Hidden Stash Wraps Up Serious Derby Preparations

Trainer Vicki Oliver likes what she's seen from Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby (G2) runner-up Hidden Stash  as he prepares for a start in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) May 1 at Churchill Downs.

Hidden Stash concluded his serious preparations April 23 ahead of the season's opening classic with a five-furlong breeze in 1:00 3/5 at Keeneland. The breeze was the sixth-fastest of 26 at the distance Friday at Keeneland and follows an April 14 half-mile move in :47 4/5 where the son of Constitution   earned the bullet among 23 workers at Keeneland.

The stable had been considering Friday or Saturday for Hidden Stash's final Derby move and after looking at the weather forecast opted for Friday. 

"He worked fantastic," Oliver said. "He sat about three or four off the stablemate. I was on the stablemate and he went by me between the eighth pole and sixteenth pole. He opened up four; he worked fantastic.

"It was just what we wanted at a minute and three. We decided to get the work done today, and he worked fantastic," she continued.

Oliver said Hidden Stash has had a good couple of weeks since bouncing out of a fourth-place finish in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G2) April 3 at Keeneland.

"He's a pretty quiet horse, so it's not like gives you much indication because he's a pretty laid back horse," Oliver said. "But he's been training great and training forwardly with no problems. So, hopefully, that continues."

Campaigned by the racing syndicate BBN Racing, Hidden Stash earned his maiden win at the fall meet at Keeneland and followed with a victory in an allowance-level race going 1 1/16 miles at Churchill. BBN's Brian Klatsky, along with Brendan O'Brien, a founding partner of the racing syndicate, said they've never marketed making the Derby to their partners as a major goal but recalls how shortly after that allowance-level victory Nov. 28 at Churchill the possibilities hit him.

"I've been in this game about 20 years, and I never said I needed to get to the Kentucky Derby to feel like I'm doing well in the game. I knew how hard it was," Klatsky said. "I'm happy to win races, have fun, and develop the horses to have longer careers. We don't push on our babies; it's always been about, 'How do we develop a nice older horse and find the right athletes?' 

"When he won as a 2-year-old going two turns at Churchill Downs is when it started to click in my head. You're like, 'Wow, we just won a two-turn race at 2 at Churchill. Maybe we got something here.' "

This season Hidden Stash has not reached the finish line first but he's been competitive in all three starts, earning a pair of stakes-placings with a third-place finish in the Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3) and a second to Derby hopeful Helium  in the Tampa Bay Derby. He then finished fourth in the Blue Grass.

Hidden Stash does his best running late, as he rallied from eighth in the Sam F. Davis, 10th in the Tampa Bay Derby, and seventh in the Blue Grass. Oliver likes that some horses with early foot have made this year's field as she's hoping for a fast early pace. 

Oliver believes Hidden Stash has the breeding to thrive at 1 1/4 miles. He is a son of Besilu Florida Derby (G1) winner Constitution (by Tapit  ), who currently is the leading third-crop sire after finishing as leading second-crop sire last year and finishing as runner-up his freshman year to American Pharoah  . Hidden Stash is out of Marking Mark Money, a daughter of two-time leading sire Smart Strike. 

"I think he can get a mile and a quarter. I think it's going to be the further, the better for him," Oliver said. "I think he'll appreciate the distance. He likes the surface there as he won a race in the fall there. 

"And I think he's going to get the pace. I think that's what he's been desperate for is the pace."

Oliver plans to ship Hidden Stash from Keeneland to Churchill April 27. 

Oliver, who has won multiple graded stakes, including the Del Mar Oaks (G1T) in 2014 with Personal Diary , said she's taking nothing for granted but would love to lead a horse over on the First Saturday in May. She noted that until BBN Racing came along as an owner with her, most of her top horses had been fillies. 

"It's a thrill," said Oliver, the daughter of prominent owner and breeder G. Watts Humphrey Jr. "I mean, it's everyone's dream when you train horses. Everyone always asks if you have ever had one in the Derby. So, you can say yes."

Going into this year, there have been 17 women trainers to start a Derby horse, with Shelley Riley earning the top finish to date when Casual Lies ran second in 1992.