Flashpoint is one of three 3-year-olds, along with Shackleford and Watch Me Go, whose connections remained undecided Wednesday whether to enter the following afternoon in the Grade 1 Florida Derby. There are six confirmed starters for the Florida Derby: Soldat, Dialed In, To Honor and Serve, Arch Traveler, Stay Thirsty, and Bowman’s Causeway.
Led by Watch Me Go, the Tampa Bay Derby winner, and Swift Warrior, the winner of the Rushaway Stakes, a total of 13 3-year-olds have been made late nominees to the Triple Crown, it was announced Wednesday by Churchill Downs, the home of the first leg of the Triple Crown, the May 7 Kentucky Derby.
The results of several key prep races in recent weeks has led to eight new names for the third and final pool in the 2011 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens its three-day run Friday at noon Eastern at tracks and wagering outlets throughout North America.
Golden Gate trainers Jeff Bonde and Billy Morey stepped into the batter’s box over the weekend, and Bonde hit a home run with Twice the Appeal, scoring a $53.20 upset in the Grade 3, $800,000 Sunland Derby at Sunland Park. Morey didn’t fare as well in his attempt at winning a major 3-year-old stakes, which came in the Grade 3 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park. The Morey-trained Positive Response finished eighth as the 8-5 favorite, missing a paycheck for the first time in his career.
Joes Blazing Aaron, wire-to-wire winner of the Grade 3 Palm Beach Stakes on the Gulfstream Park turf in his last start, has been moved into the barn of trainer Mike Maker and will try to move into the Kentucky Derby picture by running next in the $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes on Polytrack at Keeneland.
The 2010 stakes winner Celestic Night, claimed for $80,000 on March 10, is being considered for the $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 9, trainer Mike Mitchell said Sunday.
Increasingly, as the May 7 Kentucky Derby nears, earnings in graded stakes races will become a focal point of attention, and that critical factor got ratcheted up several notches this past weekend, when Pants On Fire, Twice the Appeal, Animal Kingdom, Decisive Moment, and Master of Hounds – none of whom were near the top of anyone’s list of Derby contenders – all likely made enough money to put them in the field.
With three major contenders having turned in their final major Florida Derby preps on Sunday, the outsiders Bowman’s Causeway and Arch Traveler worked on Monday for Sunday’s $1 million race.
