Nine days removed from having a heart attack, and fewer than 24 hours after arriving back in California from Dubai, trainer Bob Baffert strolled into Santa Anita on Wednesday morning, his humor still intact.
Here are five Santa Anita Derbies among the 75 run that still reverberate to this day:
Daddy Long Legs and Wrote, the first- and third-place finishers in the United Arab Emirates Derby, are the newcomers to this week’s Derby Watch top 20.
Optimizer, the runner-up in the Grade 2, $500,000 Rebel at Oaklawn, remains on target for the Arkansas Derby and could have his final work for the race on Tuesday, said his trainer, D. Wayne Lukas.
Undefeated Gemologist drew post 6 in a field of eight 3-year-olds entered Wednesday for Saturday’s $1 million Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.
The connections of Isn’t He Clever would like to see the horse advance to the Kentucky Derby, but with $188,000 in graded earnings he’s a bubble-type prospect, so plans have been made to run him in the Grade 1, $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 14.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum’s previous attempts to win the Kentucky Derby came with the caveat the horse come from his homeland of the United Arab Emirates. But while Dubai’s ruling leader still covets America’s most prestigious prize, he is less stringent on how to achieve the goal.
An altered training schedule worked successfully for Creative Cause in March, and has led trainer Mike Harrington to try to replicate that schedule in advance of Saturday’s $750,000 Santa Anita Derby.
Trained by Jim Cassidy and owned by Norman Cheng of Hong Kong, Brother Francis is the only nonwinner of the nine probable starters in the Santa Anita Derby, California’s top prep for the Kentucky Derby on May 5.
Jockey Ramon Dominguez will take his comeback from a separated collarbone conservatively, riding just two days a week for the next two weeks before attempting to return to a full-time schedule on April 18.
