Curlin Work Overshadowed

- Under the radar a bit in light of Hard Spun's spectacular work was the drill by possible favorite Curlin, who got a half in 48.2, a time matched by his overlooked stablemate Zanjero, who has been nothing but consistent with what I refer to as Giacomo-type pre-Derby form.

And speaking of Giacomo, his baby brother Tiago completed his preparation in similar fashion to that of the former, who progressed time-wise in a series of long works leading up to the race. Tiago got six furlongs in 1:11.40 at Hollywood on Sunday.

You can see all of the recent works by the Derby contenders at The Downey Profile.

And here's more from that phenomenal website on Any Given Saturday's on Sunday:

Any Given Saturday quickly picked up the bit and moved smartly through his five-panel exercise, which clockers tabbed at :24.60, :49 and 1:01.20, with an “out” time of 1:14. What made the move all the more interesting was the fact that the veteran Cordero, following his boss’ orders, never moved his hands on the colt, never asked him for full throttle.

“He (Cordero) nailed it,” Pletcher said after as he walked back to the barn. “I wanted 1:01 today with this horse and he got it. Just what I was after following that stiff work (:58.80) he had last week. He (Cordero) is amazing. He’s been doing it right with all these horses all winter. He was doing it for us at Palm Meadows (in Florida) and now

"He’s doing it here. He can still do it after all these years. That clock in his head is still working. And he’s no chick in the spring.”

Cordero was the best rider I've ever seen. That clock in his head allowed him to be exactly where one wanted him to be in many more races than not.