Romans looks to move up in the Kentucky Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Trainer Dale Romans hit the board in all three legs of the Triple Crown last year.

He's back this time with Shackleford, a 12-1 shot from post No. 14 in the Kentucky Derby on Saturday

Last season, Romans sent out Paddy O'Prado to run third in the Derby. His First Dude was second in the Preakness and third in the Belmont.

Romans will look to improve on that with Shackleford, a winner of two of five races who missed by a head most recently in the Florida Derby.

The colt, who has been working very strongly, figures to be a prominent early pace factor in the Derby.

``I thought both of his workouts were just perfect,'' Romans said. ``They were fast, sure, but they were in hand. That's what you want to see, a fast horse working without being asked hard.''

Romans sees parallels with last year.

``This horse, Shackleford, reminds me a lot of Paddy O'Prado, who peaked at the right time,'' Romans said. ``He couldn't be doing any better.''

Jesus Castanon will have his first Derby mount aboard Shackleford.

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FOREIGN CONTENDER: Master of Hounds is the only foreign-based horse in Saturday's Kentucky Derby, although he's run at Churchill Downs before.

The colt has been quarantined since arriving from Ireland on Tuesday. His 48-hour isolation ends Thursday when he will be able to hit the track to work out with other Derby contenders.

Trainer Aiden O'Brien won't be on hand for the Derby; instead he sent an assistant to handle the horse.

Master of Hounds has a wealth of international experience. He started his career on the turf in England and Ireland before coming to Churchill Downs last fall to run sixth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.

He was second, beaten by a nose, in his lone race this year, the United Arab Emirates Derby in Dubai on a synthetic track.

This will be his first race on dirt against top 3-year-olds.

``That's an excellent trainer,'' said trainer D. Wayne Lukas, a four-time Derby winner who doesn't have a Derby horse this year. ``Those guys will not bring horses that can't run a mile-and-a-quarter. They train them to go uphill, downhill. If some of our horses are suspect, he could come on late and be a factor.''

Three-time Derby winner Bob Baffert, who will saddle Midnight Interlude, believes stamina won't be an issue for Master of Hounds.

``He ran a very respectable race in Dubai,'' Baffert said. ``It's tough, flying in from Ireland like that. It can be done. Arazi came over to win the Breeders' Cup (the 1991 Juvenile) but he did it with more of a resume. This horse is more of a grinder who could maybe get there.''

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DRYING OUT: After three days of torrential downpours in the Louisville area, the rain finally let up, giving way to cold and windy conditions on Wednesday.

The dirt track at Churchill Downs is noted for its ability to absorb a lot of water and dry quickly.

It will certainly be put to the test following an extraordinarily rainy April. Lukas, a longtime fixture here, is confident the track will be fine, if predicted rain holds off before the Derby.

``It will be OK,'' he said. ``They have added a little bit of clay to it this year. It's a little bit redder. If we were to get some bright sunshine and some breeze, it might get a little firm as it dries out. It was better earlier this week with the rain. This morning, it was rough and little sticky.''

The forecast calls for partly sunny skies Thursday with highs in the upper 60s.

Rain returns to the picture starting Friday. The forecast for Saturday's Derby calls for a 50 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms.

``I just hope we don't get a sloppy racetrack,'' Baffert said. ``You want to give the best horse a chance to win.''

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JOCKEY POSE: Just in time for Mother's Day gift shopping: the first-ever Beefcake Thoroughbred Jockey Calendar featuring 12 of the nation's top jockeys.

The shirtless poster boys are John Velazquez, Ramon Dominguez, Calvin Borel, Kent Desormeaux, Shaun Bridgmohan, Channing Hill, Mike Smith, Edgar Prado, Garrett Gomez, Javier Castellano, Terry Thompson and Julien Leparoux.

The photography was done Eclipse Award winner Barbara D. Livingston with a portion of the proceeds going to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.

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TOBY UPDATE: Wood Memorial winner Toby's Corner, removed from Derby consideration Tuesday with left hind leg lameness, has returned to trainer Graham Motion's barn in Maryland.

Extensive veterinary examinations failed to pinpoint the problem.

``He's about the same. I'm none the wiser of what actually caused the problem,'' Motion said.

It might be possible for the colt to make the Preakness on May 21.

``I would say it is 50-50 right now,'' Motion said. ``He's going to have to improve very dramatically in order to do something like that.''