the rain has come

It was very wet at Churchill Downs this morning, and this Derby rookie left his raincoat in the back seat of his car... in Clifton Park, NY. I caught more than my share of grief from many more experienced, warmer, drier reporters.

Trainers don't seem overly worried about the conditions. All of the major prep work has been done for some time now, and it's all about stretching the horses' legs each day and then putting them right back in the stall to avoid the dreaded last-minute injury. Todd Pletcher, trainer of five Derby runners, said very few of the 20 horses have much experience on an off-track, so it is hard to tell how they would react should the track be wet Saturday. That said, he believes all five of his trainees took to the wet track relatively well during their gallops Thursday. John Shireffs, trainer of Tiago, said a light, but steady, rain, should do little to affect the racing surface too much.
Weather reports suggest Friday (Oaks Day) could be wet as well, but the chance of rain Saturday is just 3o percent. Fingers are crossed throughout Louisville.

As the Derby nears, the celebrities are starting to arrive. Myself, I found myself having a quick chat about Hard Spun and Curlin with former USC and Buffalo Bills great O.J. Simpson as Hard Spun was bathed outside his barn. For anyone interested, Simpson is sticking with his West Coast bias and likes Tiago to win Saturday.
Also, a Howard Cosell look-alike was wandering around the backstretch, complete with the big cigar and that spectacular yellow ABC Sports jacket from his Monday Night Football hey-dey.

Pletcher met with the media just after 10 a.m. and opened the press conference with the following statement: "Hi, my name's Todd Pletcher and I've never won the Kentucky Derby." That drew a good deal of laughter from the assembled media.