The Thoroughbred Corp.'s Point Given will start from the outside post position as the 9-5 favorite in Saturday's Kentucky Derby. With no surprises, there were 17 horses entered for the season's first classic. This Derby will be the first since 1980 in which trainer D. Wayne Lukas has not had a starter in the race. Lukas had 21 horses nominated for the Visa Triple Crown series.
Claiming Crown preview days have been scheduled at four racetracks in anticipation of the main event, which is set for Aug. 4 at Canterbury Park in Minnesota. The preview days will feature races with conditions identical to those of the Claiming Crown.
An application to build what would become Indiana's second pari-mutuel racetrack will be heard May 9 during an Indiana Horse Racing Commission hearing. The hearing on the proposed Indianapolis Downs could last until May 10 depending on testimony.
Eclipse Press, the book publishing division of The Blood-Horse, Inc., is hosting a major author event on Thursday, May 3.
Louisville distillery and consumer products company Brown-Forman is expanding its race sponsorships. The company will sponsor six new races later this year at three tracks owned by Churchill Downs.
For the first time, racing fans will have the opportunity to elect two of their favorite riders to berths in the NTRA All-Star Jockey Championship, a four-race event featuring 12 of America's top jockeys to be run June 22.
Eclipse Press book signings
Don't believe Bobby Frankel. That was the message from rival trainer Mark Hennig Wednesday morning. He said his decision to increase his Oaks entry from two fillies to three was an insurance policy to make sure his client, Edward P. Evans, would have a runner in the big race. It was not, as Frankel claimed, a strategic maneuver to knock out the highly-regarded Flute.
Since the horses can't talk, their connections had to speak for them at Tuesday night's annual Derby Trainers Dinner at Louisville's convention center. Wednesday morning, jockey Pat Day was continuing to enhance his reputation as one of the nicest guys in racing by accompanying Megan Bigg on the backside of the track. Bigg, a 16-year-old resident of Louisville, has had a kidney transplant and survived a type of cancer which resulted from the steroids she took to adjust to the new kidney. She is currently in remission.
Top older horses will be in the spotlight the weekend between the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes in the grade I Pimlico Special, which has lured 13 nominess. The 1 3/16-mile event will held at Pimlico Race Course May 12.
Tick...tick...tick. Nothing to do now but wait. This evening's draw for post positions will be the final stress test for the Derby trainers, after which they will just have to get by Thursday and Friday, and then racing's longest day – Derby Day. Then, it'll all be over in a heartbeat, and all the questions will be answered. There was little activity this morning, as summer temperatures continue to climb by the day, bringing with them the forecast of possible thundershowers throughout the next few days. The morning's main action was Bob Baffert slipping Point Given past the hordes of onlookers virtually unnoticed.
Although there were reports that he had developed lameness, Daniel Borislow's Talk Is Money was declared fine by his owner and trainer and entered Wednesday for Saturday's Kentucky Derby. Trainer John Scanlan said the colt was fine and that his examination by Dr. Alex Harthill was routine.
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