Showing Up Still Iffy for Derby

By RICHARD ROSENBLATT
AP Racing Writer

Trainer Barclay Tagg says plans have been made for Showing Up to run in the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) on May 6, but first the colt must recover from a leg injury sustained during his victory in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes.

Showing Up came out of the race Saturday at Keeneland with a puncture wound in his right front leg, Tagg said Monday after the 3-year-old arrived at Belmont Park following a 13 1/2 -hour van ride from Lexington, Ky.

"So far it hasn't been any trouble, but it's something to worry about," Tagg said. "It's small, but if debris gets in there, that could mean trouble. Sometimes they heal, sometimes they don't."
The trainer who won the Derby and the Preakness with Funny Cide in 2003 added, "We'll see where we are in about five days."

Showing Up earned a shot at the Derby by winning the $350,000 Lexington and earning enough graded stakes money to get in if more than a full field of 20 horses are entered.

Plans call for Showing Up to be shipped to Louisville on May 4 -- two days before the Derby. Unlike the colt's past two trips, though, this one will by plane instead of van. Showing Up arrived at Belmont from Keeneland about 3:30 a.m. Monday.

Showing Up is owned by Roy and Gretchen Jackson's Lael Stables, which also owns Barbaro, one of the Derby favorites. Both colts are unbeaten -- Showing Up is 3-for-3 and Barbaro is 5-for-5.
A Kentucky-bred son of Strategic Mission, Showing Up would attempt to become the first horse since Regret in 1915 to win the Derby in his fourth career start.

"Probably good judgment and good sense would say not to run, but there is only one Kentucky Derby," Tagg said after the Lexington.
The colt missed the Wood Memorial on April 8 with a foot bruise, and the Lexington was a "last-ditch effort" to earn enough money to qualify for the Derby field.

Showing Up opened his career with a four-length victory over six furlongs at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 11. He followed a month later by winning a one-mile allowance race by 2 1/4 lengths. Purchased for $60,000 last year, Showing Up has earned $240,000.