Donworth, Fame and Power square off in Sir Barton

BALTIMORE – While Lexington Stakes winner Divining Rod will step into the deep end of the pool when he runs in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, the two horses who finished directly behind him in that race could vie for favoritism in the $100,000 Sir Barton Stakes 4 1/2 hours earlier at Pimlico.

Donworth and Fame and Power were separated by a nose when second and third, three lengths behind Divining Rod, in the Grade 3 Lexington on April 11 at Keeneland.

Donworth, who overcame significant trouble to win his debut at Gulfstream in March, was headstrong early and had a wide trip in the Lexington, while Fame and Power got over quickly from an outside draw to set the pace from the rail.

Fame and Power, a son of First Defence trained by Bob Baffert, will break from the rail under Martin Garcia and will be getting blinkers added to his equipment for the first time in four races. He has put forth three bullet works at Churchill Downs since the Lexington.

“Make him more aggressive,” Baffert said when asked about adding the blinkers. “I thought about sprinting him, but I want to try him long one more time.”

Trainer Graham Motion said he was pleased with how Donworth ran in the Lexington, considering that it was his second career start and his first around two turns.

“He should move forward off the Lexington,” said Motion, who noted that jockey Joel Rosario had to use Donworth a little bit early in the Lexington to get position. “Now that he’s been two turns, I think he might handle it a little better.”

Bold Conquest, trained by Steve Asmussen, should appreciate the drop in class he gets in the Sir Barton. In his last two starts, he chased American Pharoah, finishing 8 3/4 lengths behind the subsequent Kentucky Derby winner when third in the Grade 2 Rebel and 9 1/4 lengths behind him when fifth in the Arkansas Derby.

Rounding out the field are Outlash, Noteworthy Peach, Henry Jones, Verraco, and Conquest Bigluck E.