Texas Red Records Easy First Breeze Back
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Trainer Keith Desormeaux is treading a fine line with Sentient Jet Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) winner Texas Red.
He's unsure the Afleet Alex colt can get ready in time for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) April 4 after a month off recuperating from a foot abscess with swimming therapy at Premier Equine Center in Oakdale, Calif., but that isn't going to stop him from trying.
"This is a new deal, bringing a horse off a month of swimming, trying to prepare for a grade I prep for the Kentucky Derby," Desormeaux said after the Kentucky-bred colt returned to the Santa Anita Park dirt track March 14 to record his first workout since a second-place finish in the Feb. 1 San Vicente Stakes (gr. II). "My goodness, it doesn't seem conceivable with three works, but you gotta give him a chance. He's got the foundation and he's got the race under him, but it seems like we're under a little pressure."
Texas Red covered four furlongs in :51 2/5 easily in his return, with the slow pace intentional. Desormeaux said the colt will make a quicker move next week, likely with brother Kent Desormeaux in the irons.
"Next Saturday, you'll see some real work," Keith Desormeaux said. "We'll put Kent on next week. He would have wanted to go too fast (today). He's been off a month. We're not going to bring him back in his first work and blister around there. That doesn't make much sense to me. But he's gotta be able to blister to race, right? That'll be next week. Today was just a re-introduction to the real thing."
Although attempting to get Texas Red ready for the Santa Anita Derby is on the forefront, the trainer said the $1 million Arkansas Derby (gr. I) at Oaklawn Park April 11 would be another likely landing spot for the colt owned by Erich Brehm, Wayne Detmar, Lee Michaels, and Desormeaux, et al.
"He's a young horse and he's obviously talented, and I don't want to screw that up," the trainer said. "I'm putting pressure on myself not to overdo it, but we'll still try. It's the Derby."