St Averil Will Run in Derby

Trainer Rafael Becerra said Sunday that St Averil bounced back from his workout last Saturday and will run in this Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.

St Averil will be flown from California to Kentucky on Tuesday, on a plane that will also carry Castledale, the Santa Anita Derby winner. St Averil, who had two wins and two seconds in his four previous races, ran sixth at Santa Anita as the 2-1 favorite. In protective bar shoes, the colt worked six furlongs in 1:12 at Santa Anita. He is expected to run with conventional plates.

At a rain-soaked Churchill Downs on Sunday, several Derby horses had their final workouts. At five furlongs, these were the times: Borrego, 1:03 3/5; Wimbledon, 59 2/5; Friends Lake, 1:03; Limehouse, 1:01; and Pollard’s Vision, 1:00 4/5. Three of the workouts were over a sloppy track. The workouts for Limehouse and Pollard’s Vision came before the rain.

At Belmont Park, Eddington worked five furlongs in 1:00. Eddington, short on earnings, needs a defection from one of the 20 probables in order to get in the race.

-- Bill Christine