Exaggerator, Mor Spirit moving on to Kentucky Derby

ARCADIA, Calif. – Exaggerator and Mor Spirit, the one-two finishers in the Santa Anita Derby on Saturday, both came out of the race well and both will head to the Kentucky Derby on May 7, their trainers reported on Sunday morning.

Exaggerator rolled to a 6 1/2-length victory while earning a Beyer Speed Figure of 103, the fastest two-turn fig in a Derby prep this year.

His trainer, Keith Desormeaux, said he was “great” on Sunday morning.

Desormeaux said his initial intention is to do all of Exaggerator’s serious pre-Derby training here at Santa Anita and “ship in on top of the race.”

For advice, “I’ll call Art Sherman,” Desormeaux said, referring to the trainer of 2014 Kentucky Derby winner California Chrome, before joking, “Baffert is too busy to give me advice.”

Bob Baffert, a four-time Derby winner, trains Mor Spirit, who slogged through the slop to finish second.

“He came out of it good. He took a lot of mud,” Baffert said Sunday. “He could have given up. He’s so big and heavy I wasn’t sure he was going to like it. It looked for a while like he was going to run terrible, but he kept going. He survived it. We’re still fighting.”

Baffert has another top Derby prospect in Rebel winner Cupid, who has his final Derby prep on Saturday in the Arkansas Derby. Baffert’s plan is to have both Cupid and Mor Spirit based at Churchill Downs right after the Arkansas Derby.

Uncle Lino, who finished third in the Santa Anita Derby, will not press on to the Kentucky Derby.

“I don’t know what I’m going to do next, but I know what I’m not going to do,” trainer Gary Sherlock said Sunday. “There are a lot of good races out there.

“Exaggerator’s beaten us twice and Exaggerator has lost four times to Nyquist, and that doesn’t even count all the others, like Mohaymen. There’s no sense chewing him up.”

Sherlock said his “long-range goal would be the King’s Bishop at Saratoga,” referring to the Grade 1, seven-furlong race on Travers Day.

“But he’ll obviously run a few times before that,” Sherlock said.

No decision has yet been made on the Derby status of Danzing Candy, who finished fourth. His trainer, Cliff Sise Jr., on Sunday morning said a decision would be made in a few days after talking to the owners of Danzing Candy. Sise said the colt did come out of the race in good condition.

“He was floundering. I don’t know if it was the track or the 45 and 1,” he said, referring to the 45.24-second half-mile split carved out by Danzing Candy.