It's on to Kentucky for Danza after Arkansas Derby upset

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Danza was en route to Churchill Downs on Sunday morning after earning a trip to the Kentucky Derby with his victory in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on Saturday. He was assigned a preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 102 for his 4 3/4-length win in the Arkansas Derby.

Danza also earned 100 points towards Kentucky Derby eligibility, and becomes the fourth horse his trainer, Todd Pletcher, has on the road to the big dance alongside Constitution, Intense Holiday, and We Miss Artie.

“We’re very fortunate,” Pletcher said Sunday.

Pletcher said on Sunday that Danza came out of the Arkansas Derby in good order. The horse was making his fourth career start in the race, and his second of the year. Danza tracked the pace in third, slipped through an opening on the rail into the stretch, then pulled clear at 41-1.

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]

“The performance as a whole was very professional, very dominant,” Pletcher said. “He took command at the top of the stretch, blew it wide open and finished up. If you covered up the odds board, you’d say he ran like a 4-5 shot.”

Joe Bravo was aboard Danza, and is a candidate to ride the horse back in the Kentucky Derby.

“We haven’t firmed anything up yet, but I think he would be a logical choice,” said Pletcher.

Danza, who earlier in his career was a close third in the Grade 2 Saratoga Special, made his two-turn debut Saturday off a third-place finish in a seven-furlong allowance at Gulfstream Park.

“We always felt like that’s what he’s wanted to do,” Pletcher said of routing. “As a young horse at Saratoga, you don’t have those options. We kind of needed to get a race under his belt to get to a two-turn race. We were always heading in that direction. It took us a little while to get there.”

The timing could not be better, as Danza figures to be one of the more prominent Kentucky Derby contenders. He races for the Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners ownership group led by president Aron Wellman.

Pletcher had a second Arkansas Derby starter in Commissioner, who finished sixth. He is not a candidate for the Kentucky Derby, but is a prospect for the Belmont Stakes.

“Commissioner seemed to come out of it fine,” Pletcher said. “We’ll regroup, kick around the Peter Pan and Sir Barton. We’d like to get to the Belmont. We feel that’s a race he’d do really well in.”

Ride On Curlin, who rallied for second in the Arkansas Derby, is being pointed for the Kentucky Derby, trainer Billy Gowan said on Sunday. He said the horse would ship to Churchill Downs on Monday, and provided he continues to train well he’ll target the classic. He said the horse came out of the Arkansas Derby in “excellent” shape.

“I thought he ran super,” Gowan said. “The only thing I’d say is that he had a little wide trip coming out of the turn. He came home good. That’s what I was looking for.”

Ride On Curlin finished a half-length in front of Bayern, who set a pressured pace as the favorite. Bayern was making his stakes debut, and it came in his first start since February.

“He held on good,” said Bob Baffert, who trains Bayern. “He just got tired. He hadn’t raced in a couple of months and it showed the last sixteenth of a mile. He probably got a lot out of it.”

Baffert said Bayern was flown Sunday to Churchill Downs, but no decision has been made on whether he will target the Kentucky Derby.

Tapiture, the fourth-place finisher in the Arkansas Derby, is also headed to Churchill Downs, said his trainer, Steve Asmussen. Asmussen said the horse “cooled out well” on Saturday night, and plans moving forward will be discussed with the team at Winchell Thoroughbreds.

“We’ll see how he goes to the track at Louisville,” said Asmussen.

The Arkansas Derby closed out the meet at Oaklawn.