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Todd Pletcher has won the Grade 1 Florida Derby a record six times, including five of the last nine renewals. But none of those promising youngsters, even eventual Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming in 2017, came into the race with expectations for victory as high as Forte will on Saturday at Gulfstream Park.
There may be a runner in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 6 who has never raced beyond a mile or appeared in a group or graded stakes.
Michael Robinson races Arkansas Derby entrant Two Eagles River with Robert Garrett. The men met for the first time at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. auction last April – despite both hailing from the small town of Sayre, Okla.
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How fast did Derma Sotogake run Saturday when he dazzled in the UAE Derby? The colt's time was the second-fastest UAE Derby since the race moved to Meydan and lengthened to 1 3/16 miles in 2010.
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Frank Fletcher, the owner of Rocket Can, is seeking to win the Arkansas Derby on Saturday at Oaklawn Park. It's the dream he's been chasing since he got into racing in 1989.
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Horsemen, both in South Florida and approximately 1,200 miles away in Arkansas, will be hoping many of their heretofore unheralded 3-year-olds – Cinderellas if you will – can have one shining moment Saturday in either the Florida Derby or Arkansas Derby in hopes of qualifying for the May 6 Kentucky Derby.
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Trainer Todd Pletcher is likely to send out three runners in search of a record eighth Wood trophy – and perhaps another Kentucky Derby starter.
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Kentucky Derby: Who's hot, who's not for March 29, 2023.
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2023 Kentucky Derby pedigree profile: Red Route One
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There’s just not much to be said about this race. Wild On Ice had finished third, beaten more than 20 lengths, in the Sunland Derby prep, the Mine That Bird Derby; that after finishing ninth by more than 24 lengths making his stakes and two-turn debut in the Riley Allison Derby. He was a 35-1 shot in a six-horse field – and that feels like a price lower than merited.
