Churchill Downs champion Citizen Bull completed his major Kentucky Derby preparations Monday with a bullet five-furlong work in :58.40 (1/15). Track clockers recorded the Into Mischief colt’s fractions at :11.60, :23, :45.80, :58.40 and out six furlongs in 1:12.40 and seven-eighths in 1:27.20.
“He worked really good out there,” said jockey Martin Garcia, who was aboard for the work. “But he was just messin’ around. He did it easy.”
Garcia revealed that trainer Bob Baffert, who maintains radio contact with his riders during exercises, called an audible during Monday’s preparation.
“I thought I was working four furlongs,” Garcia said. “But then when I get into it, Bob tells me I’m going five. So I’d broken off at the half-mile pole, which meant I had to go past the wire and finish up at the seven [furlong marker]. We did it and it worked out OK.”
Norman Stables’ Coal Battle (Coal Front) blew out three furlongs in :36.00 (7/16) Monday at Churchill. Bethany Taylor handled the riding duties for trainer Lonnie Briley.
“He looks like he did it pretty easily,” Briley noted of the work that produced fractions of :11.60, :36 and out a half-mile in :50.
The workout marked Coal Battle’s fourth since arriving three weeks ago from Oaklawn Park where he finished third behind Sandman (Tapit) in the GI Arkansas Derby.
“The closer to the race, the tougher it gets,” said the 72-year-old Briley, who will be saddling his first Kentucky Derby starter. “He will walk tomorrow and then there will be some jogging and galloping. He’s ready.”
C R K Stable LLC and Grandview Equine’s Baeza (McKinzie), the lone also-eligible for the Derby, worked five furlongs in 1:02.00 (15/15) Monday at Churchill Downs for trainer John Shirreffs.
Clockers recorded the bay colt’s splits at :13.60, :26.40, :37.80 with a final time of 1:02. He galloped out in 1:16.
“He went good,” jockey Flavien Prat, aboard for the work, said. “He felt good and he did it easy.”
Shirreffs added, “I know 1:02 is a little on the slow side, but he’s not an especially sharp work horse. We put a good work into him last week [seven furlongs in 1:28 at Santa Anita Apr. 20] and he’s ready. We just need to get a little lucky and get him into the race.”
Scratch time for the Derby is Friday at 9 a.m.
