Perfect Drift Breezes At Trackside; Ethan Man Cruises In Churchill Slop

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (April 13, 2002) - Contenders for Kentucky Derby 128 were in action on two Louisville tracks Saturday morning as Stonecrest Farm's Lane's End Spiral Stakes (Grade II) winner Perfect Drift breezed over the training surface at Trackside Louisville and West Point Thoroughbreds' Swale Stakes (GIII) winner Ethan Man worked under the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs, where the Kentucky Derby will be run three weeks from today.

Perfect Drift breezed five furlongs in 1:02.40 over the six furlong Trackside oval that was rated "muddy" after overnight rains. Ethan Man breezed the same distance in 1:01.40 over "sloppy" going at Churchill Downs.

PERFECT DRIFT -- Jockey Joe Deegan guided Perfect Drift through fractions of 25:40 and :51 in his five-eighths move and the Dynaformer gelding galloped out six furlongs in 1:15.40. The breeze was the fourth best of ten at the distance.

Trainer Murray Johnson was pleased with Perfect Drift's strong finish - he cruised through the final furlong of 11.40 - and said his Derby contender is learning to finish strongly while not trying to do too much too soon.

"When he was a younger horse, when you sort of asked him he'd explode - he'd just give it all and give you a big surge,' Johnson said. "Now, as he's gotten older, when the rider asks him he's learned to respond more gradually and pick it up gradually. Joe just gets a lot better feeling on him and says that he's so strong and he's not in a big hurry to go on with it. He picks it up and just keeps on motoring." Johnson sees the change as continued evidence that the lightly raced Perfect Drift is maturing and he believes that bodes well for Kentucky Derby Day.

"Those first couple of races (the WEBN Frog Stakes and John Battaglia Memorial at Turfway Park) he would just kind of surge to the front," said Johnson.

"In (the Lane's End Spiral), between Eddie (jockey Eddie Delahoussaye) and him maturing, he didn't do it and we don't want him doing it in the Derby. The way he's training he's gotten more professional than before the Spiral, so we should be in good shape." Johnson is filling the six-week gap between the Lane's End Spiral and the Kentucky Derby with works and he said the most serious move of that series would likely come on Friday, April 19. Perfect Drift is scheduled to work six furlongs that day in the company of 4-year-old stablemate Slough Creek.

Perfect Drift has a career record of 3-3-0 in six races and has earned $382,160.

ETHAN MAN - Trainer Patrick Byrne had planned to work Ethan Man on Sunday (April 14), but he looked at the weather and track conditions early this morning and decided that a Saturday (April 13) breeze was in order. Regular exercise rider Kevin Willey was in the irons as Ethan Man cruised through fractions of :25 and :49.20 in the five furlong move and galloped out six furlongs in 1:15.20. The move, which was the second best of 15 at the distance, was Ethan Man's final major tune-up for Keeneland's Coolmore Lexington Stakes (GII) on April 20.

"It was an easy effort - he basically just stretched his legs," said Byrne. "He's ready to run next week and I certainly don't want to look for any more speed, so he's ready to go."

Byrne had also considered a possible run by Ethan Man in the one-mile Derby Trial (GIII) on April 27 at Churchill Downs, but the mile and a sixteenth Coolmore Lexington appears to be the more likely spot for the colt.

"We were torn between the Trial and the Lexington," Byrne said, "but I think we're pretty much set for the Lexington because we want to try him at two turns."

Byrne said there was plenty of water in the Churchill Downs track on Saturday morning, but he had no concerns about working Ethan Man over the "sloppy" surface. The colt breezed just after track superintendant Butch Lehr's crew had groomed the surface during the daily break for track maintenance,

"This track is good when it gets a little water on it," Byrne said. "It was sealed good and I knew it would be tight. It was heavy, because we've had quite a bit of rain. We were looking for 1:01-and-change and that's what we got. He worked on his own and galloped out on his own."

Ethan Man, a son of Glitterman, has a record of 3-0-1 in four races and has earned $139,955.

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