Six late nominees to Triple Crown

Six 3-year-olds, including the runner-up in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes, were nominated to the Triple Crown by the late-nomination deadline of March 27.

Five of the six horses who were nominated by the late deadline are scheduled to run in major Triple Crown prep races this weekend. The horses are Carnivore, Game Ball, Posse Power, Thomas Baines, Raise the Bridle, and Yawanna Twist.

The late nomination fee is $6,000, and allows a horse to be eligible to enter the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. Including the six late nominees, 372 horses have been nominated to the series.

Trained by Richard Dutrow, Yawanna Twist ran second in the Gotham on March 6 over Aqueduct's inner track to Awesome Act. While Awesome Act is staying in New York to face off against Eskendereya in the Wood Memorial, Dutrow has shipped Yawanna Twist to Chicago for the Grade 3 Illinois Derby on Saturday at Hawthorne Park.

Yawanna Twist will meet another late nominee in the Illinois Derby, the John Oxley-owned Game Ball. Eight horses have been entered in the race, with Yawanna Twist the third choice at 4-1 and Game Ball at 12-1, the longest price on the morning line.

Two of the late nominees are scheduled to run in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, and both were made 50-1 on the morning line by the track's handicapper. Posse Power, a two-time winner in six races, will start from the post 1, and Thomas Baines, a winner of two races from 12 starts, will start from the post 2.

Carnivore, who won in his maiden at Laurel recently in his third start, is the longest shot on the morning line in the Wood, at 20-1 in the six-horse field.

Raise the Bridle crossed the finish line first in the $100,000 Borderland Derby at Sunland Park but was placed second by the stewards for interfering with runner-up Storming Saint.

Although the nominating period for the Triple Crown races is now closed, horses can still be supplemented to all three Triple Crown races with a payment of $200,000 by April 28, the day when entries are drawn for the May 1 Kentucky Derby. In addition, a horse can be made eligible for the Preakness and Belmont Stakes with a payment of $100,000 at entry time for the Preakness.