Kentucky Derby Update: Seven Derby Contenders Post Breezes Saturday at Churchill Downs

Apr 19, 2025

It was a busy Saturday morning at Churchill Downs as seven Kentucky Derby contenders logged published workouts for the “Run for the Roses”: Burnham Square (four furlongs, :49.40); East Avenue (four furlongs, :47.60); Final Gambit (five furlongs, 1:00.80); Flying Mohawk (five furlongs, 1:00); Publisher (five furlongs, :59.60); Sovereignty (five furlongs, 1:00.60); and Tiztastic (five furlongs, :59.60).

At Turfway Park, Louisiana Derby (GII) runner-up Chunk of Gold worked a half-mile in :50 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:02.

Easter Sunday is expected to be a quiet morning at Churchill Downs. The next group of Derby contenders is scheduled to breeze Tuesday, led by Admire Daytona (JPN) and Coal Battle.

ADMIRE DAYTONA (JPN) – Junko Kondo’s UAE Derby (GII) winner Admire Daytona (JPN) continued light training Saturday at Churchill Downs.

With exercise rider Yoshimitsu Miyashita aboard, the son of Drefong warmed up for about 15 minutes in the one-mile chute before galloping about 1 ½ miles.

Admire Daytona is scheduled to have a walk day on Sunday and could breeze on Tuesday depending on the weather.

AMERICAN PROMISE – BC Stables’ American Promise is scheduled to arrive at Churchill Downs from Oaklawn on Sunday.
The Virginia Derby winner breezed seven furlongs in 1:25.20 from the gate Friday morning.

BURNHAM SQUARE – Whitham Thoroughbreds’ Blue Grass Stakes winner Burnham Square ramped up his preparation for the “Run for the Roses” with a half-mile breeze in :49.40 under jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.

Trained by Ian Wilkes, Burnham Square clipped through fractions of :24.40 and :37 and galloped out five furlongs in a composed 1:02.

“It was just a maintenance work this morning since he just ran 11 days ago,” Wilkes said. “If I don’t do something with him, he’ll get too upset.”

Burnham Square jumped on the Road to the Kentucky Derby with a victory in the Holy Bull (GIII) over eventual Florida Derby (GI) winner Tappan Street.

“I know I needed to run him more because he was making too many mistakes, and I thought I needed to educate him more so he doesn’t make those mistakes in the Derby,” Wilkes said. “He’s got to move forward again from the Blue Grass because the water gets deeper again. He’s a lighter-framed horse. I can’t be afraid to train him because he needs it to get ready for the Derby.”

Hernandez has the mount for the Kentucky Derby.

CHUNK OF GOLD – Louisiana Derby runner-up Chunk of Gold continued his preparation for the Kentucky Derby at Turfway Park by working a half-mile in :50 under jockey Jareth Loveberry.

Chunk of Gold began his move with an opening quarter-mile in :25.20 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:02.

“It was exactly what we had planned,” West said. “We wanted to go a little slow early and finish up well. Jareth never asked him, and he had a really strong gallop out. Chunk really wanted to do more, but we’ll save that for 14 days from now.”

Chunk of Gold will have one additional work on Friday at Turfway before vanning to Churchill Downs that afternoon.

CITIZEN BULL / RODRIGUEZ – Trainer Bob Baffert’s Kentucky Derby duo of Citizen Bull and Rodriguez are on track to arrive at Churchill Downs on Thursday.

Baffert confirmed Madaket Road, who was originally aiming for the Derby, will be re-routed to the $600,000 Pat Day Mile presented by SAP (GII) on Derby Day.

COAL BATTLE – Norman Stables’ Coal Battle is scheduled to work five furlongs on Tuesday, according to trainer Lonnie Briley.

Briley is scheduled to be back on-site at Churchill Downs on Sunday.

EAST AVENUE – Godolphin’s Blue Grass runner-up East Avenue returned to the work tab Saturday with a half-mile breeze in :47.60 inside Raquel.

The duo worked fractions of :11.60 and :23.20 with East Avenue drawing away from his stablemate in the gallop-out of 1:00.60 for five furlongs and completing six furlongs in 1:14.

Jockey Edgar Morales worked East Avenue while trainer Brendan Walsh’s exercise rider Stephen Dolan was aboard Raquel. Morales has been familiar with East Avenue having worked him in the past at Fair Grounds.

Jockey Manny Franco was named to ride East Avenue in the Derby.

FINAL GAMBIT / TAPPAN STREET – Trainer Brad Cox returned to Churchill Downs on Saturday morning where he watched Juddmonte’s Jeff Ruby Steaks (GIII) winner Final Gambit work five furlongs in 1:00.80.

With exercise rider Edvin Vargas aboard, Final Gambit breezed outside stablemate Coffee Talk with an opening quarter-mile of :24.40 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.40.

“He’s really handled the dirt well here,” Cox said. “I thought it was a strong move today. He’s done everything well since we got him back here.”

Jockey Luan Machado has the call in the Derby.

Meanwhile, Florida Derby (GI) winner Tappan Street was scheduled to leave Payson Park on Saturday at 11 a.m. after breezing five furlongs in 1:01.40 on Friday.

FLYING MOHAWK – Flying Mohawk, owned by Two Eight Racing, Berry Family Racing and Kaleta Racing, breezed five furlongs in 1:00 inside stablemate Honor Marie.

Flying Mohawk, with exercise rider Maurilio Garcia in the saddle, began his move with eighth-mile splits of :12, :23.40 and :35. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:13.40 and completed seven furlongs in 1:27.60.

Joe Ramos has the mount in the Derby.

GRANDE – Repole Stable’s Grande arrived at Keeneland from Belmont Park early Friday. Trainer Todd Pletcher said he is scheduled to work next Friday.

JOURNALISM – Likely Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism breezed a half-mile in :47 inside stablemate Feel the Magic on Saturday morning at Santa Anita.

The son of Curlin is scheduled to arrive at Churchill Downs on Tuesday.

LUXOR CAFE – Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby invitee Luxor Cafe, owned by Koichi Nishikawa, is scheduled to arrive Wednesday.

The colt will fly from Japan to Chicago, complete a minimum 42-hour USDA quarantine, and then van to Churchill Downs.

OWEN ALMIGHTY – Tampa Bay Derby (GIII) winner Owen Almighty galloped about 1 ½ miles Saturday morning.

PUBLISHER / TIZTASTIC – Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen’s duo of Publisher and Tiztastic completed their penultimate work for the Derby with a five-furlong move in :59.60.

Publisher, with exercise rider Carlos Rosas aboard, and Tiztastic, with jockey Joel Rosario in the saddle, began their move with an eighth-mile clocking of :12.80. Publisher briefly took advantage over his stablemate, working a quarter-mile in :24.20 and three-eighths in :36. Tiztastic’s splits were :24.40 and :36.40. The duo galloped out six furlongs in 1:11.80.

SANDMAN – Arkansas Derby (GI) winner Sandman galloped about 1 ½ miles Saturday under Froylan Garcia for trainer Mark Casse, with his co-owner, social media sensation, Grifin Johnson watching on the backstretch.

Casse said the colt could have one more breeze prior to the Derby.

SOVEREIGNTY – Godolphin’s Fountain of Youth (GII) winner Sovereignty had his first work back at Churchill Downs on Saturday morning, breezing five furlongs in 1:00.60 outside of stablemate Playa Del Mar.

Under the watchful eye of Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott, Sovereignty worked through eighth-mile fractions of :13, :25.20 and :37.20. At the eighth pole, Playa Del Mar completed his move, with Sovereignty drawing clear to the wire. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.80. Exercise rider Guesler Cardona was aboard for the work.

“There’s a lot of luck involved in winning the Kentucky Derby. You obviously have to have the right horse for the race, but you need to have some racing luck go your way,” Mott said. “The goal is to have him the best he can be for the first Saturday in May.”

Jockey Junior Alvarado has the mount in the Derby.

SHAPING UP: THE $5 MILLION KENTUCY DERBY PRESENTED BY WOODFORD RESERVE (GI) – Here is the top 20 preference list for the $5 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (GI) in alphabetical order (with jockey and trainer): Admire Daytona (JPN) (Christophe Lemaire, Yukihiro Kato); American Promise (Nik Juarez, D. Wayne Lukas); Built (TBA, Wayne Catalano); Burnham Square (Brian Hernandez Jr., Ian Wilkes); Chunk of Gold (Jareth Loveberry, Ethan West); Citizen Bull (Martin Garcia, Bob Baffert); Coal Battle (Juan Vargas, Lonnie Briley); East Avenue (Manny Franco, Brendan Walsh); Final Gambit (Luan Machado, Brad Cox); Flying Mohawk (Joe Ramos, Whit Beckman); Grande (John Velazquez, Todd Pletcher); Journalism (Umberto Rispoli, Michael McCarthy); Luxor Café (Joao Moriera, Noriyuki Hori); Owen Almighty (Javier Castellano, Brian Lynch); Publisher (Irad Ortiz Jr., Steve Asmussen); Rodriguez (Mike Smith, Bob Baffert); Sandman (Jose Ortiz, Mark Casse); Sovereignty (Junior Alvarado, Bill Mott); Tappan Street (Luis Saez, Brad Cox); and Tiztastic (Joel Rosario, Steve Asmussen).

Also-Eligibles: Neoequos (TBA, Saffie Joseph Jr.); Render Judgment (TBA, Kenny McPeek); Baeza (Flavien Prat, John Shirreffs); and California Burrito (Irving Moncada, Tom Drury Jr.).

LONGINES KENTUCKY OAKS UPDATE – Trainer Whit Beckman’s Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI) duo of Simply Joking and Drexel Hill lit up the Saturday work tab, cruising five furlongs in :58.40, the fastest of 56 works at the distance.

Simply Joking, with Florent Geroux aboard, and Drexel Hill, with Ben Curits up, began their move through a sharp opening quarter-mile of :22.60 while continuing three furlongs in :34. The duo galloped out six furlongs in 1:11.60, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols.

As of Saturday, six contenders for the Oaks are stabled at Churchill Downs: Drexel Hill, Good Cheer, La Cara, Quickick, Simply Joking and Take Charge Milady.

SHAPING UP: THE $1.5 MILLION LONGINES KENTUCKY OAKS (GI) – Here is the expected field for the Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI) (with jockey and trainer): Anna’s Promise (Junior Alvarado, Carlos David); Ballerina d’Oro (Flavien Prat, Chad Brown); Bless the Broke (John Velazquez, Will Walden); Drexel Hill (Ben Curtis, Whit Beckman); Early On (Javier Castellano, Saffie Joseph Jr.); Five G (TBA, George Weaver); Fondly (TBA, Graham Motion); Good Cheer (Luis Saez, Brad Cox); La Cara (Dylan Davis, Mark Casse); Quietside (Jose Ortiz, John Ortiz); Quickick (Edgar Morales, Tom Amoss); Simply Joking (Florent Geroux, Whit Beckman); Take Charge Milady (Brian Hernandez Jr., Kenny McPeek); and Tenma (Juan Hernandez, Bob Baffert).

KENTUCKY DERBY MORNING WORKS SHOW OFFERS BEHIND-THE-SCENES ACCESS TO DERBY, OAKS TRAINING – The Kentucky Derby Morning Workouts Show presented by TwinSpires.com will air until Thursday, May 1 and offer fans an exclusive look at the final preparations of Kentucky Derby and Oaks contenders.

Airing daily from 6:45-7:45 a.m, the one-hour program will be streamed live on the Kentucky Derby Facebook, X and YouTube accounts. The show will highlight the 15-minute exclusive training window from 7:15-7:30 a.m. for horses preparing for the $5 million Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (Grade I) and the $1.5 million Longines Kentucky Oaks (GI).

Hosted by Churchill Downs’ expert handicappers Joe Kristufek, Kaitlin Free, Tony Calo and Kevin Kilroy, the show will include insight, commentary and exclusive interviews from notable figures such as former leading rider Rosie Napravnik, Churchill Downs track announcer Travis Stone, TwinSpires.com handicapper James Scully and Churchill Downs racing analyst Megan Burgess.

All Kentucky Derby and Oaks contenders are required to be on-site by Saturday, April 26. The show will continue through Thursday, May 1, showcasing every contender’s final training sessions leading into Kentucky Derby and Longines Kentucky Oaks.

For more information, visit www.kentuckyderby.com

COADY PHOTOGRAPHY MEDIA PORTAL – Media members can access photos of Kentucky Derby and Oaks contenders here:

https://www.coadyplus.com/gallery/Churchill-Downs-Spring-2025-Media/G0000mObeZBZmx8U/C0000PLb2ljPK8UQ.

Please credit all photos to Coady Media/Churchill Downs.

Churchill Downs Racing Communications/Notes Team

Darren Rogers | Senior Director, Communications & Media Services| (502) 636-4461 (office) | (502) 345-1030 (mobile) | Darren.Rogers@KyDerby.com | @ DerbyMedia

Kevin Kerstein | Ky Racing Communications | (502) 635-4712 (office) |

(610) 420-6971 (mobile) | Kevin.Kerstein@KyDerby.com| @HorseRacingKK

Gary Yunt | Notes Team Captain | (502) 636-4460 (office) |

(303) 981-5629 (mobile) | Gary.Yunt@KyDerby.com|