Record 460 horses eligible for Triple Crown

An additional 10 horses were made eligible to the Triple Crown races at the secondary deadline Saturday, bringing the total number of 3-year-olds nominated this year to the May 5 Kentucky Derby, May 19 Preakness Stakes, and June 9 Belmont Stakes to a record 460, Triple Crown Productions announced on Tuesday.

The late nominees include several horses slated to race in major Derby preps this Saturday, including Court the King and Medici Code, who are scheduled to run in the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby, and Catman Running and Love Dubai, who are expected to race in the Grade 2, $500,000 Illinois Derby at Hawthorne. Also nominated was Reptilian Smarts, who is scheduled to run in the Grade 1, $750,000 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on Saturday.

Those five horses, and five others, all were made eligible with a payment of $6,000. Another 450 horses were made eligible at the first deadline, Jan. 20, for $600. The 460 total nominees eclipses the record of 454 set in 2003.

The other five nominees are Etude, who won the Private Terms Stakes at Laurel on March 24, along with Cristobal, Delightful Kiss, Quite Acceptable, and Vow to Greatness.