LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Trainer Danny Velazquez was happy to be at Churchill Downs Thursday on a damp, humid morning. Quite frankly, Velazquez is happy to be anywhere.
Velazquez, who is making his Kentucky Derby debut Saturday with longshot Brooklyn Strong, was involved in a freak accident at Parx in March. During training hours, a horse unseated its rider and ran right into Velazquez, who was aboard his stable pony. Velazquez was thrown hard off the pony.
All the O’Neills had gathered at the hospital in Honolulu in support of David. Doug and Dennis, his brothers, were in from California. David’s son, Patrick, Doug and Dennis’s nephew, arrived from Hong Kong, where he had an internship. David’s wife, daughters, all there, anxiously awaiting word.
The doctor emerged from surgery, approached the waiting family.
“It went well,” he said. Hearts began to soar, if only for a second. “He has another six months.”
“We just sat there in stunned silence,” Patrick remembered.
Will a Derby horse be 99-1?
Horses sent off in the Kentucky Derby at 99-1 or higher have seemingly become extinct despite an expansion from 14 to 20 betting interests in 2001 – which also happened to be the last time any horse was sent away at triple-digit odds. Startac was 10th at 102-1 and Arctic Boy was 12th at 101-1 behind the victorious Monarchos that year.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Bettors sharp enough to back Hot Rod Charlie in some of the earlier pools in the 2021 Kentucky Derby Future Wager bought themselves wagering value ahead of the 147th Derby.
As a separately listed interest in all five futures pools offered by Churchill Downs, Hot Rod Charlie had closing odds of 34-1, 40-1, 35-1, and 53-1 before he won the March 20 Louisiana Derby, after which he was 12-1 in the final pool. He figures as no worse than fourth choice Saturday and is 8-1 on the morning line.
Golden Gate Fields will offer special seating for Saturday's Kentucky Derby simulcast at its Rose Runner VIP Derby Party.
Tickets are $75 and including seating at private tables for four, six or eight guests on the Clubhouse Level Players Patio and Trackside Court. Tickets must be purchased online at goldengatefields.com.
Fans will be permitted back at Belmont Park beginning Saturday – Kentucky Derby Day – the New York Racing Association announced Wednesday afternoon.
In according with protocols established for other sports venues such as Yankee Stadium, Belmont will be able to permit up to 20 percent of seating capacity, which translates to approximately 7,000 fans. Beginning May 19, that percentage goes up to 33 percent, under guidance announced this week by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Space is at a premium in the winner’s circle for the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, with all those associated with the victorious horse crowding together for a once in a lifetime snapshot for the history books.
Yet should Mandaloun prevail in the Kentucky Derby this Saturday, or should Malathaat or Millefeuille find herself draped in lilies on Friday evening, there will be empty space in the winner’s circle due to the recent death of two titans of the sport.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – You can find three “Ls” in this river city’s name, two more in the name of the city’s storied racetrack, but the world’s most famous horse race at Churchill Downs here in Louisville, will not include a single “L” next to the names of horses racing in the 2021 Kentucky Derby.
“L” in past performance notation stands for “Lasix,” and the masters of the Derby, like much of North American racing, have taken a stand against a race-day medication that, until 2020, had become ubiquitous in the American Thoroughbred.
Bob Baffert held Beautiful Gift out of Friday’s Kentucky Oaks, but after watching her work Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs, he sort of wishes he hadn’t.
Beautiful Gift worked five furlongs in 59.80 seconds in company with the 3-year-old colt Hozier. Baffert, who caught the filly galloping out seven furlongs in 1:25, is planning to run Beautiful Gift in the Grade 2, $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan on May 14 at Pimlico.
Ava’s Grace, a longshot who figured to be part of the pace, will have to scratch from Friday’s $1.25 million Kentucky Oaks due to an unspecified injury, trainer Robertino Diodoro said Wednesday.
Diodoro said that while he didn’t know exactly what was wrong with Ava’s Grace, the area of concern is her right shoulder. Diodoro said Ava’s Grace was to undergo a nuclear scan to diagnose the issue.
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