Posted each Friday at DRF.com from Jan. 6 through the Belmont Stakes, Countdown keeps you apprised of the rising stars of the 3-year-old class from the maiden ranks through the Grade 1 stakes.
King and Crusader, who won two races over Aqueduct's inner track in four days including the Jimmy Winkfield Stakes, could make his next start in the Grade 3, $400,000 Gotham Stakes on March 3, trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said Thursday.
The 2011 Experimental Free Handicap as released by The Jockey Club. The 3-year-olds Union Rags and Hansen were named co-highweights among males.
Algorithms, a runaway winner of the Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes here Sunday, had his Beyer Speed Figure for the race elevated from a 98 to 105. That’s the highest number earned by any 3-year-old to this point of the season.
I dug through some past performances this week to try to identify some hidden talent trying to look for underrated horses that might jump up and become major players on the Kentucky Derby trail in the weeks to come.
After assuming the top spot among the local 3-year-old class of 2012 with his victory in the Cash Call Futurity on Dec. 17, Liaison makes his first start of this year, en route to a desired spot in the Santa Anita Derby and then the Kentucky Derby, in the Grade 2, $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita.
Prospective will attempt to continue his run through Tampa Bay Downs’ trio of Kentucky Derby preps when he tries to add Saturday’s $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes to his impressive victory in the seven-furlong Pasco three weeks earlier.
If Alpha, a son of the white-sire Bernardini, can duplicate his performance from last month’s Count Fleet Stakes in Saturday’s $200,000 Withers at Aqueduct, he will earn $120,000 in graded stakes earnings. That, combined with the $60,000 Alpha earned for finishing second in the Grade 1 Champagne last October would move him close to a slot in the Churchill Downs starting gate for the May 5 Kentucky Derby.
Cracked heels are usually a problem in January, what with the cold weather, dry skin, and a natural shyness about regular exfoliation. Then there’s Garrett Gomez and Robby Albarado, who took the problem to extremes.
When Isn't He Clever won the $104,200 Riley Allison Futurity over 6 1/2 furlongs by 11 3/4 lengths at Sunland Park on Dec. 30, owners Kirk and Judy Robison and trainer Henry Dominguez decided to try for a loftier goal – Saturday’s $200,000 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita.
