Aqueduct | Race 4 | Post Time 2:55 p.m. (ET)
RACE 10: SURPRISINGLY has posted mediocre works on the dirt at Palm Beach Downs (posted on XBTV) since her neck loss to the talented Didia in the Grade 2 Pegasus World Cup Filly and Mare Turf, in which she beat future graded stakes winners Ruby Nell and Chili Flag. Grade 1 winner MCKULICK may not be cranked up for her first outing since the Nov. 4 Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf, but she’s hard to ignore with Irad Ortiz Jr. back riding for good layoff trainer Chad Brown.
The action starts early from Meydan, moves to Gulfstream, on to Oaklawn – a tremendous Saturday of racing. Derma Sotogake is the sleeper in the Dubai World Cup. Horses closer to home draw greater attention.
Florida Derby
Suppose you were presented a luxury car sticker-priced at $75,000, actually selling for $100,000. Test drives like a dream. You might never have felt a car this excellent. One caveat: If you hit a bump in the road, the car immediately loses half its power. You buying?
The calculations that produce Beyer Speed Figures will occasionally produce a result that defies common sense. If a figure looks impossibly high — higher than horses in the field have ever run — we may conclude that it is an aberration, possibly caused by a sudden change in the speed of the racing surface. In such a case we will override the data and substitute a figure that is consistent with the horses' previous form.
PRANCINGTHRUPARIS
Trainer: Peter Eurton
Last race: March 22, 2nd
Finish: 4th by 6
Beyer: 53
Odds-on in Cal-bred allowance for 3-year-old fillies, she stumbled and was away dead last, inside trip in fourth, steadied three-eighths, battled into lane, tired. Horrible trip, toss race.
SA RACE 3: WHAT A DUDE was gelded during his time off and could be rejuvenated as he plunges to below the price for which he was last claimed with blinkers removed for this $25,000 nonwinners-of-two tilt. Leading trainer Doug O’Neill’s go-to rider, Antonio Fresu, takes over on the son of Hard Spun who has been working right along. I’M A LUCKY MAN just missed two back in an identical spot under Kazushi Kimura and is dropping off a flat fourth in a $50,000 starter/optional claimer. (2)