Most of the entrants in the Grade 3, $250,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks on Saturday at Turfway Park are stepping into the arena of the Kentucky Derby trail for the first time. Not so for Finnick the Fierce.
Charlatan, a dazzling debut winner last month at Santa Anita, has been entered in one-mile allowance race on Saturday at Santa Anita. Charlatan got a Beyer Speed Figure of 105 when winning a sprint on Feb. 16.
Joe Talamo has key mounts in four weekend stakes. at Oaklawn Park. He rides Remembering Rita in the Temperence Hill on Friday, then on Saturday will be aboard No Parole in the Grade 2 Rebel, Serengeti Empress in the Grade 2 Azeri, and Night Ops in the Essex Handicap.
Three Technique, owned by Bill Parcells and trained by Jeremiah Englehart, will try to enhance his credentials for the May 2 Kentucky Derby when he runs in the Grade 2, $1 million Rebel Stakes on Saturday at Oaklawn Park.
In an outstanding class of first-crop sires whose runners debuted last year, led by a Triple Crown winner, arguably none is better bred than Mr Speaker. A Grade 1 winner who blossomed as a 3-year-old, Mr Speaker is represented by a classics hopeful in Three Technique.
King Guillermo and Mischevious Alex, who both earned 50 points toward a Kentucky Derby berth via victories last Saturday in, respectively, the Tampa Bay Derby and Gotham Stakes, are the newest additions to the Derby Watch top 20.
Road to the 2020 Kentucky Derby: San Felipe Stakes analysis
The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, closed as a lukewarm favorite over Authentic and Tiz the Law after three days of betting into Pool 3 of the 2020 Kentucky Derby Future Wager.
Authentic and Honor A. P., the one-two finishers in the San Felipe Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita, both emerged from the race well and are scheduled to meet again in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 4, their trainers said Sunday morning here at Santa Anita.
King Guillermo will make his next start in the 146th Kentucky Derby after winning his way into the May 2 race with a remarkable 4 3/4-length upset of the Tampa Bay Derby on Saturday.
