Liaison posted a 6 furlong work ahead of his start in the Kentucky Derby
Trainer Bob Baffert was hoping that his Grade 1 CashCall Futurity winner, Liaison, will come good in the last prep race for the Kentucky Derby, the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby at about 1 1/8 miles, but the 3-year-old finished a troubled sixth to
winner I’ll Have Another on 7 April, 2012.
After turning some heads in his juvenile season, Liaison lost the plot in Derby crunch time and failed to down any of his Derby prep races, but Bob Baffert brought the Arnold Zetcher owned 3-year-old colt anyway to the Churchill Downs.
Baffert had a theory, that if Liaison goes on to show that he can handle the Churchill Downs dirt track well, than he will think of entering the colt in the Kentucky Derby, because it is never about the prep races or how many a horse has won prior to the
Kentucky Derby.
It is always about what a horse does on the first Saturday of May that counts the most, and in his recent workout, Liaison appeared to have convinced Bob Baffert that he can spur up a surprise in the Run for the Roses.
The Kentucky bred son of Indian Charlie, Liaison handled the track well when he posted his first work at Churchill Downs. On 24 April, Liaison’s drill was enough for his entry in the Kentucky Derby gate, and on the very next day, Bob Baffert, made him turn
in six furlongs.
Out of mare Galloping Gal by Victory Gallop, Liaison backed Baffert’s decision by topping six furlong s in 1 minute and 12 4/5 seconds, coupled with jockey Shaun Bridgmohan.
“I liked his gallop yesterday,” Baffert said. “He’s a very lazy worker and today I sent him out with no company and Shaun did an excellent job with him.
“He did not like Santa Anita at all. It was too hard for him. This track is a lot softer. He still has a lot to prove, but he is training well and looks well.”
Liaison earned all the graded stakes earnings he needed for the Kentucky Derby as a juvenile, when he won the Grade 1, $1 million CashCall Futurity.
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