LAS VEGAS - While undefeated Declan's Moon was the clear favorite for the Kentucky Derby before being sidelined by a chipped knee, he was hardly scaring away the opposition, and the 20-horse limit rule looked like a sure thing this year. In his absence, it seems even more certain there will be a maximum field that will be decided by highest earnings in graded stakes.
Juveniles preparing for the Barretts March select sale in California and the Ocala Breeders' Sales Co.'s select sale in Florida completed their sale previews over the weekend, with an Indian Charlie colt and a Langfuhr filly the top one-furlong workers in 10 seconds and 10.20 seconds, respectively.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - A dark horse is a longshot or an unknown opponent, and at this point in the evaluation of contenders for the 2005 Kentucky Derby, there are two particular colts who fit this description.
Their promise has grown as they have matured and the distances they race have lengthened, but they have also gained from the loss of the early Kentucky Derby favorite, unbeaten Declan's Moon. Champion of his division last year and winner of the Santa Catalina in his seasonal debut on March 5, Declan's Moon is out of the Triple Crown due to a chip in his left knee.
The all-important prerace workouts at Barretts last week for Tuesday's March sale of 2-year-olds in training sale included quick times from a pair of California-breds - a well-bred colt, and a filly whose sire is well known for his Quarter Horse runners.
A majority of the 163 horses remaining in the sale from the original 202 in the catalog had workouts over one or two furlongs last Monday.
The quickest time over a quarter-mile was a Florida-bred colt by Songandaprayer timed in 20.60 seconds.
With the injured Declan's Moon sadly removed from the Triple Crown trail, another colt could fulfill Kentucky Derby dreams for Marylanders in 2005.
A previously unheard-of Maryland-bred has established himself as the likely favorite for the $2 million, Group 2 United Arab Emirates Derby on Dubai World Cup Day, March 26.
The horse is Parole Board, a 3-year-old colt by Dynaformer, who burst on the scene March 5 with a victory in the Al Bastakiya, a $150,000 race at Nad al Sheba that is considered the second leg of the United Arab Emirates Triple Crown.
The annual sale of 2-year-olds in training at Frank Stronach's Adena Springs South will be held this year on March 21 at the outfit's new farm and sales complex in Williston, Fla. There are 121 homebreds cataloged for this sale, which has a 6 p.m. starting time. The Ocala Breeders' Sales Company, which will hold its own selected sale of 2-year-olds in training on March 22 and 23, is conducting the sale on behalf of Adena Springs.
First foals by the brilliant runner Mayakovsky have begun arriving at Tim Little and Anne Morgan's Mill Creek Farm in Stillwater, located in Saratoga County.
Owned by Michael B. Tabor, Mayakovsky began his career on opening day at Saratoga Race Course in 2001 and gave those in attendance something to talk about.
Kingmambo, who stands at Lane's End in Kentucky for a $300,000 fee, will miss about three weeks of the breeding season because of arthritis in his neck and possible infection of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis.
Lane's End recently removed Kingmambo, a 15-year-old Mr. Prospector horse, from its lineup after he injured a leg while dismounting a mare, but in a release issued Wednesday the farm said the stallions "is now fully recovered from that incident."
According to the farm, radiographs and a bone scan have shown signs of arthritis at the base of Kingmambo's neck.
