The tale of the tortoise and the hare taught us that slow and steady wins the race. If that lesson rings true during the 151st Kentucky Derby (G1) May 3, it will be good news for Admire Daytona.
With Japanese contenders becoming a regular part of the Kentucky Derby picture each season, many have learned to expect training styles that look unorthodox here in America to be the normal when performed by the Japanese. Looking simply at the time of the Drefong colt's April 22 half-mile workout—:53 1/5, slowest of 33 at the distance—many handicappers and analysts may be scratching their heads. However, it was exactly what the Admire Daytona's connections were looking for.
"It was what they were going out there planning to do," said Churchill Downs' Asia representative Kate Hunter, who oversees the Japanese Derby contenders. "The horse, coming out of the UAE Derby so close (four weeks before the Kentucky Derby), there's really no need to push him. He's race fit. He was really fit going into Dubai and he managed to keep that fitness. They're just trying to maintain it and not push him too hard so he's got as much energy as possible for the Kentucky Derby."
Junko Kondo's Admire Daytona won the April 5 UAE Derby (G2) in front-running fashion for trainer Yukihiro Kato, proving gutsy down the stretch when fighting off two rivals to win by a nose. Since his first day on the Churchill Downs track April 13, he's had a steady flow of slow gallops leading up to his Tuesday work. Yoshimitsu Miyashita has been aboard the colt each morning and has been pleased with what he feels.
"He's really settled into Churchill very well. He seems to cover ground over the dirt without any issue. While it's a little firmer than the dirt in Dubai, he grips well and moves across it quite well," Miyashita said in comments translated by Hunter. "The goal today was let the horse judge the pace and then kind of push him just a little bit there at the end. His work today was exactly the kind of work he had in Dubai, so that was good. He feels exactly the same."
Hunter said that Admire Daytona will likely post a similar breeze April 29 or 30.
Meanwhile, fellow Japan-based runner Luxor Cafe, who defeated Admire Daytona in both their prior meetings, arrived at the quarantine facility in Chicago April 21. Hunter reported that he settled in well and should arrive at Churchill Downs April 23.
La Cara Posts Bullet in Lone Oaks Work
While slow and steady may be the pace for Admire Daytona, it was the opposite for Tracy Farmer's homebred Kentucky Oaks (G1) contender, La Cara, who worked the same half-mile distance Tuesday and posted the bullet in :46 under exercise rider Kevin Donnis.
"I thought it was an A+ work," said her dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse. "She was going pretty quick, we had radios on the rider. I thought about slowing him down, but she was doing it so effortlessly that I let it continue. She ended up going a little quicker than what I wanted. But the good news is—one of the reasons we do it—is its 10 days out (from the Oaks), it gives her plenty of time to recover. She looks great. I think you just saw how well she moves over Churchill Downs and how much she likes it."
La Cara kicked off the Road to the Kentucky Oaks last September with a win in the Pocahontas Stakes (G3) at Churchill Downs and has continued to prove herself among the classiest in the 3-year-old filly division. She took the Ashland Stakes (G1) at Keeneland April 7 in gate-to-wire fashion to place her second on the Oaks leaderboard with 151.75 points.
"She's a really good horse. I don't think you could ask her to be doing any better," Casse said. "She's going to give a real big performance on Friday (May 2)."
That 10-day spacing from La Cara's breeze to the Oaks will be the same spacing for Casse-trained Arkansas Derby (G1) winner Sandman's final breeze to the Derby. The son of Tapit is slated to breeze Wednesday.
"He looked awful happy this morning," Casse said of Sandman's Tuesday gallop. "When he's happy, I'm happy."
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Coal Battle Gets More Serious as He Settles In
Also happy Tuesday morning was Norman Stables' Rebel Stakes (G2) winner Coal Battle, who logged his third breeze over the Churchill Downs surface since finishing third in the March 29 Arkansas Derby. With assistant trainer Bethany Taylor aboard, he worked a half-mile in :47 4/5, third-fastest at the distance.
"He was really fresh, he felt really good," Taylor said. "He was quieter going to the pole today than he has been the last couple works. But when he did that, I knew we were going to be working pretty good."
With the third breeze at Churchill Downs accomplished, trainer Lonnie Briley said it appears the colt is starting to tighten up and get more serious.
"It was good, I knew he'd work solid," Briley said. "He's a clown, so either he's going to be quiet or he's gonna act a monkey. ... It was solid and he come back good and fresh. He'll be okay, he'll catch a cow or two."
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