Magnum Moon burst onto the Kentucky Derby scene Saturday at Oaklawn, where he picked up 50 points for the classic by darting to a 3 1/2-length win over favorite Solomini in the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel.
McKinzie will remain at Santa Anita for the Santa Anita Derby on April 7, while Justify will go to Oaklawn for the Arkansas Derby on April 14, trainer Bob Baffert said Friday.
The meeting of Solomini and Magnum Moon on neutral ground in the Grade 2, $900,000 Rebel on Saturday at Oaklawn has the look of a key matchup seven weeks out from the Kentucky Derby. Even more telltale is that there were no other shippers from the West Coast – Solomini's base – or the East Coast, which is home to Magnum Moon.
Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks on Polytrack at Turfway Park makes for a very competitive wagering event.
Greyvitos is not part of some racehorse witness protection program. It only seems that way.
Entries for the eight-stakes March 24 card, headlined by the $1 million Louisiana Derby, will be taken on March 17, and as of Wednesday, Fair Grounds racing officials had a core of eight likely runners for the local derby.
Hazit and Ride a Comet were installed as 5-1 co-favorites on the morning line when a full field of 12 3-year-olds was drawn Wednesday for Saturday's Grade 3, $200,000 Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park.
It has been three years since American Pharoah swept the Triple Crown, time enough for him to already have yearlings on the ground. The time since then has made the colt's majority owner, Ahmed Zayat, all the more appreciative of what he experienced with American Pharoah, including winning the Kentucky Derby after near misses with Bodemeister, Nehro, and Pioneerof the Nile, and has made him long to get to, and win, the Derby again.
2018 Road to the Derby: Tampa Bay Derby analysis
There are four newcomers, plus a new favorite, in this week's Derby Watch top 20.
