Far From Over, who overcame a disastrous start to win the Withers, and Prospect Park, the impressive winner of a recent allowance race at Santa Anita, are the two newcomers to this week’s Derby Watch top 20.
A commitment to fitness is the reason Mike Smith, who entered the Hall of Fame in 2003, has been able to remain the most sought-after big-race rider in the sport, more than two decades after he won his first Eclipse Award as champion jockey, and exactly 10 years since his lone Kentucky Derby win, which came aboard Giacomo.
Texas Red, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita last November and a leading contender for the 2015 Triple Crown, was diagnosed with an abscess in his right front foot in the last week and will not train at Santa Anita for the remainder of February, trainer Keith Desormeaux said on Tuesday.
While the top three finishers from Saturday’s Grade 3 Withers Stakes could very well run back in next month’s Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct, that race also looks like the destination for Ocean Knight, undefeated winner of the Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs on Jan. 31.
Dortmund remained unbeaten with a narrow victory in the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita Park, capping a big day for his sire, Big Brown.
The mutuel field closed Sunday as a 5-2 favorite in Pool 2 of the 2015 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, with Texas Red the heaviest-backed individual interest at 9-1.
In a thrilling rematch of their Los Alamitos Futurity duel in December, Dortmund again outbattled Firing Line, again prevailing by the length of his giant head, this time in the Grade 3, $150,000 Robert Lewis Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita.
After a disastrous start, Far From Over more than lived up to his name, rallying from last to win Saturday’s Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct and give trainer Todd Pletcher another 3-year-old on the Kentucky Derby trail.
Southern California-based jockey Joe Talamo will ride War Story in the Grade 3, $300,000 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn on Feb. 16, the horse’s co-owner, Ron Paolucci, said Thursday.
Firing Line acquitted himself well in his stakes debut and first attempt around two turns, finishing second by a head to unbeaten Dortmund in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 20. Now targeting another showdown with Dortmund in the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis Stakes this Saturday, the colt’s pedigree suggests his best days are still ahead of him. Both sire Line of David and dam Sister Girl Blues blossomed at age 3 or later.
