When you get young, lightly raced horses competing on a sloppy, sealed surface like the one in the Jan. 28 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, you often don’t learn as much about them as you’d like. And as for the race’s runaway winner, Arabian Knight, we already knew he was an elite talent. This only provided affirmation.
Arabian Knight has initially emerged from his tour-de-force run in the Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest on Saturday at Oaklawn Park in fine fashion and likely will have a good amount of time between now and his next start, trainer Bob Baffert said Sunday.
Every horse in the Grade 3, $750,000 Southwest on Saturday at Oaklawn Park has something to prove, whether a leading Kentucky Derby points earner in Jace's Road, a $2.3 million purchase in Arabian Knight, an undefeated stakes winner in Corona Bolt, a blueblood in Red Route One, or a local stakes winner in Frosted Departure.
Verifying, a half-brother to champion Midnight Bisou who is tied atop the Beyer Speed Figure standings for 3-year-olds, will likely make his next start in a Kentucky Derby points race at Oaklawn Park or Fair Grounds, according to trainer Brad Cox.
Instant Coffee had to overcome a slow pace winning the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes on Nov. 26 but had a far more favorable race flow in the Grade 3 Lecomte, where the half-mile split came up a wickedly fast 47.19 seconds. With a pace assist, Instant Coffee won by a comfortable margin.
Pool 3 in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager closed Sunday evening with the mutuel field as the 2-1 favorite among 40 wagering options.
Practical Move, winner of the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 17, is under consideration for one of two Grade 2 stakes at 1 1/16 miles later this winter, trainer Tim Yakteen said Sunday.
Road to the 2023 Kentucky Derby: Sham Stakes analysis
Victory Formation was 3-5 favorite in the Smarty Jones in great part because he came into the race with two wins from two starts and had popular connections -- Flavien Prat riding for trainer Brad Cox -- but the nature of the competition also had something to do with his price.
The manner in which the BC Juvenile would unfold began to take shape the weekend before the race, when Hurricane J was scratched from the Bowman Mill Stakes to instead start in the Juvenile. He went off at odds of 70-1 in the Juvenile and in the end helped take down 1-2 favorite Cave Rock. But maybe that’s not entirely fair, framing the race as a defeat for Cave Rock, because in the end, Forte came and took the Juvenile from Cave Rock as much as the favorite lost it.
