LOUISVILLE – Aside from undefeated favorite Big Brown, there isn’t a more consistent 3-year-old in Saturday’s 134th Kentucky Derby than Colonel John. Never worse than second in six starts, the bay son of Tiznow is 2-for-2 this year, winning the Sham and Santa Anita Derby at a mile-and-an-eighth.
But a big question mark hangs over the WinStar Farm colt’s head. All of Colonel John’s races came over synthetic surfaces (composed of sand, fiber and wax) in southern California. How will he handle the old-fashioned dirt at Churchill Downs?
Just fine, if yesterday morning’s workout is any clue. Zipping through fractions of :12, :23.1, :34.3 and :46, Colonel John finished up five furlongs in a bullet :57.4 – and then galloped out another eighth in 1:11.1!
The sizzling work recalled Hard Spun’s :57.2 before last year’s Derby. Most everyone thought that was too fast, until Hard Spun set the pace and finished second to Street Sense. Yesterday, no one was knocking Colonel John’s drill.
“I was happy with the way he did it,” said his trainer, Eoin (pronounced “Owen”) Harty, a Dubliner who came to the U.S. in 1982, recognizable by the Yankees cap glued to his head. “He was well within himself. The dirt doesn’t seem like it’s an issue. He handled it very well. I know there’s a little left in the tank for game day.”
Harty served as Bob Baffert’s top assistant when they won back-to-back Derbys with Silver Charm and Real Quiet in 1997-98. Baffert, nicknamed “Bullet Bob” because he works his horses fast, “has been a huge influence on the way I train racehorses,” said Harty. “He’s got [guts], and is not afraid to take a shot. Bob’s a big believer in my horse. He told me not to panic, to keep my eye on the prize.”
Harty expects Colonel John to run a big race Saturday. “If he doesn’t show up, something’s amiss. I’d be very disappointed. There’s a hunger in every trainer to win the Kentucky Derby. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.”
Also on hand for the drill was Elliott Walden, vice president of WinStar, a former trainer whose colt Menifee lost the 1999 Derby by a head to Charismatic. D. Wayne Lukas, who trained the winner, told Walden, “There’s one out there with your name on it.” But the next year, Walden’s Victory Gallop lost the Derby by a half-length to Real Quiet.