HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - A field of nine - eight horses and one rabbit - was drawn Wednesday for Saturday's $750,000 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park.
Trainer Todd Pletcher entered two horses for 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby - his highly regarded Kentucky Derby prospect Dunkirk, and Europe, a maiden with only one start who was entered as a possible pacesetter. Both Dunkirk and Europe are owned by Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Susan Magnier.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. - Monarchos was still a maiden when he arrived in south Florida during the winter of 2001. He would ultimately go on to win three straight races at Gulfstream Park, including the Grade 1 Florida Derby as a prelude to equaling the stakes record in the Kentucky Derby later that spring.
Eight years later, trainer John Ward will try to win the Kentucky Derby again. This time, it's with Beethoven, a horse who so far very little resembles Monarchos.
Victor Lebron, the leading rider at the current Turfway Park winter-spring meet, will be out about six months after sustaining two fractured bones and tissue damage in his right ankle in a spill on the Lane's End Stakes undercard Saturday at the Florence, Ky., track.
Lebron, 24, was injured when his mount in the third race suddenly ducked inward soon after the start, throwing him. Following consultations Monday and Tuesday with orthopedic specialist Dr. Ray Shea in Louisville, Lebron was informed of the diagnosis.
ARCADIA, Calif. - The presence of both Pioneerof the Nile and The Pamplemousse in the Grade 1, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on April 4 is causing trainer Todd Pletcher to re-route Take the Points to the Grade 1, $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 11.
Take the Points most recently finished a distant second to The Pamplemousse in the Sham Stakes.
Pletcher on Tuesday said Take the Points, who is currently training at Santa Anita, could jump back into the Santa Anita Derby picture "if there is a defection or two." Barring that, though, he's off to Keeneland.
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Papa Clem got his first real feel for the Oaklawn Park surface on Tuesday morning, when he breezed five furlongs in 1:01.40 in preparation for the Grade 2, $1 million Arkansas Derby on April 11. The horse arrived here last week from Fair Grounds, where he was second to Friesan Fire in the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on March 14.
"It was just perfect," trainer Gary Stute said of the work from Papa Clem. "The main thing was just to get him used to the track, and next week we'll probably go seven-eighths."
OZONE PARK, N.Y. - Trainer Jeff Mullins is trying to stay calm, but his horse, I Want Revenge, is making it hard on him.
I Want Revenge continued preparations for his start as the favorite in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct on April 4 with a sharp five-furlong drill in 58.20 seconds Sunday morning over Hollywood Park's Cushion Track. It was the second-fastest of 29 moves at the distance. Joe Talamo was aboard I Want Revenge for the work, which was done in company with an unraced 3-year-old named I Want My Money.
FLORENCE, Ky. - Hold Me Back probably will race next in the April 11 Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland, but his connections are holding out the option of the colt going straight to the May 2 Kentucky Derby.
Hold Me Back, making his first start in nearly four months for owner WinStar Farm and trainer Bill Mott, was sensational going last to first to capture the Grade 2, $500,000 Lane's End Stakes on Saturday at Turfway Park. By virtue of the $282,000 winner's share, the colt is virtually assured of making the Derby field, based on the graded-earnings criteria.
ARCADIA, Calif. - With the financial backing of owner Richard Templer, the keen eye of agent Denny Boltinghouse, and the patient training of John Sadler, a pipeline has been created from the antipodes to Santa Anita.
Belmont Cat became the latest stakes winner for that group Sunday, when she captured the Grade 2, $150,000 Santa Ana Handicap for female turf horses. As with Black Mamba and Crossing the Line, Belmont Cat, who was bred in New Zealand, has blossomed since arriving from the South Pacific.