Trainer switches occur quite often throughout the
year, however when it happens to a stakes caliber horse it’s always surprising.
When it happens to a possible Kentucky Derby contender two weeks before the
race, it’s almost shocking. Sunday
it was announced Isn’t He Clever, once trained by Henry Dominguez, has joined
Steve Asmussen’s barn. Isn’t He
Clever currently sits at #21 on the graded earnings list and his owner J. Kirk Robison
said the race is only a possibility at this stage. The reason behind the switch supposedly had to do with
geography and opportunity for better races in Kentucky and the East. However, you still have to question the
timing of such a move so close to possibly the gelding’s biggest race of his
career// Training activity continued at Churchill Downs Sunday. Steve Asmussen’s Derby contenders
Sabercat and Daddy Nose Best were the first to hit the track in near darkness
before 6am. Both horses will put in official moves Monday morning around the
same time. Later on Sunday during
the Kentucky Derby-Kentucky Oaks special training session Optimizer, Dullahan,
Mark Valeski, and Bodemeister galloped around the Churchill oval several
times. While the latter turned
heads with his romp in the Arkansas Derby (G1) a week ago, there was nothing
impressive about his morning gallop.
As Mike Welsch from DRF stated, Bodemeister is “definitely not a pretty
mover at all”. Videos of his backstretch gallop as well as the others can be
viewed below// More analysis on the addition of Trinniberg to the Derby
field. I couldn’t have said things
better myself than Mike Watchmaker’s blog entry on DRF. There has been a lot of talk about the supposed disadvantage
for Hansen and Bodemeister with the addition of a horse with early speed,
however both colts have proven they don’t have to be on the front end// If you
need a break from thinking of the Derby pace, speed figures, who’s working
when, who’s training who, etc.
then check out the Irish Central’s piece on Dullahan, and the mythical
monster he was named after// more…
Kentucky
Derby News and Opinion
Isn’t
He Clever transferred to Asmussen, Derby possible (Courier Journal)
Bodemeister
gallops, Asmussen duo to work Monday (Churchill Downs)
Workout
and travel schedules for Derby contenders (Churchill Downs)
Kentucky Derby barn
list (Churchill Downs)
Trinniberg and the
Derby pace (DRF Blog)
Ill-conceived
Derby dreams (Foolish Pleasure Blog)
A
headless horseman may well win this year’s Kentucky Derby (Irish Central)
You
need to know that you don’t know (Derby Wars Blog)
Video from the backstretch at Churchill Downs:
