It's on to Kentucky for prep winners

ARCADIA, Calif. – Exaggerator, Outwork, and Brody’s Cause, the winners of the three major Kentucky Derby preps run last Saturday, all came out of their races in good order and will move on to the 142nd Derby on May 7, with several horses who chased them Saturday also headed to Churchill Downs for what assuredly will be a maximum 20-horse field.

Exaggerator won the Santa Anita Derby with a Beyer Speed Figure of 103, the best two-turn figure of any 3-year-old in a Derby prep this season. He and runner-up Mor Spirit are the two certainties from the Santa Anita Derby to head to Kentucky. Uncle Lino, who was third, will not run.

Plans for Danzing Candy, who was fourth, are to be determined. His status will be closely watched by those with horses on the bubble since he ranks ninth with 60 points under the system used by Churchill Downs to determine the Derby field if more than the maximum of 20 horses enter.

At Aqueduct, Outwork bravely lasted over the 81-1 maiden Trojan Nation to win the Wood Memorial, earning a Beyer of 93. Outwork is certain for the Derby, Trojan Nation is likely, and fifth-place finisher Shagaf – who earned sufficient points last month in the Gotham Stakes – also is headed to the Derby. Adventist, who was third, also will run if he can get in. He is 20th on the list with 32 points but could be leapfrogged this week, when the Arkansas Derby – worth 100 points for first and 40 for second – is run.

At Keeneland, Brody’s Cause rebounded from his lackluster 3-year-old debut in the Tampa Bay Derby with a late-running victory in the Blue Grass, which earned a Beyer of 91. My Man Sam, who was second, is certain for the Derby. Cherry Wine, who was third, will run if he gets in; right now, he’s below the cutoff with 25 points. The maiden Laoban, who was fourth, also will run if he gets in. He has 32 points, the same as Mo Tom, Fellowship, and Adventist, but is ranked lowest of those four owing to the tiebreaker, earnings in unrestricted stakes races. As a result, he is the bubble horse, 21st on the list.

In addition to the Arkansas Derby, the Lexington Stakes will be run Saturday, but that race is worth just 10 points to the winner and is unlikely to impact the Derby field, barring a rash of defections from the top 20. Those are the final Derby preps. Then the final three-week countdown to the Derby commences.

Trainer Keith Desormeaux said Exaggerator had come out of the race “great” and that 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 in the Santa Anita Derby.

“He came out of it good,” Baffert said. “He took a lot of mud. He could have given up.”

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

Trainer Cliff Sise Jr. said a decision on Danzing Candy’s Derby status would be made in a few days after talking with the owners of Danzing Candy. Sise said the colt did come out of the race in good condition.

The Wood Memorial, like the Santa Anita Derby, was run over an off track. Outwork won the Wood in 1:52.92 for 1 1/8 miles, the slowest of 65 Woods run at its present distance.

Outwork “was one of the few who was involved early who was still around at the end,” said trainer Todd Pletcher, who also said jockey John Velazquez told him Outwork “idled pretty good when he got to the lead.”

Pletcher said he has not decided when Outwork will ship to Kentucky, but he did say the horse will have at least one workout at Churchill Downs. Shagaf will leave for Churchill Downs on April 19 and is scheduled for two works there, trainer Chad Brown said.

Trojan Nation was scheduled to ship back to his base here at Santa Anita on Wednesday and would be prepared for the Derby here, trainer Paddy Gallagher said.

Brody’s Cause and Cherry Wine, both trained by Dale Romans, were back at Churchill Downs by nightfall Saturday following the Blue Grass.

Brown said My Man Sam would van from Keeneland to Churchill on April 19 and, like Shagaf, would have two workouts there.

Mohaymen, the beaten favorite in the Florida Derby, is scheduled to travel by van from Florida to Churchill Downs, arriving next Monday.

The unbeaten Nyquist, the Derby favorite, is training at Keeneland.

– additional reporting by David Grening and Marty McGee