Countdown to the Crown: Week 16 - April 19, 2013
Countdown to the Crown is Jeremy Plonk's weekly comprehensive handicapper’s scouting report of the 3-year-old scene. Find it every Friday on DRF.com.
Jeremy PlonkApr 19, 2013
Countdown to the Crown is Jeremy Plonk's weekly comprehensive handicapper’s scouting report of the 3-year-old scene. Find it every Friday on DRF.com.
Pure Fun, the only filly among 11 3-year-olds in the field, is using the Coolmore Lexington Stakes as her final prep for the May 3 Kentucky Oaks. If she wins – and she is the morning-line favorite – Pure Fun will dash whatever Derby hopes exist among the connections of the Lexington’s male runners.
One merely needs to watch the replay of River Rocks’s last race March 17 at Gulfstream Park to view him as a live longshot at 12-1 in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes.
Before making a wager such as the Triple Crown future, try to figure out if it would be more profitable to parlay from race-to-race or game-to-game instead of locking in your price. It often works far better to roll your winnings over in a parlay.
The major Kentucky Derby preps might be over, but that doesn’t mean the 3-year-olds have temporarily conceded the spotlight. Two of Saturday’s biggest races, the Grade 3, $750,000 Illinois Derby at Hawthorne and the Grade 3, $200,000 Coolmore Lexington at Keeneland, are for 3-year-olds.
Itsmyluckyday had his final serious tune up for the 2013 Kentucky Derby when working a mile in 1:43.10 shortly after dawn Thursday morning at Calder Race Course.
Charming Kitten, Falling Sky, Frac Daddy, and Tiz a Minister are the additions to this week's Derby Watch top 20 list.
Not since 1999, when Charismatic won the Kentucky Derby 14 days after winning the Lexington Stakes, has a Derby winner had his final prep two weeks or less from the first Saturday in May.
Goldencents, winner of the Santa Anita Derby on April 6, moved closer to a start in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs by learning to relax early during a workout Wednesday at Santa Anita.
A full field of 14 horses was entered Wednesday for Saturday's Grade 3, $750,000 Illinois Derby at Hawthorne Race Course.