Big Truck & Tale of Ekati Work at Churchill Downs For The 2008 Kentucky Derby
The Barclay Tagg-trained duo of Big Truck and Tale of Ekati were introduced to the Churchill Downs racetrack, home of the Kentucky Derby, Sunday morning during their respective 1 1/2-mile gallops under exercise rider Kristen Troxell.
“They both went really good. The nice cool weather has moved them up, and I think they like the change in surfaces,” said horse trainer Barclay Tagg, whose pair of 2008 Kentucky Derby entries arrived by van from Keeneland Saturday afternoon.
Big Truck, who entered the 2008 Kentucky Derby picture with a victory in the Tampa Bay Derby (GIII) in March, finished 11th in the Blue Grass Stakes on the Polytrack surface at Keeneland over which a few other prime candidates for the Run for the Roses also struggled.
“I hope that’s all it is,” said Tagg of Big Truck’s disappointing effort on the synthetic surface at Keeneland. “He seemed to handle it in the morning going a half-mile, but he didn’t handle it in the afternoon.”
Tale of Ekati will enter the Kentucky Derby on a far more positive note, having captured the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct by a half-length over now-injured War Pass, the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile champion.
“He kept digging. He ran a good race. It was a slow time, but that probably had more to do with the track than anything else,” Tagg said.
Prior to his Wood Memorial victory, Tale of Ekati ran a disappointing sixth behind another Kentucky Derby hopeful, Pyro, in his 2008 debut in the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds in March.
“He had a little trouble out of the gate and it was his first race after a long layoff. I’m not trying to make excuses for him, but I don’t think he ran his ‘A’ race that day,” Tagg said.
Eric Fein’s Big Truck, who will be ridden by Javier Castellano, is scheduled to work out on Monday, while Charles Fipke’s Tale of Ekati, who will have Eibar Coa aboard in the Kentucky Derby, is slated to work on Tuesday.
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