Trainer Christophe Clement has yet to run a horse in the Kentucky Derby in his 30-year training career, but in Deterministic he has a horse that has the qualifications to get him there for the first time.
Deterministic overcame a near eight-month layoff and an extremely sloppy track to win Saturday’s Grade 3, $300,000 Gotham Stakes by two lengths at Aqueduct. The 50 qualifying points he earned for that win should be more than enough to get into Derby field.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Although most of the talk both before and after Dornoch’s popular victory here Saturday in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth centered around who didn’t run, rather than who did run in the race, the fact remains that a very solid Kentucky Derby candidate emerged from the somewhat bizarre event with a boatload of qualifying points and a pretty good base to build upon as he continues to move forward to the first Saturday in May.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Just F Y I, the undefeated champion 2-year-old filly of 2023, was scratched out of Saturday's Grade 2, $200,000 Davona Dale Stakes at Gulfstream Park due to a temperature, trainer Bill Mott said Saturday afternoon.
"I can't risk it," Mott said. "She doesn't seem too bad."
Mott said he shipped Just F Y I from Payson Park to Gulfstream Park on Friday and seemed okay before developing a temperature Saturday morning.
The scratch of Just F Y I figures to leave Leslie's Rose a heavy favorite in the Davona Dale.
Nysos, the brilliant and undefeated 3-year-old scheduled to run Sunday in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, has been scratched, trainer Bob Baffert confirmed on Saturday.
“I scratched him,” Baffert said. “I changed my mind. I’m going to wait, give him extra time. He had a big effort.”
The most recent start by Nysos was a 105 Beyer Speed Figure smasher in the one-mile Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Feb. 3 at Santa Anita. Nysos won by more than seven lengths, extending his unbeaten streak to three.
Danny Gargan was fishing Monday morning, he and fellow horsemen John Kimmel and Scott Everett reeling in some good-sized sailfish in the waters off Jupiter, Fla.
This spring, Gargan hopes to go big-game hunting with his 3-year-old Dornoch.
The expedition to the Kentucky Derby begins in earnest Saturday when Dornoch makes his highly anticipated seasonal debut in the Grade 3, $400,000 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park. The Fountain of Youth, at 1 1/16 miles, offers its top five finishers (50-25-15-10-5) qualifying points toward the Derby.
WHO’S HOT
One can’t stop the feeling Timberlake’s reputation is growing. After winning his comeback Feb. 24 at Oaklawn, his first start since finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Timberlake’s Derby Watch odds were lowered to 10-1 by linemaker David Aragona. Timberlake is now sol feeling that Timberlitary second choice behind Sierra Leone, the 8-1 Derby Watch favorite.
A portion of the $10 million winner’s share of the Saudi Cup purse earned by Senor Buscador last weekend went to a Saudi Arabian businessman under a two-race “lease” of the horse that also includes any earnings from the upcoming $12 million Dubai World Cup, according to the owner and breeder of the horse, Joe Peacock Jr.
Justify, the 2018 Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year, Gun Runner, the 2017 Horse of the Year, and jockeys Joel Rosario and Jorge Chavez join 13 previously nominated horses and horsemen as finalists eligible for induction into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, it was announced on Tuesday.
A desperate head separated victorious Senor Buscador and tough-luck runner-up Ushba Tesoro in the $20 million Saudi Cup last Saturday, and the two horses are headed for a rematch March 30 at Meydan Racecourse in the $12 million Dubai World Cup.
A report examining a cluster of fatal musculoskeletal injuries at Saratoga Race Course last year did not find any overt connections between the deaths but noted that an unusual number of the deaths were due to fetlock injuries and that many of the horses had higher rates of exercise than small numbers of control horses.
