Though 17th on the current graded stakes earning list that determines the 20 starters in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), Trinniberg will likely pass the race.
Owner Shivananda Parbhoo indicated that the Calder-based multiple stakes winner will most likely stay with shorter distances than the 1 1/4-mile Derby. His next option could instead be the $200,000 Derby Trial (gr. III) over one mile at Churchill Downs April 28.
“Right now I’m 85% not going to the Derby,” Parbhoo said Feb. 15. “But I could reach 100% pretty soon. The way the horse is feeling right now, he’s doing so well, I don’t want to run him over his head. He’s a nice 3-year-old with so many options the rest of the year. I don’t want to ruin him.”
Trinniberg won the Bay Shore Stakes (gr. III) at seven furlongs April 7 at Aqueduct. Such races as the Woody Stephens (gr. II) at Belmont Park June 9 and the King’s Bishop (gr. I) at Saratoga Aug. 25 could be on the agenda in the future.
“We’ll work him some time between the 18th and the 20th, and then we’ll look at the Derby Trial as the next logical spot,” Parbhoo said. “I think the one-mile distance of that race is perfect for him. And it’s a way to stretch him out a bit, without asking too much of him.”
Following a possible start in the Derby Trial, Parbhoo hinted that Trinniberg could still make a Triple Crown appearance in Baltimore, contesting the Preakness Stakes (gr. I) May 19.
“The Preakness could still be a goal, but a lot of that would depend on how he ran in the Derby Trial,” Parbhoo said. “If we decide to run (in the Derby Trial) and he was to win that race really easy, then we might look at the Preakness. But right now, my thinking is that I’d really like to keep him at seven furlongs to one mile.
“Believe me, I want to go to the Derby; the day we bought our first horse, our dream was the Derby,” Parbhoo continued. “But it’s not about me, it’s about the horse. I won’t ruin a really nice horse just to say I ran a horse in the Kentucky Derby.”
