John Oxley’s Tampa Bay Derby (gr. II) winner Prospective , a major contender for the May 5 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), breezed five furlongs on a fast track at Churchill Downs the morning of April 2 in 1:01 1/5 and will have his final prep for the Derby in the Toyota Blue Grass (gr. I) at Keeneland April 14.
“We are going to run Prospective in the Blue Grass rather than the Wood (Memorial) so he can run out of his own stall,” said Norman Casse, assistant trainer to his father, Mark, in a release. “He’ll ship from Churchill the morning of the race. It worked out well for him when he shipped from Palm Meadows to Tampa (Bay Downs) the morning of the Tampa Bay Derby.”
With regular exercise rider Melanie Giddings in the irons, Prospective came on the track shortly after the renovation break at 8:30 a.m. ET. Working with another Mark Casse-trained 3-year-old, Prospective recorded fractions of :14 3/5, :27 1/5, and :39 2/5. The dark bay son of Malibu Moon sprinted down the Churchill Downs stretch and completed the final quarter mile of the work in :21 4/5.
“We were looking to go about 1:01 and that’s what he did,” Casse said. “I’m a little disappointed with how slow they went for the first eighth of a mile, but they finished up strongly and Prospective galloped out very nice. He continues to show how much he likes this racetrack.”
Purchased at the 2010 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga select yearling sale for $250,000, Prospective has compiled a record of 4-2-0 from seven lifetime starts. His career earnings of $441,317 include $365,452 in graded stakes earnings, placing him 12th on the current graded stakes earnings list. That list will likely determine the maximum 20 participants for the Kentucky Derby.
Casse confirmed that Prospective will have his final work in preparation for the Blue Grass at Churchill Downs April 8.