WHO’S HOT
Form prevailed in major Kentucky Derby preps this season – 16 of the last 17 graded stakes were won by the first or second favorite. Turnover has been minimal, and the final Derby Watch prior to the Derby draw on Saturday is similar to the first Derby Watch. Eight of the top 12 candidates listed on the Feb. 9 Derby Watch remain on the list; 11 of 20 overall.
Frankie Dettori will ride Wood Memorial runner-up Society Man in the Kentucky Derby, trainer Danny Gargan said Tuesday.
This will be Dettori's first Derby mount since 2000, when he rode China Visit to a sixth-place finish in the Run for the Roses.
"I'm excited to have him," Gargan said. "He's riding great. I know it's a race he wants to be in and a race he wants to win."
Dettori typically rides in Europe at this time of year but, after postponing retirement at the end of last year, he moved his tack to America beginning last December.
Churchill Downs Inc. urged the Kentucky Court of Appeals to reject a request for temporary injunction filed by the horse owner Amr Zedan by leaning heavily on a previous ruling in circuit court last week.
Thoroughbreds Justify and Gun Runner and the jockey Joel Rosario head the nine-member class elected for induction into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, it was announced Tuesday.
The class of 2024 also includes the longtime Daily Racing Form columnist Joe Hirsch, who, along with Clement L. Hirsch (no relation) and Harry Guggenheim, was chosen for induction by the Pillars of the Turf Committee. Jockey Abe Hawkins and Thoroughbreds Aristides and Lecomte were selected for induction by the Pre-1900 Historic Review Committee.
The Thoroughbred event horse Phelps and his longtime partner, rising U.S. event star Mia Farley, make their first run around the country's most well known three-day event, the Defender Kentucky five-star, this week at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Muth, a powerful winner of the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on March 30, and Imagination, second by a neck in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 6, worked at Santa Anita on Sunday in advance of expected starts in the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 18 for trainer Bob Baffert.
Muth worked five furlongs in 1:00.20, while Imagination went a half-mile in 48 seconds.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Several hours apart on Saturday, well-accomplished 4-year-olds trained by Bob Baffert were in action at Santa Anita. One is being prepared for a highly anticipated campaign in the second half of 2024, while the other is attempting to establish a meaningful role in the older male division.
On Saturday morning, Arabian Knight, winner of the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar last September but unraced since a fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita in November, worked a half-mile in 50 seconds, his second workout of the year.
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - As expected, Deterministic will not run in the Kentucky Derby, his connections made official on Sunday, opening up a spot for Florida Derby third-place finisher Grand Mo the First.
Deterministic, who earned enough qualifying points to get into the Kentucky Derby by virtue of his victory in the Grade 3 Gotham Stakes on March 2, finished eighth in the Grade 2 Wood Memorial on April 6 with no apparent excuse.
