John Shirreffs almost didn't come to Louisville with Skinner, but a tragic injury put the 3-year-old colt in the Kentucky Derby.
Four horses have died during the past week at Churchill Downs, casting an unwanted spotlight ahead of the 149th Kentucky Derby scheduled for Saturday.This will be Shirreffs’ sixth appearance at the Kentucky Derby, which is Saturday. He set a high bar the first time in 2005 when“Giacomo was such a special moment in my life,” said the 77-year-old trainer. “With Giacomo it was my first time at the Kentucky Derby, maybe my second time at Churchill.
“Oh no, I didn’t think that,” Shirreffs said. “But obviously you go to the sale and spend a lot of money on horses and hope that something like that can happen.” Skinner, at 20-1 on the morning line, is holding firm as the top horse by the “wiseguys,” the euphemism used for professional gamblers. There is one or two every year and they go off at odds much lower than expected.Santa Anita-based Practical Move will break from the 10 and is listed at 10-1 on the morning line. Skinner is just inside him in the 9 at 20-1.
“Victor is a good friend of mine,” Shirreffs said, acknowledging the hurt feelings it can cause when a jockey is taken off a horse late in the Derby season. “I didn’t need the change but I thought maybe Skinner needed a change. I was hoping a different rider would get to Skinner in a different way and that might help him in that last little bit.”
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