Art Collector, Swiss Skydiver Work in Mud at Churchill

On a soggy Aug. 1 morning at Churchill Downs, several likely contenders for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) and Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) recorded published workouts on a muddy track. Bruce Lunsford's Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) winner Art Collector and Peter Callahan's multiple graded stakes-winning filly Swiss Skydiver were the prime attractions, breezing four furlongs in :48 4/5 and five furlongs in 1:01, respectively.

Other possible Kentucky Derby starters who breezed were John Oxley's Lecomte Stakes (G3) winner Enforceable (five furlongs in 1:02 3/5); Lloyd Madison Farms' Indiana Derby (G3) runner-up Major Fed (four furlongs in :50 1/5); and Jackie Rojas, Wayne Scherr, and Raymond Daniels' likely Runhappy Ellis Park Derby starter Necker Island (four furlongs in :47 4/5).

It was a busy morning for jockey Brian Hernandez Jr., who worked Swiss Skydiver and Art Collector. The two standouts are being prepped for races this month—Swiss Skydiver toward the Aug. 15 Alabama Stakes (G1) at Saratoga Race Course and Art Collector to the Ellis Park Derby.

The latter has quickly vaulted up the ranks of leading 3-year-old males pointing toward the Kentucky Derby, and Hernandez was pleased with the colt's breeze for trainer Tommy Drury Jr.

"Everything went well," Hernandez said. "You hear it all the time that they're right where you want them to be, but he seems like he is. You just let him do his thing. He's just so intelligent. All I've got to do is just stay out of his way. I put him down on the rail, and he went around there just like he wanted to, with his ears up and on a long line just cruising along."

Following the renovation break @ChurchillDowns:

Art Collector (below): 12.4, 24.3, 48.4/101.1, 114.4

Necker Island: 47.4

Both horses are likely entrants for next Sunday’s Ellis Park Derby. pic.twitter.com/RIkg2IR9U4

— Kevin Kerstein (@HorseRacingKK) August 1, 2020

Drury said running in the 1 1/8-mile Ellis Park Derby allows him to go a bit lighter in Art Collector's daily training.

"We just ran at Keeneland; we're going to run next weekend at Ellis," he said. "Everything we're doing, it just allows us to do a little bit less, a little bit easier. I think at the end of the day, that stuff kind of adds up and is beneficial to him."

The Kenny McPeek-trained Swiss Skydiver, coming off a runner-up finish against males in the Blue Grass, galloped out six furlongs in 1:14 1/5, according to Churchill Downs clocker John Nichols.

Art Collector is expected to face several promising colts in the Ellis Park Derby, including California invader Anneau d'Or, who breezed five furlongs in 1:01 3/5 at Del Mar Saturday on a fast track. He was scratched from the Shared Belief Stakes on Saturday.

Major Fed will forgo running in the Ellis Park Derby and point straight to the Kentucky Derby, his connections said