Every single horse in North America and Japan with the qualifying points to make the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field on May 6 is as of Wednesday still on track to race in the Kentucky Derby.
Of the top 20 point earners, only Brave Emperor, who topped the European Road to the Derby, has been ruled out of consideration. And that means horses who in a more typical year would comfortably be in the field will be sweating things out over the next few weeks.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – American Apple and Danse Macabre are among the contenders in a full field of 12 for Friday’s $250,000 Limestone Stakes for 3-year-old fillies sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs on the Keeneland turf. They are the only two U.S. graded stakes winners in the lineup.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Hit the Woah will try to begin her 5-year-old campaign better than she ended her 4-year-old season when she returns to the races Friday in a third-level allowance scheduled for six furlongs over Aqueduct’s outer turf course.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Trainer Chad Brown will be looking to extend his dominance in the Grade 1, $600,000 Jenny Wiley when he is represented by the highly regarded Peter Brant pair of In Italian and Speak of the Devil among eight fillies and mares in the 1 1/16-mile turf race.
The status of Blue Grass third-place finisher Blazing Sevens will be monitored quite closely by those on the outside of the Kentucky Derby picture looking in, but don’t expect a decision on that colt’s status for a few weeks.
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Lexington Stakes on Saturday often serves as a prep for the Preakness, not the Kentucky Derby. And that would most definitely apply in the case of Arabian Lion, one of 11 3-year-olds confirmed for the final qualifying race toward the May 6 Derby.
Arabian Lion, trained by Bob Baffert, lacks sufficient qualifying points for the Derby, helping to make that a moot point. But the May 20 Preakness remains in play, especially if the Justify colt runs big in the Grade 3, $400,000 Lexington at Keeneland.
Lord Miles
Curlin – Lady Esme, by Majestic Warrior
Bred in Kentucky by Vegso Racing Stable
With all the major Kentucky Derby prep races in the books, the biggest newcomer on this week’s Daily Racing Form Derby Watch is Lord Miles, who returned $120.50 for his nose victory in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial on Saturday at Aqueduct. While he will again be a long price in the Derby, he brings classic credentials from a pedigree standpoint.
There is no obvious feature race at Gulfstream Park on Friday. However, betting opportunities abound in mostly competitive events, and the second and third races make it worthwhile to arrive early for the nine-race card, which begins at 12:40 p.m. Eastern.
WHO’S HOT
Tapit Trice produced a career-best performance Saturday at Keeneland, where he won the Blue Grass Stakes by a neck. The win lifts Tapit Trice from borderline participant in the Kentucky Derby to legitimate contender. Tapit Trice is the 5-1 second choice on the Derby Watch early odds line by David Aragona; Forte is the 3-1 favorite.
Kenny McPeek can keep everybody else jammed up if he wants. There’s no looming timetable as to when the veteran trainer must decide whether Sun Thunder will be entered in the May 6 Kentucky Derby, and he can take pretty much all the time he needs.
Sun Thunder, a no-factor fourth by 6 1/2 lengths as a 13-1 shot last Saturday in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, is in the Derby if so desired. Owned by R.T. Racing Stable and Cypress Creek Equine, the son of uber-sire Into Mischief is 14th on the list of qualifiers with 54 points, safely above the 20-horse cutoff.
