No horse has won the Kentucky Derby without racing as a 2-year-old since Apollo in 1882. Albergatti and Runflatout will try to take a significant step toward bucking that trend when they run in Saturday's San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita.
With help from Kentucky Derby contender Anthony's Cross, who runs next in the Santa Anita Derby, owner Arianne de Kwiatkowski is hoping to make her own way in racing with A D K Racing.
A majority interest in Silver Medallion, the El Camino Real Derby winner, was sold Thursday to Blackrock Racing Partners, a partnership headed by oil entrepreneur Steve Marshall, according to both Marshall and Michael Ryan, who previously owned 100 percent of the colt.
There was little movement from last week to this week. The top 20 members of Derby Watch remain the same, but Mike Watchmaker, Daily Racing Form’s national handicapper, tweaked his Kentucky Derby future line odds to reflect the performances last week of Dialed In and Stay Thirsty.
Rogue Romance, the third-place finisher in last month’s Risen Star Stakes, has a heel bruise that will keep him out of the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby on March 26.
Jakesam, an outsider in a field of 10, could give jockey Patrick Valenzuela his first stakes win since Feb. 27 in Saturday's San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita.
As expected, reigning juvenile champion and current Kentucky Derby favorite Uncle Mo will kick off his 3-year-old campaign going one mile Saturday in Gulfstream Park’s $100,000 Timely Writer.
Only four new names are in the lineup of 23 separately listed wagering interests in Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, marking quite possibly the fewest changes since Churchill Downs first began offering parimutuel futures in 1999. The only Kentucky Oaks Future Wager pool of the season will also be offered this weekend.
Although Golden Gate Fields is stuck in the middle of a two-month period without stakes racing, the 3-year-old ranks here received a boost from a race halfway across the country. Locally based Positive Response scored a seven-length, wire-to-wire victory in the $100,000 John Battaglia Memorial Stakes at Turfway Park as the 2-1 favorite Saturday.
Along with everybody else, the New York Racing Association’s racing department will be paying close attention to what Uncle Mo does this weekend, wherever he makes his 3-year-old debut.
