ARMAGNAC (Yakteen) added to SA Derby field..

He is going to the Kentucky Derby

Saw that.

Going against the grain since the horse already proved himself over a European-style turf course at Kentucky Downs but has gotten brow beat in his only 2 dirt starts...

My bad. I guess he won an off-the-turf at Ellis Park.

Guess they'll do a rain dance.

The good news is they don't need to worry about a lead pony for the time being.

He has 5 wins in his last 5 starts in Kentucky, including 4 stakes wins. I’m not sure what else you could ask for. His maiden win was by 14 lengths on the dirt, wasn’t it?

Ah. I should have kept reading.

Personally, I wouldn't be confident in his ability to handle the dirt based on that Ellis Park race. It was off-the-turf which presumably means most entered in that race were looking to run on the turf. Sure enough, the subsequent performances of the horses behind Tiz the Bomb in that race have been nothing to write home about.

He probably should have won by 31 lengths...

His Holy Bull effort was atrocious.

He's a throw out in the Derby. Makes the race easier.

5/7: Kentucky Derby - Churchill (10f)

1. Epicenter 164 (Asmussen)
2. Zandon 114 (C. Brown)
3. White Abarrio 112 (Joseph)
4. Mo Donegal 112 (Pletcher)
5. Tiz the Bomb 110 (McPeek)
6. Cyberknife 100 (Cox)
7. Crown Pride-JPN 100 (Shintani)
8. Taiba 100 (Yakteen)
9. Simplification 74 (Sano)
10. Smile Happy 70 (McPeek)
11. Slow Down Andy 60 (O'Neill)
12. Barber Road 58 (J. Ortiz)
13. Un Ojo 54 (Courville)
14. Early Voting 50 (C. Brown)
15. Morello 50 (Asmussen)
16. Messier 40 (Yakteen)
17. Zozos 40 (Cox)
18. Summer Is Tomorrow 40 (Seemar)
19. Charge It 40 (Pletcher)
20. Tawny Port 40 (Cox)
------------------------------
21. Happy Jack 30 (O'Neill)
22. Pioneer of Medina 25 (Pletcher)
23. Grantham 21 (Maker)
24. Rich Strike 21 (Reed)
25. Rattle N Roll 20 (McPeek)
26. Ethereal Road 20 (Lukas)
27. $-Bye Bye Bobby 20 (Fincher) Lexington
28. Skippylongstocking 20 (Joseph)
29. In Due Time 20 (Breen) Lexington
30. Golden Glider 15 (Casse)
31. Major General 10 (Pletcher)
32. Dash Attack 10 (McPeek) Lexington
33. Call Me Midnight 10 (Desormeaux) Lexington

Official Derby Grid (with Earnings)

Oaks Grid

Remsen
 

Looks like the Remsen has returned to its rightful place of prominence in the Kentucky Derby picture. The 2 hosses that ran so well today were 1-2 in that race which is a true harbinger of a 2 year old to get 10 furlongs the first Saturday in May.

The 20 horses won't remain the same, but if they did, they'd be trained by 15 different horsemen. Asmussen, Brown, McPeek, Cox Yakteen with 2 each. Would expect that Classic Causeway and Forbidden Kingdom demure which get Charge It and Tawny Port into the field giving Pletcher 2 and Cox 3. Another coming out would give O'Neill a 2nd starter in Happy Jack.

UPDATE (4/10): Classic Causeway, Forbidden Kingdom out; Charge It, Tawny Port in..

Epicenter, Morello (Asmussen)
Zandon, Early Voting (C. Brown)
Tiz the Bomb, Smile Happy (McPeek)
Cyberknife, Zozos, Tawny Port (Cox)
Taiba, Messier (Yakteen)
Mo Donegal, Charge It, (Pletcher) ~ Pioneer of Medina
Slow Down Andy (O'Neill) ~ Happy Jack
White Abarrio (Joseph)
Crown Pride-JPN (Shintani)
Simplification (Sano)
Classic Causeway (Lynch)
Barber Road (J. Ortiz)
Un Ojo (Courville)
Summer Is Tomorrow (Seemar)

Also from the notebook..

Derby has a strong and interesting ownership field with majority (13) being individuals rather than professional partnerships..

The Winchells, Jeff Drown, Al Gold, Amr Zedan, Mr. Yoshida, Tami Bobo, Macklin (Lucky 7), The Reddams, Seth Klarman, The Butzows, Moody/Castille, Bill Simon, O’Keefe/Cooper and current AE's of Mandy Pope, John Fort, Brad Kelly and the Sumaya Guy...

5.5 home breds: Slow Down Andy (Reddam), Zozos (Butzow), Crown Pride (Yoshida/Shadai), Pioneer of Medina (Sumaya/Aboughazale) & Charge It (Pope); Un Ojo (Cypress Creek) is a quasi home bred.

As anticipated, Classic Causeway bypassing Derby. CHARGE IT moves into field..

As anticipated, Forbidden Kingdom bypassing Derby. TAWNY PORT moves into field..

Emmanuel out of Derby consideration..

Yakteen? Get a load of you!

BYE BYE BOBBY, knicked up, not running in Lexington..