Victor Espinoza will ride Whitmore in the May 7 Kentucky Derby, Shagaf will have the comebacking Joel Rosario aboard, and Irad Ortiz Jr. moves to My Man Sam, the trainers of those runners said Wednesday.
Lexington Stakes winner has been cleverly managed to pick off low-hanging fruit while largely avoiding the big hitters. This was his third stakes win of the year at three different tracks, including two in point-scoring races.
CREATOR, third behind CUPID and WHITMORE four weeks earlier in the Rebel, continued his forward progress this spring by capturing the Arkansas Derby, the last of the 34 races in which horses could earn points toward a berth in the 2016 Kentucky Derby on May 7.
The scoreboard watching as to who's in and who's out for the Kentucky Derby on May 7 at Churchill Downs began in earnest on Monday and produced the first significant development when Cupid, who finished 10th as the favorite in the Arkansas Derby, was ruled out of the race by trainer Bob Baffert.
Cupid, who finished 10th as the favorite in the Arkansas Derby on Saturday, is out of consideration for the Kentucky Derby after being found to have an entrapped epiglottis, for which he was to have surgery Monday at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., trainer Bob Baffert said Monday.
As the final days leading up to the Kentucky Derby begin to tick down, trainer Steve Asmussen says that next week will be the time to tighten the screws on his Louisiana Derby winner Gun Runner. On Monday, Gun Runner worked an easy five furlongs, earning the day's bullet move for the distance.
Cupid, who finished 10th in Saturday’s $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park as the 4-5 favorite, will be sent from Arkansas to Kentucky in coming days while trainer Bob Baffert contemplates the colt’s next race.
The Arkansas Derby was the big race of the day Saturday, and it was eerie – or perhaps fitting, if you think about it – how much it was like the trio of stakes for 3-year-olds run seven days earlier.
Creator, Suddenbreakingnews, and Whitmore, the first three finishers in the Arkansas Derby here at Oaklawn Park on Saturday, all emerged from the race in good order and, with sufficient points for all safely tucked away, will take up three of the 20 spots in the Kentucky Derby field at Churchill Downs on May 7.
Creator showed just how far he had come in the last seven weeks by winning the meet’s biggest race, the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby, earning a berth in the May 7 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
