Exaggerator Works for Kentucky Derby Bid

Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) winner Exaggerator put in his final pre-race breeze ahead of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) the morning of April 30 at Churchill Downs, going five furlongs in 1:02 3/5 under jockey Kent Desormeaux.

Trainer Keith Desormeaux, the Hall of Fame rider's brother, said the Curlin   colt has not lost form since coming out of his impressive Santa Anita Derby win.

BALAN: Exaggerator Soars Home in Santa Anita Derby

"The work was nice," Desormeaux said. "That's the first time in a while I've watched a work from the backside ... what I saw from the backside was a nice, smooth breakoff from the pony ... I've heard already that he was clipping off nice eighths in :12, final time was 1:02-and-three, I got him galloping out in 1:28; all that's very nice. But the nicest thing is, that time is one fifth from the time he went before the Santa Anita Derby, so he seems to be on the same level. A lot of this is mental, so he's clipping off the work mentally correct." 

Churchill Downs clockers caught Exaggerator in splits of :12 4/5, :25 1/5, :37 4/5, and :50 2/5, out in 1:15 3/5 and 1:29 3/5.

"It's typical, especially with a big race like that, you're going to see a horse regress," Desormeaux said. "In other words, they need to rest and recover in that time. He did that pretty quickly, he recovered pretty quickly in the first week, and since then he's progressed to this point. We're just glad not to see a continual regression after that first week. He's progressing; that's positive."