Arkansas Derby Exacta Ships to Churchill Monday, Coal Battle Scheduled for Later Trip

[Wandering Eyes]

Travel plans for the GI Arkansas Derby runners are taking shape as top two Sandman (Tapit) and Publisher (American Pharoah) are scheduled to make the move to Churchill Monday.

Positive prognoses abound Sunday as trainers prepared their charges for the haul to Churchill Downs ahead of the final preparations for the first Saturday in May. Sandman relished not only the added distance, as his dual Hall of Fame trainer Mark Casse predicted, but also the meteoric pace up front courtesy of Cornucopian (Into Mischief) and Speed King (Volatile). His preliminary Beyer figure of 99 is a career high for the grey and the son of Tapit heads to Kentucky with 129 points as the current leader.

“[Jockey] Jose [Ortiz] and I talked about it before the race,” Casse said. “Again, we thought as the day was going on, if you watched the races, speed was holding pretty good in a few prior races. But we both talked about it and said: 'Look, we don't care what happens. We're going to let him get into his stride and go from there.' Never did we dream that we would get a pace scenario like we got. Jose told me he thought he was a winner, down the middle of the backside.”

Seven-race maiden Publisher just keeps showing up, and that salt-of-the-earth tenacity is what trainer Steve Asmussen is counting on as the son of the 2015 Triple Crown winner heads to Louisville with 60 points to his name. Having competed in all three of Oaklawn's Derby preps, and getting an early jump on the 'zoo-like' atmosphere that is a hallmark for America's marquee race, Publisher currently sits 10th on the leaderboard.

“I think the Arkansas Derby is a wonderful prep for [the Kentucky Derby atmosphere],” Asmussen said. “The infield, with 68,000 people–I definitely know that Publisher's got a beautiful temperament for a race of that size. That's not going to throw him off whatsoever. He stepped up and ran a 95 Beyer yesterday. He's on the cusp of it, but we've got to find more.”

Fan-favorite Coal Battle (Coal Front) put in a characteristically honest race to claim third despite suffering his first loss in six starts on the dirt and has also emerged from the Arkansas Derby in good form. Trainer Lonnie Briley believes the colt's demeanor Saturday did a lot to contribute to the loss.

“He was just too high,” Briley said. “He was on the muscle in the paddock and I had to finish saddling him on the walk. He beat himself. He didn't want to settle. When he broke the gates, he wanted to go. He was just high yesterday.”

Coal Battle will spend 'about 10 days' at Oaklawn Park before shipping over to continue preparations for the Kentucky Derby. With his wins in the Listed Smarty Jones and GII Rebel Stakes, he has garnered 95 points to currently rank sixth.

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