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With Eight Belles, Trainer May Crash The Derby Party
Trainer Larry Jones is hoping that Eight Belles becomes the first filly since 1988 to win the Kentucky Derby. Eight Belles has a four-race winning streak.
(By Ed Betz -- Associated Press)
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Baffert won that year with long shot War Emblem, but Steve Asmussen, who trained the left-out Windward Passage, said a situation like that should never happen again. The Kentucky Derby does not have an also-eligible list for horses to draw into the field if others scratch.
"It's just unfortunate we're going to keep somebody out, but I feel it's within the rules and have to take advantage of it," Porter said. "This is a business and not just a sport."
Jones does admit to feeling bad for David Carroll, the trainer of Denis of Cork, who is marooned at No. 22 on the money list and needs two defections to make the field.
"David Carroll is a friend of mine and uses my stalls when he comes to Oaklawn," Jones said.
Carroll, though, said he harbored no ill will. "I'm a good friend, but not that good a friend," he said. "If we don't get in, it's nobody's fault but our own. We're preparing as if he's going to run. If he gets in, he does, and if he doesn't, he doesn't. One, I've never had a horse in the Kentucky Derby, and two, he'd have a legitimate shot. That's the most disappointing thing."
Racing Note: Jones said jockey Gabe Saez, who rides first call for him at Oaklawn Park, will have the mount on Eight Belles if she runs in the Derby. Saez has the mount on Jones's Proud Spell, the likely favorite in the Oaks, as well.
If Eight Belles winds up in the Oaks, jockey Ramon Dominguez will have the mount.
