Will Rock Hard Ten qualify in graded earnings for the May 1 Kentucky Derby (gr. I) and who will ride him if he does? Trainer Jason Orman doesn't know, but he plans to ship the third-place finisher in the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) to Kentucky in hopes that he'll run.
Rock Hard Ten finished second to Castledale in the Santa Anita Derby after getting the lead in deep stretch, but was disqualified and placed third when stewards ruled he impeded Imperialism close to the wire.
"I think we're going to leave (for Kentucky) Friday," Orman said Wednesday at Santa Anita. "We don't plan to run before the Derby. I guess Gary (Stevens) is obligated to come back from Europe to ride the horse in the Derby, but I don't know. The whole thing's pretty much screwed up right now so there's nothing we can do.
"The disqualification (costing $60,000 in earnings) really hurt us bad. The whole thing now is, how do we tell Gary to come back? We don't know if we're getting in. I mean, he's got other commitments to make. I know absolutely nothing right now. It's just a bad deal."