Churchill Downs

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Royal Delta won the $2 million Ladies' Classic by 21/2 lengths under the lights Friday at Churchill Downs, capping an opening day of the Breeders' Cup that included three upsets. Royal Delta rallied in the final furlong to give Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott his second straight win and fourth overall in the Ladies' Classic. It's Tricky finished second and Pachattack was another 21/4 lengths back in third. Kentucky Oaks and Cotillion winner Plum Pretty, trained by Bob Baffert, was fourth in the 10-horse field.

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - Horse trainer Michael Matz woke up Sunday about 4 a.m. and, as he always does, looked at his phone. He's got an app on the phone attached to a camera outside the stall of his big horse, Union Rags. "He was just laying down in the stall, laying there with his head on the side, just really resting," Matz said later Sunday morning. "When he's like that, he really takes care of himself well. " On Saturday, Union Rags had finished third as the 2-5 favorite in the Florida Derby.

BOYNTON BEACH, Fla. - Horse trainer Michael Matz woke up Sunday about 4 a.m. and, as he always does, looked at his phone. He's got an app on the phone attached to a camera outside the stall of his big horse, Union Rags. "He was just laying down in the stall, laying there with his head on the side, just really resting," Matz said later Sunday morning. "When he's like that, he really takes care of himself well. " On Saturday, Union Rags had finished third as the 2-5 favorite in the Florida Derby.

On the morning after the Kentucky Derby, trainer Jack Van Berg still had not seen a videotape of Alysheba's remarkable recovery in Churchill Downs' stretch to win America's most famous horse race. In the last 1 1/2 weeks, though, the Hall of Fame trainer has watched the videotape at least 10 times. He has marveled as Alysheba came back three times - from clipping Bet Twice's heels and two bumps in midstretch - to win by three-quarters of a length. He said the colt's athletic ability transformed near-disaster into a gritty, courageous victory.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It was shortly after 7 a.m. Sunday, barely 12 hours after a Kentucky Derby that had been 6 months in the planning went very wrong in less than a second. Michael Matz was walking a horse named Welcome Dance around the Barn 42 shedrow, passing a sedate Union Rags, peering out from his stall. As he rounded the corner, Matz called back over his shoulder: "We did everything we wanted except the last 2 minutes and that was the part we couldn't help. " In horse racing, you can be prepared, organized and make rational decisions.

The Alysheba-Bet Twice wars are over. These Days, it is Alysheba's first-strike capability against the world. And the world's defenses don't appear nearly strong enough. You knew special moments were coming last night when the Philadelphia Park- based filly Ready, Jet Go tied the Meadowlands track record for 6 furlongs (1:08 2/5) in the Budweiser Breeders' Cup, the race before the Medowlands Cup. You were certain of it when Slew City Slew and jockey Laffit Pincay, wearing newly designed aerodynamic silks, scorched through the first mile of the big race in 1:33 4/5. Bet Twice, as always, was stalking in second.

Eight rounds are over. The rivals have survived knockdowns, knocks, medication on, medication off, medication on again and off again, the Triple Crown, interlopers, layoffs, dull races and heart-wrenching stretch duels. And they are all even. After Alysheba made up what appeared to be a hopeless early deficit to run down Bet Twice 70 yards from the wire in Saturday's $500,000 Iselin Handicap at Monmouth Park, the longtime rivals were even in all respects except money and public esteem.

Yesterday morning, Pennsylvania-bred Hard Spun recorded one of the fastest Derby Week workouts in memory, rolling 5 furlongs in 57.53 seconds at Churchill Downs with regular rider Mario Pino on board. Hard Spun worked in company with stablemate Wildcat Bettie B., a Grade I stakes-winning filly. Hard Spun won that "race" by 10 lengths. "He wasn't supposed to beat her that far," Hard Spun's trainer Larry Jones said. "She isn't chump change, you know. But Mario was happy with the way he did it, so that means I'm happy.

The Kentucky Derby is nearly always a difficult race to handicap, mainly because it is the first time that the top 3-year-olds are asked to negotiate the distance of 1 1/4 miles in their careers. It's especially challenging when there is a large field. And, barring late mishaps, there will be 15 colts, a gelding and a filly loaded into the two starting gates today at 5:33 p.m. at Churchill Downs (Channel 6, 4:30 p.m.). This year's Derby is so wide-open that it's no cinch even to name the favorite.

Maryland trainer Richard Small is due to wheel his horse van into the barn area of Churchill Downs today, personally delivering Broad Brush to the Kentucky Derby. But in many ways, the road to the Derby for Broad Brush began 13 years ago, when multimillionaire owner Robert E. Meyerhoff bought a broodmare named Hay Patcher. Four foals and hundreds of thousands of dollars later, Hay Patcher produced the colt Broad Brush. After 25 years in the thoroughbred business, Meyerhoff for the first time has what is known in the business as The Big Horse.