Art Collector

There was no easy ride for heavily-favored ART COLLECTOR (c, 3, Bernardini--Distorted Legacy, by Distorted Humor) in Sunday's Runhappy Ellis Park Derby, as he was pressured hard on the front end throughout, but in the end it made little difference, as the streaking bay turned away all challengers to cement himself as one of the favorites for the GI Kentucky Derby. Breaking sharply at 2-5, Art Collector made the lead on his own power under Brian Hernandez, Jr. while being kept a bit off the rail heading into the clubhouse...

Ed DeRosa of Brisnet.com takes on TDN's Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato as they handicap Triple Crown prep races plus the big three races themselves. The three will make $100 Win/Place bets in the preps and $200 Win/Place bets in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Highest bankroll at the end wins. DeRosa - Bankroll: $5230 - GI Runhappy Travers S. Result -Tiz the Law stamped himself as the Kentucky Derby favorite. Runhappy Ellis Park Derby - Art Collector has done everything right as a 3-year-old. He's stretched out, he's...

All eyes will be on Art Collector (Bernardini) as he looks to go four-for-four on the year and punch his ticket to Louisville in Sunday's $200,000 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby. After airing over subsequent GIII Indiana Derby hero Shared Sense (Street Sense) in an optional claimer at Churchill Downs June 13, the Bruce Lunsford homebred followed up with another impressive performance capturing Keeneland's GII Toyota Blue Grass S. July 11, his second straight victory with a triple digit Beyer Speed Figure. "I'm just hoping for a good clean trip more...

"The Homeboy, I call him: the Louisville Homeboy." Bruce Lunsford gives a proud chuckle. "With Tommy, and Brian, we've made it an all-Louisville crowd. So that's kind of fun. In fact, when we laid out a plan, one of the good things was that we could get all the way to the Breeders' Cup without leaving Kentucky. I think that's an advantage, but who knows?" One thing he does know: he would prefer to cede the limelight to those unsung horsemen, Tom Drury, Jr. and Brian Hernandez, Jr. But if...

Bruce Lundsford's Art Collector (Bernardini), winner of the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. in his latest start, worked over a muddy Churchill Downs track Saturday morning. Trained by Tom Drury, the colt carved out fractions of :12.80 and :24.60 before galloping out five furlongs in 1:01.20 and six panels in 1:14.80. "It's so nice to have a horse who is versatile and can really run over any surface," said Drury. "He did everything very easily this morning and it was really just a perfect work. We are still taking things...

Bruce Lunsford's Art Collector (Bernardini), who entered the GI Kentucky Derby discussion with a solid victory in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland July 11, went an easy four furlongs in :49 flat Saturday morning at Churchill Downs. The homebred colt is slated for a final prep in the $200,000 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby Aug. 9. Brian Hernandez, Jr. was in the irons. "He's fit; we weren't looking for much today," trainer Tom Drury, Jr., said. "Just a little maintenance half-mile, let him stretch his legs a little....

Bruce Lunsford's GII Toyota Blue Grass S. winner Art Collector (Bernardini) will run in the $200,000 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby Aug. 9, trainer Tom Drury told the Ellis Park notes team. The Runhappy Ellis Park Derby, with its purse doubled and distance extended from a mile to 1 1/8 miles, this year carries GI Kentucky Derby qualifying points. The winner receives 50 points toward qualifying for the Sept. 5 Derby, a number that virtually assures a spot in the 20-horse field at Churchill Downs. The runner-up receives 20 points, with...

It took a long journey for trainer Tom Drury to get to where he is now, with a GII Toyota Blue Grass S. winner and major GI Kentucky Derby contender in his barn. There were years when Drury didn't win any races, which had him questioning whether he was made out for the training business. But life is good now for Drury, largely thanks to a Bruce Lunsford homebred named Art Collector (Bernardini), and he joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday to talk about his prized pupil...

Coming off a big win at the Keeneland Summer Meet with his star Art Collector taking the GII Blue Grass S., Tom Drury Jr. joins the TDN Writers' Room to share his rags to riches journey as a trainer.

Maybe he was just born too beautiful, and too rich, to be setting the alarm every single morning and riding the same suburban train to work. He can leave the maximisation of income, the humdrum consistency, to lesser creatures. Like some aristocratic dilettante touched by genius, however, Bernardini (A.P. Indy) remains ever capable of producing a masterpiece. The Darley stallion had lately become so slack--only two graded stakes winners in each of the past two years--that this spring he suffered his third consecutive cut, to just $40,000, having commanded a...

Bruce Lunsford's GII Toyota Blue Grass S. winner Art Collector (Bernardini) returned to trainer Tom Drury's Skylight Training Center base in Goshen, Kentucky Saturday night and options for the colt's next start are still open. "I am going to get with Bruce in the next couple of days and figure out what we will do," Drury said. "Art Collector will stay at Skylight for a little while because it is quieter there and then like we have done before, two weeks or so before he runs we will bring him...

Bruce Lunsford homebred Art Collector (Bernardini) put his name in the hat for the Sept. 5 GI Kentucky Derby with a victory in the GII Toyota Blue Grass S. at Keeneland Saturday. Engaged in a three-way duel for control through the opening stages, the 2-1 shot ended up a close third just off MGSW filly Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) and Shivaree (Awesome of Course) as the first quarter went in :23.25. Maintaining that position while running off the fence through a :46.61 half-mile, the dark bay ranged up menacingly outside of...