Breeders' Derby looks wide open

A quintet of stakes puts the local product on center stage Saturday as Turf Paradise presents Arizona-bred Day, a collection of races celebrating the best the state has produced.

The main event is likely the $50,000 Gene Fleming Breeders’ Derby, a 1 1/16-mile test for 3-year-olds. A field of 10 is entered, with no apparent standout. Favoritism may fall to J P Rocker as he returns to his preferred footing, dirt. Trained by Joe Johnson, J P Rocker rallied for second in the Lost in the Fog Juvenile at 6 1/2 furlongs here Dec. 28 and then blasted optional-claiming foes by 7 1/2 lengths going six furlongs on dirt here March 3.

That earned him a shot at the Tempe Handicap at a mile on turf, but it was not only his first route but his first try on grass, and after stalking the pace, J P Rocker faded to fifth. He remains a question mark at this distance, but surely the footing is more to his liking.

Opposition figures to come from Lawly’s Goal, second in the Turf Paradise Derby on Feb. 22 and returning here after fading badly to ninth in the Grade 3 Sunland Park Derby; Cavour, a winner of his last two, both on turf, including the Tempe Handicap, but a question mark on dirt; and Desert Wildcatter, 16-1 upset winner of the Arizona Stallion Stakes on turf here April 5.

In the other stakes:

◗ Aware appears the one to beat in the $35,000 Joanne Dye for 3-year-old fillies going 6 1/2 furlongs after winning two of her three starts, the last a romping 7 1/4-length score over elder allowance foes. Lazy Daisy May is among her five rivals and may appreciate returning to dirt. She’s a multiple stakes winner sprinting on dirt here and returns to her best game after fading to eighth in the Scottsdale Handicap, a turf route. Idling is a stakes winner sprinting on this track. She gets blinkers after fading to sixth in the Arizona Stallion Stakes on turf against males here April 5.

◗Red Zeus heads a field of six in the $35,000 Dwight D. Patterson Handicap, a 1 1/16-mile grass test for 3-year-olds. Red Zeus is a three-time winner on turf, all coming here. He returns to turf after running sixth in a dirt sprint March 10.

◗Espresso Springs, Frisky Ricky, and Jamaican Memories ran one-two-three in the $35,000 Grand Canyon Handicap here last year and renew acquaintances in this year’s edition. Espresso Springs hasn’t won since but has been freshened since finishing third in a sprint here March 10. Frisky Ricky, one of his seven rivals in the six-furlong event, dueled before finishing fourth for $20,000 here April 13. Jamaican Memories has worked sharply for his return from a four-month layoff.

◗Tribal Gal romped by 6 1/2 lengths in last year’s Joanne Dye on Arizona-bred Day here and looms the one to beat as an older 4-year-old when she heads a field of nine in the $35,000 Ann Owens Distaff Handicap at six furlongs.

Tribal Gal romped in the Princess of Palms here last Oct. 12 and easily won the Phoenix here Dec. 14. After more than three months off, she came back in the Mesa Handicap on March 29, dueled, and faded to fourth as the 2-5 favorite.

Hindu Kush was the upset winner of this last year; Camille may be peaking as she comes off a game win here April 6; Lady Jila was seventh in this last year but has been in good form since; and Sallyana returns from Southern California, where she won three times. She easily won her debut here, her only local start, in November 2012.