Kentucky Derby undercard stakes loaded with stars
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Champions Gamine and Whitmore, Pegasus World Cup Turf winner Colonel Liam, and other major names highlight the six graded stakes preceding the Kentucky Derby on Saturday's blockbuster card at Churchill Downs.
The 14-race marathon of action has a first post of 10:30 a.m. Eastern, with the Derby set to go off at 6:57 p.m.
Eclipse Award champions Whitmore and Gamine secured their divisional titles by winning the Breeders' Cup Sprint and Filly and Mare Sprint, respectively, when last racing in Kentucky. They return to the Bluegrass State for the Grade 1, $500,000 Churchill Downs Stakes and the Grade 1, $500,000 Derby City Distaff, a pair of seven-furlong races for older horses.
Whitmore has been second to C Z Rocket in a pair of stakes starts at Oaklawn to begin his 8-year-old season. He headlines a salty field for the Churchill Downs, which also includes Grade 1 winners Basin, Hog Creek Hustle, and Mind Control. From the rail out, the field is: Phat Man, Mind Control, Basin, Flagstaff, Tap It to Win, Attachment Rate, Shashashakemeup, Get the Prize, Whitmore, Bango, Hog Creek Hustle, Endorsed, and Lexitonian.
Gamine, making her second start of the year off an easy five-length victory in the Grade 3 Las Flores in California, again meets Bell's the One, defending winner of the Derby City Distaff from when it was run last September. Gamine won the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Sprint, and Bell's the One was a good third. The field, from the rail out, is: Estilo Talentoso, Sconsin, Bell's the One, Gamine, Hibiscus Punch, and Unique Factor.
Colonel Liam, winner of three consecutive stakes, headlines a field of older horses in the Grade 1, $1 million Old Forester Turf Classic, the race immediately preceding the Kentucky Derby. He faces Digital Age, the defending winner of this race last September, as well as Grade 1 winners Domestic Spending and Ivar. From the rail out, the field for the Turf Classic is: Masteroffoxhounds, Count Again, Colonel Liam, Ivar, Domestic Spending, Digital Age, Smooth Like Strait, Cross Border, and Ride a Comet.
Multiple Grade 1 winner Got Stormy headlines the Grade 2, $500,000 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile. And before 3-year-olds take center stage in the Kentucky Derby, the sophomores get a pair of warm-up acts from the Grade 2, $500,000 Pat Day Mile on dirt, featuring Jackie's Warrior, a multiple Grade 1 winner last year; and the Grade 2, $500,000 American Turf, with a wide-open field of 14.
In addition to the Kentucky Derby and the six other graded stakes, Saturday's card includes four races run under allowance conditions, and three maiden races. The overall field size for the day, including also-eligibles, is a robust 11.9 entries.
The Derby Day wagering menu features a mandatory payout in the Derby City 6 (formerly the Single 6) jackpot. There will be four rolling pick five and pick four wagers on Saturday, two of which feature all-stakes sequences culminating in the Kentucky Derby. The Derby City Distaff, Churchill Downs, Turf Classic, and Derby also are the final legs of the Oaks/Derby Pick 6 that began the day prior.