Stakes winners Flashy Dresser and Trinniberg, along with stakes runners-up Isn't He Clever and Golden Ticket are among 20 late nominations to the Triple Crown announced Monday.
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Daddy Nose Best gradually moved past Isn’t He Clever in the stretch to win the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Park Derby by three-quarters of a length on Sunday.
Handsome Mike, fourth in Saturday’s Grade 3 Vinery Racing Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park, is scheduled to make his next start in the $1 million Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on April 14, a last chance to gain a spot in the Kentucky Derby on May 5.
El Padrino, who figures to be second choice in Saturday's Florida Derby, worked four furlongs in 49.10 seconds Sunday at Gulfstream Park, covering his final quarter in 24 seconds.
Empire Way, runner-up in the Grade 2 Robert Lewis Stakes in February, but ninth in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes on March 10, is off the Kentucky Derby trail, trainer Mike Harrington said on Sunday.
Bourbon Courage could be headed for the Derby Trial after scoring a second-straight flashy six-furlong win at Fair Grounds on Saturday, trainer Kellyn Gorder said Sunday.
Cigar Street, a blowout two-turn Fair Grounds maiden winner in his most recent race, green-lighted his entry into next Sunday’s $1 million Louisiana Derby with a good five-furlong workout in 1:01.20 Sunday morning.
The connections of Vinery Racing Spiral winner Went the Day Well are discussing whether their horse should prep in the Coolmore Lexington at Keeneland on April 21 or head directly to the Kentucky Derby.
In much the same fashion that Animal Kingdom glided to victory in the Vinery Spiral last year for Team Valor International and trainer Graham Motion, Went the Day Well also was dominant, sparking high hopes that perhaps he, too, will be capable of following it up with a Kentucky Derby victory.
Hansen, last year’s champion juvenile, breezed an easy five furlongs in 1:01.20 at Churchill Downs Trackside Saturday in preparation for an expected start in the April 14 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.
