Pyro has final Blue Grass work

Louisiana Derby winner Pyro turned in his final major trained move for Saturday’s Blue Grass on Monday, a half-mile in: 50.60 at Keeneland.

Ridden by Dominic Terry, Pyro was clocked in: 23.80 for the last quarter-mile in the solo work, his third at Keeneland since arriving from New Orleans after his Louisiana Derby. His first breeze was a five-furlong move on March 24, 1:02.40, followed by a six-furlong work a week later, in company, 1:14.60.

Barclay Tagg will breeze both Big Truck and Elysium Fields four furlongs on Tuesday morning at Keeneland. He reported that he is considering Big Truck, winner of the Tampa Bay Derby, for the Blue Grass. Elysium Fields, second in the Fountain of Youth but a disappointing 11th in the Florida Derby, may run in the Lexington on April 19.

Former Pletcher assistant breaks maiden

No cognac was cracked. But there were doughnuts and a gift of flowers at Barn 49 on Monday morning to mark the Sunday victory of Elisabeth Alexander’s Crack the Cognac, who gave trainer Michelle Nihei her first win at Keeneland.

“It was a big morale booster,” said Nihei, who has eight horses stabled here.

Nihei spent 4 ½ years working as an assistant to Todd Pletcher and spent a bit of time as a member of the New York Racing Association press staff before going out on her own in November 2007. Among the many standout horses she worked with in the Pletcher barn was champion Ashado.

“Her pictures adorn all the walls in my house,” Nihei said about Ashado. “She was the first horse I ever got on for Todd and it was at Saratoga in the summer of 2003. It was great to be around her for her two-, three- and four-year-old years.”

Nihei found it difficult to pinpoint just one thing in particular that she learned from Pletcher.

“There was just so much to work with,” Nihei said. “Having 100 horses and getting the experience and paying attention to all the organizational details, it was like having triple the learning curve of anybody else with 30 or 40 horses. You try to absorb as much as you can, but you still miss a lot. It was a great opportunity and I am grateful to have had that chance.”