Honor A. P., Tiz the Law, Other Derby Prospects Breeze

The morning of July 25 was a busy one for Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) hopefuls, as top 3-year-olds breezed in Kentucky, New York, Florida, and California.

Runhappy Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner Honor A. P. led in a group of workers in California that included Bob Baffert trainees Cezanne and Thousand Words in preparation for the $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes Aug. 1 at Del Mar.

Honor A. P., trained by John Shirreffs for the C R K Stable of Lee and Susan Searing, went after the second track renovation break, arriving around 8 a.m. PT under exercise rider Francisco Alvarado. The son of Honor Code  worked with 4-year-old winner Takeo, spotting his stablemate a four-length head start before drawing even in early stretch and hitting the wire a half-length ahead with five furlongs in 1:01 1/5.

Runhappy Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P. (Outside), 1:01.20, and Takeo, 1:02.20, worked 5 Furlongs at Del Mar on July 25th, 2020, for trainer John Shirreffs. Honor A. P. is expected to make his next start in the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar on August 1st. @1stbet pic.twitter.com/bu8ms4envJ

— XBTV (@WatchXBTV) July 25, 2020

Del Mar clockers had Honor A. P. with steady fractions and timed him galloping out to six furlongs in 1:14 1/5.

"From my angle he went 11 (seconds) and change or 12 the last eighth," Shirreffs told Del Mar publicity in a text message. "The work was practice."

Cezanne, a winner of each of his two starts, and Thousand Words, who captured the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) in December and the Robert B. Lewis Stakes (G3) in February, worked side by side, covering six furlongs in 1:13 4/5.

Bruce Lunsford's 3-year-old Art Collector, the winner of the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) at Keeneland in his most recent start, worked an easy half-mile in :49 at Churchill Downs in preparation for the $200,000 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby Aug. 9, his final start before the Kentucky Derby. Regular jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. was aboard. 

Trainer Tommy Drury Jr. said by phone that he shipped Art Collector to Churchill Downs because the track at his Skylight Training Center base in Oldham County is being resurfaced. He said Art Collector will stay at Churchill until shipping to Ellis the morning of the race.

"He's fit; we weren't looking for much today," Drury said. "Just a little maintenance half-mile, let him stretch his legs a little. Brian said he couldn't have been happier, kind of had his ears thrown up. Just cruised along. I think (Churchill clocker John Nichols) had him galloping out in 1:01 and change. It was really nice, just what I wanted. I think he got off the first eighth-mile in 13 (seconds) and just kind of picked it up from there. He's on the same schedule he's been on. He'll come back and work next Friday or Saturday, and that should pretty much set us up for the race."

"Everything was good," Hernandez said. "Just a maintenance move, nice and smooth."

Derby favorite Tiz the Law also breezed Saturday, going five furlongs in 1:00.48 at Saratoga Race Course toward a start in the $1 million Runhappy Travers Stakes (G1) there Aug. 8.

The Barclay Tagg-trained son of Constitution  recorded splits of :24 1/5 and :36 before galloping out in 1:13 1/4 with exercise rider Heather Smullen aboard. 

"He does exactly what you tell him to do," Smullen said. "It was a little different this week just because there was some traffic right off the rail, and last week there was no one around and nothing for him to look at. This week, there were a couple horses down the stretch and he just buzzed right by them. I never moved my hands or asked him to do anything. He just stays on his own course, does his job, and gallops out great. I just sat there, and he did it on his own. Everything today was just easy and comfortable on his part." 

The sixth-ranked horse on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, King Guillermo, worked at Gulfstream Park, covering five furlongs in 1:00.11. His trainer, Juan Carlos Avila, tweeted in Spanish Saturday morning that the colt has a trip to Kentucky on Sunday. The lightly framed son of Uncle Mo  is expected to enter the Derby following a four-month layoff. He hasn't started since finishing second in a division of the May 2 Arkansas Derby (G1) at Oaklawn Park.