Thousand Words and Honor A. P. are both headed to the Kentucky Derby on Sept. 5 at Churchill Downs after emerging in good order from the Shared Belief Stakes on Saturday at Del Mar, their trainers said Sunday morning.
Thousand Words, whose early promise at 2 had largely failed to translate at 3, continued his second act with a victory on Saturday in the $98,000 Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar, which came at the expense of the West Coast’s top-ranked Derby prospect, Honor A. P.
Sole Volante breezed five furlongs over the turf in 1:02 on Friday morning at Palm Meadows, his first work since a disappointing sixth-place finish in the Belmont Stakes.
Honor A. P. already has proven he belongs in the Kentucky Derby. Cezanne and Thousand Words are trying to get to that level. Those three are among an abbreviated field that will compete on Saturday at Del Mar in the $100,000 Shared Belief Stakes, which is a final Derby prep for Honor A. P., but a proving ground for his two main rivals.
Lee Searing might be the most prominent owner in the sport you don't know much about. It's not because he's averse to press, just that he's not one to seek the spotlight. But it has certainly found him this spring, as Honor A. P. has progressed into one of the elite contenders for the Kentucky Derby.
Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Thousand Words
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Anneau d'Or, a disappointment since finishing a close second last fall in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, has joined the prospective lineup for the $200,000 Runhappy Ellis Park Derby on Aug. 9.
South Bend, the runner-up in the Grade 3 Ohio Derby, was purchased privately by a group that includes Gary Barber and Adam Wachtel and is now with trainer Bill Mott. South Bend is under consideration for either the $1 million Runhappy Travers Stakes, a 1 1/4-mile dirt race on Aug. 8, or the $500,000 Saratoga Derby, a 1 3/16-mile race on turf Aug. 15.
Led by Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A. P., a trio of prospects for next Saturday’s Shared Belief Stakes all worked Saturday at Del Mar during a busy morning that saw 195 horses record drills, including important preps by the older horse Improbable, the terrific 3-year-old sprinter Collusion Illusion, and the older mare Ollie’s Candy.
