NOTEBOOK | From Churchill Downs

Dangerous part over: Trainer Bobby Frankel thinks the "dangerous" part of preparing Empire Maker and Peace Rules for the Kentucky Derby is over. The much-publicized duo completed their final major workouts Sunday. "We did the most important and dangerous thing we could do this morning and they came out of it OK," said Frankel, who was surrounded by reporters outside his barn after the works. Peace Rules went six furlongs in 1:14 4-5 under exercise rider Mitsu Nakauchida, while Empire Maker, the early favorite for Saturday's Derby, worked alongside another horse and was timed in 1:12 3-5. Trainers Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas, with seven Derby victories between them, brought out two Derby contenders apiece on Sunday. Baffert's pair of Kafwain and Indian Express galloped 11/4 miles. For Lukas, Lexington Stakes winner Scrimshaw galloped and Ten Cents a Shine worked five furlongs in 59 1-5 seconds under jockey Calvin Borel. Ten Cents a Shine was eighth in the Blue Grass on April 12, but Borel said the colt has dramatically improved. "The past two weeks, you can't imagine how much he has turned around," Borel said. Lukas announced Cornelio Velasquez will ride Scrimshaw in the Derby. The 35-year-old Velasquez, who rode Trust N Luck to a runner-up finish in the Florida Derby, will make his first Derby start. Edgar Prado rode Scrimshaw in the Lexington, but has the call on Blue Grass winner Peace Rules in the Derby.
Quiet time: About 5 miles away from the busy Churchill backside, Sir Cherokee is training for the Kentucky Derby in solitude. The Arkansas Derby winner is the only projected starter stabled at Trackside, a former harness track. Trainer Mike Tomlinson has kept horses there since 1996, and said it was an ideal place for the mild-mannered Sir Cherokee. "We've got him right where we want him," Tomlinson said. "It's a good, comfortable place to train. Very quiet." Tomlinson, an Oklahoma native and former trainer of rodeo horses, is amazed he's even talking about running a horse in the Derby. He began training thoroughbreds in 1989 and moved to Shelbyville, Ky., in 1996 with hopes of making it big. The Derby was only in his wildest dreams. "To get to this point with any horse, it's pretty overwhelming," he said. "I mean, here I am, I get to dance in the biggest dance of the year." A month ago, Tomlinson had no chance. Sir Cherokee entered the Arkansas Derby off consecutive fourth-place finishes under jockey James Lopez. Tomlinson replaced Lopez with Terry Thompson, and the switch worked. Sir Cherokee surged from ninth to win by 13/4 lengths as a 55-1 long shot. Thompson will ride him again in the Derby. Last year, trainer Murray Johnson kept Perfect Drift at Trackside and the colt finished third in the Derby.
Trial and error: Woody Stephens and Baffert are the only trainers since 1982 to win the Derby Trial and the Derby -- with different horses -- in the same year. Frankel won Saturday's one-mile Trial with Midas Eyes. The Grade 3 Trial was first run in 1924. It traditionally was run on the Tuesday before the Derby. It was moved to the opening day of the spring meet -- one week before the Derby -- in 1982. Stephens swept the races in 1984, with Devil's Bag in the Trial and Swale in the Derby. Baffert achieved the double in 1998, with Souvenir Copy in the Trial and Real Quiet in the Derby. Four trainers won the Trial and the Derby with the same horse -- Hanly Webb (1924, with Black Gold), Ben Jones (1948, with Citation and 1952, with Hill Gail), Eddie Hayward (1953, with Dark Star) and Jimmy Jones (1958, with Tim Tam).