That old fox Charlie Whittingham already has taken a step toward the Preakness while he's still getting ready for the Kentucky Derby.
The 81-year-old trainer won the Derby Trial Saturday at Churchill Downs with Numerous. That colt, however, will now await the May 21 Preakness, the second race of the Triple Crown, while Whittingham pins his Derby hopes on Strodes Creek."He's a good racehorse, but he's still a little green," Whittingham said Sunday of Numerous.
Yet, Numerous has had two more races than Strodes Creek.
"Charlie's changed his philosophy about this race," said D. Wayne Lukas, trainer of Derby hopeful Tabasco Cat.
Perhaps Whittingham, who didn't have Derby a starter from 1960 until 1986, has caught Derby fever. Two winners certainly can cause it.
Whittingham won the Derby with Ferdinand in 1986, then finished 12th with Lively One in 1988 before winning with Sunday Silence in 1989, his last trip to the race.
"Probably," Whittingham said with a grin when asked if he would have come to the Derby 10 or 12 years ago with a colt as lightly raced as Strodes Creek.
"I think he's a good horse," the trainer said of the huge colt, who was a fast-closing third in the 11/8-mile Santa Anita Derby April 9. "He has a great pedigree, a good diposition and a lot of ability.
"Unfortunately he's only run four times and he's a little behind some of these horses."
Holy Bull, the early favorite for the 11/4-mile Derby has raced nine times and won seven, including wire-to-wire wins in the Florida Derby and Blue Grass Stakes, each at 11/8 miles.
Strodes Creek won his debut Jan. 15 at Santa Anita. He then finished second in an allowance race and won an allowance before his impressive third behind Derby contenders Brocco and Tabasco Cat in the Santa Anita Derby.