Derby notes: Watching works -- on TV

Louisville, Ky.

Barclay Tagg was in good form on Tuesday at Churchill Downs.

“You can’t see much of anything unless you watch it on TV,” Tagg said after watching Tale of Ekati work a half-mile in 49.40 seconds – on TV.

“You go to the clockers’ stand and watch it on TV. Corporate America.” Tagg grumbled.”

While the clockers’ stand on the Churchill backstretch is not used by clockers and is an almost impossible vantage point from which to watch a workout, Tagg was looking for nothing that varied from routine. “He went fine; nothing dramatic,” Tagg said. “You just to the same, old routine; nothing fancy. It’s a horse race. You bring him up to it the best you can – the way that works best for him – and hope they run well.”

Dutrow: I got the horse right here

Unless you ask Rick Dutrow, this is as wide open as any Derby in memory.

“I feel very confident that if Big Brown breaks with the field, I think he’s going to run a big race,” Dutrow said after the Florida Derby winner galloped for the first time over the track here yesterday and will work three furlongs on Thursday.

Big Brown arrived at mid-afternoon Monday

“He traveled very good. I was with him the whole way,” Dutrow said. “A lot of horses really like flying; he’s one of them. He ate up everything last night. He trained good this morning. We’re happy with things.”

Dutrow said Big Brown’s hoof problems were resolved in time for the colt to get in his two Gulfstream races and run his unbeaten record to three.
“Since then, every day has been a good day for Big Brown,” Dutrow said. “That’s where we are right now.”

Following the allowance victory, Dutrow said he and the owners, IEAH Stables and Paul Pompa, Jr., elected to step up to Grade I company in the Florida Derby.

“That’s why we ran him back in 24 days,” he said. “Anybody who watches me train horses, I like waiting the 30 to 40 days. When they put in an effort, I like waiting. But the circumstances were different. Everybody dreams of being where we are right now and we had to make some type of move and decide what we wanted to do next.

“After we thought about it, we thought 24 days wasn’t the best kind of scenario, but we watched him run. It didn’t look like he was on his belly that day. It didn’t look like he gave it all that he had. So we figured, `OK, yeah, we can try this. What have we got to lose?’ We went into the Florida Derby very confident. Even though we drew the 12 post, right away I loved it because he wasn’t going to get in trouble. He would have things go his way in the race and that the only way I could see him getting beat was if he got in trouble. I just couldn’t see those horses beating him. He came out of the race really good.”

“I’m training him for a horse race. It doesn’t make me feel anything different just because he’s training for the Kentucky Derby. Even though it’s the biggest race in the world, still, I’m basically training him for a horse race. That’s the only way that I’m looking at it.

“I’ve been dreaming about the Derby all my life. So now I’m here. I don’t want to put more into training him because I think all you have to do is basic stuff around him. His talent and his ability is going to get us there, not my training techniques. Just him. He’s the one’s that’s got us here. Any good-enough horseman can do what I’ve done with this horse. Any jockey can do what Kent (Desormeaux) has done with this horse. Any groom, hotwalker. It’s the horse that is what is making the whole game go here.”

Which way will she go?

Eight Belles drew the outside post in a field of 12 three-year-old fillies entered on Tuesday for Friday’s Kentucky Oaks. She will be entered in the Derby on Wednesday with the choice of races determined by the Derby draw. If she runs in the Oaks, Eight Belles, winner of her last four races including the Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park, is the 5-2 overnight favorite. If she runs in the Derby, the more likely scenario, Proud Spell, her stablemate, will be the Oaks favorite.