Dutrow finds perfect spot for Igniter in Ellis Park Derby
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East Coast-based trainer Rick Dutrow, a minor legend in the game, made his first trip to Ellis Park this week. He hopes to leave with his first Ellis win after Igniter runs in the Ellis Park Derby.
Just six went into the Ellis Park Derby, at $400,000 the richest of six Sunday stakes at Ellis. Igniter has as good a chance as anyone.
“In my opinion, he’s run big in every race but the mile and an eighth,” Dutrow said, referring to a sixth-place finish in the Grade 2 Remsen in December.
Igniter has three wins and three thirds from seven starts, the 1 1/8-mile Remsen his only off-the-board finish. He races around 1 1/2 turns over one mile Sunday.
“A mile might be his best distance,” Dutrow said.
Plutarch could go favored despite racing for the first time since Feb. 7, when he won the Robert Lewis at Santa Anita and set out on a truncated journey down the Triple Crown trail. Less than three weeks later, trainer Bob Baffert ruled Plutarch out of the Kentucky Derby owing to body soreness.
Plutarch didn’t work back until June 12, and his stock has dropped since February. Plutarch, who has split his racing between turf and dirt, won the Lewis over Intrepido and the Baffert-trained Desert Gate. Intrepido went on to finish fourth in the Santa Anita Derby and 16th in the Kentucky Derby. Desert Gate’s two wins this year came in listed stakes at Oaklawn and Lone Star.
Stop the Car has failed to contend in three two-turn races but has showed contending form in his three one-turn starts. In May, he rallied from far back for third of 11 in the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile, beaten only by Englishman and Crude Velocity, among the fastest members of their class.
Trainer Brendan Walsh has aimed Stop the Car toward this race since shortly after a June 7 flop in the two-turn Matt Winn.
“We just gave him a few easy weeks after that. This one has been on the radar ever since,” Walsh said.
Stop the Car lacks early speed and needs pace help in a short field. Rail-drawn Corona de Oro once raced as a speed horse, but after modest runs in the Preakness and the Matt Winn, he turned into a closing sprinter July 5 at Ellis coming from eighth to win a first-level allowance at seven furlongs. Corona de Oro earned high Beyer Speed Figures early in the year and made a favorable impression on video working an easy half-mile July 18.
“Maybe he’s turning into a versatile horse,” trainer Dallas Stewart said.
Igniter vanned from New York last weekend, a long summer trip he appeared to take decently, Dutrow said Wednesday. Igniter’s three wins, from six furlongs to one mile, came from close range, but he raced more than 10 lengths off the pace before surging late for third June 28 in the Maxfield, won easily by Grade 1-bound Deep Flame. Igniter wears glue-on shoes and lost one at the start of the seven-furlong Maxfield, Dutrow said, perhaps contributing to his lack of early zip.
Dutrow has gone 0 for 9 since making his Ellis debut in 2024. About as old school as they come, he plans to blow out Igniter on Sunday morning before the colt goes for his trainer’s first Ellis win on Sunday afternoon.
Juvenile stakes
Six horses among seven entrants could win the Ellis Park Juvenile without causing a major surprise. What would be surprising is Manuka Honey failing to beat her seven rivals in the Ellis Park Debutante.
Manuka Honey earned a 67 Beyer, good but not great, winning her lone start, where she defeated restricted maidens.
“I’m not sure what she beat, but you had to like the way she did it,” trainer Brian Lynch said.
Manuka Honey broke from a wide post, stalked the pace, surged to the lead past the three-sixteenths marker, and drew off by 7 1/2 lengths. She had plenty left in the tank while racing over a five-furlong distance well short of her best, going out to seven furlongs in the $250,000 Debutante.
“The distance doesn’t concern me at all,” Lynch said.
Manuka Honey looks like a beast of a 2-year-old filly, physically advanced, and she should dominate.
Baffert sends 2-1 morning-line favorite Salahudin in the $250,000 Juvenile, also at seven furlongs. Salahudin won his debut in the same manner he breezes, a bulky, long-striding, grinding colt who looks better suited to 1 1/2 miles than a sprint.
Grand Yaupon was all out scoring a second-start Saratoga maiden win three weeks ago, but Never a Doubt had something left after a demanding inside trip winning his debut July 11 at Gulfstream. He drew favorably on the outside and looks like the value in the Juvenile.
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