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Kentucky Derby news: One Liner off trail
David Grening , 2017-04-10 - DRF Live Posted : 3hrs 13mins ago

One Liner, the undefeated winner of the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes, will not run in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby and is off the Kentucky Derby trail, trainer Todd Pletcher said Monday.

Pletcher said he wasn’t satisfied with One Liner’s five-furlong workout at Palm Beach Downs on Saturday where he was given a time of 1:01.80 for five furlongs. Pletcher said the horse would be shipped to WinStar Farm for a freshening.

“He just hasn’t had the same spark that he had prior to the Southwest,” Pletcher said by phone from Palm Beach Downs. “I thought the work prior to this was better, but this work was not the One Liner we’re expecting to see in the mornings. Can’t put our finger on it but he just hasn’t produced his form since the Southwest.”

One Liner won the Southwest by 3 1-2 lengths on Feb. 20, earning a 102 Beyer Speed Figure. He had won his first two starts sprinting, a 5 1-2-furlong maiden race at Saratoga last July and a first-level allowance going six furlongs at Gulfstream on Jan. 26.

Meanwhile, Pletcher said Wood Memorial runner-up Battalion Runner is still very much under consideration for the Kentucky Derby. Owner Vinnie Viola said immediately after the race that he would be inclined to skip it, but Pletcher said Monday that position has been reconsidered.

“I thought he ran well, I think you can make an argument for some reasons why he could move forward from having that race,” Pletcher said. “First time a mile and an eighth, first out in 64 days, looked like he might have got a little tired the last part. I thought overall it was a good, solid effort. The real key would be how he comes out of it and how he trains, especially how he likes the surface at Churchill.”

Pletcher said Battalion Runner would be on the next flight to Kentucky from New York, though it is unclear the date of that flight.