Mr Speaker well spotted in Lexington

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Shug McGaughey tried to get back to the Kentucky Derby, but injuries to Top Billing and Honor Code precluded the Hall of Fame trainer from following up on what he accomplished last year with Orb.

Even the final train to Louisville can’t get McGaughey there. In fact, the Keeneland station is being completely bypassed this year, as none of the 11 3-year-olds in the Coolmore Lexington Stakes will be going in the Derby after the 1 1/16-mile Polytrack race is run for the 33rd time Saturday.

McGaughey, with a Phipps Stable homebred named Mr Speaker, rates as good a chance as any to win consolation prizes stemming from a $200,000 purse, a Grade 3 ranking, and Derby eligibility points immediately rendered moot.

“I’ve always said you’ve got to have a certain amount of luck to make it to the Derby, let alone win it,” McGaughey said. “We didn’t have much luck this year, but we’ll be OK.”[bc_video_id:321640:]

Mr Speaker, like so many horses successful on synthetics, sports excellent turf form and therefore figures as one of the main contenders in the Lexington, which goes as the ninth of 10 Saturday races at Keeneland. First post is 1:05 p.m. Eastern, with the Lexington set for 5:13.

[ROAD TO THE KENTUCKY DERBY: Prep races, point standings, replays]

McGaughey considered running Mr Speaker as a longshot in the Blue Grass Stakes last weekend but ultimately took a pass because he felt the 14-horse field was too big. Indeed, this spot seems a much better fit, as Mr Speaker, with Jose Lezcano to ride from post 1, has been pegged as a 5-2 morning-line favorite. In his last start March 1, the Pulpit colt ran a big second when getting first-time Lasix in the Palm Beach Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

Others in an interesting lineup include the uncoupled Wayne Catalano duo of Solitary Ranger (post 2, Florent Geroux) and Poker Player (post 4, Stewart Elliott), both trying to rebound off poor performances in the March 22 Spiral Stakes at Turfway Park; Divine Oath (post 6, Javier Castellano), making his stakes debut after winning the first two starts of his career; and Supermonic (post 10, Joel Rosario), running back on just five days’ rest after easily winning an allowance race here last Sunday.

Supermonic is one of two horses supplemented into the race for a $15,000 fee, the other being Z Lucky (post 5, Jon Court).

Two of the Lexington entrants, Dynamic Impact and Global Strike, have been cross-entered in Saturday’s Illinois Derby at Hawthorne.

Divine Oath, Supermonic, and Global Strike are trained by Todd Pletcher, who has dominated the Lexington in recent years. Pletcher has won five of the last nine runnings with Coin Silver (2005), Behindatthebar (2008), Advice (2009), Exhi (2010), and Winning Cause (2013).

[DRF Live: Get live reports and handicapping insights from Keeneland this Saturday]

As for Derby points, the Lexington winner gets 10, but with none of the starters having already accumulated any, those will go to waste, considering the threshold to make the 20-horse cutoff for the May 3 race appears to be about 20 points.

The Lexington anchors another terrific program. Two other stakes, the Giant’s Causeway (race 7) and Ben Ali (race 8), directly precede it, while two allowances (races 3 and 5) also are on tap. TVG will have extensive full-day coverage.

Another huge ontrack crowd can be expected, with the forecast calling for sunny skies and a high temperature of 71.

Fans are reminded that there will be no racing here Sunday because of the Easter holiday. The final three-day stretch of the spring meet starts Wednesday, with live action on the circuit moving April 26 to Churchill Downs.