Jeff Bloom always has wanted to be in the Derby. When he was a jockey, it was his dream. And he got a Derby, all right. It was just a bit north of Louisville in Winnipeg.
The lone newcomer to this week's Derby Watch top 20 is Gold Town, the winner of last month's United Arab Emirates 2000 Guineas, who had been on the bubble in recent weeks and forged his way onto the list this week when an opening presented itself.
City Zip and Yes It's True scored their biggest victories in sprints but have been fairly versatile as stallions in terms of progeny route performance. The two combine as the sire and broodmare sire of Louisiana Derby entrant Snapper Sinclair, hoping to tap into that versatility to overcome a seemingly speed-oriented page.
Sparkman: Magnum Moon another good one for Malibu Moon
Restoring Hope is being pointed for the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby on Sunday, said trainer Bob Baffert.
2018 Road to the Derby: Rebel Stakes analysis
The first and only starter trainer Keith Desormeaux will have at this Fair Grounds meet comes in the most important race of the meet.
Promising 3-year-old Avery Island is now officially off the Derby trail after returning lame from a routine workout at Palm Meadows last Friday.
Trainer Doug O’Neill was awake but dreaming early Sunday morning, a day after his trainee, Blended Citizen, registered a neck victory in Turfway Park’s Grade 3, $200,000 Jeff Ruby Steakes, a Kentucky Derby prep race.
The last horse to win the Kentucky Derby without having raced at 2 was Apollo in 1882. But that 136-year streak is under a serious threat this year.
