LOUISVILLE, Ky. - There is a widely held notion that this year's Kentucky Derby lacks a clear-cut favorite. Huh?
Harlan's Holiday has run nine times. He has won five and finished second in the other four races. He won the Florida Derby in his last start, by 3 1/2 lengths. He is a grandson of a Triple Crown winner, Affirmed, and the great-grandson of a Kentucky Derby winner, Northern Dancer, rendering pedigree questions moot.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Jimmy Jerkens entered both Big E E and Multiple Choice in Thursday's $52,000 allowance feature at Aqueduct. But, having named the same rider, Javier Castellano, on both, he may run only one. When the entries came out and Big E E drew the rail and Multiple Choice drew the outside, it helped make the decision.
"I'm almost certain to run Multiple Choice," Jerkens said Tuesday afternoon.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - After Snow Dance won the Suwannee River Handicap at Gulfstream Park on March 3, trainer John T. Ward Jr. said he planned to give the filly a little break.
After all, Snow Dance has developed into one of the top female turf runners in North America, and Ward wants her fresh when such races as the Beverly D. and Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf roll around.
So when Snow Dance showed up in the entries for the $100,000 Jenny Wiley Stakes, which will be run for the 14th time on Thursday at Keeneland, Ward was reminded of his plan to give her "a little break."
ARCADIA, Calif. - Less than two months after winning the Grade 3 Baldwin and establishing himself as California's leading 3-year-old turf sprinter, Shuffling Kid is eligible to be claimed for $80,000 in Thursday's third race at Santa Anita.
The maneuver is unusual but appropriate, because the entire card is indeed peculiar. Two-furlong races for 2-year-olds comprise the first daily double on races 1 and 2; turf sprints on the hillside course go as races 3 and 5; and a competitive first-level allowance at 10 furlongs on grass is the seventh-race feature.
LEXINGTON, Ky. - Steve Margolis would prefer that his intentions are properly interpreted. Just because Margolis will not run in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland Saturday does not mean he could not run him.
"The horse is fine, he really is," said Margolis, explaining that he and owner Sam Knighton decided to go straight to the Kentucky Derby on May 4 instead. "He's back into his feed, and his work [Sunday] was really good. It's just the move we're making."
HOT SPRINGS, Ark. - Explicit and Entepreneur, the one-two finishers in the $150,000 Pelleteri Breeders' Cup Handicap last month at Fair Grounds, will swap post positions for the Grade 3, $150,000 Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn Park on Thursday. The reversal should suit both horses in the six-furlong Count Fleet, which also drew Sand Ridge, U.S. Jets, and Junior Deputy.
SAN MATEO, Calif. - If handicapping were strictly a scientific exercise, Thursday's feature at Bay Meadows would be easy to figure out.
Pali Princess comes off an 11-length victory and has both the best last-race and career Beyer Speed Figures. She also seems to enjoy a pace advantage and the benefit of an outside draw in post 5.
Game, set, and match?
Perhaps not so fast.
JAMAICA, N.Y. - Bill Mott believes he has a genuine Kentucky Derby contender in his barn in Blue Burner. Jerry Bailey needs a little more convincing. Both should find out for certain on Saturday when Mott gives Bailey a leg up on the 3-year-old colt in the Grade 1 Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Officer's impressive comeback win in the Zany Tactics on Sunday has put him on target for the Grade 3 Derby Trial on April 27 at Churchill Downs.
"Right now, the Derby Trial would be the most logical spot," trainer Bob Baffert said Tuesday. "The Lexington [April 20] is a little quick back."
At one mile around one turn, the Derby Trial is a perfect fit for Officer, who is 5 for 6 around one turn, but 0 for 2 around two turns. The 1 1/16-mile Lexington is a two-turn race, and Baffert will resist Derby temptation.
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - Bien Nicole, twice the runner-up in allowance races at Churchill Downs last fall, was an obvious contender when the race was drawn Saturday for Thursday's $30,000 allowance feature at Lone Star Park.
Three days later, her chances improved further. Mike Mareina, trainer of Rosequest, said Tuesday that he had scratched his mare from the race because of a fever. That reduces the field from 10 to nine, and more significantly, eliminates a horse who was likely to test Bien Nicole.
