With Calvin Borel up, Super Saver went out just after the renovation break and worked four furlongs over a sealed track in :48 4/5 April 24. Super Saver recorded splits of :12 4/5, :24 3/5, and :36 3/5. He galloped out five furlongs in 1:01 3/5.
“Super Saver I thought worked really well,” said trainer Todd Pletcher. “He finished up well; galloped out strongly.
“All the works were pretty much spot-on for what we were hoping for. I didn't see anything today that would make me think we couldn’t move forward and continue to look strongly at the Derby with all of them, including the filly.”
Pletcher had a busy Saturday morning leading up to Kentucky Derby 136, sending five of seven potential Derby starters to the track for works with another pair going out for gallops over a sloppy main track at Churchill Downs. Super Saver, Rule, Mission Impazible , and Discreetly Mine worked, as did the filly Devil May Care, who may run in the Derby or the April 30 Kentucky Oaks (gr. I).
Super Saver, a WinStar Farm homebred, along with fellow Derby contender and Pletcher trainee Rule, is by Maria's Mon out of the A.P. Indy mare Supercharger. He won last year’s Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (gr. II) (VIDEO) at Churchill Downs and has made two starts this year. On March 13, he ran third in a blanket finish with Odysseus and Schoolyard Dreams. He followed that up with a another photo finish lose, this time by a neck to Line of David, in the 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby (gr. I) (VIDEO).
“He, to me, is training the best he’s trained since we’ve had him,” Pletcher said. “He seemed to come out of the Arkansas Derby really well, and I think he really likes Churchill. We were playing catch-up a little bit into the Tampa Bay Derby and now things have gone more on schedule. He’s rounding into top form at the right time.”
Borel was aboard in the Arkansas Derby and in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes.
In all, WinStar could have as many as four runners in the Kentucky Derby Presented By Yum! Brands (gr. I). Along with Rule, WinStar owns Sunland Derby (gr. III) winner Endorsement and Illinois Derby (gr. II) winner American Lion .
Endorsement galloped two miles earlier in the day for trainer Shannon Ritter and the Eoin Harty-trained American Lion went to the track just after the renovation break at 8:30 a.m.
