The workouts continued just over a week out from the 151st Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs, with longshots Owen Almighty and Built putting in 5-furlong breezes on Thursday morning.
Owen Almighty, the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) winner but sixth in the Blue Grass Stakes (G1) on April 8, worked 5 furlongs in 1:01.60 over a fast track under Antonio Orellana.
Trainer Brian Lynch chose to work his colt a day earlier than scheduled.
"That was a workout where they wanted to rate him." - T. Stone
Trainer Brian Lynch sent out Kentucky Derby contender Owen Almighty (outside) to workout 5 furlongs in company with Nosleeptilbrooklyn (inside) in 1:01.60. ⏱️ pic.twitter.com/fUFzk93JVv
— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) April 24, 2025
“I didn’t want to take a chance on the weather,” Lynch said. “The work couldn’t have been any better.”
A change of plans after the Blue Grass Stakes has Owen Almighty going in the 1 ¼-mile Derby rather than the Pat Day Mile (G2) that Lynch had said was the goal after the Tampa Bay Derby on March 8.
Built worked in a morning-best 59.40 for 5 furlongs under jockey Ben Curtis for trainer Wayne Catalano.
As of Thursday, it was unclear whether Built would be entered in the Kentucky Derby or run in the Pat Day Mile.
The Kentucky Derby and the May 2 Kentucky Oaks (G1) post-position draw are Saturday at 7:15 p.m. ET. After the draw, the Kentucky Derby betting landscape will be clearer.
Smarty Jones, the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner, was elected to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.
The only choice in the contemporary category, the wildly popular Smarty Jones is among a seven-member class that will be inducted into the hall on Aug. 1 at Saratoga Springs, New York.
Also elected on Thursday were racehorses Decathlon and Hermis, and trainer George H. Conway (by the 1900-1959 Historic Review Committee), and Ed Bowen, Arthur B. Hancock III, and Richard Ten Broeck by the Pillars of the Turf Committee.
Smarty Jones, who won his first eight races before a heartbreaking loss in the Belmont Stakes (G1) in his Triple Crown bid, was the only candidate to appear on the majority of ballots (50% plus 1 needed to be elected). A total of 157 voters (90.2%) participated from the 171 eligible to cast ballots.
The Pennsylvania-bred, trained by John Servis, was the talk of the track as he swept the Kentucky Derby preps in Arkansas – the Southwest, the Rebel, and the Arkansas Derby.
When he won the Derby in the slop under Stewart Elliott, Smarty became the first undefeated Derby winner since Seattle Slew in 1977. He won the Preakness by 11 ½ lengths. Three weeks later, leader Birdstone, at 36-1 odds, passed Smarty in the final strides and won by a length.
Derby Nuggets: Journalism, the expected Derby favorite, visited the starting gate and went for a 1 3/8-mile gallop under Marc Witkowski. “He’s an easy horse to train,” trainer Michael McCarthy said. “When he came to us last summer as a 2-year-old, he sort of showed us he was more advanced than your average 2-year-old. He really proved that once we stretched him out in the second start, and we knew he wasn’t an average 2-year-old.” ... Japan’s Luxor Cafe jogged in the 1-mile chute on Thursday after arriving at the track on Wednesday night following a 72-hour quarantine period in Chicago ...
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
