LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Turns out all Friesan Fire needed to get his mojo back was a pair of blinkers.
The Louisiana Derby winner rolled through five furlongs in 57.80 in his final work before Saturday's Kentucky Derby, just off the 57.60 Hard Spun put together for Jones before finishing second to Street Sense in the 2007 Derby.
Jones caught some flak from experts who thought Hard Spun's work was almost a little too fast two years ago. Going two-tenths of a second slower should quiet the critics. Or maybe not.
"A fifth of a second off," Jones said. "That's good. People would have said I worked him too fast."
Jones opted to put blinkers on Friesan Fire after noticing his star kept getting distracted by the sea of temporary construction along the backside that pops up at Churchill Downs during Derby week.
"He has been watching those tents every day and I wanted to put the blinkers on to keep him more focused," Jones said.
Friesan Fire will get a day off Tuesday, jog Wednesday then gallop until Saturday's race. He could be one of the favorites after Florida Derby winner Quality Road scratched with a quarter crack injury Monday. Jones has finished second in each of the last two Derbys, including a second with the filly Eight Belles last year.
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NEAR MISS: A handful of Derby horses and their connections received quite a scare when a collision between two non-Derby thoroughbreds disrupted training on Monday morning.
Several Derby contenders -- including Friesan Fire, Chocolate Candy and Win Willy -- were on the track when 3-year-old colt Doctor Rap dumped his rider and ran into 2-year-old filly Raspberry Miss.
Chocolate Candy was working under jockey Mike Smith at the time of the accident and Smith said Chocolate Candy caught a glimpse of the two fallen horses while at a full gallop. Raspberry Miss died from her injuries at an animal hospital in Lexington on Monday afternoon.
"We saw both the horses down," Smith said. "Luckily it happened over by the outer rail. He just looked that way for a second, but he turned back and kept going. We both were able to focus and complete what we had to do."
Chocolate Candy clocked five furlongs in 59.20, a work similar to the one the bay colt put together at Santa Anita on April 12 a week after finishing second to Pioneerof the Nile in the Santa Anita Derby.
The Kentucky Derby will be Chocolate Candy's first race on dirt. The workout calmed trainer Jerry Hollendorfer's fears about whether his colt would have a problem adjusting off a synthetic surface.
"Handling the track is key and he's shown us he can," Hollendorfer said.
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HOLDING IT IN: Santa Anita Derby winner Pioneerof the Nile has spent his entire career on synthetics. It didn't seem to matter during a solid but not spectacular six-furlong work on Monday.
The colt covered the distance in a leisurely 1:13.40, which three-time Derby winning trainer Bob Baffert said was by design.
"He did it pretty effortlessly," Baffert said. "I think he wanted to go a little faster, I wouldn't let him."
Exercise rider Joe Steiner said he didn't notice any difference in the way Pioneerof the Nile handled the dirt and handled the synthetics and Baffert said his horse's long stride seems to be well-suited to Churchill Downs.
"He really moves better over the dirt, I think," Baffert said. "His stride is just tremendous."
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GALLOPING GILLISPIE: Ousted Kentucky basketball coach Billy Gillispie hasn't exactly kept a low profile since being fired last month.
Gillispie, an avid horse fan, took in the morning workouts along with former Kentucky assistant coach Jeremy Cox from the fence near one of the clocking towers on the backstretch.
The coach wore a blue pullover -- though this one promoted a local basketball facility, not the Wildcats -- and greeted well-wishers before visiting with trainer Bob Baffert later in the morning.
Gillispie declined to make a pick for the Derby.