Empire Maker Returns To The Track; Foot Is "Fine"
May 1, 2003
By: Churchill Downs Notes Team
Kentucky Derby 129 Headlines:
Empire Maker Jogs; Said "Fine"
Outta Here In Short Blow Out
Funny Cide On The Scene
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ATSWHATIMTALKNBOUT - Trainer Ron Ellis sent his horse with the mouthful of a name - Atswhatimtalknbout - out for a morning session on the big Churchill Downs oval Thursday at approximately 7:45 with regular exercise rider Raul Vizcarrando attached.na' two Derby 129 hopefuls galloped early Thursday morning under exercise rider Stacy Maker.na, who will be participating in the Derby for the 22nd time in 23 years. Scrimshaw will break from post position 17 under Cornelio Velazquez, who will be making his first Derby appearance. Post 17 never has produced a Derby winner. Ten Cents A Shine, with Calvin Borel making his fourth Derby appearance, will break from post 14. The 14 hole has produced two Derby winners (Middleground in 1950 and Carry Back in '61).
SIR CHEROKEE - Trainer Michael Tomlinson said Arkansas Derby winner Sir Cherokee galloped a mile Thursday morning at Trackside Training Center with assistant trainer D.W. Fries up. "He will gallop a mile and a half in the morning. We have done all we can and I am pretty pleased with how the week has gone," said Tomlinson, who will be saddling his first Kentucky Derby starter. Terry Thompson, riding in his first Kentucky Derby, will break Sir Cherokee from post position three, a spot that has produced eight Derby winners. The three most recent Derby winners to break from post position three also won the Preakness: Real Quiet in 1998, Alysheba in '87 and Spectacular Bid in '79.
SUPAH BLITZ - With jockey Rosemary Homeister Jr. up, Supah Blitz jogged and then galloped before the renovation break. Trainer Manny Tortora said Supah Blitz would not have any paddock or gate schooling sessions prior to Derby 129. "He has been to the paddock more than enough," Tortora said of Supah Blitz, who has more starts (15) than any of his 16 Derby rivals. "He doesn't need to go to the gate." Homeister, the 1992 Eclipse Award winner as the nation's top apprentice, has ridden at Churchill Downs only once. "I was on a horse named G.H.'s Pleasure in the five-furlong Aegon Turf Sprint on Oaks Day in 1999," said Homeister, whose mount finished eighth. "I am not riding anything early on Derby Day," Homeister added, "but I am galloping three horses this morning and getting a good feel for the track." Supah Blitz will break from post position one, a producer of a record 12 Derby winners. The most recent Derby winner to break from the one was Ferdinand in 1986.
TEN MOST WANTED - It was just prior to 7 a.m. on a warm and slightly muggy Louisville morning when trainer Wallace Dollase rode shotgun for his Kentucky Derby hope Ten Most Wanted as they headed out for a gallop and a gate session beneath the famous Twin Spires at Churchill Downs. Dollase, who was seated on his black Quarter Horse stable pony, led exercise rider Enrique Alferez and the handsome son of Deputy Commander through the six-furlong gap and through an exercise session that brought them just one training day away from their date with destiny on Saturday. Dollase had scheduled the gate training after taking Post 16 Wednesday night during the televised Derby Draw at the Kentucky Derby Museum. "He's OK in the gate, but he doesn't like waiting for them to load," the trainer said. "He gets a little tight. That's why I took 16. He won't have to wait long out there." When Ten Most Wanted returned from his morning's activities, Dollase pronounced himself pleased with it all. "It was busy over there (at the gate)," he noted. "It was almost too busy. But it is going to be busy Derby Day, too, so maybe this will help. He just stood in there fine. And I'll tell you, he fills that gate up." Following the gate session, the Illinois Derby winner galloped a mile and one quarter. Rider Pat Day, who is scheduled to handle Ten Most Wanted in the Run for the Roses, was at the Dollase barn Thursday to keep the trainer aware of his situation. The Hall of Fame rider had pulled a back muscle doing chores at home Monday and had not ridden Tuesday or Wednesday. He told Dollase that he had a therapy session scheduled for 10 a.m. and was hoping to ride his mounts Thursday afternoon. However, according to Day's agent Doc Danner, "His back stiffened up this morning from walking around the backstretch and he went for some more therapy. He just wants to make sure he is 100 percent ready for Friday and Saturday
