Kentucky Derby: Hidden Stash likely to make cutoff, King Fury probably not

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Brian Klatsky and his partners in BBN Racing have been agonizing over the Kentucky Derby points standings, but somebody tell them they can stop worrying. Hidden Stash, in all likelihood, will be carrying the blue and white silks of the far-flung ownership group when the 147th Derby is run May 1 at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

“We feel like having the right pace and an extra eighth of a mile, anything can happen in the Derby,” said Klatsky, a New Jersey resident who heads BBN (Big Blue Nation) with his longtime friends and business associates Brendan O’Brien and Braxton Lynch.

With all qualifying races now in the books, Hidden Stash was 23rd on the official points list maintained by Churchill officials as of Monday morning. However, there were at least three horses listed above him who will not run or are doubtful for the Derby, including Proxy, Weyburn, and Crowded Trade, along with a few more whose connections have yet to fully commit. It’s nearly certain Hidden Stash will make the 20-horse cutoff.

Hidden Stash collected 32 points by running third in the Sam F. Davis, second in the Tampa Bay Derby, and fourth in the April 3 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland. Vicki Oliver, his trainer, would become just the 17th female to run a horse in the Derby and the first since Carla Gaines sent out Bolo to a 12th-place finish in the 2015 running. Rafael Bejarano retains the mount on Hidden Stash, a chestnut Constitution colt who cost just $50,000 as a yearling.

:: Bet horse racing on DRF Bets. Double Your First Deposit Up to $250. Join Now.

Oliver plans to work Hidden Stash twice at Keeneland before vanning him to Churchill on April 27.

In other Derby news, trainer Kenny McPeek is hoping to make the race with King Fury, an eye-catching winner of the Lexington Stakes over a sloppy track here Saturday, but with 20 points, his chances aren’t nearly as good as those of Hidden Stash.

“We’d love to get in the Derby, but if we can’t, we’ll just wait for the Preakness,” said McPeek. “The important thing is it looks like we’ve got a really nice 3-year-old all set for the rest of the year. We’re thrilled with how he ran Saturday.”

King Fury, owned by Fern Circle Stable and Three Chimneys Farm, was 18-1 when splashing to a 2 3/4-length victory that resulted in a 95 Beyer Speed Figure. The chestnut Curlin colt was making his first start since late November.

Meanwhile, several confirmed Derby starters were out for serious works over a fast Churchill surface over the weekend, including Mandaloun, five furlongs in a bullet 58.80 seconds Saturday; Helium, five furlongs in 59.20 seconds Saturday; Soup and Sandwich, a half-mile in 48.80 seconds Sunday; and Midnight Bourbon, five furlongs in a bullet 1:00.40 Sunday.

Shortly after Soup and Sandwich worked, trainer Mark Casse said that Tyler Gaffalione has picked up the Derby mount on the gray Live Oak Plantation homebred. Gaffalione replaces John Velazquez, who has committed to Medina Spirit for trainer Bob Baffert, for whom Velazquez won the Derby and Breeders’ Cup Classic last year aboard Authentic. Casse and Gaffalione teamed to win the 2019 Preakness with War of Will.

O Besos, whose 25 points puts him on the Derby bubble, was scheduled to work Tuesday at Churchill for Greg Foley, who has said the colt will run in the Pat Day Mile on the Derby undercard if he’s excluded from the big race.

Also, Sainthood arrived at Churchill from Keeneland over the weekend as one of four Derby hopefuls for Todd Pletcher. Sainthood, runner-up in the March 27 Jeff Ruby Steaks, was accompanied by Malathaat, a major contender for the April 30 Kentucky Oaks, on the short trip from Lexington. The other Derby runners for Pletcher are Known Agenda, Bourbonic, and Dynamic One.

Meet hits midway point

As the 15-day spring meet at Keeneland hits its exact midway point Wednesday, a five-day race week begins with a three-way tie among Pletcher, Brad Cox, and Wesley Ward atop the trainer standings, with each of them having already sent out seven winners through the first seven days.

Ward, remarkably, had not won with a 2-year-old until Chi Town Lady came through as a 1-5 favorite in the first race Sunday. His four stakes wins leads all trainers.

Luis Saez, seeking his first Keeneland riding title, leads Joel Rosario by a 14-10 count atop the local jockey standings.

◗ The upset by King Fury completed a memorable afternoon for the riding Hernandez brothers, Brian and Colby. Some 30 minutes before Brian booted home King Fury from well back in the Lexington, Colby used similar tactics when Change of Control ($19.80) overtook favored Into Mystic in deep stretch of the Giant’s Causeway. The victory with Change of Control was the 500th for trainer Michelle Lovell, who ran her first winner in 2004.