MOHAYMEN picked right up at 3 where he left off at 2, with another victory, this perhaps the most impressive of his four-race career. He is clearly the top-ranked Kentucky Derby prospect on the East Coast, and until male 2-year-old champion Nyquist makes his first start at age 3 later this month, a case can be made that Mohaymen is the top-ranked Derby contender, period.
For a homebred who was risked for $40,000 in his debut, SUNNY RIDGE certainly has proven to be a pleasant surprise, with this victory pushing him past the $500,000 mark in career earnings. He has finished first or second in five of six starts.
Smokey Image, who extended his unbeaten record to six races with an easy win in the $245,000 California Cup Derby at 1 1/16 miles, is a candidate for the $400,000 San Felipe Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on March 12. The Grade 2 San Felipe is a key prep for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 9.
In Sunny Ridge, owner Dennis Drazin believes he has a nice 3-year-old who deserves the opportunity to run in a classic race. Whether that classic is the Kentucky Derby, well, that’s another story.
Making his 3-year-old debut in Saturday's Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park, Mohaymen left little doubt that he is the leading East Coast contender for the May 7 Kentucky Derby – and surely sparked speculation that he might now even be the overall division leader – when he cruised to a 3 1/2-length victory over Greenpointcrusader.
Mohaymen left little doubt that he is the leading Kentucky Derby contender stabled on the East Coast and fueled the argument that he might now even be the division leader, cruising to a convincing 3 1/2-length victory over Greenpointcrusader and four other overmatched rivals in Saturday’s Grade 2 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park.
After a solid 2-year-old season, Sunny Ridge kicked off his 3-year-old campaign with a gritty - it not particularly fast - three-quarter length victory over Vorticity in Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct.
Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg has sent out a promising pair of 3-year-old winners during the young Oaklawn Park meet and at least one of them, Cutacorner, is bound for the Grade 3, $500,000 Southwest Stakes.
Six 3-year-olds running a mile and 70 yards Sundayat Fair Grounds in a first-level optional $50,000 claimer have a chance to demonstrate whether they belong on the path to the Louisiana Derby.
Mohaymen did everything asked of him at 2, becoming an Eclipse Award finalist after winning all three of his juvenile starts, including both the Nashua and Remsen. And Kiaran McLaughlin is confident Mohaymen will get even better as a 3-year-old, a theory that will get tested for the first time on Saturday, when Mohaymen goes postward the heavy favorite in the $350,000 Holy Bull
