Blue Grass: Connections of Howe Great, Heavy Breathing not overly confident
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The post draw Wednesday morning for the 88th running of the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes went very smoothly, with virtually all of the connections of the 13 runners being interviewed before the breakfast crowd by host Tom Leach. Among the more interesting comments were those by Barry Irwin, the Team Valor International president being represented in the 1 1/8-mile Polytrack race by Howe Great, a winner of his last four starts.
“I wouldn’t say I’m confident,” said Irwin. “I think Hansen is the best horse in the crop. I don’t think we can beat him, to tell the truth.”
Jack Wolf, whose Starlight Racing partnership will send out Heavy Breathing, was similarly self-deprecating. Asked by Leach whether he has had high hopes for the colt all along, Wolf said: “Not really. He just started coming around lately. He does act like he’ll run all day.”
Starlight had one of the early Kentucky Derby favorites in Algorithms, but that colt incurred a minor injury in late February and was ruled out of the Triple Crown chase.
Gennadi Dorochenko, the Russian-born trainer who wowed the racing world by sending out Hero of Order to win the Louisiana Derby at 109-1 from post 12, told Leach he wasn’t all that surprised by the victory.
“When I got to New Orleans, the man says, ‘I got bad news for you,’ ” said Dorochenko. “I said, ‘What’s that,’ and he said, ‘You have post position 13,’ and I said, ‘No! That’s good, that’s my lucky number in America.” A scratched horse actually moved Hero of Order in by one gate, and the colt carried saddlecloth number 11.
[BLUE GRASS: Get PPs and wager on Saturday's Keeneland card]
Toyota Blue Grass S., Post Time: 6:18 ET Saturday
Purse: $750,000; 1 1/8 miles
Post |
Horse |
Trainer |
Jockey |
ML Odds |
|
|
Heavy Breathing |
T. Pletcher |
C. Lanerie |
12-1 |
|
|
Gung Ho |
M. Maker |
E. Prado |
30-1 |
|
|
Prospective |
M. Casse |
L. Contreras |
10-1 |
|
|
Hansen |
M. Maker |
R. Dominguez |
6-5 |
|
|
Russian Greek |
G. Dorochenko |
M. Mena |
50-1 |
|
|
Dullahan |
D. Romans |
K. Desourmeaux |
6-1 |
|
|
Politicallycorrect |
W. Ward |
E. Trujillo |
30-1 |
|
|
Midnight Crooner |
B. Baffert |
G. Gomez |
15-1 |
|
|
Holy Candy |
J. Sadler |
J. Rosario |
30-1 |
|
|
Howe Great |
H. Motion |
J. Castellano |
6-1 |
|
|
Ever So Lucky |
J. Sheppard |
J. Leparoux |
12-1 |
|
|
Hero of Order |
G. Dorochenko |
E. Martin, Jr. |
12-1 |
|
|
Scatman |
M. Lauer |
S. Bridgmohan |
12-1 |
