My Boy Jack to pursue Derby points in Lexington Stakes

ARCADIA, Calif. – My Boy Jack, third in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds on March 24, is expected to start in the Grade 3 Lexington Stakes at Keeneland on Saturday in an effort to secure sufficient qualifying points for the Kentucky Derby.

Through Friday, My Boy Jack had 32 qualifying points and was 17th on the list of potential Kentucky Derby runners. The Kentucky Derby, scheduled for May 5 at Churchill Downs, has a limit of 20 starters.

Trainer Keith Desormeaux said Friday that My Boy Jack may need more qualifying points, pending the results of major stakes around the nation this weekend and next Saturday.

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The Arkansas Derby will be run at Oaklawn Park on Saturday. The first three finishers will earn 100, 40 and 20 qualifying points. The first three finishers of the $200,000 Lexington Stakes at 1 1/16 miles will earn 20, 8 and 4 points.

Desormeaux on Friday was fearful a few runners from the Arkansas Derby – or the Blue Grass Stakes, Santa Anita Derby, and Wood Memorial scheduled for this Saturday – could pass My Boy Jack in the standings.

“The problem is, what if you’re 19th or 20th and two longshots come in?” he said.

Owned by Don’t Tell My Wife Stables and Monomoy Stables, My Boy Jack has won 2 of 9 starts and earned $525,145. Earlier this year, My Boy Jack won the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at a mile at Oaklawn Park. In the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby at 1 1/8 miles, My Boy Jack closed well with a wide rally to finish three-quarters of a length behind winner Noble Indy.

The Lexington Stakes would serve as a late tuneup for a potential start in the Kentucky Derby and may be an easier spot than the Arkansas Derby at 1 1/8 miles, from Desormeaux’s perspective.

“He’ll be in Kentucky,” he said. “If we ran in the Arkansas Derby, we’d have to ship in. It would be harder to recover from that.

“If there is any question about recovery, I shouldn’t run at all. He’s a hardy horse, a sound horse. I don’t think it will cause him to regress.”

Desormeaux said he has not decided on race plans for Ayaraca, who was second in the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 3 and fifth in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes on March 10. Ayacara worked five furlongs on March 31.

“I’ll back off and wait until he and I become more confident about where to go,” Desormeaux said.

Solis joins Lovacres Ranch

Trainer Walther Solis has joined owner and breeder Terry Lovingier’s staff at Lovacres Ranch in Warner Springs, Calif., and will direct the breaking and training of yearlings and 2-year-olds, Lovingier said earlier this week.

“We’ll break between 150 and 200 horses,” Lovingier said.

Solis, 56, is best known as the trainer of Willa B Awesome, the winner of the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks in 2012 for a partnership that included Lovingier. Solis and Lovingier later ended their business relationship.

“We worked together and we’re back,” Lovingier said.

◗ After Sunday’s program, live racing will resume at Santa Anita on Friday, the start of the spring-summer portion of the meeting. Racing will be conducted Fridays-Sundays through April 22. Thursdays will be added after that week until the meet ends on June 24.