Trainer Todd Pletcher on Friday said that Havana was scheduled for his first start of the year in the Swale, but that a final decision on where he, Harpoon, and Surfing U S A all race would be made following workouts Sunday morning.
In Trouble had his final work next Saturday's Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct on Friday morning at Palm Meadows and worked slower than trainer Tony Dutrow desired, officially five furlongs in 1:02.75.
Hoppertunity, who has the look of a rapidly improving colt, is my play in the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds.
Vicar’s in Trouble is a Louisiana-bred by Into Mischief who cost $8,000 at a yearling auction, and that’s exactly how he looks. His hair coat doesn’t glow. He’s on the light side. And, quite frankly, the colt is tiny: He’ll be a full head shorter than brutes like Gold Hawk when he lines up in the starting gate here Saturday for the Risen Star Stakes.
Horseplayers are focused on finding a Kentucky Derby horse, whether it’s to bet him in the fixed-odds futures in Las Vegas or in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager parimutuel pool.
Rebranded is part of a 10-horse field for the $120,000 Mine That Bird Derby, a 1 1/16-mile race that serves as a prep for the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby.
Commissioner and Top Billing were separated by a neck in a 1 1/8-mile allowance race here Jan. 3. Their rematch – pitting two Derby-winning trainers against each other – makes Saturday's Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes a compelling Kentucky Derby prep 70 days before the first Saturday in May.
As of Wednesday morning, trainer Robert Pincins was wondering if he had shipped Emmett Park to Fair Grounds from his base at the Highpoint training center on Jan. 31 for naught. Within the hour, news came that Bond Holder was out of the Risen Star. Emmett Park must break from the 14 post, but he will get to run.
Bayern and Kobe’s Back are the two newcomers to this week’s Derby Watch top 20 list.
Trainer Shug McGaughey, who won the Kentucky Derby last year with Orb, has two highly ranked prospects for this year’s Derby in Honor Code and Top Billing. On the Derby Watch top-20 list, they are the co-second choices at 6-1 on the future line set by Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form’s national handicapper.
