by Jeff Lowe
Trainer Steve Amussen is balancing opposite situations with his two starters for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1), Pyro and Z Fortune.
Z Fortune is coming off a career-best performance in his second-place finish to Gayego in the Arkansas Derby (G2) while Pyro exits the worst showing of his career, a tenth-place finish as the even-money favorite in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1).
Asmussen is faced with the polar concerns of whether Pyro got enough out of the Blue Grass and whether Z Fortune will be able to duplicate his best form just three weeks after such a strong effort in the Arkansas Derby.
Z Fortune turned in his second easy workout on Monday at Churchill Downs, breezing four furlongs in :51. Asmussen gave Pyro a serious assignment a week ago at Keeneland Race Course, where he breezed six furlongs in company, and the Pulpit colt covered four furlongs in :49.80 on Monday.
"They have different personalities," Asmussen said. "Z Fortune is very laid back. He went over the track well and went through the stretch nicely. Pyro is a much keener individual, playful on the racetrack, and he went over the track well. You're looking for state of mind and comfort. They're not going to get ready now—they either have to be there or they aren't."
Asmussen is convinced that Pyro simply did not handle the Polytrack at Keeneland in the Blue Grass. Asmussen and Pyro's owner-breeder, Ron Winchell, can find comfort in a similar circumstance in 2005, when they won the Kentucky Oaks (G1) with Summerly.
In her previous start, Summerly finished a well-beaten fourth in the Ashland Stakes (G1) over the old dirt surface at Keeneland.
"That does give you a level of confidence," Asmussen said. "The work that Pyro put in over the winter, the bottom that he got in with the training—all the training that he had at the Fair Grounds this winter—I feel very good about our fitness level and the amount of air that we have in."
Z Fortune bounced back in the Arkansas Derby after finishing a dull fifth in the Rebel Stakes (G2) on March 15 at Oaklawn Park. In his other starts this year, Z Fortune won the Lecomte Stakes (G3) and finished second to Pyro in the Risen Star Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds.
"He'd have to move forward to win the Derby, but he's one of the horses that's been fast enough," Asmussen said. "It was a very disappointing race in the Rebel. I think if he had run a better race there it would have put us in a different position from a timing standpoint.
“He's a very leggy, tall, slender horse, and being able to stay at Oaklawn for the two races … I think had a lot to do with him running a lot better in the Arkansas Derby. That being said, you've got the concern of being here with not much time since then."
Jeff Lowe is a Thoroughbred Times staff writer