Bridget's Big Luvy eyes Kentucky Derby points

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Bridget’s Big Luvy will take up the chase for some Kentucky Derby eligibility points later this month when he starts in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby. The horse earned a shot at the April 11 race at Oaklawn Park with a convincing win in the $100,000 Private Terms on March 21 at Laurel. There were a couple of reasons why the Arkansas Derby was targeted for the Belmont Park-based Bridget’s Big Luvy, trainer Jeremiah Englehart said Tuesday.

“I think the timing was the biggest thing for us,” Englehart said. “The race gave us three weeks from the Private Terms, and if he ran well in the Arkansas Derby and had enough points to go get into the Kentucky Derby, it would still be another three weeks until then. In a perfect world, we would have run in the Wood, but it didn’t work out that way. The timing was the biggest thing.”

The Wood Memorial is Saturday at Aqueduct, which falls two weeks after the March 21 win from Bridget’s Big Luvy in the Private Terms. Englehart said Tuesday that Bridget’s Big Luvy has traveled from New York to Kentucky, where he was to have a one-day layover, then ship into Oaklawn. Englehart looked for the horse to arrive in Hot Springs on Wednesday afternoon, following his layover at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky.

Englehart said Angel Cruz, who rode Bridget’s Big Luvy in the Private Terms, is scheduled to ride the horse in the Arkansas Derby. Englehart hopes to breeze Bridget’s Big Luvy over the Oaklawn surface Sunday.

Bridget’s Big Luvy was making his two-turn debut in the Private Terms, run over the same 1 1/8-mile distance of the Arkansas Derby, and was a front-running, 2 1/2-length winner. For the effort, he earned a career-high Beyer Speed Figure of 87.

“We added blinkers for that race, so we kind of expected him to be forwardly placed,” Englehart said.

Bridget’s Big Luvy is owned by Tom O’Grady, a resident of Louisville, home of the Kentucky Derby. The horse, by Tiz Wonderful, won a maiden special weight sprint at Belmont Park in October.