Owen Almighty to use Blue Grass as prep for Kentucky Derby
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Owen Almighty, impressive winner of the Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby on March 8, will be pointed to the Kentucky Derby and will use the Grade 1, $1.25 million Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 5 to get there, trainer Brian Lynch said Tuesday.
Jose Ortiz will ride Owen Almighty in the Blue Grass, Lynch said. He replaces Irad Ortiz Jr., who is committed to ride Fountain of Youth runner-up River Thames in the Blue Grass, trainer Todd Pletcher confirmed.
Heading into the Tampa Bay Derby, Lynch said he was planning to use that 1 1/16-mile race as a way to get to the Pat Day Mile, a one-turn race run on the the Kentucky Derby undercard. But Owen Almighty got away with some moderate fractions while racing on the lead and finished the Tampa Bay Derby quite strongly to beat two-time Grade 1 winner Chancer McPatrick by 3 1/2 lengths.
While Lynch had hoped to stick to his plan, he said the ownership group, Flying Dutchmen Breeding and Racing, headed by Travis Boersma, expressed a desire to point to the Derby.
“The fact that he finished as well as he did was encouraging,” Lynch said. “I know the pace scenario isn’t going to be the same, but he stretched out nicely and it wasn’t as if he was done at the wire.”
Lynch was going to train up to the Pat Day Mile, but he wants to run the horse again in a 1 1/8-mile race before the Kentucky Derby.
“He’s still a relatively lightly raced horse, getting better with each race,” Lynch said. “I want to run him a mile and an eighth before we took on the mile and a quarter.”
Owen Almighty, who at 2 won the Ellis Park Juvenile, has run three times this year, all at Tampa Bay Downs. He was disqualified from a win for interference in the Pasco Stakes in January and finished a game second to John Hancock in the Sam F. Davis in February before his Tampa Bay Derby victory.
Lynch said that if Owen Almighty were to run poorly in the Blue Grass, that could possibly alter his Derby plans, but Lynch isn’t expecting a bad performance.
“As well as this horse is training, as well he’s come out of the race, I’d be very surprised if he were to run poorly in the Blue Grass,” Lynch said.
Jimmy's Dailys to Florida Derby
Meanwhile, Lynch said he plans to run Jimmy’s Dailys in the Grade 1, $1 million Florida Derby on March 29. Jimmy’s Dailys, a son of Vekoma, won a seven-furlong maiden race at Gulfstream on Jan. 25 and then finished second to Grande in a first-level allowance going 1 1/8 miles on Feb. 27.
“I thought it was a good effort. He was inside, pressed by a very nice horse, and wasn’t beaten bad and tried to come on again,” Lynch said. “I think, second time around two turns, he’ll be that much better.”
Lynch said Joel Rosario has the call on Jimmy’s Dailys, as Irad Ortiz Jr., who rode last time, is committed to ride a Pletcher-trained horse – presumably Disruptor – in the Florida Derby.
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