http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/56702/haskins-derby-report-the-gods-and-the-devilWe just may have blown it. In our latest Derby Dozen, we did the unthinkable, which is to fall prey to racetrack rumor, inconclusive, which runs rampant during Derby Week, and inconclusive facts.
The facts were that Endorsement was barely doing any training, mainly due to off tracks. The Sunland Derby (gr. III) winner jogged on Friday and Saturday, walked the shed on Sunday, and jogged a mile and galloped a very easy mile on Monday – not the typical training schedule for a horse preparing for the Kentucky Derby. Where was his final work? Where were the strong gallops? How would he be tight enough for such a grueling race?
Word began to spread on Monday that Endorsement not only wasn’t training properly, but in fact may not even make the race. Some questioned his soundness, and one trainer all but guaranteed he was out of the Derby.
So, when it came time to make up the final Derby Dozen, rather than use up a spot on Endorsement, whom I had ranked fairly high, I decided to just drop him altogether, at least until I found out what his situation was.
Trainer Shannon Ritter, who gallops and works Endorsement herself, is not big on training horses over bad tracks, and everyone associated with the horse insisted he was fine.
So, it was with great interest that I watched his gallop Tuesday morning at around 6 a.m. Well, from a physical standpoint, the horse looked perfectly sound during the few seconds I saw him as he galloped by one of the viewing stands. He switched leads smoothly and right on cue, his head was perfectly straight, and he was down into the bit. He was moving at a much quicker pace than he was the previous day and with more authority. He came off the track fine and cooled out fine. Although I only saw a small portion of his entire gallop, he sure didn’t look like a horse who was in jeopardy of coming out of the race because of physical issues.
The next step will be to watch him work on Wednesday, when he is scheduled to breeze a half-mile. Whatever the real deal is with the horse, as of this writing he should have remained on the Top 12. So, consider him there in spirit.
If the 4f breeze goes good, I\'m in.
My top tier that all my tickets will revolve around: Looking At Lucky/Super Saver/Endorsement
