Just one horse has ever done it, Leonatus in 1883. “Asking Taiba to try and win the Kentucky Derby with only two races under his belt certainly is audacious. “Of course, a huge concern for Taiba is he might not have enough foundation or experience,” said White. But some still consider them Baffert’s horses. Tim Yakteen took over the training of Taiba and Messier from Bob Baffert. Sports Who is Tim Yakteen, besides the guy training Bob Baffert’s horses at Kentucky Derby? The move came after last year’s race-day winner, Medina Spirit, was found to have an overage of a legal anti-inflammatory in his system. The biggest mystery in the race is two-time starter Taiba, the 3-year-old who was moved from the Baffert barn to Yakteen because Baffert was ineligible to gain Kentucky Derby qualifying points after a two-year ban by Churchill Downs. “Trainers seem to like having a horse go into the Kentucky Derby’s mile and a quarter with their horse having run 1 3/16 miles in the Louisiana Derby as opposed to the 1 1/8 miles of the other major preps.” “The decision by track management to lengthen the distance of the Louisiana Derby as well as the preps leading up to it appears to have worked well,” said White. It’s is the earliest of the Kentucky Derby’s major preps and the race is a little bit longer than the others. Last year, four of the top six finishers in the Derby came out of the Fair Grounds race. That in itself makes this year’s running of the Derby different.”Įpicenter is also coming out of the Louisiana Derby, which is becoming a new springboard to Kentucky Derby success. The difference with Epicenter this year is he’s going faster sooner than they did at this time. “Curlin and Gun Runner both ended up third and went on to be champion horses of the year. “It’s well documented I’m 0 for 23 in the Derby and I’ve run some Hall of Fame horses into it,” Asmussen said. But Asmussen, his Hall of Fame trainer, has had trouble getting his horses across the Derby finish line first. Having won four of his last five races most expected he would be made the favorite. Epicenter was the surprise 7-2 morning line second choice.
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