157,700.
COMMENT: You don’t have to bring it up, Frankel himself does: “I know what they say about me--I can never win the big one.” What he means is no Triple Crown wins, no wins in the Breeders’ Cup, even though he was enshrined in the Racing Hall of Fame in 1995. Frankel has dumped Brice Blanc, Aptitude’s only rider, for the more experienced Solis. Aptitude’s only win was over maidens, but longshot players will give him a look.
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6 HAL’S HOPE
Odds: 20-1.
Jockey: Roger Velez.
Trainer: Harold Rose.
Owner: Harold Rose.
Record: 9 starts, 4-1-0.
Earnings: $582,160.
COMMENT: Harold Rose’s horse had a last-place finish in the Blue Grass, which was no way for a Florida Derby winner to perform. “He was very quiet leading up to the race at Keeneland,” Rose said. “Maybe that was a tip-off.” Rose and Velez, riding in his first Derby, are throwing out the race. “If my horse shows up,” Velez said, “he’ll give the little people a run. He might go off 40-1, but that’s when he wins.”
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7 CAPTAIN STEVE
Odds: 8-1.
Jockey: Robby Albarado.
Trainer: Bob Baffert.
Owner: Mike Pegram.
Record: 11 starts, 4-0-5.
Earnings: $960,256.
COMMENT: A win for Baffert would be his third in the Derby, all since 1997. Except for an 11th-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, all of Captain Steve’s races have been solid, and in his one start at Churchill Downs, in November in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes, he won by 5 3/4 lengths. Captain Steve’s last three starts have resulted in thirds, going back to his Hollywood Futurity win in December. Baffert is taking the blinkers off.
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8 WAR CHANT
Odds: 6-1.
Jockey: Jerry Bailey.
Trainer: Neil Drysdale.
Owners: Cowans, Stonerside Stable, Three Chimneys Farm
Record: 4 starts, 3-1-0.
Earnings: $372,200.
COMMENT: This colt was second, one length behind The Deputy, in the Santa Anita Derby after winning his first three starts. He’ll race with blinkers, after shying from a small sign attached to the inner rail during the stretch run of the San Rafael at Santa Anita. The last three winners of the Derby--Charismatic, Real Quiet and Silver Charm--were beaten in the Santa Anita Derby.
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9 MORE THAN READY
Odds: 10-1.
Jockey: John Velazquez.
Trainer: Todd Pletcher.
Owner: James Scatuorchio.
Record: 10 starts, 6-2-1.
Earnings: $670,229.
COMMENT: More Than Ready started his career with five wins, then finished his 2-year-old season with a fifth in the Champagne. This year, he has second-place finishes to Mighty in the Louisiana Derby and to High Yield in the Blue Grass. He showed a new dimension in the Blue Grass, sitting off the pace. He’s the best chance for Pletcher, who’s setting a record for a first-time Derby trainer with four starters.
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10 THE DEPUTY
Odds: 4-1.
Jockey: Chris McCarron.
Trainer: Jenine Sahadi.
Owners: Team Valor, Gary Barber.
Record: 9 starts, 4-2-3.
Earnings: $817,258.
COMMENT: “If our horse wins, Jenine will become the most publicized person or horse in racing since Secretariat,” said Barry Irwin, who heads the Team Valor group. Sahadi, first woman to saddle a winner in the Santa Anita Derby, is trying to become the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby. The Irish-bred colt was syndicated for $500,000, after Irwin bought him in England.
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11 GRAEME HALL
Odds: 20-1.
Jockey: Shane Sellers.
Trainer: Todd Pletcher.
Owners: Eugene, Laura Melnyk.
Record: 8 starts, 3-3-1.
Earnings: $471,518.
COMMENT: After finishing 32 lengths behind in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Graeme Hall has put together three solid races this year, most recently winning the Arkansas Derby. Sellers is riding him for the first time, his Arkansas Derby rider, Robby Albarado, being committed to Captain Steve. Graeme Hall is thought to be a middle-distance runner rather than a 1 1/4-mile horse, yet he didn’t lose any ground in the stretch in Arkansas.
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12 FUSAICHI PEGASUS
Odds: 9-5.
Jockey: Kent Desormeaux.
Trainer: Neil Drysdale.
Owner: Fusao Sekiguchi.
Record: 5 starts, 4-1-0.
Earnings: $666,000.
COMMENT: Bought at auction for $4 million, Fusaichi (FOO-sa-EACH-ee) Pegasus won the Wood Memorial by beating the previously undefeated Red Bullet by 4 1/4 lengths. Drysdale schooled the strong-minded big colt without incident in the Churchill paddock between races Thursday, but the crowd was small, not like it will be today. Fusaichi Pegasus’ only loss was Dec. 11 in a maiden race at Hollywood Park.
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13 EXCHANGE RATE
Odds: 30-1.
Jockey: Calvin Borel.
Trainer: Wayne Lukas.
Owners: Padua Stables.
Record: 7 starts, 3-2-0.
Earnings: $226,100.
COMMENT: A $1.4-million yearling, this Danzig colt was consistent early in his career--first or second in five races--but after a fourth in the Louisiana Derby, he was a badly beaten ninth in the Wood. “He didn’t get anything out of either of his last two races,” Lukas said. “But he’s done well since then. When he worked five furlongs in 1:00 last Sunday, we decided to give him a chance.”
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14F WHEELAWAY
Odds: 30-1.
Jockey: Richard Migliore.
Trainer: John Kimmel.
Owners: Caesar Kimmel, Philip Solondz.
Record: 5 starts, 2-1-1.
Earnings: $189,760.
COMMENT: Some horses don’t care for the Churchill Downs surface, and this looks to be one of them. His final major workout was a washout, and Kimmel couldn’t hide his concern. He won the Tampa Bay Downs Derby, beating mostly cream puffs, but moved up in company with a third, behind High Yield and More Than Ready, in the Blue Grass. He was an unraced 2-year-old, and one of those hasn’t won the Derby since Apollo in 1882.
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15F DEPUTY WARLOCK
Odds: 30-1.
Jockey: Mark Guidry.
Trainer: Ken McPeek.
Owner: Select Stable.
Record: 8 starts, 3-0-1.
Earnings: $271,594.
COMMENT: McPeek, who finished second to Thunder Gulch with Tejano Run in the 1995 Derby, bought Deputy Warlock as a yearling for $220,000. The colt won his first two starts, but since then has only one win in six tries. Deputy Warlock, who runs from far back, a liability in a big field, has faced the best this year, running seventh in the Florida Derby, fourth in the Spiral and fourth in the Blue Grass.
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16F RONTON
Odds: 30-1.
Jockey: Brice Blanc.
Trainer: Vladimir Cerin.
Owners: Jaltipan L.L.C. and St. Albans Farm.
Record: 8 starts, 2-0-2.
Earnings: $105,068.
COMMENT: The last horse to arrive, this $425,000 yearling was kept in California until the last minute to make sure he would draw in to the field. He won a minor stake at Turfway Park on March 25, then came back on April 15 and was a distant seventh in the Arkansas Derby. Ronton broke his maiden at Santa Anita in his sixth start, on March 4.
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Note: Globalize, who drew the No. 1 post position and was to have the No. 3 saddlecloth, was scratched Thursday.
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