Entries for the May 2 Arkansas Derby will be taken Sunday at Oaklawn Park, and there will be plenty of scoreboard watching, because the number of horses who enter the race will impact whether it is split into two divisions. If it's not, Charlatan, one of the most highly ranked 3-year-olds in the country, is in danger of not getting in based on the race conditions.
Attachment Rate and one of Todd Pletcher's five nominees are expected to run Saturday in the $75,000 Unbridled at Gulfstream.
After briefly considering a trip to Oaklawn Park for the Grade 1, $750,000 Arkansas Derby on May 2, the connections of Max Player have decided to pass that race and wait for something closer to home in New York.
Mr. Big News, who won the Oaklawn Stakes on Saturday, and Shooters Shoot, who captured an allowance race earlier on that card, are the two newcomers to the Derby Watch top 20.
After several days of rain that forced postponement of workouts, three California-based runners with designs on the Arkansas Derby all got in significant drills on Wednesday morning at Santa Anita.
For all of his accomplishments, European Horse of the Year and internationally successful stallion Giant's Causeway has never sired the winner of an American classic race. But the stallion, who died in 2018, may get another chance this season with Mr. Big News.
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Mr. Big News pulled a 46-1 upset Saturday in the $200,000 Oaklawn Stakes for 3-year-olds, running the kind of race trainer Bret Calhoun thought he was poised for last month when the colt did not draw into the Louisiana Derby.
There is a lot of opportunity attached to Saturday's $200,000 Oaklawn Stakes that drew 13, including Daily Racing Form Derby Watch members Thousand Words and Basin.
The uncertainty in coming months regarding racing in general, and preps to the Kentucky Derby specifically, has caused a number of trainers to tweak their approaches with their top 3-year-olds in coming weeks. Other factors are at play in their decisions, including rules regarding shipping imposed by the owners of Gulfstream Park, and where horses stand on the current points list.
Thousand Words, who suffered his first career loss when fourth in the San Felipe Stakes on March 7 at Santa Anita, will try to rebound with his first race outside California when he competes in the Oaklawn Stakes on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.
