Lexington Stakes offers last shot at Kentucky Derby qualifying points
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Tawny Port is already in the Kentucky Derby, or so it would seem. In Due Time can make it, too, and so could a few others – but only with a big effort Saturday in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.
Six of the 11 starters in the Grade 3 Lexington have earned at least 10 qualifying points toward the Derby on May 7, led by Tawny Port, who just two Saturdays ago rang up 40 by finishing second in the Jeff Ruby Steaks. Trainer Brad Cox knows that’s most likely enough to make the 20-horse cutoff for the Derby, but he’s wheeling the colt back primarily to see how he handles dirt in the $400,000 Lexington, the final Derby qualifier. Points are meted out on a 20-8-4-2 basis.
“He actually ran pretty well the only time we tried him on the dirt,” Cox said, referring to a fifth-place finish in what has become the most productive race of all for the 148th Derby, the Risen Star on Feb. 19 at Fair Grounds. “He trains well on it, too, so this should give us a good barometer for where we stand toward the Derby.”
Tawny Port, with Florent Geroux riding from post 9, figures to vie for favoritism in the 1 1/16-mile Lexington with In Due Time (post 2, Paco Lopez), whose runner-up finish in his previous start, the Fountain of Youth on March 5 at Gulfstream Park, netted him 20 points.
“He was tired after the Fountain of Youth,” said Kelly Breen, trainer of In Due Time, “but he’s great now. He came back to himself quicker than I anticipated. He’s acted well, trained well, done everything right, gotten a work over the track here at Keeneland. We’re just trying to make sure to dot our i’s and cross our t’s.”
Breen said he bypassed earlier 170-point races not only to give In Due Time an additional week or two to recover from the Fountain of Youth, but “also with the mindset that the Lexington would be a Win and You’re In for us, although if we got enough points to make the Derby by running second or third, I’m sure we’d look at it. The reality of him being as tired as he was out of his last race – if all our thoughts are correct, we should have a horse that’s ready to perform at 110 percent.”
In Due Time figures as a forward factor in the 40th Lexington, a race that didn’t draw a whole lot of early pace. Maybe the emerging pacesetter will be Howling Time (post 5, Joe Talamo), but neither he nor any of the other 10 have shown themselves as habitual front-runners. Getting a decent early position therefore seems a likely key to victory.
“Our horse made a strong middle move in the Ruby,” Cox said of Tawny Port, “so hopefully he’ll give us that kind of run again. I know we’re coming back quick, but he bounced out of it great and we’ll lead him over there Saturday with confidence.”
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One other Lexington starter also enters with 20 points, that being Ethereal Road (post 4, Victor Espinoza), who wheels back seven days after finishing a dull seventh in the Blue Grass Stakes. The Rebel Stakes runner-up is trained by D. Wayne Lukas, whose last of four Derby wins came with the 1999 Lexington winner, Charismatic.
Three other Lexington starters enter with 10 Derby points, so a win Saturday would get them to 30, which historically is sufficient to make the Derby field. They are Major General (post 7, Irad Ortiz Jr.), Dash Attack (post 10, Flavien Prat), and Call Me Midnight (post 11, James Graham).
Major General won the first 10 points toward the 2022 Derby by capturing the Iroquois Stakes last September at Churchill Downs. He’ll be adding blinkers when trying to bookend the points schedule by rebounding from a 25-length defeat in the Tampa Bay Derby in his only race since the Iroquois.
Rounding out the Lexington lineup are We All See It, Skate to Heaven, and Strava.
Main-track races going 1 1/16 miles at Keeneland begin and end at what otherwise is the sixteenth pole.
First post for an 11-race Saturday card is 1 p.m. Eastern, with the Lexington going as race 9 at 5:16. The Grade 1 Jenny Wiley directly follows as race 10 (5:48). An outstanding undercard includes the $200,000 Giant’s Causeway (race 8) and four allowances (races 5, 6, 7, and 11).
Mostly sunny skies and a high of 65 are in the local forecast.
Keeneland goes dark Sunday because of the Easter holiday. After three dark days, the only five-day week of the 15-day spring meet begins Wednesday with an eight-race card.
◗ Conagher won the fifth race Wednesday by 6 3/4 lengths, paying $148.20 as easily the longest-priced winner so far at a meet that began April 8. The 3-year-old Jimmy Creed colt was ridden by Joe Rocco Jr. for trainer Mike Tomlinson. The upset was part of a track-record pick five payoff of $326,145 (races 4-8) swept by one 50-cent ticket. The former record was $308,872.
◗ Dr. Raymond Shea Jr., an orthopedic surgeon who for many years treated dozens of jockeys and others on the Kentucky circuit for racing-related injuries, died Saturday at age 82.