LOUISVILLE – Two similar workouts over a wet-fast track produced very different results yesterday morning at Churchill Downs.
Captain Steve put a smile on trainer Bob Baffert’s face, sizzling five furlongs in :59.2. But after Snuck In went the same distance in :59, his trainer, Steve Asmussen, said the Arkansas Derby runner-up would pass the Kentucky Derby and go directly to the Preakness.
Working in company, Snuck In broke off slightly behind his stablemate and outfinished him by a length through fractions of :23.4, :36 and :47. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.
By most standards this was a sensational workout, the fastest of 26 yesterday at the distance. Apparently it was too fast for Asmussen.
“This work wasn’t exactly what I wanted,” he said. “We know he’s fast, but the style he has now is not the style to be successful in the Derby. He needs to take a deep breath and relax. You don’t see horses in an argument early who are there at the end.”
As for Captain Steve, last November he showed a fondness for Churchill, winning the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes by 53/4 lengths, and Baffert has been saying all spring that the Fly So Free colt, who’s been third in all three starts this year, would improve dramatically once he returned to Louisville.
Yesterday he turned in his fourth sharp drill here since arriving from California, following four furlongs in :47.1 in the mud April 17, five furlongs in :59.4 April 22 and six furlongs in 1:11.4 last Thursday.
“Captain Steve moves so much better over this track than Santa Anita,” Barry Irwin, part-owner of The Deputy, said after watching the work. “He even gallops better over it.”
Coming out after the 8 a.m. break, Captain Steve went in company with stablemate Brilliantly acting as his pacesetter through a first quarter-mile in :24.1 and three furlongs in :36.2, finishing fast with final quarter in :23. He worked without the blinkers he’s worn in seven straight races since he was a 2-year-old.
“He’ll run Saturday without them,” Baffert said. “The last couple of times he ran, the riders said he seemed to get edgy and a little hot going to the gate. He’s more focused now with the racing experience he’s had and I don’t think he needs them anymore.
“He came back great. He wasn’t tired. He’s fit and ready for a mile and a quarter, as good now as I can get him.”
The Derby lost a potential starter it never really had yesterday when trainer Laura Wohlers said Ifitstobeitsuptome won’t run.