Wood Memorial (gr. I) runner-up Master David worked five furlongs in 1:01 2/5 at Churchill Downs Tuesday morning as the Grand Slam colt displayed his readiness for the May 1 Kentucky Derby (gr. I).
Trainer Bobby Frankel expressed satisfaction with the breeze, in which Master David recorded fractional splits of :12 1/5, :24, :36 2/5, and :48 2/5. The colt galloped out six furlongs in 1:15 3/5.
"That's his typical work," Frankel said of the colt who has won or placed in all seven career starts, with a victory in the Sham Stakes to his credit. "
Master David was forced to miss the Florida Derby (gr. I) because of lost training time due to a temperature before training up to the April 10 Wood Memorial. "Hopefully he can improve on that," Frankel said of the second-place finish to Tapit. "You hope he goes in the right direction. He's a nice tough horse, but he has to improve to win this race."
Frankel said The Cliff's Edge appears to be the horse to beat, primarily because of his two victories at Churchill Downs last year. "There are some horses in here that very fast, but they can go in the opposite direction. I think The Cliff's Edge is the horse to beat because he ran fast and he ran good over here as a 2-year-old," Frankel said.
The workout by Master David was the only one for a Derby contender at Churchill Downs on Tuesday, as the forecast for rain had led most trainers not to schedule anything. A light rain fell before Master David's work, but it did not affect the track condition.
Meanwhile, Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (gr. I) runner-up Lion Heart worked five furlongs handily in :58 2/5 at Keeneland Racecourse in Lexington, Ky., where he is stabled under the care of trainer Patrick Biancone.
"He worked good," Biancone said. "I'm very happy. He stretched his legs nicely and was just breezing. I think the Blue Grass put him exactly where he needs to be for the Derby. He's doing very well and is coming into the race exactly the way I want him to."
In another related development, it was confirmed that Robby Albarado will ride Read the Footnotes in the Derby.
