Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin said he probably got his best night’s sleep in two weeks on Saturday, once he learned that Cairo Prince was sitting in the 20th spot on the Kentucky Derby points standings at day’s end, making it likely his horse will have a starting berth in the Derby lineup.
Danza came for the points and he went home with the lion’s share of them at Oaklawn Park on Saturday, when he pulled a 41-1 upset in his two-turn debut in Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby.
Eurton is faced with whether to run Dance With Fate back in the May 3 Kentucky Derby after the Florida-bred colt, ridden by Corey Nakatani, posted an emphatic 1 3/4-length victory Saturday in the 90th running of the Grade 1, $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes, the annual spring showcase at Keeneland.
Churchill Downs will raise its takeout rates this spring to the maximum allowed by Kentucky law, officials confirmed Friday, a decision that will lower payouts on the track’s races by almost 16 percent in many cases.
The notable exclusion of the Illinois Derby last year from Churchill Downs’s points-based qualifying system for the 20 starting slots in the Kentucky Derby dealt a big blow to Hawthorne Race Course, but it might not be such a calamity after all.
Knock Em Flat is entered in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on Saturday, but will instead run on the undercard in the $100,000 Northern Spur, said his trainer, Donnie Von Hemel.
The Blue Grass Stakes has mimicked the Kentucky Derby in recent years in at least one notable respect: surprises are the norm. No favorite has won the Blue Grass since 2003, and with the 90th running of the Keeneland showcase on tap for Saturday, a jam-packed gate of 3-year-olds replete with unknown variables portends more of the same.
Tapiture has established himself as the top 3-year-old at Oaklawn Park, but when he runs Saturday in the meet’s richest offering, the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby, he will have to stave off a number of points-hungry newcomers.
Medal Count is wheeling back in only eight days after winning the off-the-turf Transylvania on opening day at Keeneland, and I’m taking him to win right back in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.
Cairo Prince’s Kentucky Derby status is precarious heading into the two final two major Derby preps Saturday, the Blue Grass Stakes and Arkansas Derby.
