Dear Derby Diary,

I spent some time yesterday trying to get a touch of the local flair. Being a food lover, I like to try out the local cuisine when I visit places. I know it is hard to believe but this place is lots more than just Mint Juleps and Kentucky Bourbon! I had to decide between two famous and unique regional offerings…Kentucky Burgoo and the Louisville Hot Brown Sandwich.

Burgoo is a thick meat and vegetable stew which has long been standard fare at Kentucky political rallies and events. Some say the word comes from mispronunciation of the word “barbecue” which it’s often served with. Others say it’s a misspelling or mispronunciation of “burgout,” which is close to the French “ragout.” Delicious I’m sure but I decided to go with the the Hot Brown which originated in the Louisville Hotel in 1926 and is a wonderful concoction of toast topped with turkey, creamy parmesan sauce which is browned and topped with crisp bacon. Long ago I decided you can’t go wrong when you combine something with cheese sauce and bacon!! Mmm-mm.

I was fortunate enough at dinner to run into trainer DB, owner of 22nd ranked filly PICO PEQUENO of the DB stable, part of the DINGLEBERRY FARMS conglomerate.

We had a delightful conversation over our Hot Browns while sipping some fine Kentucky Bourbon. He shipped in last Saturday after “Pico” ran to a seventh place finish in the WARFARE FARMS Stakes in Texas. It is a bit disappointing to just miss out on the Bluegrass Oaks. He explained that she was never seriously being considered for the Oaks despite her borderline qualifying status. She’s #22 based on a win in the admittedly weak Grade II Margarine Stakes in September, her first two-turn effort. None of her foes that day went on to win a Graded Stakes Race, and “PP” herself finished last in the Breeders Bowl and has been thoroughly undistinguished at distances over a mile since then. She impressed in the 7F JET RAKIDA Challenge Stakes in late March moved up to awful close in the rankings. She could still possibly qualify but realistically won’t be ready.

So close to being in the big race and yet so far away! It is amazing how much easier it is to take after a few of those fine sipping whiskeys though! Fotunately for me, just after DB left I decided to stop at the bar for a nightcap and bumped into Trotter2 of the Trotter1 Stables and owner of Bluegrass Derby hopeful MORPH THE CAT

Here is a trainer and horse that are mighty close but really think they might get into the race. Trots shared his thoughts with me about his horse:

”MORPH THE CAT was bred to a sex change Seeking the Gold x Private Account x Hoist the Flag colt that frustrated the hell out of me…no matter what I did the horse just didn’t live up to my expectations, so I decided to breed him.”

”During that time I was having pretty good success with Cat Thief and it looked like a pretty good fit here. Around the same time Donald Fagan (Steely Dan) released a solo album called Morph the Cat, hence the name. Ok some I’m not so original”, he chuckled.”

“It became evident early on that Morph was a pretty good sprinter, but I knew I had to give him a shot at a route, and in his first start around two turns he pressed the pace early, only to falter in the final stages. After his win in the DPCD V Juvy Sprint, my focus was on the Bluegrass. His wins stakes wins earned him enough classic stakes points to pass the entry box in the Graded route races in January. I decided to take him off the pace in the CAN”T WAIT FOR NEXTWEEK and he responded with a solid 3rd place finish, enough to convince me to continue my quest for the Derby. Next up was DEGOLDENSTORM in the FOUNTAIN OF UTE. Concerned about the lack of speed in the race I put him a bit closer to the lead than in his previous start, but the Eclipse Champion left him with too much work to do, and he fell far back and never menaced.”

”At this point I was about to give him a well-earned rest and bring him back sprinting after three months layoff. He came out of the FOUNTAIN OF UTE well, and he was sharp during training, and my disappointment had worn off, so I decided to give him a go in the SAND CASTLE and bring him from the back again as I did in the CAN’T WAIT FOR NEXTWEEK. When he made his move before ACHAEMENES I thought he was home; tbgifted’s horse came from the clouds to beat Morph to the wire and lock up a Derby spot,” he said with obvious distaste.

“At this point I was where I wanted to be with Morph, ranked 11, and 5 weeks until the Derby. I knew I was going to drop in the rankings with a number of Lock and Graded races in the next few weeks, but I was not racing Morph again until the Derby, if he made the Derby fine, if not, well thems the breaks.”

“Naturally, now being ranked 21, my concern is just making the field, but with the layoff of EL INDUSTRIAL and the fact that LITERARY GOD raced last weekend, as well as the two eligible fillies are most likely to opt for the Oaks, I think I will get in.”

We had a great talk and a couple more whiskeys and maybe a cognac or two and where had the evening gone? And I promised myself that I was going to get up early to watch workouts this morning too. Oh, well there is always tomorrow, right?

The Celebrities are starting to make their way into Louisville for the parties and even the big race. Tomorrow we will touch on that a bit and I will bump around the stables and see if I can’t come up with another interview. I am DEFINITELY going to bed early tonight!

Good luck to all runners!