2007 Kentucky Derby - Down The Stretch: Thursday Update From Derby Week

Now for the Thursday Derby update:

• Nobiz Like Shobiz finally made his appearance, albeit, fashionably late on Wednesday. Barclay Tagg showed him around his new surroundings at Churchill Downs on Thursday morning. "He jogged back to the gate; he stood there while they were schooling some horses; he stood in the gate; he backed out of the gate; we jogged down the front and we brought him to the paddock; we walked him twice around the paddock; then we walked him home," said Tagg, who planned another trip to the paddock for Nobiz Like Shobiz before Thursday's sixth race.

  Nobiz Like Shobiz will race with blinkers for the second straight race at Aqueduct with his new eyewear. "I'm not always in a big hurry to put them on. I'd rather have him get used to things on his own, but it doesn't always work out that way," Tagg said. "The Derby was coming up, and the Derby doesn't change its date for someone wanting to put blinkers on."

• Todd Pletcher, despite his five horse contingency, has gone 0-14 at the Derby, but he has the best grouping of horses this year.
• Bwana Bull returned handled the sloppy track well during his gallop today.
• Curlin and Zanjero galloped one and one-quarter mile today. They schooled in the paddock this afternoon.
• Great Hunter jogged a mile and galloped one and one-half miles today.
• Hard Spun had a busy morning as Larry Jones guided him from gap to gate to paddock to barn. "Then I jogged him to the paddock, so he could get in all the looking around he wanted. That way he'll look around less on Saturday."
• Street Sense, James Tafel's champion, took the day off which is standard operating procedure for Carl Nafzger.

Finally here are the post positions and the morning line by Mike Battaglia:

1 Sedgefield 50-1
2 Curlin 7-2
3 Zanjero 30-1
4 Storm in May 30-1
5 Imawildandcrazyguy 50-1
6 Cowtown Cat 20-1
7 Street Sense 4-1
8 Hard Spun 15-1
9 Liquidity 30-1
10 Teuflesberg 30-1
11 Bwana Bull 50-1
12 Nobiz Like Shobiz 8-1
13 Sam P. 20-1
14 Scat Daddy 10-1
15 Tiago 15-1
16 Circular Quay 8-1
17 Stormello 30-1
18 Any Given Saturday 12-1
19 Dominican 20-1
20 Great Hunter 15-1

Article Author: T. Michael Testi

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