DOWNS DAWN PATROL (4/19): Dublin; Paddy; Awesome; Rachel..
 

First morning at Churchill and a beautiful morning at that. The new Churchill policy allowing Derby/Oaks horses the run of the oval after the harrow break is a hit, though you need to have your eyes moving in all directions to keep track of all of the yellow and pink saddle towels...

The work of the day came earlier in the morning though, as RACHEL ALEXANDRA turned in her third a.m. since arriving back to Louisville from New Orleans, and produced a scintillating effort that DRF's Mike Welsch said was an a par with her 2009 pre-Oaks drills. Steve Asmussen was all smiles after the work as well, and speculation is increasing that she will return a week from Friday in the La Troienne...

As for Derby/Oaks players, DUBLIN worked a professional-looking and fast :59.1 (galloping out in 1:13.1), but pulled up very quickly afterwards seemingly tired from the dash... No other works were scheduled, but PADDY O'PRADO made a nice impression jogging under a stranglehold and looking like he wanted to do more. The Romans' trainee pawed at the ground eagerly...

Speaking of Romans, his Oaks hopeful SASSY IMAGE looked tremendous this morning and has an anticipated work Wednesday. Romans (Paddy O'Prado, Sassy Image) joins Todd Pletcher (Sundry Derby entrants/Devil May Care, Ailalea possible), John Sadler (Sidney's Candy, Line of David/Crisp), Rick Dutrow (Homeboy Kris/Amen Hallelujah), Ken McPeek (See below) and Wayne Lukas (Dublin/Tidal Pool) trying to pull off the Oaks-Derby Double...

AWESOME ACT, who is scheduled to drill tomorrow, has a Euro style morning routine that finds him jogging directly behind a barnmate. The Noseda team has apparently been doing it every morning since their arrival from New York... ICE BOX was out hobby-horsing a couple days after his Friday :48.2 half and looks terrific... McPeek's possible Derby starter NOBLE'S PROMISE and likely Oaks starter BEAUTICIAN both were out jogging a day in advance of what will be their respective 'important' KD/KO efforts tomorrow...

John Sadler's Arky hero LINE OF DAVID works tomorrow, but SIDNEY'S CANDY reportedly had tongues wagging Saturday with his first Churchill move, a :59.4 effort with a partner. The Santa Anita Derby winner tripped splits of :12.3, :24.4; :36.1 and :48.0, galloping out 6f in 1:12.80 and 7f in 1:27.40...

MORE LATER AND OF COURSE "ATR" COVERAGE LIVE FROM CHURCHILL DOWNS KICKS OFF AT 4PM...

Love it, Steve. Thanks for posting.

This is excellent.

From Sadler's assistant: ""When he broke his maiden in his first race, he was off the pace,” Benavidez said. “He’s not really a speed horse. He can rate; he shuts it down pretty easily. He’s a smart horse and actually kind of acts like an older horse. Today was helpful in that being prepared for the Derby he can lay second or third. He passed with flying colors today.”

This is from:

I get the same sense watching this horse run. He takes the lead easily, when others don't outrun him for it. If he's able to sit, he takes a whole bunch of horses (like all the plug closers and cheap speed) out of the race and the KD becomes betable.

Thanks for the report! Did you happen to notice if she was wearing the figure-eight noseband?

Oh man... I wish I was there. I'd be up early with a strong cup of coffee in hand, checking out the contenders.

Thanks Steve -- glad to have "our man on the scene" there.

SB:

Love these reports....

Thanks.

Much appreciated Steve. Keep 'em coming!

RA galloped out a mile in 37 and change, eh.

Sure seems likes she's ready to RACE.



Well, we know where Zardana's gunna be on 4/30 (CJ too).

In fact, we've known this for WEEKS.

No speculation or guesswork needed on that one…

thanks steve did anyone look bad?.:rolleyes:

wish i could see sidney in person. i'm most interested in awesome act and ice box.

If Francisco Torres was working any of them then definitely him. Scariest looking man I've ever seen.

NT

Thanks for the update Steve...great stuff.

Thank you Steve, I love this stuff. Please keep it coming.

I wish I was Steve Byk for the next couple of weeks.

Hooray; I love these updates! Thank you.

(Deep down inside, I believe "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" was really written for the Triple Crown season and they had to change the lyrics because XMas songs are more marketable.)

:D:tro:

Thank you Steve! Can't wait to get there next week. I have the fever so bad I trolled here and the Thorograph board 5 times yesterday waiting for somebody to say something interesting.

Steve, thanks for the great update!

These Reports Are Nothing Without Dapple Updates!

Can we set up a "dapple" scale? 1-5, 1-10...what sounds good?