After running second to Carpe Diem in Saturday’s Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, Danzig Moon was shipped to Churchill Downs on Monday morning to join trainer Mark Casse’s string in Louisville.
Though disappointed in El Kabeir’s third-place finish in Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Wood Memorial, owner Ahmed Zayat said Monday he is leaning toward running the horse in the Kentucky Derby.
Both Dortmund and One Lucky Dane, the top two finishers from the Santa Anita Derby, came out of the race well, and both are set to move on to the Kentucky Derby on May 2, giving trainer Bob Baffert, who also trains American Pharoah, three potential starters in the Derby.
Frosted rebounded from his strange performance in the Fountain of Youth, in which he went from looking like a certain winner a quarter-mile out to falling apart through the lane to finish fourth.
Mr. Z breezed a half-mile Monday at Oaklawn Park in preparation for a possible start in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas said conversations are being held with owner Ahmed Zayat and his family concerning a potential start in Saturday’s race. Entries for the Arkansas Derby will be taken on Wednesday.
Kaleem Shah is a student of racing. He studies pedigrees. He studies the history. So, even though his colt Dortmund already had earned enough points to run in the Kentucky Derby prior to the Santa Anita Derby on Saturday, what Shah wanted as much as anything – the $600,000 winner’s share, confirmation that he has the best 3-year-old racing in California – was for Dortmund to keep his unbeaten record intact heading into the Kentucky Derby.
Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin pulled out all the stops when it came to preparing Frosted for Saturday’s Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, and now his next stop will be Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May. Frosted, who inexplicably flopped in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park in February, rebounded in a big way Saturday, rallying from off the pace while wide to win the $1 million Wood Memorial by two lengths over longshot Tencendur.
All the pieces are in place. Carpe Diem completed the abbreviated racing schedule mapped out for him by trainer Todd Pletcher in a dominating victory Saturday at Keeneland in the Blue Grass Stakes and now heads to the 141st Kentucky Derby as one of the favorites.
Dubai Sky, the winner of the Grade 3 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park on March 20, fractured a cannon bone in a hind leg while galloping Saturday morning at Churchill Downs and is off the Triple Crown trail, trainer Bill Mott said Saturday.
This time last year, California Chrome was the talk of the Coast, fresh from a bracing score in the San Felipe Stakes and creeping up the lists of Kentucky Derby contenders. His 5 1/4-length win in the Santa Anita Derby put trainer Art Sherman, Martin, and co-owner Steve Coburn on the national map as the horse to beat in Louisville.
