Greenpointcrusader to get just one more Derby prep

Greenpointcrusader, who finished second to Mohaymen in the Holy Bull Stakes last Saturday at Gulfstream Park, will have just one more race prior to the Kentucky Derby, trainer Dominick Schettino said Wednesday, with his preference being the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds on March 26.

“I just want to run him one more time between now and the Derby,” Schettino said. “I just wanted him to have two races this year before the Derby.”

Schettino said his other choice as a final Derby prep for Greenpointcrusader would be the Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 9.

The Kentucky Derby is May 7. The Louisiana Derby is six weeks in front of the Kentucky Derby, the Wood Memorial four weeks prior. Both races have a purse of $1 million, and both are considered final-round preps toward the Derby, worth 170 qualifying points overall, with 100 to the winner.

Greenpointcrusader, by Bernardini, already is a Grade 1 winner, having captured the Champagne Stakes at Belmont Park last fall.

The Holy Bull, in which Greenpointcrusader was defeated by 3 1/2 lengths, marked his first start since he finished seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.