Art Collector Team Awaiting Many 'Firsts' of Derby Day

On a cloudless August morning in Goshen, Kentucky, a steady stream of horses step on and off the synthetic track at Skylight Training Center. It's a tranquil, scenic drive along Liberty Road to get to Skylight, and quiet still upon pulling into the training center's drive.

But at a barn towards the far end of the property, there's a certain effervescence at Tom Drury's stable. The magnetic energy is palpable even in watching the staff go about their daily tasks.

“It's a lot busier around here lately,” Drury said with a smile after giving instructions for a mid-morning set. “We aren't used to all this attention out here.”

The rural training center has been in the limelight lately due to an imposing 3-year-old colt bound for the GI Kentucky Derby. Art Collector (Bernardini) is the star of the show at the Drury barn, his trainer noting that while the horse is perhaps a touch spoiled these days, the extra attention is all well deserved.

“I'm really happy for my staff,” he said. “We've had a lot of good horses go through the barn that we've been associated with from afar. Now all of a sudden my staff gets the opportunity where they're the ones people see galloping the horse on TV, or leading the horse in the paddock. It's just special. All these guys work really hard, and it's a team effort. There's just an excitement on the whole farm right now.”

Art Collector is special for Drury himself in many ways, one being that the colt provided him with his first-ever graded stakes victory.

“Who wins their first graded stakes in the Blue Grass?” Drury said. “That was an unbelievable day. My program is normally set up for us to go into Keeneland hoping to just win a race every year. That's our goal. To go in and win that one, it was pretty special.”

After earning 100 points toward the Derby at Keeneland, it was initially uncertain if the son of Bernardini would see the starting gate again before the first Saturday in September.

“I felt like the Blue Grass was the first time this year he had gotten tested at all,” his conditioner said. “And he certainly passed the test, but in the back of my mind, I was thinking if we're going to face some of the horses that are going to show up for the Derby, we needed one more to get to where we wanted to be.”

When Art Collector streaked past the rest of the field to win the Aug. 9 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby by more than three lengths, Drury said it was exactly the final prep they were hoping for.

Art Collector leaves the field behind in the Runhappy Ellis Park Derby | Coady

“It was storybook,” he said. “We got what we were looking for out of it, but without having to do too much.”

The win marked a monumental day for Ellis Park. Announcer Jimmy McNerney noted it as “the biggest day in the track's 98-year history.” The victory had similar resonance with Drury, who has shipped many horses down to Henderson over his 38-year career, and remembers making his second career start there with the first horse he ever trained.

Art Collector has been back at his home base in Goshen for two weeks and is preparing for the 25-mile ship to Louisville any day now. On Friday, he worked an easy four furlongs over the all-weather track there in :49.10.

“[He's been on] just a maintenance schedule,” Drury said of the colt's training regime following the return from Ellis. “He's fit and he should be ready to roll. I'm thinking sometime this week, we'll take him on into Churchill. The next work will probably be a little more serious, and hopefully everything will continue to go the way it's went so far.”

Drury shared that the bay enjoys his fair share of grazing hours at his current residence under the watchful eye of long-time assistant trainer Jose Garcia.

“Jose doesn't like to let anyone get close to him,” he said. “Whether you come in the morning or afternoon, there's a good chance you're going to see Jose grazing Art Collector somewhere on the farm. If there's anything that needs to be done to Art Collector, Jose does it himself–sometimes to a fault, because we've still got 60 other horses here.”

When asked what this thrilling ride has meant to him personally, Drury hesitated to respond for just a moment.

“I've told everybody, that's the one thing I struggle talking about. I mean, gosh, what do you say? A guy gives you an opportunity with this horse at this level, and you've never been in this situation before. I feel like Bruce [Lunsford, owner] has faith in me and my ability. I certainly have faith in my ability.”

For both owner and trainer, it will be their first experience seeing their name listed on the Kentucky Derby race card.

“For all of us, it's our first trip down this road,” Drury said. “So we're all excited and it means the world. It's why you get up every day, to try to get yourself in a situation like this.”

While jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. is no stranger to major Grade I wins, a victory with Art Collector would mark his first trip to the Kentucky Derby winner's circle.

“Brian and I are good friends, and he called me last winter asking if I had him [Art Collector],” Drury recounted. “I figured at that point he must be pretty special. If the jockeys are trying to find him, then he must be alright.”

Drury said he plans to leave the details of the trip over the Churchill Downs course in the hands of Hernandez.

“I would expect the perfect scenario would be for us to be somewhat forward,” Drury noted. “But up to this point I've let Brian worry about that every race so far, and I'm going to let that be his problem. It's hard to make a plan for the Derby because there are so many factors that come into play that are out of your control-the field size, what everybody else is doing, your trip and things of that nature.”

Despite the uncertainties, Drury said he gets butterflies of excitement, rather that nervousness, when thinking about the walkover to the paddock.

“The big thing I'm thinking about is just getting the horse there safe and sound,” he said. “As the trainer, that's your major concern. Just make him as good as you can possibly make him for that particular day. As for everything else, I'm really not nervous. It's more of an excitement I think, then anything. I'm looking forward to it and just hoping to take our best shot, and hopefully he'll keep doing what he's been doing.”