An impressive maiden race win by Bodemeister at Santa Anita last Saturday will result in a stakes appearance in March. The race and date have yet to be finalized, trainer Bob Baffert said Tuesday.
Since its first running in 1982, the El Camino Real Derby has often been a springboard to success.
It’s hard to knock his pedigree, with stamina on the top and class on the bottom, and Bodemeister is certainly in the right hands with Bob Baffert calling the shots. Also, Bodemeister seemed more professional in his initial route outing.
Union Rags, Algorithms, and Discreet Dancer, the three leading contenders for the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth here at Gulfsream Park a week from Sunday, all worked out Monday morning at Palm Meadows.
For the 14th time in as many years, the mutuel field is the favorite in Pool 1 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which closed Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern following a three-day run that set a record for highest handle since Churchill Downs first began offering parimutuel futures in 1999.
Creative Cause will make his first start since November in the $150,000 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita next Sunday, and the two-time stakes winner is more than ready, trainer Mike Harrington said.
After agonizing over the decision for several days, jockey Javier Castellano and his agent, Matt Muzikar, have chosen to ride Algorithms, not Union Rags, in Gulfstream Park’s Grade 2 Fountain of Youth on Feb. 26. Union Rags will be ridden by Julien Leparoux in the Fountain of Youth.
Trainer Todd Pletcher won his seventh Hutcheson Stakes when Thunder Moccasin cruised to an easy 6 3/4-length victory in the Grade 2 dash for 3-year-olds.
Trainer Jonathan Sheppard said that a combination of a week’s worth of bad weather and the prospect of a wet track on race day prompted him to scratch his Kentucky Derby prospect Ever So Lucky from Saturday’s Hutcheson.
The second of three days of wagering into Pool 1 of the 2012 Kentucky Derby Future Wager will start with the mutuel field as the 3-5 favorite after $104,126 was bet into the win pool Friday.
