Greyvitos earns 10 Kentucky Derby points with Springboard win

OKLAHOMA CITY - Greyvitos swept up the lion’s share of the final Kentucky Derby points available in 2017 on Sunday when he overcame post 12 to win the $400,000 Springboard Mile by 2 1/4 lengths over favorite Combatant at Remington Park.

The next points race for the 2018 Kentucky Derby is the Jerome on Jan. 1 at Aqueduct.

The Springboard Mile carried eligibility points for the first time. The race also was the richest of six stakes on the closing-day program at Remington. Its purse was boosted by $100,000 for 2017.

Greyvitos earned 10 points in the Springboard, while the second- through fourth-place finishers - Combatant, Kingsville, and Night Strike – also picked up points on a sliding scale of 4-2-1.

Greyvitos ($8) moved into contention soon after the start Sunday and tracked the pace in third as Major Brown put up fractions of 23.51 seconds for the opening quarter and 47.16 for the half-mile. Greyvitos took over through six furlongs in 1:11.71 and shuttled home to cover the distance on a fast track in a stakes-record time of 1:37.14.

“I was pretty much cruising along all the way,” said Victor Espinoza, who was aboard the winner for trainer Adam Kitchingman.

Nearing the wire, Greyvitos jumped and Espinoza noted the fact that the race was under the lights Sunday.

“He sees the lights,” he said.

Greyvitos came in from Southern California and likely will return to Del Mar, Kitchingman said. The horse had been based at San Luis Rey Downs, which was devastated by wildfires the afternoon of Dec. 7, so firm plans are to be determined. Greyvitos had shipped out that morning as part of his schedule, which was to have him positioned to fly to Oklahoma from Santa Anita.

Greyvitos, who was winning his second straight stakes behind the Grade 3 Bob Hope at Del Mar, will be freshened, Kitchingman said.

“Right now he’s going to take a deep breath,” he said. “He’s had a pretty hard 2-year-old campaign. I don’t expect to see him run until February. We do have a plan, but I want to make sure he comes out of the race good before we step forward. I’m hoping to get back to San Luis Rey. He really likes the track there.”

Kitchingman said his barn was not damaged in the fire.

Greyvitos is a son of Malibu Moon. He races for Triple B Farms. Greyvitos earned $240,000 for his win in the Springboard, his second win from four starts. He has now earned $306,345.

The remaining order of finish in the Springboard was Major Brown in fifth, followed by Believe in Royalty, Bode’s Maker, Flip the Coin Jan, Brangelina, Redatory, Soul P Say and Flat Lucky.

* Remington handled $2,775,655 on its 12-race card from all sources Sunday, the second-highest handle on Remington’s races since the track opened in 1988, according to Remington spokesman Dale Day. The highest handle, $2.8 million, was achieved on Feb. 24, 1990.