Sovereignty Leads Busy Derby Worktab at Churchill Downs
With two weeks remaining until up to 20 3-year-olds take their shot in the May 3 Kentucky Derby (G1), the building excitement could be felt April 19 throughout the Churchill Downs backstretch.
The first sizable crowd of onlookers and media members for the 2025 Derby season gathered along the rail to catch a glimpse of the impending action as the special Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks (G1) training period began at 7:15 a.m. ET. They were not disappointed.
During those 15 minutes, seven of the 12 Top 20 Derby points qualifiers present at Churchill Downs worked while four more were out for their routine gallops. The only missing member was Built , who had completed his training nearly two hours earlier to avoid the rush.
Sovereignty was perhaps the most anticipated of the works. The Godolphin homebred, expected to be among the top betting choices, was set to post his first recorded workout since arriving at Churchill Downs earlier in the week. Since arriving after a :48 2/5 half-mile work at Payson Park Training Center in Florida April 11, the son of Into Mischief has been full of energy.
“He’s been a little geared up since he’s been here. He’s excited to be here,” said his Hall of Fame trainer, Bill Mott. “He’s been fairly strong in his gallops leading up to this work. Hopefully, this work will smooth him out a little bit and settle him down. We want him to naturally conserve some of that energy.”
That energy was on full display Saturday morning with exercise rider Guesler Cardona aboard. Starting off working in company with maiden Playa Del Mar , the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) winner and Florida Derby (G1) runner-up left his stablemate—who was only working four furlongs—in the dust as he opened a wide advantage in the stretch. Churchill Downs clockers recorded him in 1:00 3/5 for five furlongs (17th fastest of 56 at the distance) and galloping out six furlongs in 1:12 4/5.
“The breeze was great. He finished up very nicely,” Mott said. “I was really pleased with the way he came to the wire and the way he galloped out around the turn. It was very strong. Time-wise, it was very good, but it was more impressive the way he was doing it and the way he looked doing it.
East Avenue, Burnham Square Breeze
Sovereignty wasn’t the only Godolphin homebred catching attention on the warm Saturday morning as East Avenue recorded his first workout since running second in the April 8 Blue Grass Stakes (G1) for trainer Brendan Walsh.
Training on the inside of unraced filly Raquel , East Avenue breezed a half-mile in :47 3/5 with jockey Edgar Morales in the saddle. Jockey Manny Franco will have the call in the Derby.
East Avenue began clearing Raquel approaching the wire and pulled far ahead while galloping out five furlongs in 1:00 3/5. The half-mile move was fifth fastest of 97 at the distance Saturday at Churchill.
East Avenue works inside of Raquel at Churchill Downs
“We were happy, I thought he worked good,” Walsh said. “It’s only been (11) days since he ran. We just wanted to go a half, out in five-eighths. We were happy with him.”
The Blue Grass was delayed by storms for three days, perhaps forcing Walsh and Ian Wilkes, who trains Blue Grass winner Burnham Square , into some added thought on the timing of works ahead of the first Saturday in May. However, Walsh is not concerned that it will impact his Medaglia d’Oro colt.
“He’s got a lot of constitution, it doesn’t seem to bother him too much,” Walsh said of East Avenue. “It shouldn’t really be a problem. He’s well able to handle it. So it doesn’t really concern me at all.”
Likewise, the proximity of Saturday’s breeze to the Blue Grass offered no concern for Wilkes with Burnham Square, who he said was training “high as a kite” since his grade 1 triumph. Wilkes legged up jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. for a “comfortable” maintenance work.
“It’s what he needs,” Wilkes said before the breeze. “Just watching him and how he’s doing, he just needs to do something because if he doesn’t, he’s going to get frustrated. I don’t want a frustrated horse, I need a happy horse.”
Energy was on full display as the Whitham Thoroughbreds’ homebred Liam’s Map gelding was a handful for Hernandez his first time down the backstretch. However, he soon settled into the work and completed his half-mile move in :49 2/5 (51st of 97 at distance). He galloped out five furlongs in 1:02.
“It was good. He was a little strong to the pole, but otherwise very good, well in hand,” Wilkes said after the move. “I’d like to see him relax a little better to the pole, but I can correct that.”
That tendency of being strong to the pole was something Hernandez was warned about prior to breezing the gelding for the first time Saturday.
“It kind of surprised me at first because in his races he leaves the gates and just turns off and travels so well,” Hernandez said. “Once we got into the work he settled down nicely and went through his rhythm really good.”
Other Saturday Workers at Churchill
Among the other Derby contenders breezing Saturday were Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen’s duo of Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Tiztastic and Arkansas Derby (G1) runner-up Publisher . Tiztastic, with jockey Joel Rosario aboard, worked outside of his Carlos Rosas-ridden stablemate as the pair breezed five furlongs in :59 3/5 (fourth of 56 at distance).
Jeff Ruby Steaks (G3) winner Final Gambit continued to please trainer Brad Cox with how he’s settled in on the dirt with a five-furlong move in 1:00 4/5 (24/56) beneath exercise rider Edvin Vargas. As was the trend Saturday, he left stablemate Coffee Talk well behind in a six-furlong gallop out in 1:14 2/5.
“Positive effort,” trainer Brad Cox said. “He’s handled the dirt very well since we moved him down here from Turfway. … The rider is happy with him. I’m happy with him, his energy level is really good. We’re in a good spot with him.”
Flying Mohawk , runner-up in the Jeff Ruby, saw a slight adjustment between his April 12 work and the one Saturday morning. Again working in company with D. Whitworth Beckman’s 2024 Derby runner Honor Marie , Beckman swapped Flying Mohawk’s position to the inside to try and keep him a bit more focused through the stretch.
Flying Mohawk training at Churchill Downs
“I went ahead and put him inside this week just to kind of make sure they were facing each other in the eye the whole way down,” Beckman said. “Last week, he got a little tough and (jockey) Joe (Ramos) just kind of angled him out just to get him a little break, but this week we wanted them to look each other in the eye and get a more gritty type of work.”
The results were exactly what Beckman wanted. Flying Mohawk, with exercise rider Maurilio Garcia in the saddle this week, had a head advantage over Honor Marie as they hit the wire in 1:00 for five furlongs (11/56) and maintained that advantage as they galloped out six furlongs in 1:13 2/5.
Beckman’s Oaks contenders, Simply Joking and Drexel Hill , also had an early sizzle earlier in the morning when the track opened at 5:15. The pair’s five-furlong time of :58 2/5, faster than Beckman expected, held as the bullet for the morning among 56 workers.
“Their work went more or less how I intended. It was quick, I knew it was gonna go quick. Fifty-eight and four quick? I didn’t really account,” Beckman said. “But the track, first thing in the morning, is always a little tighter than it does usually play later.”
Beckman placed the front-running Simply Joking, with jockey Florent Geroux aboard, inside of closer Drexel Hill, with jockey Ben Curtis aboard, to ensure a decent clip.
“They both worked fantastic,” he said. “Simply Joking looked a little bit better, but Drexel Hill is doing awfully good. For her, a filly that’s kind of a closer, to maintain that connection to (Simply Joking) going around there that easily, I think they’re both dangerous and live.”
Render Judgment , who sits 22nd on the Derby leaderboard as the second alternate, breezed five furlongs in 1:00 4/5 (24/56) for trainer Kenny McPeek.
Other Derby and Oaks Workers Around the Country
Several other Derby and Oaks contenders were on the worktab elsewhere throughout the country Saturday.
Likely Derby favorite Journalism recorded a half-mile in a :47 at Santa Anita Park (4/97) in his first breeze since taking the April 5 Santa Anita Derby (G1).
Chunk of Gold worked four furlongs in :49 2/5 at Turfway Park under jockey Jareth Loveberry.
“It was exactly what we had planned,” trainer Ethan West told Churchill Downs publicity. “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.”
Kentucky Oaks contenders Tenma breezed six furlongs in 1:12 3/5 at Santa Anita (1/2) and Ballerina d’Oro worked four furlongs in :48 on the Belmont Park training track (13/217).
