Phipps Stable and St. Elias Stable’s Golden Tempo signaled his readiness for a shot at Kentucky Derby (G1) glory Friday morning by working a half-mile in :47 under jockey Jose Ortiz over a fast track at Keeneland.

Click here for a video of the work.

Working inside of debut maiden winner Not to Worry, Golden Tempo galloped out 5 furlongs in :59.40 and 6 furlongs in 1:12.

“It went really well and that was his last major work (before the May 2 Derby),” trainer Cherie DeVaux said. “I will do something with him here next Friday and then go over to Churchill Downs Saturday morning.”

Today’s move was the third Keeneland work for Golden Tempo since he finished third in the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2) on March 21.

Ortiz has been aboard Golden Tempo in all four of his starts.

“We obviously knew he was going to be better with distance (after winning his career debut at 6 furlongs),” Ortiz said. “He won going short. Broke a bit slow. A little green in the stretch, but he still got the win. Then he jumped to a stakes (the Lecomte-G3 in his second start) and won going longer (at a mile and a sixteenth).

“We were very happy and impressed by him,” Ortiz continued. “Doing that (going from a maiden sprint to a stakes route) is very hard to do. After that, he has been running good. He has been running at pace, even in a race with no pace. He was very hard to close on. I think his last race (the Louisiana Derby) was very, very good. He only got beat a length by Emerging Market, who just ran a really good race coming off of a maiden. I think it’s anybody’s race in the (Kentucky) Derby.”

Among other workers for DeVaux Friday morning were two horses also expected to be in the starting gate on May 2 on the Kentucky Derby undercard.

C R K Stable’s Remember Mamba, winner of the opening-day UK HealthCare Transylvania (G3), worked a half-mile in :49.80 in company with Reagan’s Honor. Remember Mamba is targeting the $1 million American Turf (G1).

The undefeated Englishman, also owned by C R K, tuned up for the $750,000 Pat Day Mile (G2) Presented by SAP with a :46.20 half-mile. Englishman galloped out 5 furlongs in :58.60, 6 furlongs in 1:11.20 and seven-eighths in 1:24.60.