Kentucky Derby hopeful Fly Lexis Fly is going to be trained by Neil Drysdale.  Peruvian dual classic winner Fly Lexis Fly has arrived safely in the U.S. to begin his campaign with the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 5 as his main target.

Peruvian owner Oscar Peña shipped his stable star to the West Coast to Hall of Fame trainer Neil Drysdale. Fly Lexis Fly, a Kentucky-bred  colt out of Badge of Silver arrived at Neil Drysdale’s barn at Hollywood Park last week.

Through five starts in Peru, Fly Lexis Fly has banked $121,520.  A January 2009 foal, Fly Lexis Fly romped by eight lengths over a field of seven in his second career start at six furlongs on July 23 at Hipódromo de Monterrico. He followed that with a three-quarter-length runner-up effort to stablemate Mr. Dany in the one-mile Polla de Portrillos-Roberto Alvarez Calderon Rey (Peruvian Two Thousand Guineas) on September 18 before posting a 4½-length victory in the ten-furlong Clásico Ricardo Ortíz de Zevallos , the second leg of the Peruvian  Quadruple Crown on October 16.

Conditioned in Peru by four-time Peruvian Derby winning jockey Arturo Morales, Fly Lexis Fly closed out his Peruvian campaign by scoring by 10 3/4-lengths in the 11.93-furlong Clásico Derby Nacional  (Peruvian Derby), the Quadruple Crown’s third leg, and the only two year old Derby in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Badge Of Silver colt is Northern Hemisphere-bred, meaning he turned three on New Year’s Day, and has been racing against older Southern Hemisphere-bred rivals, who have been three-year-olds since July 1, in the Peruvian Classics.

Originally contemplating having Fly Lexis Fly go to trainer Angel Penna Jr. in November, owner Oscar Peña instead shipped his stable star to the Neil Drysdale’s barn on the West Coast.  Neil Drysdale, who won the 2000 Kentucky Derby with his first starter, Fusaichi Pegasus, has already nominated Fly Lexis Fly to the Santa Anita Derby on April 7.

Fly Lexis Fly was bred in Kentucky by Ken and Sarah Ramsey. Sold for $5,000 at the 2010 Fasig-Tipton October fall yearling sale, he was under the consignment of Ramsey Farm.  Fly Lexis Fly is the first foal out of the unraced Silver Charm mare Becky Loves Silver.