The mutuel field, the 24th or “all others” option, closed as a solid favorite over Life Is Good after three days of betting into Pool 2 of the 2021 Kentucky Derby Future Wager. The pool opened Friday at noon Eastern and ran through 6 p.m. Sunday.
The field closed at 9-5, followed by Life Is Good (7-1), Essential Quality (8-1), Caddo River (13-1), Concert Tour (16-1), and Keepmeinmind (19-1). The lowest $2 exacta will-pay is Life Is Good over the field (24-5), worth $36.80.
Listed, $150,000 Smarty Jones Stakes, one mile, Oaklawn, Jan. 22, 2021
(10 Derby qualifying points for first, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Caddo River, by Hard Spun
Trainer: Brad Cox
Jockey: Florent Geroux
Owner: Shortleaf Stable Inc.
Beyer Speed Figure: 92
OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Capo Kane, the Jerome Stakes winner, returned to the work tab Wednesday at Parx, breezing five furlongs in 1:01.96 in preparation for an expected start in the Grade 3, $250,000 Withers Stakes at Aqueduct on Feb. 6.
The work was the fastest of seven moves at the distance that day.
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Trainer Harold Wyner said Capo Kane worked by himself and “came out of the work very well.”
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – There are no fewer than seven ownership entities listed for a 3-year-old named Tarantino, but it was one person with a singular notion that will lead to the colt making his dirt debut next Saturday in the Holy Bull Stakes.
“It was my idea,” said trainer Rudy Brisset. “There’s a lot of teamwork involved, obviously, when you have that many people involved, and you have to talk things through. But I get on the horse every day, and he’s bred for the dirt, so the group agreed to try this.”
On Nov. 6, Hot Rod Charlie finished second at 94-1 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland, losing by three-quarters of a length to Essential Quality. On Dec. 19, The Great One finished second at 33-1 by a nose to Spielberg in the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity.
Both are trained by Doug O’Neill, who is hopeful the longshots of the late autumn can become well-backed winners on the next two Saturdays at Santa Anita.
Three-year-old colt Proxy had notched easy dirt-route maiden and allowance wins early in the Fair Grounds meet, but showed more in defeat this past Saturday than in those victories.
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HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Oaklawn Park’s popular and proven road to the Kentucky Derby starts Friday with the running of the $150,000 Smarty Jones.
The top two choices in the field of seven – Cowan and Caddo River – hail from the respective barns of Eclipse Awards trainer finalists Steve Asmussen and Brad Cox.
The Smarty Jones, a mile stakes that ends at the sixteenth pole, is one of four Kentucky Derby points races at the Oaklawn meet, which also is home to the Southwest, Rebel, and Arkansas Derby. The first four finishers Friday will earn points on a scale of 10-4-2-1.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Eight weeks after the first pool was held, no fewer than 14 new names are in the 23-horse lineup for Pool 2 of the 2021 Kentucky Derby Future Wager, which opens Friday at noon Eastern for the customary three-day run.
Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Fair Grounds, Jan. 16, 2021
(10 Derby qualifying points for first, 4 for second, 2 for third, 1 for fourth)
Winner: Midnight Bourbon, by Tiznow
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Jockey: Joe Talamo
Owner: Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC
Beyer Speed Figure: 91
Steve Asmussen said Midnight Bourbon would be a considerably better 3-year-old than he was a 2-year-old, and not even three weeks into the colt’s sophomore season, that prediction looks prescient.
Racing for the first time since he finished third, beaten more than 14 lengths by stablemate Jackie’s Warrior in the Oct. 14 Champagne Stakes – and starting for the first time in a two-turn race -- Midnight Bourbon led gate to wire under Joe Talamo and captured the Grade 3, $200,000 Lecomte Stakes by one length Saturday at Fair Grounds.
