Dortmund exits Derby prep in top form

ARCADIA, Calif. – The winners of all three major Kentucky Derby prep races run last Saturday all came out of their races well, and all will have their final preps for the May 2 Derby in familiar surroundings on April 4.

Dortmund, who won the San Felipe Stakes here at Santa Anita to remain unbeaten after five starts, will come back in the Santa Anita Derby. Carpe Diem, who won his 3-year-old debut in the Tampa Bay Derby, will head to Keeneland, where he captured the Breeders’ Futurity last fall. And El Kabeir, who has stared down old man winter at Aqueduct, will come back in the Wood Memorial following his victory in the Gotham.

Dortmund equaled his career-best Beyer Speed Figure, a 104. Carpe Diem got the best figure of his career, too, a 98. El Kabeir got an 89.

Dortmund, owned by Kaleem Shah, is one of two outstanding Derby prospects trained by Bob Baffert. El Kabeir, trained by John Terranova, is a top Derby prospect owned by Ahmed Zayat. Baffert and Zayat just might have a better one in the barn in American Pharoah, last year’s champion 2-year-old male, who is set to make his 3-year-old debut on Saturday in the Rebel at Oaklawn Park.

The top three finishers from the San Felipe – Dortmund, Prospect Park, and Bolo – all are scheduled to meet again in the Santa Anita Derby, according to their trainers.

Dortmund “came back great,” Baffert said.

“He wasn’t really blowing. It wasn’t like his last race, when he was in a dogfight,” he said, referring to the Robert B. Lewis win over Firing Line.

“He’s changed a lot. His last race, that changed his whole attitude. You could see the change. Sometimes a dogfight like that helps them. They know. They get confident.”

Prospect Park ran well in his stakes debut.

“He closed like he was supposed to,” said his trainer, Cliff Sise Jr. “The farther he goes, the better off he’ll be. He got in a little jam at the top of the stretch. It’s a learning process.”

Bolo “ran great,” trainer Carla Gaines said. “But will he be able to beat Dortmund on the dirt? I don’t know. He’s El Monster.”

Bolo had his training interrupted recently by wet weather. “We had ground loss in the race, and maybe lacked a little conditioning, but he ran great,” Gaines said. “But if he was fitter, if he hadn’t missed any time, would he have won? I don’t know.”

Ocho Ocho Ocho, who finished eighth in the San Felipe while suffering the first loss of his career, also will return in the Santa Anita Derby, said trainer Jim Cassidy. Ocho Ocho Ocho had a terrible trip, especially getting caught in traffic on the first turn, and “got all cut up,” Cassidy said.

In Florida, Carpe Diem exited his five-length victory in good fashion, trainer Todd Pletcher said from his Palm Beach Downs winter base. The Giant’s Causeway colt “most likely” will be pointed to the Blue Grass, in which the Tampa Bay Derby runner-up, Ami’s Flatter, might also race next, according to his trainer, Josie Carroll.

Carpe Diem, owned in partnership by Stonestreet Stables and WinStar Farm, was making his first start since finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.

Ami’s Flatter, who was treated with first-time Lasix and wore blinkers for the first time, “seemed to come back really well,” Carroll said from the Palm Meadows training center. “We’ll think about the Blue Grass. We’ll keep him here a couple weeks and make a decision.”

Ocean Knight was easily the biggest disappointment in the Tampa Bay Derby when finishing seventh, beaten 29 1/4 lengths, as the 17-10 second choice. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin was hard-pressed for an excuse, given how well Ocean Knight had performed in winning the Sam F. Davis over the Tampa Bay surface in his prior start.

“He seems fine out of the race,” McLaughlin said early Sunday. “We will look him over closely.”

At Aqueduct, El Kabeir came out of his 2 3/4-length victory in the Gotham in good order, according to Terranova. If all goes well over the next four weeks, he will make his next start in the Wood Memorial over Aqueduct’s main track. The Wood Memorial will be El Kabeir’s first start at 1 1/8 miles.

El Kabeir is now a three-time stakes winner, having won the Jerome at Aqueduct in January and the Kentucky Jockey Club at Churchill Downs last November. He entered the Gotham off a second-place finish to Far From Over in the Withers. Far From Over, trained by Pletcher, skipped the Gotham and is expected to run in the Wood.

Tiz Shea D, the Gotham runner-up, and third-place Classy Class are also expected for the Wood.

– additional reporting by David Grening and Marty McGee