Today's Kentucky Derby Contender Works (3-1-11) - Updated

workouts for today (Tuesday, March 1)

(with HRN Derby rankings):

Today's Derby contender works included a six furlong move from Astrology. The Steve Asmussen runner has worked five times this year and could make his first outing of the season in the March 12 San Felipe. Preachintothedevil worked four furlongs in advance of the March 5 Gotham Stakes.

#25 Astrology – Handy 6f move in 1:12.60 (10/21) at Santa Anita.

#47 Beamer – Breezed 5f in 1:03 (5/9) at Palm Meadows.

#39 Preachintothedevil – 4f in :47.88 (3/20) at Belmont (training track).

#97 Smash – 4f in :50 (40/48) at Santa Anita.

[Are you a fan of Astrology? Do you like Preachintothedevil in the Gotham Stakes? Log in and rank your 2011 Kentucky Derby contenders!]

Other Works:

Bail Out The Cat (#116) breezed 4f in :49.60 (9/21) at Palm Meadows. Acaffella (#135) went 3f in :37.60 (11/15) at Santa Anita. J W Blue (#141) traveled 4f in :48 (3/56) at Oaklawn.

Notes:

Crossbow is off the Kentucky Derby trail with a bone chip in his right front ankle. The draw for the Gotham Stakes (G3) will take place Wednesday and the list of candidates includes Dawly, Monzon, Nacho Saint, Norman Asbjornson, Preachintothedevil, Rescind The Trade, Stay Thirsty, and Toby’s Corner.

What the Nation is saying about Today's Kentucky Derby Contender Works (3-1-11) - Updated...

Today's Kentucky Derby C...

Astrology runs like a plodder. I don't even think he's worth talking about at the present moment. I don't think there is anybody in Steve Asmussen's stable that will be good enough to even make the Derby this season. Steve is a great trainer, and his horses are still getting used to their environment in So. Cal. As for Bob Baffert, it's a known fact that he likes to get the most out of his horses in the morning. Whether that's a waste of a horse is obviously up for debate. It's hard to knock Bafferts production in the 3-year-old series over the past two decades.

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Today's Kentucky Derby C...

Just curious what equine/handicapping credentials Mr. dubby30 possess to question the training methods of Bob Baffert . With 3 Kentucky Derby wins to his name and several other winners in the other legs of the triple, Baffert's training modus operandi seem to work. As Steve Haskins of The Bloodhorse wrote: "Leave the training to the trainers"

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Today's Kentucky Derby C...

dubby30, I'm well aware Asmussen's tendancy to work his horses slow, but 1:03.2 is slow for a mule on the Santa Anita surface. If that 1:12.6 is Astrology being held up like Asmussen's typical works it's "fast", but my gut feeling is that the connections let him run a little. He needs to improve from his dull second in the KJC. I was there and he was possibly the most muscled out 2yo I've seen, and had a frame to grow into, but seeing Tapizar in the last race made the whole KJC filed appear slow. Also, Kathmanblu's time was right there with Tapizar. Santiva improved nicely, but third place finisher Major Gain ran very poorly in the Holy Bull.

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Today's Kentucky Derby C...

Well its not a point I was trying to argue with, as a fan of Asmussen I think he's made his fair share of mistakes, not having Curlin ready for the BC on synthetics and not training Rachel properly for the 10F Personal Ensign last year, these are things if you asked him he'd tell you he wishes he could take back, but from the beginning i've always enjoyed that his horses works are more stamina building and meant to allow the horse to tighten itself up. Baffert on the other hand wants to condition the horse by means of always putting up handily works in record times on the work tab. There is nothing wrong with that except using a great deal of horse in the morning for no reason at all. Just like with Mo i have no idea why people want to start a horses campaign this late in the year, its crazy. We agree on that.

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Today's Kentucky Derby C...

Dubby, it's true that not all trainers look for speed in the morning. However, as handicappers, we are looking for fitness in horses like Astrology coming off the shelf for his Derby campaign. But with works like 1:03.20 Handily, that's a bit hard to see. The 1:12.60 is much better so perhaps he's coming around. But it's a legit question how far behind he is with this horse. His first work of the year was Feb. 5. I'm not a trainer, but it is my understanding that it often takes 8 works (or 8 weeks) to get a horse race ready. So, is there something wrong with him? Or is he being rushed? There hasn't been much news on a horse that was near the top of the list of Derby contenders in the Fall. He has sort of fallen off the map. Even the fans on this site have dropped him down to #31. That's hard to argue with at this point.

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Today's Kentucky Derby C...

I wonder why people feel that a horse should post bullets works every time, here's a bit of fyi for you, Steve Asmussen does not train with a view to seeing race like works in the morning, never has and never will, works with Asmussen's charges are going to be of the breezing variety. Normally well in hand or at least with the horse under a stout hold. I wonder if some people feel that just because the track is concrete, the horses should go out and blast bullets, horse racing doesnt work like that but that would be the reason that only certain people are trainers and others dont really understand the game very well.