Sunland Derby Hero Wild On Ice Works at Churchill

Frank Sumpter's GIII Sunland Park Derby hero Wild On Ice (Tapizar) worked five furlongs in 1:00 with regular jockey Ken Tohill in the irons at Churchill Downs Monday morning. It was the gelding's first workout over the Louisville oval's main track. Churchill's clocker John Nichols caught the Texas-bred in splits of 11:40, :23, :35.20 and :47.60 before galloping out six furlongs in 1:13.20 and seven furlongs in 1:28.

“Everything seemed to work perfectly this morning and you don't really see that a lot in horse racing,” trainer Joel Marr said. “We're taking every day in stride and enjoying being part of this year's Kentucky Derby.”

Should Wild On Ice make the Derby gate on May 6 it would mark both the first Churchill Downs appearance and first Derby starter for Marr and alsoTohill, who at age 60 would become the oldest jockey to ever ride in the Kentucky Derby and surpass Jon Court, who was 58 when he rode Long Range Toddy (Take Charge Indy) to a 16th-place finish in 2019.

“We know coming to Kentucky there are a lot more accomplished jockeys and trainers than us,” Tohill said. “It is the elite of the elite. But, we're coming to compete with them.”